niime 百科

Encyclopedia of niime

Niime and Sakai’s discussion about “play” continues on, and it hasn’t ceased heating up. We have found that they have their own distinct differences in how they ‘play’.

Tamaki

I believe it is crucial to be open as to what we are doing now. We don’t need to show off how we are doing or to impress others.

Sakai

I recently put #niimetamaki on Instagram and then put in #life. At first I put in #fashion, but I felt it was not right to do so, because this is an essential fact in our lives, isn’t it?

Sakai

Children nowadays play with the smartphone games that parents give them, and they love it! I don’t know how I could explain…

Tamaki

I don’t know much about it, because I don’t have kids around me. But I have the impression they always focus on their smartphones.

Sakai

They always watch their smartphones. Whenever they have time, then the first thing they do is playing games. It’s a pretty common thing now.

Tamaki

If the things kids are given are suitable to activate their brains, I wouldn’t complain, but…

Sakai

I agree. Computer games are just offered to kids. They just waste time playing games. I don’t really recall any thrilling creative playing by kids nowadays.

——-You mean there’s no unique creative playtime?

Sakai

Nowadays, there are limitations or rules on anything they do. We don’t allow them to have adventures.

Tamaki

Yeah, kids are too protective! We take peace for granted. So they become passive.

Sakai

That’s why kids cannot play seriously.

Tamaki

They are always worried about something. They are afraid something will happen, or they will get into trouble. They always take protective lines. That’s why everything makes it boring.

——There may come a time no one understands kids adventure stories like “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.”

Tamaki

Yeah, kids would ask what adventures are. Because they cannot have that experience. ( to Sakai ) You mean when we used to explore here and there on our way home after school every day when we were little kids?

——Loitering on their way home.

Tamaki

We used to go exploring on mountains, but there are no such places anymore. It is so sad!

Sakai

Umm.

Tamaki

That’s why many people have a hard time getting out their comfort zones and trying more flexible ideas.

Sakai

Sakai: Why don’t we break the framework of ordinary senses to get rid of made-up concepts? That would help our staff to try connections with “play”?

Tamaki

We are not offering jobs to do.

——? What do you mean?

Tamaki

In our company, we don’t give our staff exact ideas about what they are supposed to do today.

——I see.

Tamaki

In each team, they have concepts what they should do, and each staff has assignments. We trust and depend on them what kind of things they do because they could create their own ideas.

Sakai

Yeah.

——I see.

Tamaki

Actually, I understood it clearly now. You see, I myself am a person who wants to be excited to try anything, but there is a difference with each person how much enthusiasm he or she has.

Sakai

For example?

Tamaki

We have a desire for our staff to have the same hopes as Tamaki Niime.

Sakai

That is true.

Tamaki

You know, I think our staff study more than me, and they are smart, but I’ve been thinking of the difference between my workers and me, and I came to know that they dare not reach out trying.

——They dare not try?

Tamaki

No! They do have ideas, but they don’t try to do them.

——Umm.

Tamaki

Those differences might be significant.

——Tamaki, you like to experiment, don’t you?

Tamaki

I love to do it, more than just thinking over and over. Because we don’t know how it comes out as results without doing.

——-Today, we get information to make us satisfied, and that’s it all about.

Tamaki

For me, getting information means doing it. So, getting information includes actions of collecting all those pieces of information.

——Oh, I see.

Tamaki

I get ideas while I experiment to get to know the ways of my originalities. I never want to end it just by acquiring bits of information.

——-You want to use your hands and legs to make the ideas belong to you.

Tamaki

I do it first by myself to see what I want. I try to change several ways in my ideas, for example, if this way may be cuter or not. In the process, I change somewhere here and there until I am complete, and I search for exciting ways.
I experiment with making my mind work. You wouldn’t get anything from only knowing the information to tell you that this way would give you this result.

——You always want to have a desire to make your own originality.

Tamaki

Exactly! That’s what I want for. I always search for it.

——The complete objects are only hints for you, aren’t they?

Tamaki

Yeah, they are only ingredients how we can cook for it. So, we have to reach out trying, searching for possibilities to know if we can succeed or not.

——I have found out in this discussion of “play” that Sakai is a creator from zero to one, and Tamaki is a creator adding one to plus two and more.

Tamaki

Yeah, we will find joy for playing there!

——Both of you find the importance of playing, but each of you takes different approaches.

Tamaki

Exactly. We are different. Sakai says he didn’t plan to play when he was a child, but I have been considering how I should play since my childhood.

Sakai

No! I haven’t thought about it at all!

Tamaki

That’s all I meant. Each one of us is different.

——There is a difference between you. (laugh)

Tamaki

That is right.

Sakai

I was more intuitive.

Tamaki

You are still intuitive, aren’t you?

Sakai

I think so.

Tamaki

The fact is because you were a child is not the reason of being intuitive. Because you still are. People’s personality wouldn’t change.

Sakai

I think our basic personalities may not change, however, as we grow up, we may improve.

Tamaki

You could say it in the most cases of people.

Sakai

You had grown up. Just like when you were a child.

Tamaki

I think I was a deep thinker since I was a child.

Sakai

I haven’t changed myself since my childhood, either.

——I believe many adults used to have rich play experiences in their childhood, but as they grow up, they have to have common sense.

Sakai

Playing is essential, basically. People who cannot play now weren’t like that as they were children. They changed as they grew up.

Tamaki

We learn to change ourselves with other surroundings.

Sakai

I have a strong personality, which helped me remain as myself.

Tamaki

I haven’t been influenced to change myself, either!

——-You two didn’t compromise yourselves to quit to do what you want.

Sakai

In a way, we are not skillful for living. We are too open, not to be good at making up in the world.

Tamaki

We cannot play a proper role in being good adults.

Sakai

We haven’t grown up, yet.

Tamaki

We dare not to grow up. We don’t want to do our business if we have to quit ourselves.

——For trying to impress others or bargaining.

Tamaki

If we have to do that to make our business larger, it is all right to keep ourselves like this, because we have enough to make our living.

——However, we may be in a time now that we cannot manage ourselves if we are bound by a limitation.

Tamaki

I do think it is important to open ourselves. We don’t have to show off or impress others. For example, it is all right to show our information of LINE WORKS to our customers. I feel good if we could share our information easily. I don’t feel the necessity to divide up the information of one for keeping for ours and others for customers.

——I think opening up your company is not only offering information but also providing openness with your customers.

Tamaki

Anyways, our big central theme we have from now on is “play”.

Sakai

The main point is how our staff could play. Because we are already playing.

Tamaki

From next year, we have decided to assign vegetable patches to each team.

——Sounds good.

Tamaki

They can plant their favourite veggies, it means we are living. This is not for a job, we do it because we cannot survive without eating.

Sakai

Recently I use hashtag of #tamakiniime in Instagram post and then #life follows. I had been using #fashion before, but I felt it is not right, because it is our life, itself. Don’t you think so?

Tamaki

I believe living is ‘playing’.

Original Japanese text by Seiji Koshikawa.
English translation by Adam & Michiko Whipple.