A report on a visit to the Suo-Oshima satellite office by a former hikikomori designer.
This is what everyday life in the office is like

hello everyone!
My name is Takita, and I am a designer who joined the Monosasu website secretariat around April of this year.

Unless I have something important to do, I stay at home and stay shut up, but I went to the Suo-Oshima satellite office. I would like to share with you what the Suo-Oshima office members are up to now, after spending a week working and living with them!

A day in the office looks like this

The morning started with a casual progress sharing meeting.

Every day, members exchange questions like "What should we do here?" and "This is how we solved it before," and you can hear them chatting and laughter in between, so it seems like they are generally aware of each other's situations at all times.

On Monday mornings, the mobile convenience store truck that everyone loves comes to the office. It's a fun time to buy more snacks and chat with everyone. It's a valuable shopping opportunity other than the weekend bulk buying.

By the way, it seems that supermarkets, convenience stores, and other sales trucks come from Monday to Saturday. They bring meat and frozen foods with refrigerators, and also have daily necessities. As long as you know the time when the sales trucks come, you should not have any trouble finding the necessary supplies during your stay.

Many people go home to eat lunch, which is just a few minutes' walk away. Everyone leaves empty-handed. By the way, they also leave the office empty-handed after work. It takes more than 30 minutes to get from the office to the city, and it's a struggle, but going back and forth between home and the office may be just like moving between rooms.
On the way between her office and her house. "This is my favorite road," Yamada-chan told me.

After getting through the afternoon work, it was time to close the workday. At this time, most of the izakayas and restaurants in the area (which are only accessible by car!) were closed. That's where the big, clean kitchen in the office comes in handy. The female members who are good at cooking took the time out of their busy schedules to prepare dinner, and we all enjoyed snacks brought in by Nagai-san, who lives next door to the office.

Yamada-chan's taco party

The night went on a little late. We all gathered around the snacks that Nagai-san brought.

I would occasionally see the Suo-Oshima members through the screen at our monthly general meetings, including Yamada-chan, who is also a designer, but after spending a week with them, I've gotten to see a different side of the members and get a glimpse of the atmosphere among the three that wasn't visible through our online contact alone, so I'd like to introduce them to you from Takita's perspective.

Yamamoto-kun

Everyone's big brother.

He's been with the company for a little over a year, but he's the most senior in the Suo-Oshima office. His two junior colleagues always call out to him, saying, "Yamamoto-san," or "Can I just say a word?" Even while he's working on his own, he's quick to join in on solving problems together with everyone. He's such a reliable guy that it feels like, "The Suo-Oshima office wouldn't run without you!"

I am currently a member of the Suo-Oshima Town Fire Department.

Yamada-chan

She's a reliable girl with a bit of a motherly personality.

She seems to be busy with all kinds of work. But she is always considerate and caring towards the other members, and always has chocolates in the fridge to give to them. She looks on with a smile as she watches everyone eat the food she made, and her occasional comments to her friends are just like her mom.

As I was working next to him, I overheard him handling customer phone calls with great efficiency and vigor, and the way he talked about work and also chatted with people in a fun and cheerful manner made me think, "That's just what I'd expect."

(Left) Yamada-chan's homemade tacos. (Right) A pumpkin she grows at home. "To make a big pumpkin, you need 20 leaves. Right now, it's 18," she told us.

Morino-chan

He is the only one of the three who was born and raised in Yamaguchi Prefecture.

At first glance, Morino-chan appears calm and collected, but she has a lot of energy. Once she starts painting, photography, and nails, she's the type to go all out. She customized her own home to create a sparkling girls' room. The quality of the place makes you forget you're living in the mountains the moment you enter. She lives happily with her "partner," who arrived by train with her when she moved.

He is actually the manager of the Suo-Oshima office accommodation building (currently undergoing renovation).

(Left) The girls' room, which surprised everyone who was invited. (Right) Morino-chan's partner, Bechita (a type of tropical fish called a betta).

Incidentally, these three are the only young people in the village where the office is located. One of them even said, "The other day, I made a friend who's 90 years old."

In June, Tanaka-san from the Bangkok office joined us, and the Suo-Oshima office is likely to become even more lively. I'm curious to see what the office members are up to now as they continue to be updated. There are also plans to renovate the accommodation building, so I hope to continue to tell you about the Suo-Oshima members who I'll be interacting with more and more in the future.