On May 23rd, ifs Future Research Institute (hereafter referred to as Future Research Institute), run by Itochu Fashion System, held a "Chat Thanksgiving" event to celebrate the Institute's 4th anniversary.
In addition to a monologue by Future Research Institute Director Kawashima Yoko titled "To the Men Who Don't Understand. To the Men Who Understand," reports on 2016 activities such as the "Summer Gifts of the Future" at Isetan Shinjuku Main Store, and reports on ongoing research activities, there were three talk sessions on the themes of "School of the Future," "Future Fashion Lab," and "Women Have Already Shined." In "Women Have Already Shined," Makiko Shinoda, CFO and General Manager of Hobonichi, said, "(In the past) I masculinized myself, thinking about how to win in a competitive society and over-optimizing. However, my way of thinking changed as I raised children, which is the complete opposite of work." She shared an anecdote: "One day, my husband said to me, 'Why don't we divide the work between our two children, with me looking after the older one and you looking after the younger one?' He was acting like he was smart, and I was surprised. Later, I wondered why he said it so confidently, and I realized that Japanese companies and the work they do affect their families." She continued, "I often get good ideas while preparing dinner and write them down. They talk about work-life balance, but there's no need to separate work and home. In the short term, efficiency may be slightly reduced, but not separating work and home allows people to naturally perform at their best." She also said, "Companies should try to do something about it while maintaining their detailed vertical divisions."
"My job is to be a housekeeper. When a project comes along, I put together an external team and my job is to look after the project and do the menial tasks. Sometimes I wonder what exactly I am, but it's best not to decide things in too much detail. When it comes to work, it's better to think about what you'll do tomorrow or the project you'll be working on in a month's time, rather than thinking about your career plan or what you'll do in 10 years' time," says Kawashima. To this, I replied, "In interviews, it's written as if I've made a logical progression towards becoming Hobonichi's CFO. But no one tells young people who hear or read this and try to think about their own futures that this isn't true. I want them to know how messy and worried I was at the time." At the "School of the Future," Yasuhiro Karakawa, an external researcher at the Future Lab and Associate Managing Director at Cornell University's Johnson School of Management, said, "I want to cultivate talent like 'wandering ants' and 'connoisseurs' who can discover new value and connect different industries without being bound by organizational or framework constraints. I want to create a culture that embraces experimentation and failure." At the "Future Fashion Lab," Nobuyuki Hayashi, an IT journalist and consultant and external researcher at the Future Lab, said, "I want to hold monthly talk events where participants can experience technology and hear honest feedback, focusing on creating wonderful combinations of fashion, beauty, and technology." Mihoko Nagai, head of Shiseido's Corporate Communications Division, said, "I want to incorporate new sensibilities and create new value." Tatsuya Kitagawa, head of the Digitalization Promotion Department in the IT Strategy Department of the Information Strategy Division at Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings, also said, "You can't create something interesting unless you mix completely different sensibilities."
The ifs Future Laboratory Salon will be temporarily closed at the end of December this year due to its proximity to the venues for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games, and is scheduled to reopen in September next year. Chat sessions and talk events will continue at a different venue.
