To celebrate Monosus' 13th anniversary, we went to Tokushima.

Every November is a "special month" as we celebrate the anniversary of Monosus' founding.
Up until now, we have held lively anniversary parties, inviting guests who have helped us out at our Yoyogi office. From planning to the preparations on the day, to the food, we fully demonstrated our DIY spirit, and it was a big event of the year, where we enjoyed spending time with our guests. (Click here to see last year's party .)

Just as I was wondering what kind of party this year would be, the representative, Hayashi, suddenly made an announcement.

This year's anniversary party will be held in Kamiyama.
The next day we will go to Nature School TOEK.
It's 2 nights and 3 days.

Kamiyama? Nature school? 2 nights and 3 days?
With a mountain of questions floating around in each of our members' heads, we decided to celebrate our 13th anniversary in Tokushima. This time, we would like to share with you the record of that experience.

Day 1: Go to Kamiyama.

schedule

• Move to Kamiyama, Tokushima
• Lunch at Kamaya
• Workshop
• Anniversary Party

We were a little worried about the tight schedule of meeting at Haneda Airport at 6:30 in the morning (there is a legend that someone is always late on company trips...), but this time we made it safely! Maybe we were really motivated. After arriving at Tokushima Airport, we headed to Kamiyama by chartered bus.

Lunch at "Kamaya"

First, we filled up on a plate of rice from the Food Hub Project 's cafeteria, "Kama-ya." Kamiyama is well known on the Monosasu website, but in fact, this was the first time many of our members had come here. We all ate delicious food, hearing some members say, "We finally made it!"

Once you've filled your stomach, it's time for the afternoon workshop.

Workshop

When we arrived at the venue, there was a big circle of chairs. When we sat down, we were surprised at how many people there were. First, there was a lecture from Hayashi, and then we formed smaller circles and shared our opinions on several topics.

It was time to "listen" to each other's thoughts about Monosus, about work, about ourselves... Various realizations spread from the small circle.
Now that the workshop is over, it's time to head back to Kamaya for the 13th anniversary party!

Anniversary Party

This year's party will be held under the night sky of Kamiyama. In the spacious garden of Kamaya, food booths are spread out like festival stalls, and Hayashi shouts "Cheers!"

There will be a line-up of delicious delicacies that Food Hub is proud of, including Kamiyama's specialty chicken tempura, celebratory red rice, Takobin's takoyaki, and more.

The representative, Hayashi, is a big hit as the meat grilling boss.

The drink booth was also very busy.

Once everyone was full, the game tournament began. The children of Kamiyama were joined by Food Hub members and the staff of TOEC Nature School, who would be taking care of them tomorrow, and a fierce battle ensued.

The final of the "Arm Wrestling Women's Battle" was between Koyomi-chan (4th grade) and Food Hub head chef Hosoi!

The "Arm Wrestling - Man Show-off" event took place inside the store. TOEK's Mole (left) was the winner!

Food Hub's baker, Mr. Sasagawa, gave us a baguette to celebrate our 13th anniversary (it's huge!!)

Monosas has expanded its bases to Yoyogi, Osaka, Thailand, and this year to Kamiyama and Suo-Oshima. Tonight may have been the first time that members from all over the country gathered together. The anniversary party, titled "Monosas Freedom Harvest Festival," ended happily (and a little early to match Kamiyama time).

We'll stay in Kamiyama that night and prepare for the next day.

On the second day, we went to Nature School Toek.

schedule

• Move to Toek
• Spend a day at TOEK

The cool air of Kamiyama cleared our hangover heads. Today we headed to "Toek Nature School" in Anan City, about an hour's drive from here. However, we knew very little about Toek. All we heard from Hayashi was, "Tomorrow we're going to play in the rice fields." We had no idea what kind of time awaited us.

Amidst the expanse of blue sky and greenery, tents and buildings came into view.
This is the home ground of the NPO Nature School TOEC.

TOEC (Tokushima Outdoor activity Education Center)
It was founded in 1985 as a place where children, adults, and staff could grow together among the rice paddies and fields. It operates a "free camp" where children and staff discuss what they want to do now and design a day together, as well as a free school (kindergarten, free school) with no curriculum or timetable. It supports the creation of a place where everyone can "become themselves freely."

The meeting begins inside what is commonly referred to as the "big house." I wonder what kind of day it will be...

Representative Tatsuro Ise. Behind him is a banner made by the children to celebrate the 13th anniversary! (Moving)
From here on, I will leave it up to everyone at TOEC.

Let's spend today starting from "what I want to do". You can do anything, or nothing. You can do it alone, or with someone. There are big boundaries (play until the evening, then have dinner, etc.), but basically everything is up to you. But since you have the chance, stop looking at your smartphone and enjoy "what is here now".

We started by doing some work to loosen up the mind and body, then we shared with each other what we wanted to do and each of us went towards doing what we wanted to do.

Touching the vegetables in the field, "This is a sweet potato, right?"

The basketball game has started, and people are gathering over there.

Exhausted members are resting while getting massages

Is the weight training team working hard?

This looks like something is going to be created by combining pieces of wood.

A session began with guitar and djembe.

Freshly picked wild herbs are fried in tempura and are delicious with no bitterness!
Oops! The relay has started.

These are just a few of the things we wanted to do. Time passed by in a flash as each of us had our own things we wanted to do.

When the sun went down, play time came to an end.
We return to the big house again and form a small circle to reflect on the day.

We listen to each other's feelings and impressions, such as the sense of freedom to do what we want, the pleasure of using our bodies, the security of being alone while everyone is there, discovering our friends, and just generally having fun.

After that, under the guidance of our representative, Mr. Ise, we all sat in a small circle, with people who wanted to speak taking turns to join in.

"I'm glad I came," "I was able to clear my mind," "It was fun, but... so what?" Amidst all the different comments that came up, I tried to accept them without jumping to easy conclusions. It was a time to listen carefully to my own feelings and those of others.

Now, the evening part begins. Toek, who loves alcohol, will join in the fun!

As the night drew on, some people chatted around the campfire, while others were exhausted and went to bed early. The night in Toek passed at each person's own pace.

On the third day, we all headed home.

schedule

• Breakfast at TOEK
• Each person heads home

The final day began with a beautiful sunrise and a blue sky as far as the eye could see.
The program ended with a breakfast packed with vegetables grown on Toek Farm.

Yoyogi, Osaka, Kamiyama, Suo-Oshima, and Thailand.
With everyone at TOEC seeing them off, they all returned to their daily lives.

This trip to Tokushima was made possible by Hayashi's request.
I had many realizations during my time in Kamiyama and TOEC, and it was a strange experience in that it didn't feel like a rigid employee training session, nor did it feel like a trip.

"I'm not going to draw any conclusions."
"No results are expected."

I think that was the time.

These three days gave birth to many feelings that are difficult to put into words. Perhaps these vague feelings will become the seeds of a new form for Monosus, which is now in its 13th year.