Coworking in Japan’s Countryside

ALTS enjoying “Akiya Art in Akita”

COWORKING IN JAPAN’S COUNTRYSIDE: AN INTERVIEW WITH MOE OGAWA

AKI REGAN

doned until Moe moved in in 2019.

I remember that summer when a coworker of mine told me that there was a new lady in town. She and two others had traveled from the small island of Koh Tao in the Gulf of Thailand to Mitane, a town of about 16,000 residents that’s symbol is a semi-aquatic edible plant called junsai with the goal of starting a coliving, coworking space in Japan’s countryside. Within a matter of three months, we had neighbors from Portugal, Switzerland, and from other parts of Japan.

Mitane, like many other rural areas in Japan, is facing the pressing threat of extinction with a graying and dwindling population. Located along the sea, its landscape alternates between extensive farmland and small pocket communities, lone vending machines (including one with x-rated content!?) here and there. Life feels slow and predictable, and if

you’ve watched enough anime maybe even familiar. Here, obachans in bonnets push their carts along the road, k-trucks rumble past, and once an hour the dinging of the railroad cross cuts through the quiet. Fire stations resemble garages, police stations are often unmanned, and sometimes the mailman makes it into your genkan (entrance) before you do. To outsiders, its safety, simplicity, and authenticity is alluring.

After our painting day, I revisited Moe to interview her for this article to talk to her about the start of Tanehub and her vision for its future. When I pulled up, new artwork covered the side of the house and the concrete fence in front (which was done by the local preschoolers). care-free, spunky, and has a refreshing enthusiasm about even the smallest things. We sat drinking some hibiscus tea that she had brought from Thailand and chatted.

You have been in the co-working business for some time now and have a co-working space in Koh Tao, Thailand too. Can you tell me about how you got into co-working?

In 2015, I moved from Koh Tao to Bali and I stayed there for 10 months. I was freelancing as a web designer but there was no good internet. I kept spending $5 per day just on the internet. It didn’t make sense. Even if I go to a cafe there’s no good internet. Then someone told me about a shop that had nice internet. It turned out that this place was a coworking space -- one of the most popular co-

Moe stands a little over five feet with wavy black hair that’s often pulled back. She’s

So at that time I saw this business style and I was so happy to be there and so happy to chat with the staff. I realized that this business was going to work in Koh Tao. In 2014, 2015, there weren’t many coworking spaces in the world yet. It was still new. I attended CU Asia, a coworking conference, and I met 150 people there. I started to tell them “next year I’m going to open a coworking space in Thailand’s Koh Tao.” And in January 2016, I opened Taohub with my business partner and an investor.

Wow, it sounds like things really moved quickly once you got the idea. Can you tell me about what your first few months of running Taohub was like?

I was so lucky to meet three Danish guys who were wanting to set up a company in Koh Tao. They started using Taohub’s facility for their work. They had hired developers from all over the world so just their group was over 10 people at a time. It wasn’t much of a profit but we could build a kind of culture and I learned so many things from them because I was so new to being a director of a coworking space.

It was so funny, we didn’t have money. We had gotten an investment for the building but we didn’t have much money to run the place. We didn’t have enough chairs. So in the beginning when we got a new

COWORKING IN JAPAN’S COUNTRYSIDE member, I’d get the membership fee and then buy a chair with that money. Koh Tao’s an island so it’d take a week to get a chair. And sometimes, we’d have cheap chairs like a stool with no back. I started to tell people “if you want to order your

own chair, this is the website.” And some of them were happy to buy it for themselves.

Many new coworking business owners think so much about what their facility needs. I always try to explain that what the facility needs depends on the people and what they want. I think the best way is to ask new members what they need, prepare that, and just welcome them as family.

What a wild start! It sounds like you were really successful in connecting with your guests and their needs which isn’t surprising to me given your personality. Most of them think they’re like Taohub family so maybe in that way I was successful. People who come over to coworking spaces come to meet people, to share knowledge, to share their feelings and fears. So I learned that a coworking space can be done anywhere, even in Akita.

Yeah, I think at the end of the day a sense of community is most important. So this brings me to my next question, why Mitane?

My dad had property here. It was his dream to build a house and retire in Mitane. After he passed away, I came to visit with my mom and we tried to give away my dad’s property to someone...we even contacted the government office. Everyone just said “no, no, no, we don’t need it,” it made me feel like I was pushing my dad’s death. This property was my

dad’s treasure. So I stopped pushing and I told my mom that I was going to use it somehow in the future. After I moved to

Thailand I learned so many things. I was sure that if I could take care of them, my Taohub family would be happy to come over to my dad’s place and to see the real Japan.

I love that you have a personal connection to the land. You mentioned before that you had only been to Akita a few times before deciding to start Tanehub here. Were you scared at all about starting a business here?

Not really. I was sure that once I was living here and gave a nice price, my Taohub family would come to visit me. I got so strong after Thailand. I learned that not everything is going to be on the schedule. Thailand’s joushiki (ordinary) equals no plans.

THE AKITAN hello or konnichiwa.” I thought maybe they [locals] wouldn’t answer in the beginning but they answered on the first day.

Especially as foreigners in rural Japan, the impressions we give off can carry a lot of weight. I often hear that Akitans have a stereotype of being hitoshimire, fearful of or shy around strangers. But it sounds like your experience suggests otherwise…

They don’t talk much but they’re patient and they know how to survive. When I opened Tanehub, I received so much soap, towels, and tissues because the locals saved everything to survive. Maybe not having enough was shameful. Like most Japanese people, they are so shy to ask for help.

The interesting thing was that when I thought about how to support them, lo-

How locals would react was the most scary thing. When we first came, I told my two friends “you need to keep saying

they didn't need help, they didn’t want to ask for help. But once I said, “I need your help,” they all came because they wanted to support me.

Even today, my neighbor gave me spinach and parsley so I gave her back chicken which I had marinated with miso, and some crepes. She was like “oh my god, I don’t have anything to give you.” In the end, she gave me flowers. They’re so happy to be close with people.

wI feel like that recognition is key to starting a sustainable business! Through my job, I’ve met so many inspiring young people that are collaborating with and learning from locals to start something new and it’s so cool!

There’s so much empty land and so much opportunity in Akita. You cannot do these things in the middle of Tokyo but you can do it in Akita easily without much cash. And once you do something, the local newspaper and TV station will come.

Compared to other prefectures, I think it’s much easier to start things in Akita because Akita people know how bad the situation is. When you go to other rural areas, there’s a bigger wall. They have more pride. But Akita is one of the worst prefectures for depopulation and so on, so they’re more open to ideas.

And someone told me once that Akita people know what it’s like to be an outsider. In the winter time, maybe they needed to move to Tokyo for work and then they would come back to Akita in the spring to farm. So maybe they treat people from the outside nicer than other places.

The Tanehub area is the same. Kita-Kanaoka Station was renovated about 60 years ago, the town made the land flat and sold it to that generation so many people on the west side of the tracks are newer. In Japan, preserving the honke (main household) is very important. Especially in the countryside, most people have history in the area so they want to protect the place. But many people here don’t have that same kind of history and [attachment to the land].

Wow, I never knew that. What an interesting perspective. Can you tell me a bit about some of the things you and TaneHub members have done with the com-

munity? Any favorite memories?

My favorite memory...so many things. People came over to share cultural things like tea ceremony and calligraphy, and we went to many summer festivals. One summer festival was in the middle of nowhere. Only the villagers came to dance together - no shops around. In the beginning there were only 10 people lined up and dancing in traditional Japanese clothes. Then they taught us how to dance bon-odori and in less than one hour, people started coming out from their house like “what’s going on?” and the dance circle grew to 20-30 people.

As a city person from Yokohama, I had never seen that. There are so many festivals here. The fireworks festival on the beach was also so nice. The fireworks festivals in Tokyo are so crowded, but here you can barbecue at the festival and see the fireworks without anything blocking your view. I was also really happy to see people that were [struggling] with depression connect with us. There’s an [alternative] school for students that can’t go to the local school. They do taiko drumming. We loved their drumming so we’ve visited them many times and they’ve come and visited us too. My friend told them about programming, and we told them that even if they can’t follow the Japanese education system or the Japanese rules, that they are still amazing people and could get some other job...that there

COWORKING IN JAPAN’S COUNTRYSIDE are many ways to make your life. As digital nomads and freelancers we don’t live a standard life, so I think it was good to tell them this.

Akita has so many festivals and they can feel so special and private. I remember how fun the local kabuki performance was, in a city that would’ve cost so much to see! We definitely wouldn’t have gotten to take pictures with the cast either. And, that conversation with the kids... what an eye-opening and inspiring thing to see and hear...

We got so many cultural experiences here and locals shared with us what is Japan. They are so happy to be hosts for us, they get energy and are so excited. And some of them learned from us too, that the world is big and life is different. Check out TaneHub here: https://tanehub.asia/about/

It sounds like it’s been a win-win. To finish up, what is your vision for the future of TaneHub?

One day I was drinking with my cousin who lives here. She told me “I’m so scared ten year later this village is going to be nearly empty. It's only people over 80 years old and now I’m 62 years old and no one will be able to call my ambulance.” This is what she said to me. She asked me to please try.

I don’t really dream to change the town. I don’t need to change the world. I just feel so sad that so many things seem worthless in this world. I want to bring back value to things. People might think that this is rubbish or not worth visiting...I just want to change this [attitude]. I know people will love it here.