Monosus Thailand has been in business for 10 years, and I have taken over as its president. Interview with Takuya Miyagawa, the new president

In 2024, following the change of CEO from Monosus founder Takahiro Hayashi to Taichi Manabe, Takuya Miyagawa was appointed as the new CEO of Monosus Thailand, an affiliated company. Miyagawa moved to Bangkok when Monosus Thailand was founded, and as a director, he has been involved in everything from opening new offices to managing local members. We spoke with him at the Yoyogi office about the circumstances behind this change in CEO and the future direction of Monosus Thailand.

Photo: Masami Hiroe

I wanted to try standing up on my own.

- Please tell us about the circumstances that led to the change in representative of Monosus Thailand (hereinafter referred to as Monotai).

Miyagawa : In April 2023, Hayashi told me that he would be replacing Manabe as Monosus' representative. He told me that there were several options for who would be the representative of Monotai, but that what Miya-chan wanted to do was the most important thing. There was a possibility that I would become the representative, and there was also a possibility that Hayashi would be replaced by Manabe, just like with Monosus. After thinking about various combinations and the impact for about a month, I told him that I wanted to be the representative.

For the past 10 years, I have been running Monothai in consultation with Mr. Hayashi. At monthly general meetings, Mr. Hayashi would tell everyone what he wanted them to know, and would give approval and support as necessary. However, from the beginning, he left the local management to me. I was largely responsible for moving forward on my own, reporting and sharing after the fact. Especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, Mr. Hayashi has been unable to come to Thailand, and our interactions with everyone have been decreasing.

- How did the Japanese executives respond to your expression of intent?

Miyagawa : Originally, Monothai was established in Thailand at Monosus's request. It is 100% made up of work received from Monosus's web business, Coding Factory (hereafter referred to as CF), and BtoB specialized website production services . Although it is a separate company, I have always acted with the interests of the entire group in mind, and I have told the Japanese executives that I would like them to continue to provide support and advice as appropriate. Mr. Hayashi said, "If Miya-chan takes over, I will agree without hesitation." I think that shows how much he trusted me.

Saying goodbye to Hayashi-san in style on a company trip

- What was the reaction of the Monotai members to the change in representative?

Miyagawa : I guess the Thai members might feel like he's been promoted. They probably don't know the actual relationship between me and Hayashi-san, so they just see it as "Miyagawa-san has been promoted to the position of CEO." One of our Thai members left the company and moved to the US, and he sent me a message in English on Instagram saying "Congratulations on becoming CEO." It might have been news enough for someone to tell the member who left. The Japanese members were more like "It's going to be tough from now on" than "Congratulations."

The Bangkok office in Thailand. We usually work remotely.

- Even among Thai people, Thai people and Japanese people have different reactions to things.

Miyagawa : I guess it was just a vague idea. The Japanese people knew about it at the general meeting of Monosus Japan, and about a month later there was a Monotai company trip, so Hayashi said, "Let me say goodbye to the Monotai members too." At the general meeting of Monotai held at that time, Hayashi spoke about the handover of the CEO position.

The Thai members of Monothai don't know Manabe-san, the new representative of Monothai Japan, yet. I hope we can create an opportunity to have Manabe-san come to Thailand someday. I have an image that he will be very friendly.

Monotai company trip in November 2023. "See you again, Hayashi-san!" said the Monotai members.

I have found it interesting to take on management responsibilities.

- Will anything change now that you, who is based in the area, are the representative of Monotai?

It's not just because I became the CEO, but I think we need to create jobs in Thailand as well. The yen has been depreciating rapidly since March 2022, and the interest rates between the United States and Japan remain at a large gap. In order to hedge risks, we would like to provide our value in Thailand as well, rather than relying solely on orders from Japan. Members who have left the company have moved to Japanese companies in Thailand, and we sometimes consult with them.

- As you become the representative, the areas of management responsibility you bear will become clearer, but how do you feel about this change?

Miyagawa : At Thai, the organizational and management challenges of the company were rewarding, and that's why I was able to continue there for 10 years. Even though Mr. Hayashi was the president, I think I was able to do my best to a certain extent.

When I was in Japan, I was in charge of a website project as a web director, but in fact, I had discussed transferring to another department in an interview just before the topic of Thailand came up. Then the topic of going to Thailand came up. The company wanted someone to go, and I wanted to do something new, so it was like our needs met. If I had been transferred to another department at that time, I'm sure it would have collapsed and I would have changed jobs. My friends sometimes say that I'm lucky because of the change in my situation from the outside.

- It's certainly lucky that opportunities have come your way in line with your own growth curve.

Miyagawa Hayashi once said that "luck is also part of a manager's job." There were some lucky moments when good people applied at a time when we were in a pinch, and we just happened to meet people. My own attitude has also changed in some ways while I was working in Thailand. That's where Hayashi laid the rails for me to become a manager. I think that through Hayashi's close commitment, I was able to develop the perspective of a manager, to look at the entire organization from a bird's-eye view.

Carrying multiple positions

- I'd like to ask you again about your current feelings, Mr. Miyagawa.

Miyagawa : My stomach hurts so much. It's like I'm numb. I think it would be the same whether I was the CEO or not. I'm the CEO of Monotai, but I'm also the business owner of the crowdfunding that Monotai receives orders for. Increasing Monosus' web work, including crowdfunding, will lead to profits for Monotai, and at the same time, we have to create jobs locally in Thailand. We have to work hard on both.

- I hear you're also involved in the project to create Monosus' personnel system.

Miyagawa: We have sorted out the new evaluation system, but there are still many areas to improve and issues to be addressed. From the perspective of the various positions I have experienced, I have been focusing on human resources projects since the year before last, as we need to improve the Monosus system, raise the quality of recruitment and onboarding, and take better care of our people. However, this is only possible if the Thai business is going smoothly, so in that sense, I think now is a critical time.

- It's still early days, but do you plan to continue working in Thailand from now on?

Miyagawa: I don't live in Thailand all year round now, but I feel a responsibility to continue for the members as long as I think it is necessary. I am now the representative, but depending on each member's strengths and characteristics, I would like to seek out the best management structure for the situation, handing it over to someone else or having someone new take on the role. In order to hand it over to the next generation in a healthy way, there is still a lot of growth to be had, including myself.

- Thank you very much. Please let us know how the Monotai is going.