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Yoshihiro Yamagishi

President of Okumusashi Mita-kai, 1969 Commerce

In Iruma City, Saitama Prefecture, there is a steamed bun with a slightly playful name called "Irumanju," which features a filling made by kneading powder from the local specialty, Sayama tea, into the bean paste.

In 2012, "Irumanju" appeared as a fictional specialty in the collaborative work "Koro-sensei VS Saiki Kusuo: The Final Battle in Iruma City," created by a popular manga artist from Iruma City for Shonen Jump NEXT!. As fans from across the country who saw the work sent requests to the city hall to commercialize it, a passionate letter written by a local junior high school student moved the mayor. However, when the city negotiated with Shueisha, the response was that commercialization would be difficult... But Iruma City didn't stop there. They decided that if they couldn't use the name, they would just change it, and after spending 10 months on development, they managed to release it as "Iruma no Manju." Later, Shueisha contacted them after hearing about this, and surprisingly, the official commercialization of "Irumanju" was decided, becoming a major hit product.

If you challenge yourself without giving up, the path will open! That is truly our town, Iruma City! Please come and visit Iruma City and enjoy it along with some Sayama tea.

Masumi Hirakoshi

Secretary of Nara Mita-kai, Nara Mahoroba Sommelier, Head of Sanskrit Juku, 1972 Letters

Soga no Iruka, who is described as a traitor in the "Nihon Shoki" and was killed in the Isshi Incident (645), is solemnly enshrined at Iruka Shrine in Shoko-cho, Kashihara City. This area is said to be the birthplace of Iruka's mother, and Iruka has been worshipped here to this day. It is said that Iruka was beheaded at the signal of a rooster's crow, and legend has it that people in Shoko-cho used to refrain from keeping chickens.

There is also a legend that his severed head flew to various places. Interestingly, it is said that Nakatomi no Kamatari, who was chased by Iruka's head, fled to Kitsuwaki Shrine on the mountain path leading from Ishibutai to Tanzan Shrine; because he said, "It will not come anymore (Mou konu darou)," the area is called "Moko no Mori" (The Forest of Already-This).

As a Nara resident who favors Iruka, I suspect that Iruka, the loser, was recorded as a villain in the official history. In the "Fujiwara Kaden," Iruka's academic mentor, the monk Min, praised Iruka as being the most talented "next to Kamatari."

This year's zodiac sign is exactly "Isshi" (Year of the Wood Snake), and I would like to turn my thoughts toward Iruka.

Ryosuke Saito

Director and Executive Officer COO of Whitelplus Inc., 2007 Economics

I founded Whiteplus Inc. in 2009 with the vision of "Creating a New Daily Life" to spark innovation in the field of "Lifestyle Services x Technology." We operate "Lenet," a service where you can order via smartphone and have your laundry done while staying at home. To launch a new service that has never existed before and spread it to the world, you need colleagues with the same aspirations. To ensure that each employee can play an active role, we put great effort into our hospitality during the onboarding process.

The welcome kit we provide on the first day—containing hoodies with the company logo, T-shirts designed with our values, a company history, business cards, and more—increases expectations upon joining and is well-received. We also hold orientations for each department and welcome lunches. This promotes interaction with senior employees and contributes to early team building.

"Who you work with" affects job performance and determines the success or failure of a business even more than "what you do." We will continue to spread innovative value to the world by deepening the bonds between employees and creating an environment where they can quickly excel.

Takeshige Nishiyama

Information Technology Teacher at Keio Yochisha Elementary School

At Yochisha, there is a class called "Information" that students from 1st to 6th grade take. The overall themes of the class are expressive activities using information devices and programming learning. The first semester for 1st graders serves as an introductory phase.

Back when we used computers in class, we could see innocent, fresh scenes typical of an introductory course. Many students were touching a computer for the first time and seemed to struggle even with moving the mouse as intended. Moving the mouse as desired and being able to click—that was the goal for the first semester.

When the use of one tablet PC per person began in 2018, the nature of the introductory phase changed significantly. Operations that used to be done with a mouse can now be easily executed by touching the screen directly. Using classroom apps to draw pictures, input text, view class materials, and submit assignments became the goals for the first semester. First graders master these in no time and become able to use tablet PCs as one of their stationery tools even in classes other than Information.