Hello. This is Omura from the editorial department.
Thank you for always visiting the Monosasu site!
What time and where are you watching?
On the train on your way to work? During your break or before going to bed?
I'm so glad you took the time to read it!
(I want to thank each and every one of you.)
Now, I have taken over the baton from the first editor-in-chief , Nakaniwa, and have become the editor-in-chief of the Monosas site. So, on this occasion, I would like to introduce myself again and tell you a little about what goes on behind the scenes at Monosas.
Why an analog person enters the web industry
I joined Monosus in January of last year. This was after six months of learning coding and writing at the "Kamiyama Monosus School" held in Kamiyama Town, Tokushima Prefecture. As I mentioned in my article about my time as a student , I worked in my hometown of Hiroshima before becoming a student.
In my previous job, I would go to events held in various places in the prefecture and create "special reports" that conveyed the situation at the event using photos and simple text. As soon as they were completed, I would print them out and hand them out to the event attendees, so I could see the reaction of the things I created right in front of my eyes.
Since it was a one-time event, there were some tough parts, but I was happy that people could take home what I had made as a "memory," so I always tried to do my best.
"Special reports" were made on the spot and distributed at the event venue. At that time, my companion was a stepladder.
I am an analog person at heart, accustomed to working with paper media and feeling more at home with paper and pencil than with a computer. However, it was when the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred that I became very conscious of the Web.
Of course, I had been using the Internet before, but the earthquake changed the way I used it and the way I interacted with it. What is dangerous and safe, what should I do now? With so much information available, choosing or not choosing a piece of information is a personal responsibility. I was keenly aware that we live in such an age.
What's more, what made the Web interesting for me was the existence of "small media" that stands in opposition to mass media.
I often read publications such as greenz , which disseminates information under the slogan "Create the future you want," Nihon Shigoto Kabushiki Gasha , which provides job information in the form of reading material, and MaMa Magazine (which also publishes a magazine), which proposes a new way of living with the motto "Taking care of yourself leads to taking care of nature and people." I felt that there is a way of sending out positive messages and encouraging others that is only possible in a small media outlet, and I looked forward to the daily updates.
MaMa Magazine is a small media that allows you to encounter words that will help you relax and unwind.
It was during this time that I came across a recruitment ad for Kamiyama Monosasu Juku in the Nihon Shigoto Hyakka. I remember reading, reading and reading the Monosasu site that was linked to it (laughs). Of course, the biggest reason was that I was interested in what I would be learning at the school, but I also felt a positive direction in the Monosasu site that was in common with "small media," and I wondered what kind of company Monosasu was, so I applied to the school.
The Monosas site is "alive"
After graduating from the school, I joined the editorial department, although I was curious about the company Monosus.
As you can see, the Monosasu site is like a daily calendar, with articles written by members updated every day (on business days).
The first thing I realized after joining the editorial department was that "updating articles every day" is much more difficult than I had imagined.
It may seem obvious, but the days just keep coming, so there's no end to it. We polish the articles written by our members, discuss what we think might be good to do, and complete them. If necessary, we also take photos to be used in the articles. The editorial department may be like a "runner-in-training" that encourages the writers and keeps running alongside them until each article is completed.
The most difficult thing I think is getting the members to write articles.
This site is made possible by the members' own words.
It wouldn't start without the words of the members.
How to get them to find time to write given their respective duties was a major challenge for the editorial department.
So, when I joined the editorial department, the "tea parties" started.
In order to communicate more with the members while creating each article, we decided that before each member started writing an article, they would have a 30-minute tea party with the editorial staff.
Actually, I'm a big tea lover.
Even when I was in Hiroshima, I looked forward to going to tea shops and attending herbal tea classes once a month. (When I came to Tokyo, the first thing I thought of was to learn how to brew Japanese tea at a shop I had always admired.)
I never thought we'd have "tea time" at work! I was excited at the idea of a "tea party" and was put in charge of preparing tea and sweets.
(Top) A scene from the tea party. Iwaki (foreground) from the editorial department and I welcomed the writers. As the saying goes, "Three heads are better than one," ideas are born from talking about various things.
(Below) The December tea party will be a Christmas-themed one. I want to make it a tea party that reflects the season as much as possible.
At the tea party, some members have already thought about what they want to write, but on the other hand, some members have no idea what to write at all. In those cases, I make it a point to start by having a fun conversation, asking questions like, "How are you doing lately?" and talking about things unrelated to work. Ultimately, we talk about what to write, and by getting the person to talk about their current situation, we can sometimes get an idea like, "I'll write about XX this time!"
We hold 30-minute tea parties with about 10 groups per month, and I feel that it (probably!) reduces the time that writers spend worrying about coming up with material, and that the communication before the article is written also makes the subsequent exchanges until the article is completed smoother.
For me too, the time we spend chatting over tea is precious, as I get to learn sides to the members that I didn't know before.
And snacks are an essential part of tea.
I always choose different snacks while thinking of the happy faces of everyone, but sometimes I make cakes and other things to bring. Last year, I was only able to make them when I had the time, but this year I hope to make more seasonal treats.
As the second editor-in-chief
When it was decided that I would take over as editor-in-chief from the first editor-in-chief, Nakaniwa, I was honestly worried about whether I would be able to do the job, given that it had only been my first year with the company.
But looking back on this past year, I have learned from many members things I couldn't do myself. It has been a year in which I have realized that there are many members who are willing to lend me their strength when I need it (for which I am truly grateful). And the Monosassu site itself is not something I could run on my own, but something I could only get going with the help of everyone. There is nothing that is "me alone."
Also, when I joined the editorial department, I once again wanted to know what it means to "edit information," and I came across the words of Masatake Matsuoka, an expert in information editing.
Editing skills start with having your own scissors and glue.
Always remember to include your own interests.
Of course, "knowing" is important, but perhaps there are many things we can do precisely because we "don't know"... I think that by unravelling the mystery that arose when I first encountered the Monosasu website - "What kind of company is Monosasu?" - through articles, we may be able to convey "the current Monosasu" from a perspective closer to the readers of this website.
At the beginning of this year, a member of the team told me something.
This is an episode in which his father read an article he wrote on the Monosasu website, and even though he's not usually the type of person to say such things, he said, "That's a good idea."
When I heard that, I felt like I had gotten a glimpse of the kind of communication that is possible only because of the Monosasru site, and I was very happy.
To be honest, I think it must be quite difficult for everyone to write the articles.
But even though it was hard, I think it was good.
I would like to foster an atmosphere where people can think like that.
And I hope that it will brighten the hearts of those who read it.
I hope that this site can provide such information, so I will continue to update it daily.
We hope you will continue to support the Monosasu site!
モノサスアーカイブ