Whenever a new technology emerges, I want to explore how it can be combined with past technologies. Programmer Daisuke Motohashi

Hello, I'm Sugimoto, a writer living in Kyoto.
This is the 10th interview series " Freedom and Responsibility: Everyone's Systems and Work Styles Laboratory " in which I ask Monosus members who work fully flexibly and remotely about their work styles, their thoughts about the company, and their outlook on work. This is the 10th since I started interviewing and writing about it.

Our guest at this turning point is Daisuke Motohashi from the Kamiyama Satellite Office. One day in September, we visited the Kamiyama Valley Satellite Complex where Motohashi has his desk. The photo was taken by Reiko Takita, a designer who is also a member of the Monosasu website secretariat.

Photochemistry, biology, cognitive science. Always with a computer by your side

Sugimoto: Actually, this is the first time that an article about you has appeared on the Monosasu website, so please start by telling us about your profile.

Motohashi: I'm from Saitama. When I was about 10 years old, my father bought me a used NEC PC-6001 hobby PC, and I became obsessed with computers. When I went to high school, I chose Gunma National College of Technology because I was attracted by the large computer room. There were no uniforms, and I was able to do a lot of things quite freely. After five years of undergraduate studies, I went on to a two-year specialized course and obtained a bachelor's degree.

Sugimoto: What did you study at Gunma National College of Technology?

Motohashi: Chemistry. I studied chemistry during the day, and after school I spent all my time in the computer room with the Computer Science Club (a club activity). I accessed the inter-university network, joined a forum called "fj" and read articles. I also wrote HTML in vi for an early browser called "Mosaic" and created a website for the Electronics Club.

Sugimoto: What kind of research do you do in your graduate program?

Motohashi: In my fifth year of undergraduate studies, I studied photochemistry by shining a laser on a compound and examining the change in wavelength. In the specialist course, I moved to the bio-related field and began researching environmental purification, and in that lab I did experiments such as submerging carbon fibers in Lake Haruna to purify the water. After graduating, I went on to the Graduate School of Knowledge Science at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology. When I found out that each student was given a large booth, a Windows PC, and a SPARC (Sun Microsystems workstation) and could conduct research freely, I thought, "That's awesome!"

The graduate school had professors in the humanities, such as economics, sociology, and philosophy, and the professor I found particularly interesting was one who was researching cognitive science. He analyzes how humans react to stimuli and how they interpret and act, and I thought this would be a good fit for computers, so I joined his lab.

Sugimoto: From photochemistry to biology and cognitive science - that's an incredible range of fields. There seems to be some kind of internal connection within you, Mr. Motohashi.

Motohashi: So rather than just programming it on a computer and being done with it, you want to apply it to do something different?

Moving to Tokushima for work, then to Kamiyama and Monosas

Sugimoto: I heard that you used to work at JustSystems. Did you join the company as a new graduate?

Motohashi: That's right. JustSystems is a company with a free atmosphere like a university. Because it is an owner-operated company, there is freedom, and everyone is working on their computers until late at night, so it was like an extension of university. At that time, JustSystems was focusing on research into natural language processing (AI field). I had not researched natural language processing, but it seemed interesting, so I applied and was assigned to that department.

For the first three years or so, I was immersed in studying even more than I was in school. I was surrounded by researchers who had worked at the forefront of natural language processing, and we all held study sessions in English. I was able to participate in a lot of really cutting-edge research using computers, which was extremely interesting. However, about nine years after joining the company, JustSystems' management structure changed drastically after the company entered into a capital and business alliance with Keyence. I quit because I thought this was boring for me, and without looking at the world in a broader sense, I moved to a mobile web company in the building across the street, where I worked for two to three years.

Sugimoto: Eh? Why are you going to the company in the building across the street...?

Motohashi: Well, I didn't really feel like I needed to move (laughs). When I received the order to transfer to another department, I said "Oh, I see," and returned to my desk, and immediately sent out the resumes I had prepared. The company that replied the fastest happened to be in the building opposite. I didn't really move with the intention of "going there." I ended up here, that's how it felt.

Sugimoto: I see... So it was just by chance that you came to Kamiyama?

Motohashi: At that time, some of my classmates and seniors from JustSystems were working at a company in Kamiyama that was conducting a demonstration experiment of satellite work. They asked me if I was interested, and I went to hang out. After that, they called me back a while later, so I changed jobs to that company and came to Kamiyama in 2012.

Sugimoto: By the way, how many years have you been with Monosus?

Motohashi: It was April 2020. I had quit my previous job in January of that year and gone freelance. I remember that Manabe invited me while we were sitting around a bonfire in the courtyard of Kamaya (a restaurant in the Food Hub). When I joined the company, we had front-end engineers but no systems engineers, so it all made sense to me that he had reached out to me.

Motohashi-san, why are you so free?

Sugimoto: Listening to you talk, it seems like you've chosen places where you can be free. And it seems like you've been able to work quite freely wherever you go. Why is that so free?

This is what Motohashi's working style looks like. In the background, you can see the fans of Kamiyama Town's Ouka Ren (a group of Awa Odori dancers). Of course, Motohashi also dances.

Motohashi: I wonder why that is. On the contrary, I don't know what it is that everyone else feels is so restricted.

Sugimoto: As you do what you want to do, what are you going to be responsible for?

Motohashi: As an engineer, I am responsible to my clients, and as an employee, I am responsible to the company's expectations. Rather than "trying hard to make something good," I feel more like, "If I combine things like this, I think I can make something interesting."

Sugimoto: In relation to myself as a writer, when I desperately read through literature to write a manuscript, or when I meet and listen to people who have completely different values than me, I feel a little freer. Having my own framework shaken and expanded is a feeling close to freedom.

Motohashi: I somehow feel the same way. When you can do one more thing, you can combine it with what you could do in the past and do more. The more you do it, the more combinations you can make, and I think that's really satisfying.

Sugimoto: A writer's job is to deal with words, but words can lie and deceive people. That's why I think I have to keep questioning myself. In the same way, I think technology always has a dark side. How do you deal with technology, Mr. Motohashi?

Motohashi: I think the engineering education I received at Gunma National College of Technology has protected me in that regard. An engineer's job is to make new technology accessible to everyone, and how it is used should be bound by ethics. I remember there was a class called "Scientific Ethics" that warned against "pseudoscience." When new technology emerges, engineers tend to act on their curiosity. To prevent this, there is also ethics that tell them "you shouldn't do this," and the struggle between them is also interesting.

To begin with, I don't want to use my time to harm anyone. Creating something for a specific person has too narrow a target audience. The scope of the results is wider if it is aimed at an unspecified number of people in the future. That being said, I think I'm basically just driven by curiosity, thinking, "If I combine these things, I might be able to do something new!"

My job is to "draw out and shape" the system that the customer wants.

Sugimoto: It's been two years since you joined the company, and you've been creating systems mainly using Cybozu's "kintone." What prompted you to start using kintone?

Motohashi: The first time I came into contact with it was at a hackathon I participated in in 2013, when I created a system to automatically dispatch taxis using telephone lines. It was a system that managed data retrieved from KDDI's telephone exchange network API called "Twilio" on kintone. While I was working on this, I was approached by Sonorite Co., Ltd. , who wanted to "create an in-house system for kintone."

Sugimoto: When you are creating a system that a client wants, how do you go about your work?

Motohashi: Basically, I think that what a client says "I want you to make this kind of thing" is not necessarily what they really want. So my job is to pull out the ideal system from the client's mind and make it into something that works. So I don't do work that makes things exactly as they're told. There's nothing easier than making something according to a set design, but that's usually a waste of money and time. It ends up being cheaper to build up little by little and get closer to what the client really wants.

Sugimoto: Outside of work, you also make things using 3D printers at the Kamiyama Maker Space , participate in hackathons, and do all sorts of other things. Is there a difference between client work and personal creation?

Kamiyama Maker Space. Recently moved to a new building.
The shop is equipped with various tools, laser printers, 3D printers, and other equipment, and has become a manufacturing hub for the town. Motohashi has been a member since the shop's launch.

Motohashi: That's right. When we receive consultations from clients, they present us with some kind of problem. We create a system to solve that problem, but ultimately, it's something that we want to use ourselves.

Sugimoto: What is the most satisfying part of your job?

Motohashi: It's when you think about what you want to make, start making it, and then it starts to move. That feeling of satisfaction when you realize, "Ah, I did it! It's working!" hasn't changed since I was a child.

Sugimoto: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, you probably had few opportunities to interact with members from other offices. Is there anything you'd like to do together in the future?

Motohashi: If I knew what each member was doing, I think there would be a lot we could do together. There are a lot of things I can do, so I'd like to be useful in some way. There's nothing more satisfying than knowing that my skills are useful.

Motohashi-san excitedly told us about the objects he made at the Kamiyama Maker Space.

When he said to me, "I don't know why you all feel so restricted," I was surprised, but at the same time, it felt really good. Motohashi-san seems very natural. More than "natural," I'd say "as is," and he never says anything he doesn't think. He continues to do things that seem natural, but that we can no longer do as we normally would. I thought that must be a kind of talent.

Next time, I would like to write an article that provides more specific details about Mr. Motohashi's work.