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He hid under his desk as the world around him thundered continuously for two minutes.
"My family were with me in Japan at the time," Julian says. "The worst part was not the intensity but the length. You just don't know what's going to happen."
Julian's story is not a tale of survival, but of a rare moment of clarity amidst the chaos in Japan's capital that Friday afternoon. At the time, he was a sales manager in logistics. But flash forward 24 month's and he was plying his trade in the video games industry.
Sometimes a moment of tragedy evolves into a life-changing experience.
"It was a horrible experience, but at the end of the road it brought good things to me," he continues. "Because now when I see an opportunity, I can tell more easily if I will enjoy it.
"That’s connected to my career switch. Why should I bother doing a job I don’t like? Maybe I will make less money, but at least I'll be doing something I love."
Julian was born and raised in the South of France and it is fitting that he completed an MBA at ESSEC Business School, one of the country's best. He would spend hours playing video games as a child and his passion has not diminished. Quite the opposite.
Soon after completing the Global MBA Program, he landed a job at Gameloft - a leading game developer headquartered in Paris.
"In the past I was never able to enter the industry, but it was always a target," he says. "I've been playing video games for 25 years now and it's something I've always loved to do. It was a hobby but I wanted it to be a professional activity."
FIFA and military strategy on consoles may be Julian's specialty, but it is mobile games that he developed with Gameloft. Those who have played World At Arms, a popular iPhone & iPad App, have Julian to thank for it's release.
The App industry has exploded alongside the rise in smartphone and tablet technology. The industry is expected to reach $25 billion in sales by the end of this year - it a savvy decision to switch careers. Julian left JTB Cargo in 2009.
"I first went to work in Japan in 2003 and fell in love with the country," he says. "But after a time I thought I was stuck; I didn't have the opportunity to grow within the company.
"At that point it was clear that I needed to do an MBA to make a career switch. My plan was to go from logistics to the video games industry, and then find a job back in Japan. It was closing the loop."
ESSEC may have some of the highest-rated MBA programs in some MBA Rankings, but it was the culture that set the b-school apart from the rest. He considered other top-ranking French business schools but ESSEC gave him the best response when he met recruiters in person.
The Global MBA differs from the general and Executive versions because it seeks to fast-track students to management careers in an international environment.
"It was internationally-oriented and I thought it was a good fit with my profile," Julian says. "I have always wanted to work abroad and during the program we spent a lot of time visiting companies and meeting entrepreneurs overseas."
Julian may have ambitions to launch a career in Asia, but it is not just international careers that ESSEC can help students' secure. It is a credit to the b-school that in just 12-months, Julian had the confidence to break into an industry far-removed from Japanese logistics.
He insists that gaining an MBA was essential for entering Gameloft in a managerial position. "I applied for jobs at video games companies before and the fact that I had never been to business school was a minus on my profile," Julian says.
"It was missing from my resume and I now know that it was essential."
At Gameloft Julian was developing mobile games from pitch to release. It was a combination of his passion for gaming with a love of business. A seemingly perfect fit? Almost.
"I produced and supervised video game development," he explains. "We gathered ideas, chose development teams and then tested the prototype games before trying to monetize them.
"It was a great job but I couldn't influence the process as much as I wanted to."
Julian craved a more senior role. Being apart from his family, who were in Marseille, also posed a problem.
He left the company on good terms earlier this year - and now has plans to bring a touch of entrepreneurship to games or multimedia design.
"I'm now looking at jobs in start-ups and small companies," he explains. "When you join a start-up you have more influence on the strategy and product development.
"By helping smaller companies grow I can apply what I learned on the MBA program and my past experience in Japan."
Leaving Japan was one step, an MBA in France was the second. What's the third?
"I have considered starting my own venture, but you need the right idea at the right time," he says. "I would love a career in Asia, and I had a terrific experience in Japan.
"But I won't go back to logistics. It's interesting and you can make a lot of money, but I don't love doing it."
His experience in Asia proved lucrative, but the Japanese earthquake in 2011 taught Julian to pursue careers for fulfilment, not cash.
It seems there is no career worth sacrificing that for.
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