Thank you for your hard work in 2017!
Monosus Year-End Party Report

There are only three days left in 2017.
I'm looking forward to spending the New Year holidays relaxing, traveling, and going back to my hometown.
Thank you for your hard work this year.

At Monosus, we hold the "earliest year-end party in Japan" and end the year early every year. This year, we held the party on December 22nd. After everyone finished cleaning up the company, we held the year-end party and end-of-year party.

In our final article of 2017, we will report on the end-of-year party!

Year-end party to reflect on the past year

The party is divided into three parts:

1. Summary of this year, next term's policy and structure, etc. (This is a bit serious)
2. Monosus in Numbers (A fun corner where you can look back on the year with various numbers)
3. Monosus Awards (award ceremony decided by public vote)

First, there was a general overview of this year. CEO Hayashi spoke about how 2017 may have been a "turning point." Everyone was on edge as he announced the progress of the annual budget and the structure for the next fiscal year.

The speech concluded with the message that next year will mark the second year since the implementation of full flextime, and in order to respect each other's "freedom," it is important to build a relationship in which we can "provide each other feedback" even about small things.

Monosus in numbers

From here on, we will look back on the past year while presenting numbers from various angles, including about work, the company, and each department.

When the rankings of large projects and the winning percentage of competitions were announced, applause broke out and some people recalled the projects. It was a great reminder of how hard everyone had worked in their own positions this past year.

There are also numbers showing how the members are doing this year.

The average age of our staff is 34.6 years old, and it's steadily increasing every year (laughs).

The Coding Factory (CF) club has released a ranking of people who went out drinking.

I can do my best because I can take a break from drinking delicious alcohol. I hope I can have a good time next year too.

This year, it is the Design Department that will be presenting some impressive slides.

The total height of the designs is about the same as the 8th station of Mt. Fuji... We're almost at the summit!

An unusual topic was also announced, the average moisture content of the skin of the design department members. (Uehara from the production department was suddenly made to stand next to the man on the slide because he resembled him.)

And from the Monosasu site editorial team…

The total number of posts for the year was 243. Once again, thank you all so much for your hard work!

In addition, the current editor-in-chief, Nakani, commented on the change of editor-in-chief from next year. A big round of applause was given to Nakani, who has supported the site through the turbulent days of the two years since its launch.

And let's not forget the number of " Oton " deliveries made by the head of the Freshwater Laboratory .

I ate my fill of 1995 meals! There is no doubt that the delicious food that the chef delivers improves everyone's performance. Chef, I look forward to working with you again next year!

Finally, here are the numbers for Buddy Lunch , which started this year.

The company sponsors lunch for a randomly selected pair of people each month. I was pleasantly surprised to find that most of the members take advantage of this system.

This concludes "Monosus in Numbers."
Next up is the Monosus Awards, which could be said to be the main event of the year-end party.

Monosus Awards

The "Monosus Awards" are chosen by a vote of all members. This year, the 8th, the famous pair of Sakuyama & Tatsuta will be the hosts. Sakuyama's leadership and Tatsuta's tsukkomi keep the show moving along smoothly and with laughter. This year's Monosus Awards are as follows.

• My favorite article on the Monosasu site this year
• Project of the year
• Step Up Award
• Rookie of the Year
• Best Monosasist Award
• Annual MVP

This is an exciting awards ceremony in which the presenters for each award are also announced on the spot.
Let's get started!

My favorite article on the Monosasu site this year

First up, "My favorite article on Monosasu site this year."
The winner was " In Search of the Delicious Taste Beyond the Spiciness: The Road to Mouko Tanmen Nakamoto " written by Hiromi Yamanaka! This passionate, super spicy article will have you sweating just reading it, and it won the award.

Presenter Manabe made a shocking confession, saying, "I call it Mongolian Tanmen secretly."

Editor-in-chief Nakani had been eagerly waiting for this article to be written. The article, which is full of "Mongolian Tanmen Love," received comments of recommendation such as "Looking back at the articles we've written this year, this was the first one that came to mind," and "This was the article that had the greatest ripple effect of any article we've written so far."
"I had fun writing it, but when I read the finished article, I enjoyed it too (laughs). I never thought that just writing about the feelings I have is going to reach so many people, so I'm very happy. So, what will you do with the prize money? Yes, for Mongolian Tanmen, of course (laughs)," said Yamanaka, and the award was met with laughter.

Project of the year

Next up is Project of the Year.
This award is given to projects that have been significant in terms of team and company growth, regardless of the scale of the project. This time, out of 10 projects, a project for a major telecommunications company won the award.

Designer Uemori accepted the award on behalf of the project.

It was a project that involved almost every department. The reason for the award was that, despite the involvement of many departments, it was a project that not only helped the members to grow as individuals, but also helped the company grow as a whole. The award was given in recognition of the results that were achieved by the members coming together as one, working together across departmental boundaries.

Step Up Award

Next is the Step Up Award, which is given to the member who has made the greatest step up in their work this year.
After a fierce competition, two winners were selected.

Dojo (left) and Kawaguchi (center) nod solemnly to the comments made by presenter Kojima (right).

The first is Ryoko Dojo, who has won awards for four consecutive years. (Best Part-time Job Award → Newcomer of the Year → Most Favorite Article on Monosasu Site → and this year's Step Up Award... what an achievement!) In addition to her previous work as a director, she has boldly taken on the challenge of becoming a planner. She has truly taken a step up in the ladder.

The second is Minoru Kawaguchi, who became the leader of the quality control department this year and was given management responsibility. No matter how busy he is, he always thinks about the other members and treats them calmly, which has earned him great trust from the other members. This is also a step up.
Dojo commented, "At the beginning of the year, I retreated to the mountains and vowed to Acala to 'work hard' this year. I'm grateful for everyone's help, even though I caused them a lot of trouble." Kawaguchi, who made his debut as leader, expressed his joy, saying, "I was able to get involved in management, which is something I've always wanted to do, and although it was difficult, it was a fulfilling experience. I'm really glad I joined Monosus."

Rookie of the Year

Now, the three traditional awards (Rookie of the Year, Best Monosasist, and Annual MVP) are left. Let's start with the Rookie of the Year award. This award is given to members who became new contract employees this year... so there is only one chance to win it!

Yoko Omura from the editorial department was selected from among eight candidates.

Omura was unable to speak well in his acceptance speech, laughing and crying at the same time

Omura joined the editorial team this year after attending the Kamiyama Monosasu Juku last year. There were many expressions of gratitude for the careful daily communication, such as "I'm really grateful that he carefully considers each and every article," "Thanks to Omura, we were able to finish the article," and "I want to send him a letter of appreciation."

Upon hearing the reason for the recommendation, Omura couldn't stop crying, and some members couldn't help but cry along with him. "It was really... difficult... but... (sobbing)," "It's really... thanks... to you all... (sobbing)." Omura's speechless acceptance speech left some members crying and others laughing at the end, making it a heartwarming Rookie of the Year award.

Best Monosasist Award

Next up is the "Best Monosassist Award," which is given to the member who exudes the most Monosass-like qualities and creates the Monosass-like qualities. Two members have been inducted into the Hall of Fame so far ( Furuhata and Okubo ), but Kaori Iwaki won the award last year, becoming the third member to be inducted into the Hall of Fame!
*If an award is received for two years in a row, the award will be inducted into the Hall of Fame and will no longer be eligible for selection the following year.

Iwaki (center) listens to the recommendation comments with a smile. The presenters are the Hall of Fame pair Furuhata & Okubo (right)

Recommendation comments include "He's not just someone who thinks about what Monosus is like, but also someone who supports the Monosus of others and takes them in a positive direction," "He fills in various gaps and keeps Monosus moving," and "He's the sun of Monosus." It's a familiar sight to see members who are tired from work coming to Iwaki. It's exactly like the Monosus nurse's office.
"Work can be hard, but I think it's the accumulation of casual moments, laughing at little things and talking about silly things, that makes up our lives. I want to spend next year laughing with everyone," she said. Congratulations on being inducted into the Hall of Fame!

Annual MVP

To conclude the awards, we have the annual MVP, which is given to the person who has been the most active this year. Kenichi Takeda, who became the leader of the Compact Flash Club this year, was selected!

Takeda (center) smiles as he listens to a comment from his drinking buddy, Vice President Nagai.

We received enthusiastic comments of recommendation such as, "He has amazing consideration for his members," "He is someone who is there for us in both difficult and fun times," and "With Takeda as leader, what CF can do and its future possibilities have greatly expanded."
Takeda calls himself the person in charge of drinking and communication and says, " My job is to connect people ." With his strong communication skills and unique connections, he brought a breath of fresh air to the department, deepened the relationships between members, and was recognized for bringing about major changes to CF.
"When I joined the company I was in Cloud Computing, then I worked in other departments before coming back, and it's really interesting to see how the other members have taken what I've brought back and grown from it. I hope we can continue to grow next year," she commented.

This concludes the Monosus Awards 2017!
The year-end party, where we looked back on an eventful year, also ended without any problems.

Closing year-end party

Well, the day will end with a year-end party. It has become customary to hold the party at the Yoyogi office every year, but this year we decided to change things up a bit and hold it at an izakaya. We will have a toast led by Iwaki, the best monosasist of the year!

This year's year-end party will be a time for lively conversation while munching on hot pot.

The year-end party committee had planned to have everyone talk about what they were most interested in at the moment, so everyone talked about things they were interested in. Everyone had a great time at each table.

Time flies when you're having fun.
The event ended with a "ippon-jime" (a traditional Japanese closing ceremony) by Takeda, who was named the annual MVP.

Thank you very much for your support this year.
And thank you for reading the Monosasu site.
I hope that next year will be another fruitful one.
Thank you for your hard work in 2017!
Thank you for your continued support in 2018!