Hello, this is Sawada from the Creative Department Operations Team!
I joined the second class of Kamiyama Monosasu Juku in July of last year, and after graduating I chose to remain in Kamiyama.
Since January of this year, we have been working at the Kamiyama satellite office.
Three months have passed in the blink of an eye since I left the people with whom I used to eat from the same pot.
April.
Everyone, it's spring in Kamiyama!
Now I understand what I was taught without realizing it
Wintersweet found in the garden on a snowy day in February
When the snow fell, I discovered that wintersweets were blooming high up in the garden.
The cats that had stayed there during the winter had almost disappeared.
In the compost, which was previously quiet, I can hear the rustling sounds of living creatures. (I'm too scared to open the lid.)
As for me, I still live in the same house where I once spent my fun days with five other girls who were my classmates at Kamiyama Monosasu Juku.
The female members who lived together in the communal home. A group photo taken in front of the entrance on the last morning when everyone was together. 
Agawa House, Summer to Winter Now that it's spring, I'm struggling with weeding.
I have felt the presence of this six months of Kamiyama Monosasu Juku at key points in my life.
When I go shopping, I try to buy locally produced products as much as possible.
Following the style of my writing instructor, I occasionally write in my diary in pencil.
The attitude of facing people closely, which I learned at Yoshiaki Nishimura 's workshop,
It has become an important guideline for me.
Throughout the curriculum, I realized that I had never really had the opportunity to be exposed to the values of people other than my own.
She also realizes that the four women living together have somehow acquired the wisdom and quirks of their daily lives, which have become her own habits.
- Getting ready in the morning with a hot towel on your head (for your scalp? To fix your bedhead?)
- Hanging out the futon as soon as I wake up (whenever it's sunny on Sunday)
- How to store half-eaten snack bags (so they don't get damp)
- Use the light at hand to read before going to bed (using your free time) etc.
These are all trivial things, but looking back at them,
I realized that I was unconsciously imitating each part that I felt was good,
Now the impressions I had of everyone are becoming clearer.
Even the catchphrase that always made me laugh was still there.
I sometimes laughed while talking to people and remembering the memories.
Memories are more important than things. I am now more grateful than anything for this sense of security.
I used to go to the hot springs as a kind of reward. Just remembering those days brings back fond memories.
Now I understand the need to make time to prioritize myself
My ideal would be to put craftsmanship at the center of my life.
(I only realized this recently.)
After graduating from the University of the Arts, I returned to my parents' home at the age of 23 due to poor health.
Thinking, "I want to start making things, even if it's just a little bit at a time," I started making accessories after seeing the machines in the dental laboratory run by my father, a dental technician.
The first thing I did was to make a prototype out of wax, take a mold out of plaster, cast it, polish it, and make a shiny ring. It was the first time I learned about manufacturing from my father.
At that moment, I realized once again that my father was a craftsman who, despite his bad back and poor eyesight, and whose fingers were much thicker than most people's, worked on detailed tasks from morning until night.
Soon after, I got a job as a salesperson at a local printing and publishing company.
I enjoy my job of running around the prefecture every day, and while I'm busy working at the manufacturing site,
I only made my own accessories for friends' birthdays or when asked to do so.
For the first two years, I was still able to enjoy my time in my hometown,
Before I knew it, I couldn't shake the feeling that I had a lot of things that I had left undone, and I felt uneasy every day and constantly anxious.
After working there for two years, I still wasn't sure what my anxiety was.
My job search was focused on breaking out of my current situation, and I was able to become a member of the second class of Kamiyama Monosasu Juku.
My six months as a student at the school was more than enough to wake me up after two years of sulking.
The biggest difference between those six months and these past three months is,
I have an overwhelming increase in my own time.
After six months of being thoroughly with other people,
I spent the time alone, feeling like I was reviewing everything I had been thinking about for the past six months.
Prepare a workbench according to the size of your house.
In order to continue making accessories, I have been collecting tools and materials little by little.
I started making prototypes so that I could handle small pieces of fabric and also started studying dressmaking.
Currently, we are creating the manufacturing environment that has always been ideal.
It also gives me hope for the future, such as gradually creating a larger garden.
The workbench sags under the weight of the sewing machine. I can now do a little bit of production on weekday evenings.
Dressmaking, gardening, and simple woodworking are all greatly influenced by other people.
When I asked someone how I could do it, they told me,
It will instantly connect you to all sorts of means and connections.
It is an environment where you can get experienced advice immediately, and there is a high probability that you will be able to rent feasible land, large space, and tools.
I asked the man from Daimon Sawmill, who helped me out when I was a student, to adjust my workbench.
Being in Kamiyama means the hurdle to trying things is low,
You can quickly act and say, "Okay, let's give it a try."
By living like this, the gap between my mind and my environment disappears,
I feel like I've been living more honestly than usual lately...
Rather than thinking that it’s impossible for me,
You will find that it is much healthier to give it a try.
This was when Unagi no Nedo was making his first pair of monpe using a modern monpe pattern .
When I wondered why I stayed in Kamiyama,
I think one of the reasons is that there is no discrepancy between my mind and my environment.
I now spend much more time creating things than I used to, thinking about what motivates me.
Simple and smooth.
In my spare time, I am able to move about calmly and simply, at a level that is comfortable for me.
When that kind of time continues for a while, I always remember someone.
Someone who has passed on their lifestyle habits to you or who recently had a baby.
The more fulfilled I feel, the more I want to be able to do something for someone else.
I'm embarrassed to admit this, but it was a feeling I hadn't felt in a long time, about two years ago.
It is only when the visibility becomes bright that we realize how dark it is.
For the past two years or so, I've been looking only at my feet.
The causes of the piled-up problems remained unclear for a long time. I felt very constrained.
Don't put off doing what you want to do.
I realized that just that was important to me.
Now, once again,
Why did you stay in Kamiyama?
As I mentioned earlier,
My ideal has always been to create a society where food, clothing, and shelter are all healthy.
Putting craftsmanship at the centre of your life.
By chance, I ended up living in Kamiyama for a limited period of time.
I met many people who were realizing their dreams from scratch through their own efforts.
Watching that, I gradually began to feel a stronger desire to try the things that I had previously avoided because I lacked confidence.
Kamiyama Town itself is
A new town-wide project is currently underway and the area is in the midst of development.
Whether it be a town that is well circulated and continues to be used by children,
It's a place where you can follow the trajectory step by step from the beginning.
When you live here, you can really get a sense of the atmosphere that permeates the town and the direction it is heading in.
Kamaya, part of the Food Hub Project, opened in March. It feels like the atmosphere of Kamiyama town as a whole is changing rapidly. 
On January 29, 2016, the very first article of the Food Hub Project was published, which explained what a "circular system" is, how it works, and the idea behind it.
This is an article (June 2016) by Yoshiaki Nishimura, who taught me how to "listen to people" in an interview class that was part of the curriculum at my cram school. He lives in Kamiyama and is working on a project to connect the town to future generations at the Kamiyama Tsunagu Corporation. 
The construction of an apartment complex being carried out by the Kamiyama Tsunagu Corporation. I see this every day on my way to work.
"When you're in Tokyo, you get information just by walking around the city.
What do you think about the current situation where you have to go out and get information?
That was the question I was asked by someone who came to visit our satellite office during their inspection of Kamiyama.
Certainly, there is a lot of information that can only be obtained in Tokyo,
I have personally felt that simply obtaining information is not enough to benefit me.
Being aware of the information you want,
I believe it is important to be in an environment that gives you enough space to act in that way.
This is something I am currently getting in abundance while living in Kamiyama.
There are projects like the ones above that serve as models,
There are many role models for adults who work as they live and play.
And after staying in that town for a while,
From the time I started thinking about my future in October of last year until the very last minute before graduating in December,
I had no intention of going back to being a corporate employee.
Looking back now, it was a very reckless idea,
I was influenced by the people I met in Kamiyama, and the many possibilities presented to me at the school.
I felt a sense of urgency to now put into practice the ideals that I had long given up on.
This was a big change for me, as I had become so caught up in what was happening in front of me that I no longer felt anything for the things I used to like.
The more I want to treasure this positive change,
I just couldn't bring myself to go back to working for a company.
The reason why I am currently working in the Monosus Kamiyama Operations Team is
Monosus is a company that proposes and implements new ways of working one after another to improve the future for both the company and its employees, and the process looked like a really fun one.
What really struck me was that each person wasn't just asserting their own opinion, but was really thinking about each other as well.
"We will talk honestly with each other and come up with a choice that is good for both of us."
Now I'm living my life thinking that I was glad I made this choice, even if it was by chance.
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