Producing digital content with a handmade feel together with colleagues who respect and support each other
- Office Kago Co., Ltd. -

Yes, that was in 1997. At the time, there was an incubation office opened by Hankyu Railways in a corner of Tenjinbashisuji 6-chome, the longest shopping arcade in Japan, and we started up in a three-tatami booth there. The booth next door was also three tatami, and the largest was six tatami, so it was a warm environment like a digital tenement house.
I was there for about four years, but for the first year and a half I was a freelance individual business owner. After that, a client asked me to make it into a company, so I turned it into a limited company and moved to Tokyo.

The proportion of work I was doing in Tokyo increased, and one day, after making frequent business trips, I fell ill and ended up being hospitalized in Tokyo for three weeks. Since my body was starting to feel exhausted if I wasn't in Tokyo, I decided to "move."
Once I made that decision, I couldn't stay still even while I was in the hospital, so I got permission to go out and started looking for a house, and by the time I was released from the hospital, I had found a new place to live. That was in 2002.
However, even after that, a little over half of my work is in Tokyo and a little less than the other half is in Osaka. I still have a lot of friends from my days at the incubation office in Osaka, so they help me out in various ways and I still get work done in Osaka.

I have staff stationed at my clients in Osaka, so I go back there regularly. I have a family home there too. It feels more like "coming home" than like a business trip. I've been living in Tokyo for a long time, but Seoul is still Osaka.

In addition to creating websites, a friend of mine at the time introduced me to Future Splash Animator (1996), which allows you to create animations using Illustrator vector files, and I became obsessed with web animations. That software soon changed to Macromedia Flash, and I was involved in planning and producing animations using Flash, as well as helping to create websites that linked with databases to run dynamic content.
It is because of this trend that I am now producing animation content for signage.

You also did live broadcasts from your workplace, right?

Yes. Together with my friends around the incubation office, we started a live streaming program for four years without anyone asking us to. A generous client let us use their broadband infrastructure for free, and we had young talents from Shochiku Entertainment appear on the show, giving it the appearance of a proper live Osaka comedy program.

Back when there was no Niconico or YouTube.

At that time, the users watching the broadcast were in the narrowband era, so the sound was clear on the very small screen of RealPlayer, but the video was one frame per 10 seconds. That was the era. Since there was no video, we used chat to have fun with users and hold live performances for 300 people, which we called offline live performances. It's easy to do now, but it was too early for our time (laughs).

That was the situation at the time.

Really. So after the show, I had fun drinking and talking with my colleagues from the incubation office and the young talents who appeared on the show until the morning. That's what it's like in your late 20s.

We have continued working with the client who provided us with the infrastructure, and the content of the work has become challenging because of the interesting times we had at the time.

That may be true. I'm grateful for that.
I also think that the fact that we are still good at creating "soft" content such as web animations is a trend that stems from this time.
For example, one of the most useful things to have on signage connected to the internet is a time signal or a clock, but our work expressing this with "takoyaki" won the Creative Award at the Digital Signage Awards in 2015. When we made this, we all actually cooked takoyaki together and took stop-motion pictures, so every night we were making and eating takoyaki...

You've gained weight.

We all ended up puffy after all (laughs).
I've created a variety of time signals and clock content up until now, but this one was live-action, so I even went into detail on the recipes, making it a job that I will remember fondly.
However, support for Flash will end in 2020, so in the future, web animations that incorporate dynamic data will have to be done with HTML5. That's where we'd like Monosus to help us again. As a company, we're working on this, hoping to put our efforts into it.

Around the time Shiro-san came to Tokyo, I was renting a desk in a printing shop in Musashi-Koyama and working as a designer at an office called "Fumufumu Office." At the same time, I was starting a group for mackerel lovers called the All Japan Mackerel Association and began an event called "Mackerel Night" where people would eat mackerel dishes.
Shiro-san was a friend of a member of that group, and we had lunch together.

Then, one day, I suddenly got a phone call. "Would you like to rent a space here (Office Kago)?" That was in October 2013.

At that time, I was already doing a lot of work, but we formed teams with various people for each project. When the project was finished, the team would disband, and the team would continue for ongoing projects. I was the only one in the company. So, to be honest, I wanted someone to answer the phone (laughs).
However, this experience made me realize that we needed to make the company into a proper organization, so I incorporated the company, hired employees, and became Office KAGO in its current form.

Although the number of staff has increased a little, the style of involving the best people and companies for each project has not changed. Some parts are done with the help of external partners, and some parts are done in-house. However, there are some things I want to change and some things I don't want to change in the future.
For example, when it comes to the flows and trendy production techniques that are essential for today's digital content, we want to build up our in-house skills while also relying on external partners. We want to put in place a system for this.
I hope we can continue to do business in the future with many companies like Monosus that we can collaborate with. This may be a feeling that comes from my background in an incubation office.

The shared studio started when the friends I made at the art class I attended were looking for a place where they could paint together on a regular basis. Kobayashi was the one who originally started the Saba activities.
The company's staff are not necessarily affiliated with any one of these groups, but they sometimes participate, sometimes work, and sometimes have leisurely chats, but by always sharing the same space they are able to stimulate each other and maintain a relationship that may lead to the birth of something new.

It's very difficult to explain, but at Office KAGO we call the space where we incubate with our colleagues club activities.

I thought it would be a good stimulus for a manufacturing company to have people making things digitally on the third floor and a room full of paints on the first floor where people are painting. At night, I heard a voice from below saying "I'm coming in!" from someone who came to paint after work, and someone who wants to do a two-person exhibition is still painting there. However, since it's an office, we have a proper NDA with the people who use it.
The people who gather here come from a variety of industries, but for some reason there are many who are more inclined towards digital manufacturing, which is very inspiring.
On the other hand, mackerel is not just delicious and fun, I am also interested in how Kobayashi will turn it into a business.

To be honest, it was something that came about as I continued my activities. But I was clear about what I wanted to do.
That is to connect consumers with the areas where the mackerel is produced. Currently, we are in charge of the permanent secretariat for an event called "Mackerel Summit," which is held once a year. "Mackerel Summit" is a food event where you can taste mackerel and mackerel dishes from all over Japan. While this type of event may usually be held in urban areas with large populations such as Tokyo, "Mackerel Summit" is held in a mackerel production area. Moreover, the location changes every year. In 2018, it was held in Matsuura City, Nagasaki Prefecture, a production area for seasonal mackerel (tokisaba).

I went too, but it was quite far away (lol). But there were an incredible number of customers and the atmosphere was very lively.

Some people come from far away, and this year's event in Matsuura attracted about 45,000 visitors. The city's population is 23,000. There were 31 booths from Aomori to Kagoshima, including from overseas. Depending on the place of origin, there are differences in how to eat mackerel, and it has a rich regional character. This event allows people to taste mackerel dishes from various regions and makes the host city happy. The next location has not yet been decided, but the event will continue to be held once a year in a mackerel producing area.

Since I was the one who started it, I can't stop (laughs). I'm from Aizu-Wakamatsu and grew up in the mountains, and I've always loved mackerel.

At the Mackerel Summit, we interact with many people involved from preparation to hosting. These include local governments such as the city and prefecture, local fishery associations promoting the mackerel brand, tourism associations, chambers of commerce, travel agencies, distributors, and the media. There are times when we ask for cooperation and explain one topic from various angles, but I think the know-how required to proceed with planning is common to any job, and I think it is useful in my work at Office KAGO.

There's no synergy effect if you're just having a drinking party among your friends. But when external relationships come into play, you have to do it, so you start making them. Submit a plan, do sales, get people involved, and give it shape. I think there's a big return for the company if each employee gains that kind of experience.
Of course, I don't think it's necessary for all employees to do or be able to do it, but it is beneficial for the company if someone suddenly emerges who has learned such things through club activities.

I learn a lot from his motivation, sense of responsibility, and pride in his creativity. I really respect him. For example, in May of this year, we exhibited signage content at the exhibition " APPS JAPAN 2018. "

It was the first time that our company set up a booth. However, we had no prior experience exhibiting, so we didn't know where to start.

I had experience exhibiting at a tourism-related exhibition before, so I held an internal meeting to say, "I'll help," but at that point, no one knew anything and nothing was made, so what were we going to do? So I quickly made a schedule.

I really respect that about him.

Once he is satisfied with something, he will work on it without sleep. He never gives up in the end. He creates his ideal form firmly within the schedule. I thought he was a true creator.
However, he is really bad at cleaning up and loses things, which annoys me. But the things he makes are wonderful. It makes me want to support him as much as I can.

That's right. Creators clash, and it's good for them to clash if it's a constructive clash. But you can't build a relationship where you can say anything with ease right away, so you have to build it up on a regular basis.
It would be strange if we could no longer say, "I think that's wrong!" We've talked about wanting to be an organization where everyone can bring out their strengths.

For me, it's someone who can drink. Someone who can drink with me and say "hooray". I don't want to drink alone with someone I don't like. In that sense, it's good to be with someone who has the same values as me.

A creative spirit, I guess. In the manufacturing field, someone who has the feeling that "as long as I'm alive, I'll never let you down." Of course, on top of that, it's also nice if they're easy to work with (laughs).