Hello to everyone visiting the Monosasu website. My name is Marina Endo, a writer.
A small radio show has started in Tokushima, a place with which Monosus has a deep connection. It's called " Toek Radio ." The hosts are staff from Tokushima's Nature School Toek .
Monosus met the people at Toek when we were creating our website.
This time, the radio broadcast that they had been talking about for several years has finally been launched as an internet radio station that distributes video and audio. Monosus is helping them with equipment, distribution support, system construction, etc.
In the trial broadcast part 2, which was aired in July prior to the official broadcast, the joke-loving CEO of TOEC, Tatsuro Ise, and the staff members Funa-san and Poo-san, who responded to his jokes, and Monosus' CEO, Hayashi, appeared. They had a one-hour talk.
How the two first met, how the radio show started, and their advice on problems. We'll be delivering a look at the packed day in two parts.
Carp- Hello everyone. I'm Funa, a staff member at Nature School Toek. On July 16, 2020, we would like to start the second trial broadcast of Toek Radio. Thank you for your support.
Everyone- Thank you very much.
- Carp
- Today, I, Funa, will be the host.
Some of you may not be familiar with TOEC, so let me start by giving a brief explanation.
TOEC is an NPO that operates a variety of projects, including running kindergartens and elementary schools and hosting free camps, with its main base in the southern part of Tokushima Prefecture.
This radio show invites TOEC staff members to chat with each other. Today, the second trial broadcast, is being streamed live on Facebook.
Ise- Oh, it's not a recording. It's a live broadcast. That's nice. I'm a little excited.
- Carp
- So, with that momentum, Tatsuro, please introduce yourself.
- Ise
- Hello, this is Tatsuro Ise from TOEC.
Right now, out of the 28 students attending TOEK Elementary School, the third and fourth graders are on a four-day, three-night trip called "Medium Trip." I was accompanying them until just now.
- Carp
- Where did I go this time?
- Ise
- There's a place called Mugi-cho, about 40km south of here. There's a really beautiful river and sea, and the kids had a blast playing there.
It's really fun. I was fishing until about 11pm yesterday, and it was all just image work. It was so free and easy. Everyone was saying things like, "There are yellowtails swimming!" and "There are sharks!" with a straight face.
- Carp
- There's no way they exist (laughs). I imagine it's below the surface of the ocean.
- Ise
- That's right. My brain is still on that journey.
- Carp
- Okay, one more person. Pooh, please introduce yourself.
Pooh- Hello, my name is Keiko Nakamoto. My nickname is Pooh. I teach elementary school.
While the 3rd and 4th graders were away on a medium-sized trip, we went to the sea with the 6th graders for 3 days and 2 nights and had a great time. Our team caught rays as soon as they got to the sea.
- Carp
- Hey!
- Ise
- They are really skilled. They catch rays and small sea bass called seigo. They are very skilled at fishing and many other things.
- Carp
- It's been 35 years since TOEK was born, but we're still all active, spending unique, ups and downs every day with the children in front of us.
This radio station was launched with the hope of being able to convey to people far away through the live voices of our staff about daily events, theories on human relationships that have been born from their many years of accumulated experience, and the essence of creating spaces.
- Ise
- We are currently also trying to crowdfund this radio show.
- Carp
- Yes. We are currently raising funds to buy radio equipment, update the website, and invite guests.
- Ise
- So, there's something I really wanted to say.
- Carp
- Please. Is this a joke?
- Ise
- No, not at all.
During the crowdfunding campaign, I received a lot of messages. The most recent comment was from a person named "Satoshi Kanai" from Nikko Nature School.
It seems like this crowdfunding dream is about to come true.
- Carp
- Ah... In the back, only one Monosus staff member laughed. Yes, I'm glad.
- Everyone
- (lol).
- Carp
- Now, about Monosus. Even though we were planning to start a radio station, we were not very good with mechanics or the Internet, so Monosus was a powerful ally.
They have prepared various things for the distribution, such as microphones and other equipment. I wanted to hear some secret stories about the radio, so today I asked Mr. Hayashi, the president of Monosus, to come to Tokushima. Mr. Hayashi, it's been a while since you last came here.
Hayashi- It's been four months.
- Pooh
- welcome back.
- Carp
- Mr. Hayashi, if you don't mind, could you please introduce yourself?
- Hayashi
- Yes, my name is Takahiro Hayashi. Monosus is a company that mainly produces web content, but we also run a food and agriculture company called the Food Hub Project, and have a satellite office in Kamiyama, Tokushima.
I wanted to make it a company where members could slowly realize what they wanted to do, but gradually, I started to lose track of what kind of business I was in (laughs).
- Carp
- First, I'd like to talk a little about how TOEC and Monosus met. It all started with an introduction by Yoshiaki Nishimura.
Nishimura-san has been interested in TOEC for a long time. He had been asking us for years, "Why don't you change your website?" But finally he got fed up and said, "I know a great person, I'll bring him in," and brought in Hayashi-san.
- Hayashi
- That's right. It brings back memories.
- Ise
- At the time, we were both suffering from a massive hangover, something we only experience once every few years, and we gave a really lame response.
- Pooh
- What did you do that day?
- Carp
- We had lunch right in front of this farm. Mr. Hayashi asked me some really good questions. But I was in a daze, so I just looked off into the distance and said, "Well, I guess so..."
- Ise
- I gave a terrible answer like, "Hmm, well, it varies" (laughs).
- Hayashi
- Yeah. I thought maybe they were testing me (laughs).
- Carp
- I'm sorry.
- Hayashi
- But it was precisely because she was so evasive and didn't really talk that the aftertaste was so interesting. I remember very clearly that the girl asked me, "What kind of work do you do?"
- Carp
- A kid from elementary school?
- Hayashi
- Yes. And the way he spoke to me at that time was really touching and great. It was like he spoke to me like a child, something I'd never felt before.
- Carp
- Like the appearance.
- Hayashi
- Yes. When I'm with kids, I feel like I have to be on guard or go along with them. But this girl was interested in me as an adult and spoke to me as an equal.
That was one of my formative experiences, and I think it would be great if I could talk to the members of my company in that way. Not like, "Hey, President!", but more like, "Hey, what are you doing, Hayashi-san?"
So I thought it would be interesting to have a lot of kids like that.
- Ise
- Children also take advantage of the fact that they are children, in most cases. But that may not be the case here. We both value being ourselves.
The same is true for employees and the president. To put it bluntly, employees may use their status as employees to curry favor or try to please the other person. Relationships that aren't like that are truly creative, and more democratic.
So Hayashi-san managed to capture that presence.
- Carp
- Wow, that's a good story.
- Ise
- Hayashi-san talked about how it would be good to increase employee freedom and make the company one for the individual. I found his perspective interesting and listened to him.
This is because it is similar to how we create spaces, how we create spaces for groups so that everyone can become free.
- Hayashi
- That's right, the prototype of this radio was also born during a meeting.
When we were talking about how to get the money to build a website, we started talking about paid e-mail newsletters. I guess that's how the idea for radio came about.
- Carp
- That's right. In the end it didn't happen, but it's something you've always wanted to do, Tatsuro-san.
- Ise
- We wanted to do it because we love to react.
It's the same with the story of Hayashi-san and the child that I mentioned earlier. The child showed his true self, and Hayashi-san responded to that. Various influences were then exerted on each other, and a chemical reaction occurred.
It may sound exaggerated, but that's the way I live and the way I view education. So responding to what people say on the radio, again without prior discussion, is something I really want to do.
The four of them met again for the first time in a long time. They looked back on their first meeting, laughed at Ise-san's jokes, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up.
For more details on the crowdfunding mentioned by Ise-san, please see below. It introduces TOEC's efforts and what the radio is aiming to achieve, so please take a look if you are interested.
"Toec Radio" is an online media that answers questions about child-rearing and educational difficulties in the form of a radio program. In the second part , we will bring you the main part of Toec Radio, the Q&A corner from listeners.