MOTIVATION｜The struggle of a grocer

After graduating from graduate school, Mr. Sugimoto moved to Tokyo and was working as a manager of a grocery store to promote vegetables from Kyushu to give back to Miyazaki. At the time, he was often interviewed by the media, but in reality, he had a complexity as a hired store manager and an unfulfilled desire to create tourism and experiences. Things started to happen when he took the stage at a talk event. At a drinking party after the event, he expressed his desire to launch a project that would somehow repay Miyazaki's kindness to him to the speakers and related staff, and everyone there agreed to participate. Here, suddenly, the KINAIYO team was formed.

ツナガリ｜「一夜」は1日にしてならず

KINAIYOメンバーのスキルは、彼らがトークイベントを回していたスタッフ達ということもあり、カメラ、デザイン、執筆、さらにPR、ディレクションなど色とりどりだった。登壇イベント後の「転機の夜」に、杉本さんが一声をかけて彼らが大集結してしまったとあれば、まるで漫画のストーリーのように見える。ところが、図解しつつそれまでの流れを深掘っていくと、学生時代のボランティアや八百屋店長の経験があってこその一夜だったに過ぎないことが見えてくる。立ち上げ後に難なくクリアしたクラウドファンディングも、八百屋として一度経験があったことがハードルを下げてくれていた。

ECOSYSTEM｜​​“Miracle night” was not built in a day

The skills of the KINAIYO members were diverse, including photography, design, writing, PR, and direction, as they were the staff who ran the talk event. It seems like a story from a comic book when Sugimoto-san calls out to them at the "night of turning point" after the talk event and they all gathered together. However, if you dig deeper into the story, you will find that the night was only a result of his experiences as a student volunteer and a grocery store manager. His experience as a greengrocer also lowered the obstacle of crowdfunding, which he cleared without difficulty after the launch.

コツ｜メンバーが助けるしかない

「自分には何もできない。」これは杉本さんがインタビューで何度も口にした言葉だ。そしてこうも言っている。「けれど僕がやりたいと言い続けて、誰かが一緒にやろうと言ってくれれば、もうそれは実現したようなもの。」自分は旗振りをとにかく辞めない、そうやってチームを盛り上げてきたのだ。まずやりたいと思ったことを人にどんどん話す。そしてチームが結成された後はメンバーにとっての幸せを考えて、お金の報酬はなくとも彼らが幸せになれるプロジェクトの姿を模索する。さらに、絶えずメンバーに愛を伝え、ビジョンを伝える。杉本さんはこれらを意識的に行動に移しているそうだ。語りかければ一人一人が自分のモチベーションでできるだけの力を発揮したくなる。そして嫌でも団結しないといけない。なにせ、リーダーは「何もできない」のだから。

TIPS｜The members will have to help.

"There is nothing I can do." These are words that Mr. Sugimoto has said many times in interviews. He also said this. "But if I keep saying I want to do it, and someone says let's do it together, it's as if it's already happened." He never stops waving the flag, and that's how he has been able to get the team going. First, he talks to people about what he wants to do. After the team is formed, he thinks about the happiness of the team members and tries to find a project that will make them happy even if there is no monetary reward. In addition, he constantly conveys his love and vision to the team members. Mr. Sugimoto says that he consciously puts these things into action. If he talks to them, each one of them will want to show as much strength as they can with their own motivation. And even if they don't want to, they have to unite. After all, the leader "can't do anything.

コレカラ｜次の少年

少年の頃のような、仲間と秘密基地を作る楽しさ。新しいものを見つける楽しさ。それらが日々の生き甲斐であって、地域でやるということはあまり重要ではないと杉本さんは語る。KINAIYOが幕を閉じてからすでに３年が経ち、宮崎に拠点を移した杉本さんは、ツアーの企画にはじまり、本屋を作り、ゲストハウスの運営をし、日南のローカルメディアを立ち上げるなど、多岐にわたりプロジェクトをつくり続けている。「これからは外と宮崎をつないでいきたい。」世界の変化がいかに想像を超えていっても、いまを楽しめるコトを杉本さんは仕掛けていくのだろう。——いま、日南で誰よりも輝いてみえる大人たち。彼らをみて次の世代の「少年」が生まれることは、想像に難くない。

FOR THE FUTURE｜The next boy

The fun of building a secret base with friends, just like when you were a boy. The joy of discovering new things. Three years have already passed since KINAIYO closed its doors. Sugimoto has moved his base to Miyazaki, where he continues to create a wide variety of projects, starting with planning tours, building a bookstore, managing a guesthouse, and launching local media in Nichinan. "From now on", he says "I want to connect Miyazaki with the outside world." No matter how much the world changes beyond our imagination, Mr. Sugimoto will continue to create things that we can enjoy today. --The adults in Nichinan now seem to be shining brighter than anyone else. It is not hard to imagine that the next generation of "boys" will be born from their eyes.