At some point in the early 1950s, Ansari traveled to England for further education. The details remain unclear and contested. Some sources claim he obtained a master’s degree, while others suggest that he attended courses informally and devoted most of his time to photography, travel, and self-education. Regardless of the formal credentials, England exposed him to postwar Europe, global trade networks, and the cultural confidence of Western industrial societies—an impression that would deeply influence his later economic thinking.
Upon returning to Iran, Ansari entered the business world, working for a prominent Iranian entrepreneur named Namazi, whose trading company maintained international offices. In 1955, Ansari was sent to Tokyo as the firm’s representative. This assignment proved pivotal. Japan in the mid-1950s was undergoing its own postwar economic miracle, rebuilding rapidly through technology transfer, disciplined bureaucracy, and export-oriented industry. For Ansari, Japan offered a living example of how a non-Western society could modernize without abandoning its cultural identity.
