Tommaso Scotti

Writer, Developer, and a bunch of other things

One thing in my life has never changed: change.

I was born and raised in Rome, Italy, and I have been living and working in Japan since 2012. I earned a PhD in applied mathematics in Tokyo in 2015, after which I began my professional career in the financial technology sector. Alongside my work, I have always cultivated a strong interest in writing, and in 2021 I published my first novel, The Emperor’s Umbrella (Longanesi). Music and martial arts have been central to my life from an early age. I have studied and played the piano since childhood and have practised martial arts since my teenage years. In my spare time, I also devote myself to Japanese calligraphy, as well as writing, reading, coding, photography, and motorcycling.

I was born and raised in Rome, a city where I spent the first twenty years of my life, oscillating between an early passion for music and sports and a steady commitment to my studies, carefully supervised within the family. It was, however, during the summer of 2007, while visiting a friend on an Erasmus exchange in Spain, that I discovered how the expression “studying abroad” can sometimes have surprisingly flexible boundaries. As I was close to completing a master’s degree in mathematics at the time, I decided that I, too, wanted to experience that particular form of “study.”

Spain, however, did not strike me as sufficiently distant—at least in terms of temperament. I therefore chose Finland, and in January 2008 I moved for a semester to the University of Oulu, just a few kilometres south of the Arctic Circle. It proved to be a formative experience in many respects: not only academically, but also because I learned what it means to live in a radically different environment, to navigate new languages and habits, and to develop a first, concrete sense of personal independence. Finland was an important first step, but certainly not the last.

After completing my degree in 2009, I decided to take a break from academic life to pursue another long-standing passion of mine: martial arts. With over ten years of practice behind me and a basic knowledge of Chinese, I moved to Beijing. The impact was anything but simple: the cultural shock was significant, and the first months required a great deal of adaptation and perseverance. Once past the initial phase, however, China revealed itself as an extraordinary experience, shaped by encounters, music, martial practice, and contact with very diverse cultural environments, all of which contributed decisively to broadening my perspective on the world.

It was during my stay in China that I first visited Japan. A few days were enough for me to realise that this country would play a central role in my future. In 2010 I moved to Tokyo with the intention of staying longer, despite not speaking Japanese and having no real professional experience. The outcome was, predictably, uncertain: after a few months I was forced to return to Italy. The idea of giving up, however, never truly took hold. I therefore decided to pursue an academic path and, after a long period of applications and administrative procedures, in 2012 I obtained a scholarship that allowed me to move permanently to Tokyo, where I have lived ever since.

In 2015 I completed a PhD in applied mathematics, conducting research in the field of reaction–diffusion equations. At the end of my academic career, I embarked on a professional path in the field of financial technologies and later in advertising technology, working in international and highly interdisciplinary environments. This trajectory gradually led me from theoretical mathematics to programming and data analysis, enabling me to develop organisational, project-management and coordination skills in complex settings.

Alongside my professional activity, I have always maintained a strong commitment to the arts and to cultural pursuits. I have studied and played the piano since childhood, practised martial arts since the late 1990s, and for several years I have devoted myself to the study and practice of Japanese calligraphy (shodō), as a form of linguistic and aesthetic engagement with Japanese culture. In 2021 I published my first novel, The Emperor’s Umbrella (Longanesi), followed by other works of fiction set in Japan. Through writing, I pursue an activity of cultural dissemination aimed at an Italian readership, with the intention of portraying contemporary Japan in all its nuances, beyond simplifications and stereotypes.

Looking back, my path has developed along a non-linear yet coherent trajectory: from scientific training to cultural production, through many years of living and working in Japan. Having lived permanently in the country since 2012 has allowed me to understand its cultural codes, institutions, and social dynamics from within, building over time a deep and everyday relationship with the Japanese context. I believe that this combination of academic, professional, and cultural experience provides a solid foundation from which to contribute, with awareness and a sense of responsibility, to the promotion of Italian culture and to the strengthening of cultural dialogue between Italy and Japan.

THE LONG STORY...