niime 百科

Encyclopedia of niime

This time, the “niime encyclopedia”, is the “Wa team” volume. What is the “Wa（わ） team”? What on earth are they doing?? Let’s get started. Hiroko Motooka, the youngest team leader, entered the tabe room, and we started the interview.

——Though she is the youngest, Ms Motooka is the most senior member of the team, isn’t she?

Motooka

It’s been about two and a half years now. I was originally part of the “Sewing team”. I was working part-time for about a year in the beginning because I wanted to draw in private, but I’m too busy to draw.

Tamaki

You’re a very talented staff member, so you are always busy.

——But you didn’t dislike it, right?

Motooka

No, I didn’t.

——You didn’t know what to do, right? (laugh)

Motooka

I didn’t expect that. (laugh)

Tamaki

It’s different from what you planned. Did you think about what you were going to do? (laugh)

——Was there some frustration?

Motooka

Yes. Well, I hadn’t drawn much anyway.

——What kind of pictures do you draw? Oil painting?

Motooka

My major was Japanese painting when I was a university student, but my style of painting isn’t Japanese painting at all. It’s more of abstract art.

Tamaki

You also draw a print shawl, so you can reduce some stress there, right? (laugh)

Motooka

A little. (laugh)

Tamaki

I’m leaving every “exhibit” to you, the website, promotions and the online shop, too.

Motooka

I don’t think I have done that well at all.

——When were you put in charge?

Motooka

While I was doing print shawls and cutting denim while sewing …that kind of job has increased little by little, and from around the 2nd-anniversary event “Futatsu-kai”, I was put in charge of leaflets or visual production… I couldn’t be in sewing any more.

Tamaki

It looked like you were kicked out.

Here, Hideaki Ohama and Shohei Kubo appeared together.

Sakai

The interesting thing is that Kubo-kun was originally freelance.

Tamaki

So he was a lone wolf.

Sakai

Ask the “Wa team” for more details.

Tamaki

Ask for more!

——What about the time limit …?

Tamaki

No time limit.

——I thought you would say that. (laugh) Well, is anyone not here today?

Tamaki and Sakai

Hashimoto-kun.

——Thank you again for your cooperation. You three are in charge of many roles…

Ohama

Yes, we do.

Kubo

I feel they are mixed. I …well, I shoot and register items. Mainly, Ms Motooka is in charge of the tamaki niime’s promotional products at the main shop here and also designs and creates pillars such as the online shop site that has begun the other day. I mainly design and develop data used for things that are needed for such as department stores and events.

——Mr Kubo, you are also in charge of the YouTube channel “tamaki niime’s daily life”. I think that Mr Ohama’s work is very diverse as well. He is also in charge of the serialization of this “niime encyclopedia”.

Ohama

Basically, I’m building a system. On the front side of the web, Ms Motooka is the leading player. I’m handling our online shop, a B to B mechanism with corporate customers, and new internal functions. I’m a front person who deals with them as a new contact.

——It’s pretty invisible …

Ohama

I guess.

——It’s an important role.

Ohama

Additionally, I manage the only one items in the warehouse. It’s also my responsibility for dealing with any problems that may come up with. The clerical part of shipping when the orders are placed at the online shop. It’s part of what I do.

——By the way, what kind of job does Kuninori Hashimoto do?

Kubo

He has a wide range of responsibility.

——Seriously, each of you has a variety of roles.

Kubo

He had been making clothes since he was a student, so he can draw patterns, design and sew. After that, his aim was to be a painter. He also managed EC sites in his previous job. So he’s also good at inventory management and photography. He also draws visual drawings for the 2019 autumn and winter collection. And he also registers new works.

——The “Wa team” is a group of people with diverse abilities, correct?

Kubo

We have different backgrounds.

——Isn’t everyone something different? Ms Motooka was originally from the University of the Arts, right?

Motooka

Yes.

——What about you, Mr Kubo?

Kubo

I’m from a vocational school for interior design.

——How about you, Mr Ohama?

Ohama

I have a bachelors in business management.

——And Mr Hashimoto was studying fashion. It’s a great variety, isn’t it? When was the actual start of the “Wa team”?

Ohama

When was the actual start?

Motooka

After the “Futatsu-kai” in summer of the year before last, Ohama joined the company. At that time, we started the “web team”. It was also the time when I started making flyers for the “Futatsu-kai,” and that kind of work started to increase. Mr Hashimoto came in about two months later, and Mr Kubo came in about March last year.

——I see. I roughly understand the history of the “Wa team”.

Motooka

The “Web team” was renamed as the “Visual team” in a few months.

——I do remember the “Visual team”. Aren’t they kind of the same?

Motooka

Yes. Only the name has changed. And it became the “Wa（わ） team” around in March.

——Actually, they were same, and we thought the hiragana was better. We are working in the shop counter and…

Motooka

We also have a place where we shoot each piece one by one. So we have two locations.

——I see. So how is it? …it’s kind of a vague question. (laugh)

Motooka

As I said, there are a wide range of duties, so there are endless things to do.

——I see.

Motooka

Yeah. So… Only four of us somehow manage to take care of everything.

——Oh, I see… Not just for sales promotion.

Kubo

There are sale promotion aspects, but there are many other things too.

——What was the origin of the name of the “Wa team”? Is it the centre of each team?

Motooka

By creating such a team, there is a connection with the outside (the company), and there is also a connection between the (inside) groups, so we name/call it “Wa (わ)”.

——Does it connect them? Firmly.

Motooka

I think it does.

Ohama

We are trying to connect them.

——When you, Mr Ohama first joined the company, I heard that you established the “root of tamaki niime,” which is the corporate philosophy and management guidelines of the tamaki niime brand. “Enjoy creation and continue to search for something earth-friendly.” That was a proposal from Mr Ohama, right?

Ohama

That’s right.

——I had an impression that an interesting person came in. It was a proposal of words that would be the basis of all the staff, such as vector alignment of the efforts of various things as a brand and unification of consciousness. Right?

Ohama

That’s right. Of course, I made a suggestion that it would be better to verbalize the ideas that came out from Tamaki and Sakai when we were talking.

——I also thought that it was appropriate that verbalization was necessary. It can be shared by making it into a language.

Ohama

At that time, I wanted to understand the organization of tamaki niime, Tamaki and Sakai. I tried to make it into a language, which was the very first thing I did.

——I see.

Ohama

I suggested that we could connect it to other people around us if we could put it into words. So, I’m glad that things started taking shape. And now we should try to let everyone know it. I mean, there is still a lot of work left to do in getting people to understand.

——Hmmm…

Ohama

I think that the fact that I was so particular about verbalization (that it) gave them a strong sense of just learning words.

——Like, merely making people remember the phrases?

Ohama

Yes, that’s why there were probably some people who rejected the idea, and I couldn’t picture the next step by myself. Because of that, the “Wa team” was made, and we’ve stepped up to create a form in which everyone’s ideas are based on one policy. That’s how I feel now.

——A word like “Compass” that can be a guide for everyone’s action by raising it and can also correct the trajectory. From that time onwards, I think that tamaki niime was becoming more organized. I also have the impression that from that point on, we are not limited to creating, but are also active in PR and promoting sales..

Motooka

But I think … it’s still not “basically” good enough.

——What do you mean?

Motooka

Ummm, I’m making things that are in need, such as brochures, the web, and recently the online shop. It lacks coherence. We have to create something that can be expressed from a more “root” (point). Right now, it’s still superficial. I feel we’ve ended up in such a place, but I hope we can do a better job that will straighten the depths.

——To design or visualize the core a bit more?

Motooka

That’s right.

——How about you, Mr Kubo?

Kubo

Well, Mr Ohama and Ms Motooka talked about the “root”. Since our company changes a lot, the part around the “root” often changes. We also talked about the verbalization earlier, but I think it’s quite challenging to verbalize our company, including logic and rationality. Personally, I don’t think we can narrow it so easily with them, thus defining it becomes a lot of work.

——I see.

Kubo

There are too many things that we should explain. It’s easy to explain when we are talking to Tamaki, but it’s complicated to explain to people on the outside. We have too many things.

——Yeah, yeah.

Kubo

To put it all together, if we set this up, there will be some other things that we would like to say next, no, we can’t explain this enough. If we can parallelize them, we would say that the core brought up by the concept and in language. It would be possible to visualize what we grasped as Ms Motooka says. But it might be difficult.

——Ummm.

Kubo

Basically, we’re like being outside of logic.

——Outside of logic. I see.

Kubo

I feel that our thought itself is outside the logic.

——Of course, there are parts that you can’t say logically, and if you try to make it into a language, it may not fit. Maybe Ms Tamaki and Mr Sakai want some of that. (laugh)

Motooka

Yes, they do. (laugh)

Kubo

Because they are playing. (laugh)

——If you want to explain, go for it! That’s something they are thinking.

Ohama

Indeed.

Kubo

So, can you catch it? Something like that.

——You cannot find anything exciting like that. It would be worthwhile if you were the one who has to explain, but it would be difficult … It seems that you are struggling every day with it.

Motooka

We must accept that it is changing, and because it’s interesting, we’d like to shape it each time. But since there are still parts that do not change, it is like a fundamental idea there, isn’t it?

——Yeah.

Motooka

We hope we can adequately support that. On that, we will do this next, and it will be this kind of development. Even if the directions seem different, the original thought is the same, (so) we would like to explain a little better.

——For Ms Motooka, including all of you, might think similarly. Now you are just dealing with each decision each time, but you prefer to be more responsible and firmer from the deep end.

Motooka

From the outside, people can only see the part cross-sectionally here and now, but if they can’t see the whole thing with directions, they might get confused.

——Oh … that’s very difficult. You should design and deliver messages while considering the danger of being distorted. You may have to be careful, but if you’re too careful, you lose the momentum. I think you’ve been listening to Ms Tamaki and Mr Sakai’s thoughts every day, but how to get people to understand the core message.

Motooka

It’s more like a whole idea, rather than a language, so Ms Tamaki doesn’t even say everything in words.

——Well, there are times when she’s gesturing. Indeed.

Motooka

Unless we understand what she (Ms Tamaki)’s saying about this much, including the intentions of the surrounding wills, we are not sure I’m going in the right direction. What? It’s like going in a different direction.

——Even when I interviewed in the “niime encyclopedia”, there is such a moment. It’s difficult, isn’t it? It’s like a struggling “Wa team”. (laugh)

Ohama and Kubo

(laugh)

Motooka

We’re always struggling. (laugh)

How can they verbally and visually convey the brand “tamaki niime”, which has a solid core but is continuously changing like an amoeba? The members of the “Wa team” work on this high-level mission every day. Please look forward to the next time when they can talk about their worth and their future prospects, including the launch of the brand and their responsibility.

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