PokeEarn Interview Naoki Kawada | PokeEarn Official Site | PokeEarn

Kawada fell completely into saunas from age five under his grandfather's influence. At 27, while studying hard to earn the difficult first-class architect qualification, he noticed the sauna's unexpected power.

"With the fatigue of daily work, honestly my studying wasn't going well (laughs). But one night, when I went to the sauna first after finishing work, the way I saw the world was clearly different. My head and my vision became clear, and it was like, 'All right, let's give it my all from here!'"

Kawada describes this feeling as "morning coming twice." When he actually sat down to study, the material came into his head one after another, like on a morning when you've woken up refreshed. Having used the sauna this way to earn his qualification, Kawada says it's businesspeople in particular who can readily enjoy the fun of saunas.

"In our daily work, we think logically and live in the world of 'thought.' But the moment you go to a sauna, your vocabulary shrinks to just 'feels good,' 'hot,' 'cold' (laughs). It's already the world of 'sensation.' I find going back and forth between the worlds of thought and sensation fascinating."

Afterward, Kawada also noticed that saunas enrich communication. When he became a manager at 29, Kawada was struggling with managing his subordinates.

"I wanted to know more about each person's issues and worries, but it was hard. One young member in particular wasn't good at talking and seemed somewhat passive."

One day, when Kawada invited that member to the sauna, to his surprise the reply was "I want to go."

"I can't forget his face after the sauna. It was completely different from at the office, a really relaxed expression. When we went to the restaurant area, he opened up about his worries completely naturally."

Kawada closed the distance with his members, and his team management became smoother.

"The way you are at the company is only one part of who you are. In business, you maximize the team's results and provide value to the world. To do that, you need to improve the team's relationships, get to know each person better, and deepen mutual understanding. I realized that the sauna, which loosens up both people's hearts and their relationships, is perfect for those moments."

At this time, what started with three people, including that young member, was the "Kokuyo Sauna Club," now known to everyone in the sauna world. This was in 2016.

The sauna's power to loosen human relationships crosses even organizational walls. The cross-industry sauna community "JAPAN SAUNA-BU ALLIANCE" (hereafter JSA), which Kawada founded as co-representative in 2019, now has about 250 member companies.

"At first it started with seven companies. Since we were all from completely different industries, the mood was stiff, but then one person casually said, 'Everyone's home sauna^*is?' With that one question, the sauna talk broke wide open like a floodgate."
＊About her favorite facilities and experiences

Members who had gained a common language in their home sauna, saying things like "I love that sauna room too!" or "What kind of place is it?", instantly warmed up to each other, and ideas came pouring out one after another.

"Since you're just talking about the saunas you love, there's no better or worse. Basically, it's flat, beyond roles and titles. No hierarchy arises, so the conversation flows."

Precisely because it's a community with no hierarchy or vested interests, JSA gives rise to interesting developments in both business and private life, such as unexpected companies starting new initiatives together.

"People report things to me like, 'Kawa-chan, we started doing business with that company,' or 'I made my first friend from outside the company!' In this era, centered on social media, where it's hard to close the distance with people, I think encounters like these are really important. I'd love for it to spread even further."

Kawada works at Kokuyo as an architect while, on the side, producing sauna facilities and publishing a sauna book, striving to spread the appeal of the sauna. He says that "Kokuyo" and "sauna," which seem barely related, have an area where they mix together.

"Sometimes work at Kokuyo leads to producing a sauna, and sometimes it's the other way around. There are also more new hires who joined because they wanted to be in the sauna club. I love both my Kokuyo work and saunas, and I feel there's great potential in the area where the two mix together."

Kawada feels that rather than balancing work and life, it's more beneficial to blend them.

"If you ask whether remote work balanced work and life, in the end, even when you close your laptop, your head is full of work. So rather than trying to balance work and life, I feel it's more beneficial to actively blend them."

Kawada envisions each person becoming "talent-ized" as the way of working called "work-life blend" spreads.

"Until now, in business settings, all you could see was a person's work face. But I think that by blending things, a person's true self shines and comes across, creating a positive synergy between work and private life. In my case, the sauna is one of those elements, but different people can have all sorts of styles. Basically, I want people to enjoy designing a life that's true to themselves."