Kyoto office has opened. #1

In March 2025, Monosus' new Kyoto office began operations.

Unlike the satellite offices in Kamiyama, Tokushima; Suo-Oshima, Yamaguchi; and Bangkok, Thailand, which have been created under the leadership of executives, this project was carried out by Monosus members, who discussed everything from property search to budgets and operational rules.

Although it is still in development, we created an opportunity for members of our Kyoto office to discuss this project.
This time, as the first installment, we will be bringing you "The Beginnings of the Kyoto Office."

The beginning of the Kyoto office

Yu Tanaka : Due to family circumstances, Kanno-san moved to Kyoto five years ago and has been working remotely since then. Handa-san and Baba-chan, when did you first decide you wanted to work in Kyoto?

Handa : About two years ago, I spoke to our unit leader, Kurihara, about wanting to move to the Kansai region.

Baba: I consulted with Handa about moving in January of last year, so I was surprised when I found out that he also wanted to move to Kansai.

Sugano: It's rare for things to overlap like this.

Tanaka Yu It was a complete coincidence. By the way, how long did you think about it before telling your colleagues?

Handa: I struggled with it quite a bit. I first consulted with Kurihara-san, and then gradually solidified the plan with headquarters and executives. It took quite a long time.

Baba: I had been thinking about this for a long time. I wanted to live somewhere closer to nature in the future. I traveled around the country imagining living there, and when I came to Kyoto, I was riding my bike along the Kamo River and it suddenly occurred to me how nice it would be to live there. That's when I decided to move, and started asking around for advice.

Masaru Tanaka I heard from the executives that they didn't want Monosus members to work in a fragmented environment. Around the same time, some people expressed interest in relocating, so they were ultimately allowed to relocate, on the condition that an office be built.

Taking on a different challenge from other offices

Masaru Tanaka: At Monosus, there has never been a precedent for an office being built by employees. What were you thinking when you decided to build an office?

Baba : Even though I decided to move, I was very worried about not knowing anyone there. Mr. Kanno had already moved to Kyoto, but we didn't have much contact. I wanted to become friends with the Kanno family, so I wondered what excuse I could come up with to meet them. Even though I rarely had the chance to meet Mr. Handa, we shared a favorite pottery artist and would hang out whenever Porta was around. So I was very happy to be able to connect with them through the creation of the office, and it was very reassuring as it significantly reduced my anxiety about moving to Kyoto.

Handa: At first, I was worried about setting up an office, but when the three of us got together for the first time, the two of them were very easy to talk to and had similar attitudes, so I felt that with this team, we could move forward with the office in a fun and positive way. From that point on, I think I was able to move forward with enthusiasm. I think the office is important, but the people who are there are also important, so I'm glad that these two were there from the beginning.

Kanno: I agree. Once we had solidified our decision to "build it," I had to go to Tokyo for some business, and we had a meeting about the Kyoto office. I remember going there with a map of Kyoto in hand. That was the first time I talked about Kyoto with the two of them. I don't remember the details of what we talked about, but I have the impression that it was a day where we all discussed various things, such as what kind of office we wanted.

Starting to try something different from other offices

Handa: As we continued to discuss the idea, I was a little worried about how the other Monosus members would react.

Baba: That's right. If, like us, there are members who want to continue working at Monosus but work in a region they like, our current approach will serve as a guideline to some extent, so we wanted to proceed carefully. That's why we conducted a questionnaire survey and a roundtable discussion about the Kyoto office so that we could address any concerns about this initiative. As a result, rather than voices of anxiety or fear, we received many comments saying, "Once the Kyoto office is established, I would definitely like to do satellite work there," so I feel like we've been able to proceed with the office construction with much more peace of mind since then.

Sugano From there, we started to discuss the details, but since we'd never built an office before, we didn't know where to start. Should we come up with the rules first, or find the property first? What about the budget? And so on. I think it was difficult to gradually give shape to those vague ideas.

Tanaka Yu: How did you overcome those difficulties?

Kanno: During the roundtable discussion, we announced that we were looking for members to join us in thinking about the Kyoto office, and it was impressive that Yuka Tanaka and Mochizuki joined us. The other three were vague about things, but the two of them were very clear about them, so it felt like we were moving forward again.

Baba: I was really impressed that things were finally starting to take shape.

As this is the first article, we focused on "why they decided to open an office in Kyoto." Generally, a company will establish a new base in line with its business expansion, but this time, it started from a non-work-related perspective, as each member wanted to live in Kyoto. First of all, why do they need an office? It was very interesting to see how they put this idea into words and shared it among the members.

In this second installment, I would like to talk about how we actually proceeded after deciding to create an office. Next time, we will be running around Kyoto (tentative title) so please look forward to it!