Provide opportunities for those who cannot share the same time and place

• Kunihiro Tanaka

  kunihirotanaka Sakura Internet will continue full remote. As the president, I am also an Okinawan and work remotely. Although we have a fine Osaka headquarters, we do not particularly encourage people to come to work. Because we want to make the opportunity available to all employees, not just those who can share the same time and place in a face-to-face setting.

kunihirotanaka However, we also encourage departments and others to schedule in-person meetings in advance. The board members also have regular camps and there are synchronous meetings. Because not all of us can do the work remotely, but not all of us can do the trust building of the team only remotely. Next month, for the first time in a long time, we will hold an event where all 1,000 employees will gather.

relevance - Examples of confusion associated with full remote release - Diversification of working places and hours

• free from the limitations of space and time.

• remote work

Sakura Internet President Kunihiro Tanaka has taken a clear stance on remote work, and his statements have garnered a lot of attention. Below is a summary of his main statements on remote work and their reactions.

Remarks by President Tanaka on remote work

• Continue remote work and provide opportunities for all employees
  • President Tanaka emphasizes Sakura Internet's policy of continuing full remote operation. For example, in his statement on February 6, 2025, he said, "I will continue to be fully remote. As president, I am also an Okinawan and work remotely. Although we have a splendid Osaka headquarters, we do not particularly encourage employees to come to work". As for the reason for this, he explained, "We want to provide opportunities for all employees, not just those who can share the same time and place face-to-face," indicating that he places importance on a working style that is not bound by region or situation.
• [Raising the issue of "Tokyo concentration" and the significance of remote work
  • In December 2024, he touched on the issue of the concentration of work in Tokyo, noting that "discussions of full remote work tend to be biased toward commuting in the Tokyo area, but the idea should extend to people in more distant areas. Citing his own experience of living in Okinawa while working as president, he said, "By allowing remote work, I want to create an environment where people can work outside of Tokyo. He positions this as part of the solution to Japan's structural issues and expresses his desire to contribute to the revitalization of rural areas and increase productivity.
• Redefining and downsizing the role of the office
  • As a result of the company-wide expansion of remote work following the Corona disaster, the decision was made to halve the size of the Tokyo branch office in January 2021. in an interview in 2020, he stated, "The office is not a place for work, but rather a place for communication and innovation," clearly demonstrating the shift to a remote premise of work The company has clearly stated its shift to a remote working style.
• Integration of Management Philosophy and Remote Work
  • President Tanaka links remote work to Sakura Internet's philosophy of "turning what you want to do into what you can do," rather than simply reforming the way you work. Based on the concept of "Affirmation First," which aims to benefit the entire company by creating an environment where minorities do not have to suffer, he states that the company aims to be a company where people can work anywhere in Japan.

Reaction to the statement

• Support from employees and the community
  • President Tanaka's policy has received a certain amount of support from employees and rural residents; in his December 2024 statement on X, he said, "The more people who live in rural areas, the more they understood this essence," reflecting the fact that full remote work expands work options for rural residents. In addition, while the number of employees is dispersed across the country, the attendance rate has settled around 10%, indicating that employees are embracing remote work.
• Stimulate discussion within and outside the industry
  • The 2024 statement that "a return to work is a declaration of defeat for failing to create a productivity-enhancing mechanism" has sparked controversy both within and outside of the industry. While gaining sympathy from proponents of remote work, the contrast with companies that emphasize coming to work has invigorated the debate. In particular, his viewpoint of using IT to solve the structural problem of Tokyo's concentration of workers has been praised by other managers and intellectuals as a "broad-minded approach," while some have countered that "if you only consider management efficiency, it is rational to have the Tokyo headquarters and come to work.
• Attention from media and investors
  • President Tanaka's comments were covered by the media, and his assertion in February 2025 that "we will not stop remote work" was reported as a new way of working discussion in the startup and IT industries. Also, as the company grew with the government cloud and GPU cloud, management centered on remote work attracted investor interest and was seen as a factor in the rise in stock price In March 2024, the stock price temporarily exceeded 10,000 yen, and the buzz amplified the response.
• Growing interest in social issues
  • The reference to regional development through remote work and measures to combat the declining birthrate ("If more people are concentrated in Tokyo, there will be fewer children") has been received as a deep insight into social issues. The message is more than just a corporate policy.

summary

• President Kunihiro Tanaka's comments on remote work are not merely limited to internal systems, but are tied to larger themes such as the concentration of work in Tokyo, regional development, and diversity in work styles. His stance of pursuing an environment in which employees can work anywhere in Japan while maintaining a fully remote work environment has resulted in new discussions in the industry and society, in addition to support from employees and local residents. On the other hand, there are also opinions about the contrast with the tendency to emphasize coming to work and the balance with management efficiency, and its influence and challenges are likely to continue to attract attention in the future.

This page is auto-translated from /nishio/同じ時間と場所を共有できない人に機会を用意 using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I'm very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.