TOKYO: They’re your own run-of-the-mill Japanese “salarymen”, hard-working, pot-bellied, pleasant and, well, rather regular.
However the chief executive and common manager at a small Japanese security firm are among the nation’s biggest TikTok stars, drawing 2 . 7 million followers and 54 million prefers, and honoured with awards as a trend-setter on the video-sharing application.
ALSO READ: Gen Unces wants to ditch corporate jobs for influencing, social media dreams
Daikyo Protection Co’s account, which gathers goofy dances, gobbled instant noodles and other everyday do, is the brainchild of the company president.
Despite his unpretentious demeanor, Daisuke Sakurai is dead seriously interested in not only enhancing brand power but also recruiting young people to their company, a challenge he or she sees as a matter of survival.
Sakurai holds the helmet at the Tokyo headquarters office associated with Daikyo Security Co. Sakurai is dead serious about not only improving brand power but additionally recruiting young people to his company, difficult he sees being a matter of survival. — AP
Created in 1967, Daikyo has 85 workers, 10 of them functioning at the headquarters workplace, tucked away on the 2nd floor of an obscure building in a downtown Tokyo alley.
“Our job is among the those labeled ‘Three-K’ in Japan, ” Sakurai said, referring to “kitsui, kitanai, kiken”, meaning, “hard, dirty and dangerous”.
A common job for Daikyo guards is to am employed at construction sites, leading traffic with a flashing stick, making sure the particular trucks come plus go safely with no running over people.
It’s not a career that requires overly unique skills, but no one wants to stand around outdoors for hours. As many as 99 security companies are fighting over each recruit, in contrast to two potential employers regarding office clerks, Sakurai said.
And this is in rapidly getting older Japan, where each sector is suffering a labour lack.
So why not turn to social media, the place where young children supposedly flock? Sakurai started posting upon Twitter and Instagram. But it was when he went on TikTok that things proceeded to go viral.
Sakurai (left) and Kojima take a TikTok video clip together as seen on the screen in the device (right) at the Tokyo headquarters workplace of Daikyo Safety Co. — AP
In a hit portion, General Manager Tomohiko Kojima slaps, having a flip of his hand, gel bedsheets, each decorated with all the eyes of various comic-book characters, on his boss’s face, right over his eyes.
“What is this personality? ” the subtitles ask in The english language.
No slashes are used, they say happily. Kojima had to keep trying until the strip landed just right.
“I don’t practice during my work hrs, ” he stated with a laugh.
The clips have a clear message: These people defy the belief of rigidly hierarchical, perhaps even oppressive, Western companies. At Daikyo, a worker reaches slap gel sheets on the CEO.
Before TikTok, the amount of people applying for job opportunities at Daikyo has been zero. After TikTok, the company is getting lots of applicants, including those of people who want to work on the videos.
Some of the videos, for example one in which the workers cook up the scrumptious omelette, unfold to the sounds of snappy songs, such as World’s Smallest Violin by American pop trio AJR.
They all depict the happy yet humble life of uniformed men and women at work who don’t get themselves too significantly.
They are Japan’s good guys. And it’s clear these people like each other quite definitely.
Their achievement contrasts with the picture of Japan Inc because falling behind in digital technology, specifically of older men who are fixed in their ways and unable to accept new technology.
Nowadays, TikTok is flooded with businesses seeking attention, from “izakaya” pubs and curly hair salons to taxi companies.
Sakurai has his eye on global influence now, hoping to draw workers from places like Vietnam and Indonesia, and allowing them to work in English.
And so a recent video clip features gel linens with various nations’ flags on them, the clip that has drawn thousands of comments plus millions of views.
Slap a flag from Mongolia, plus viewers from Mongolia comment in gratitude. Others request their favourite flags, be it Lithuania or Lebanon.
It’s a sign TikTok has helped Daikyo overcome language and cultural obstacles by simply hamming it up and getting a laugh.
“What makes our job worthwhile is the fact that it’s about people, ” Kojima said.
“What attracts me are people, not things. ” – AP