We want to live happily in the place we decide to live. Since its establishment in 2019, the general incorporated association “Dot Doto” has been developing its business one after another, involving many people, such as events inviting players from all over Japan to Doto, producing a guidebook that raised 3.4 million yen through crowdfunding, and managing a job information media in partnership with local companies and municipalities in the region. Since its establishment in 2019, “Dot Doto” has been expanding its business one after another while involving many people.

We asked Takuro Nakanishi and Kazumori Nozawa, founding members of Dot Doto, about how Dot Doto came to be and where it is headed in the future.

Takuro Nakanishi

Born in Kitami City, Hokkaido in 1988. In 2012, he made a U-turn to Kitami City and became the president of Dot Doto, a general incorporated association. In May 2019, he established Dot Doto, a social venture based in the Doto region of eastern Hokkaido, with the vision of “making Doto a place where ideals can be realized,” and assumed his current position.

Kazushige Nozawa

Born in Kyoto, Japan in 1988. After graduating from university, he joined Softbank Corp. in 2011. In 2016, he moved to Tokachi to take up a new position as a human resource agent in the agricultural sector, and was responsible for setting up a Hokkaido branch of a recruitment PR and immigration support business. He started a blog after arriving in Tokachi, which led him to other side jobs such as writing about local information, taking photos and videos, and coordinating internship programs, and in 2020, he will become a full-time DotDoto specialist.

Dot Doto began with a call for help.

――Congratulations on the 5th anniversary of the establishment of Dot Doto. In this issue, we would like to take another look back at the progress you have made so far and ask you about the changes you have gone through and the future prospects for your activities. Thank you very much for your time.

Nakanishi・Nozawa：Thank you very much for your time.

――First of all, please tell us about the background to the launch of the company. How did Dot Doto come into being?

Nakanishi：The first time I worked with the founding members of Dot Doto was at an event called “Operation Doto Attraction” held in March 2018. At the time, I was working on a magazine called “1988” in Kitami, and Kakijiro Tokutani, who was the editor-in-chief of a web media called Jimokoro, was coming to Doto with his acquaintances. I was very happy to be able to help him.

So instead of “Let's plan an event together!” Instead of “Let's organize an event together! I can't do it alone, so help me!” I can't do it alone, so help me!

March 2018 “Operation Attract East Hokkaido” held in March 2018

Nakanishi：At that time, I approached people who were active in Kushiro and Tokachi, and we decided to invite guests to the areas that raised the most support through crowdfunding, including Okhotsk, where I live.

Nozawa：I had seen the start of that crafan on social networking sites. At the time, I was working for an agricultural recruitment website in Tokachi, and I knew Takuro (Nakanishi) and all the other members who were planning the event.

I was immediately contacted by one of the project members and asked if I could help promote Tokachi through Kurafan. I thought it sounded like an interesting project and wanted to get involved, so I said, “Sure! I decided to help.

――What attracted you to want to be involved in this project?

Nozawa：At the time, I didn't know any of the guests. So I vividly remember thinking, “Who are we going to invite? But when I saw the reactions on social networking sites, I realized that they were great people. I thought I should get involved (laughs). (laughs). That was really how I felt at first. From there, I started helping Takuro and his colleagues whenever they held events.

The “School of Direct Brain Strikes” held in August 2018

Nakanishi：Operation Douto” was intended to be a one-off event, but the response was quite strong, and the planning members were invited to events in other places, and we also began to receive business inquiries. However, since we were a group of sole proprietors, it was difficult to work together. After discussions among the four planning members, we decided to create an organization that would serve as a receptacle. The idea of founding the company was conceived around November 2018, and I told everyone, including Nozawa, about it in January 2019.

――You were not among those four, were you?

Nozawa：Yes, that's right. I used to go to events to help out, but I wasn't in the meetings or anything. I thought of myself as about the fourth or fifth member.

Nakanishi：I had a few friends who helped me out at each event, so I asked them once when I started the organization. I asked them, “I'm thinking of creating a receptacle in East Hokkaido to do a variety of things, and would anyone like to get involved? I asked. At that time, Shige (Kazumori Nozawa) said he wanted to make a firm commitment.

Nozawa：It's just me (laughs).I said, “I'm forming a general incorporated association, who wants to be a board member?” I immediately said, “I'm in.

Nakanishi：So the five of us, including Shige, set up Dot Doto. However, there was not always work available, so we each continued to work on our own projects while cooperating on the projects Dot Doto received.

Board members at the time of establishment. From left: Kazumori Nozawa, Chihiro Nazuka, Takuro Nakanishi, Kashiko Sudo, Asami Jinguashi

Nozawa：It wasn't like we had meetings every day or were paid a fixed salary; it was more like I was a company employee working on a project-by-project basis. I think it was after we published “.doto” (an unofficial guidebook of Dot-Doto produced by Dot-Doto) that I started to receive a proper salary at Dot-Doto.