Room to discover what you're good at through inexperience

".doto" was published in June 2020

-- ".doto," which was billed as the "unofficial guidebook to Eastern Hokkaido," attracted a lot of attention, raising 3.4 million yen in crowdfunding and winning the Grand Prize in the Regional Revitalization category at the Japan Regional Content Awards.

Nakanishi: We created ".doto" as a summary of what each of us had done in Okhotsk, Tokachi, and Kushiro. We thought that by publishing the relationships we had built with the regions in the form of an unofficial guidebook, people would be able to learn more about us and about the organization called ".doto."

In the crowdfunding campaign to raise production costs, 48 people donated in return for "help with production." As a result, it became a book that was created by everyone, not just by ourselves. These efforts were featured on television and other media, and our activities spread rapidly.

--Was that what you were aiming for?

Nakanishi: I hoped that would happen, but it actually turned out to be even better than I imagined. When we were planning the Eastern Hokkaido attraction campaign, we just had the feeling that "if interesting people come and meet interesting people, interesting things will happen." Rather than thinking about what the significance of it would be, we thought the most important thing was to take our guests around and have them meet people from Eastern Hokkaido. We thought that would also be a way for us to introduce ourselves. The same goes for the guidebook. We made it with the hope that it would help people get to know the people we love and become connected to them.

Interview with ".doto"

Nozawa: For the first two years or so after I joined Dot Doto, I was constantly wondering if I should stay. I had no experience in creative work to begin with, and I didn't know what I could do.

Even when I was told to "go and do a hearing," I didn't know what to ask, and I was in a state of "What should I do to direct?" Unlike Takuro, I had no experience in making magazines, and I had no creative track record, so I was wondering, "Where is the value of my existence?"

--You couldn't find your position in an organization with a lot of creative work.

Nozawa: That's right. That's why I took on all the tasks that no one else had to do, like bank transfers and shipping, that anyone could do. I thought that by doing that, I could gain my own position.

Nakanishi: Shige had been complaining about those kinds of worries, but the people around him didn't think so. He was also active in organizing events, and was even called "the project manager of Eastern Hokkaido." I'm sure the people around him thought more highly of him than he thought.

--How did you get rid of the feeling that "Is this really the place for me?"

Nozawa: It wasn't just because of some big trigger, but little by little, I was able to close more jobs myself, and my feelings changed. Work such as helping companies with recruiting had something in common with the work I did in my previous job, so I felt like it was one of the few areas I was good at. Once I started to see what I was good at, I no longer felt anxious about whether I should stay here.

Nakanishi: We were just talking about "taking on what anyone can do," and I think that's very important. You're not a professional in that field, but you try it. When that's recognized by the people around you, it leads to confidence, and before you know it, you've created your own position. Many people who have been involved with Dot Doto have achieved self-realization in this way.

That would be difficult if we were a rigid professional group, but since we are a DIY company, we have the leeway to try things out. Rather, we are looking for people who think, "I've never done this before, but I'll give it a try."

--The guidebook wasn't made by just a group of magazine production professionals, after all.

Nakanishi: Most of the people who helped with the production had no experience in making magazines. But when we asked them to proofread, some of them were really good at it. When you have no experience, you don't know what you're good at or bad at. So you can't recognize it yourself, but when you try it, you find that you're good at it, and that's recognized by those around you, and you end up with a special skill and position that you didn't even expect. I think this is a pretty important suggestion.

Even if you think "I can't do anything," by trying to do what you can, your value in the community will increase. This kind of thing happens a lot on Dot Doto.

--I'm sure that this phenomenon arose precisely because it was so open and there was so much room for involvement.

Nakanishi: That's right. There seems to be a lot of room for improvement in terms of both land and position. I think that's what's interesting about Eastern Hokkaido.

Interview with ".doto"

-- Dot Doto started with five people, and although there have been some changes in members, there are now nine board members. How do you recruit people?

Nakanishi: It's more like referral hiring, with people we have connections with joining us. It's not like we're looking for people for this type of job, but rather, we meet people at events, and they help us manage our social media accounts as interns, and then they end up becoming board members.

Nozawa: It's more like a mutual approach rather than recruiting. There are people who are interested in Dot Doto, and we would like them to get involved too.

Nakanishi: Of course, we need people to expand our business, but we also want to make a living through these connections. I don't know if that's the right attitude for a company, though.

Current board members: From the top left: Teru Komatsu, Chiharu Yokoi, Arisa Kudo, Takuro Nakanishi, Kashiko Sudo, and Takumi Yoshida. From the bottom left: Chihiro Nazuka, Riu Takahashi, Yumi Kumagai, and Kazumori Nozawa.

--So it's not an approach like, "I want to achieve this, so let's find this kind of person."

Nakanishi: Dot Doto has a vision of "Making Doto a place where people can realize their ideals." If the members working there couldn't realize their individual ideals, it would be strange for the company's attitude. The vision would be a lie. That's why we think it's important to pursue our own ideals.

Originally, we were a group of individual business owners, and we all had the common experience of "I couldn't do it as an individual, but when I created the organization Dot Doto, I was able to achieve more than I could have ever imagined." I think what was important there was that we came together and cooperated, rather than our individual skills. That's why I don't choose people to work with based on their skills or experience, but rather people who can work together to achieve their ideals. Creating a region or culture that allows each person to realize their dreams, or makes it easier to realize them. That's what we do as a business.