Margins where you can find something you are good at with no experience.

.doto” published in June 2020.

――doto,” which was produced under the title ‘Unofficial Guidebook to East Hokkaido,’ raised 3.4 million yen in crowdfunding support and won the top prize in the regional development category at the Japan Regional Contents Awards.

Nakanishi：doto” was created as a compilation of what each member has done in Okhotsk, Tokachi, and Kushiro. By presenting the relationships we have built with the local communities in the form of an unofficial guidebook, we thought it would be a good way to let people know about ourselves and the DotDoto organization.

In the crafan to raise money for production costs, 48 people supported us for the return of “help with production”. As a result, it became a book made not only by us but by everyone. Many media outlets, including television, picked up on these efforts, and our activities quickly spread.

――Was that what you were aiming for?

Nakanishi：I had hoped that this would be the case, but in reality, it was more than I had imagined. At the time of Operation Lure East Hokkaido, I had the feeling that if interesting people came and met interesting people, interesting things would happen. I thought that the most important thing was to bring the guests around and have them meet the people of Doto, rather than to see what kind of significance there was to the event. I thought it would be a good way to introduce ourselves. We produced the guidebook in the same way, hoping that it would be an opportunity for people to get to know the people we like and to connect with them.

The “.doto” interview

Nozawa：For the first two years after I joined Dot Doto, I wondered if I was allowed to stay here. I had no experience in what one would call creative work, and I had no idea what I could do.

They would say, “Go to the hearing,” but I wouldn't know what to ask, and I'd be like, “How can I direct?” I was like, “How do I direct? I had no experience in magazine production like Takuro and no track record in creative work, so I was thinking, “Where is the value of my existence?

――You couldn't find a position for yourself in an organization with so many creative jobs.

Nozawa：That's right. So I was taking on all the duties that everyone else didn't have to do, like transfers and shipping and all the other things that anyone could do. I was trying to gain my position by doing that.

Nakanishi：Shige sometimes spilled such concerns, but people around him did not think so. He was also active in organizing events, and was sometimes called the “Promoter of the East of Hokkaido. I am sure that people around him thought more highly of him than he thought.

――How did you get rid of the feeling of “I wonder if I can stay here?

Nozawa：It wasn't just some big trigger, but my feelings changed as I gradually began to do more and more work that I could close on my own. Jobs such as helping companies recruit had something in common with the work I was doing at my previous job, so I thought it was one of the few things I was good at. Once I found what I was good at, I no longer felt anxious about whether or not I could stay at this company.

Nakanishi：Earlier you talked about “taking on something that anyone can do,” and I think that's very important. I am not a professional in that field, but I will try. When people around you recognize your efforts, you gain confidence, and before you know it, you find yourself in a position where you can make a difference. There are many people who have been involved with Dot Doto who have achieved self-realization in this way.

I think that would be difficult if we were a group of stiff professionals, but since we are a DIY group, there is room for us to try. Rather, we are looking for people who have never done it before, but are willing to give it a try.

――The guidebooks were not created by just gathering together professionals in the field of magazine production, right?

Nakanishi：Most of the people who assisted us in production had no experience in magazine making. However, when we asked them to proofread, some of them were very good at it. When you have no experience in something, you don't know what you are good at or not good at. So you cannot be self-aware, but when you try it, you find that you are good at it, and people around you recognize that, and you develop a skill or position that you never thought you had. I think this is quite an important sign.

Even if you think “I can't do anything,” by doing what you can do, your presence in the community becomes more valuable. That is what often happens in Dot-do East.

――That is surely a phenomenon that came about because of the openness and the large amount of room for involvement.

Nakanishi：Yes, it is. There is a lot of blank space in the land and in the position. I think that is one of the interesting things about East Hokkaido.

The “.doto” interview

――Dot Doto started with 5 members and now has 9 board members, with some member turnover. How is recruitment conducted?

Nakanishi：We are hiring referrals, or people who have a connection to the company. It is not a case of saying, “We are looking for people with this kind of job title,” but rather, people who met at an event and helped us with SNS operations as interns have become board members.

Nozawa：It's not so much recruiting as it is a mutual approach. There are people who are interested in Dot Doto, and they want us to be involved as well.

Nakanishi：Of course, we need people to expand our business, but we also want to create our own food supply through our connections. I don't know if that is the right attitude for a company.

Current board members. Upper row from left: Teruki Komatsu, Chiharu Yokoi, Yarisa Kudo, Takuro Nakanishi, Kashiko Sudo, Takumi Yoshida. Bottom row, from left: Chihiro Nazuka, Riu Takahashi, Yumi Kumagai, Kazumori Nozawa.

――It is not a way of proceeding, saying, “We want to make this happen, so let's look for someone like this.

Nakanishi：Dot Doto has a vision of “making Dot Doto a place where ideals can be realized. However, if the members working at Dot Doto fail to realize their individual ideals, it would be a strange attitude for a company. The vision would become a lie. That is why we place importance on pursuing our own ideals.

Originally a group of sole proprietors, we had the common experience of saying, “We couldn't have done it as individuals, but when we formed the organization Dot Doto, we were able to do more than we had imagined. What was important was not so much our individual skills, but the fact that we came together and worked together. Therefore, I would like the people I work with to be people who can cooperate with each other to achieve their ideals, rather than being selected based on their skills or experience. We want to create an area and a climate that will facilitate the realization of what each of us wants to do. That is what we are doing as a business.