—— First, could you tell us why you decided to join Phonon Meiwa?
K: I had the chance to hear from people actually working here about their jobs and the atmosphere of the workplace. At that point I could clearly picture myself working here, and thinking “I want to give it a go here” is what decided it for me.

—— Once you joined, was there a gap between expectation and reality?
K: There was. At first I had imagined inspection-related work, but I was actually assigned to the Production Engineering Group, working with machinery and equipment, so honestly I was surprised at first. But my supervisor and senior colleagues were genuinely kind and explained anything I did not understand carefully, so my anxiety gradually faded. There were also situations where what I had learned in technical drawing classes in high school proved useful, and I was pleased to realise “so this is where my strength lies.” These days I sometimes operate machine programs remotely while communicating with staff at our Vietnam site, so I am gaining new experience every day.

—— Has there been a moment at work when you felt you had grown?
K: When I first joined, if something went wrong my head would be full of nothing but dealing with it. Now I think I can go further and consider why it happened and what to do to prevent the same thing next time.

—— Was there something that prompted that change?
K: A big part of it was writing down what my supervisor taught me and gradually acquiring the habit of thinking “next time I will do it this way.” At one point I consulted my supervisor about an improvement I had worked out myself, and he said “that’s a good idea.” That was when I really felt that my way of thinking had changed.

—— What is the atmosphere of the workplace like?
K: I think it is a very easy place to ask questions. I often wonder why something works the way it does, and my supervisor and senior colleagues explain the reasons properly, so I can learn while genuinely understanding. It is precisely because of that environment that I feel I can grow with confidence.

—— What work are you responsible for at the moment?
K: I handle adjustment of machinery and equipment before shipment, dealing with faults, and replacing parts. It is not the same work every day — what I do changes from one day to the next, so it feels like “what will happen today?” Sometimes I change the internal programs of the machines, and sometimes I deal with faults.

—— When do you find the work rewarding?
K: Replacing parts can still take me a while, but the moment the machine runs properly afterwards is wonderful. I feel relieved that it worked, and because I have been involved with that machine for a long time I grow attached to it.

—— What are your goals from here?
K: I want to become someone who can think flexibly about how to make work easier and how to reduce mistakes, and then actually turn those ideas into reality. It is still at the concept stage, but I am watching how people work on the shop floor and trying the tasks myself while coming up with ideas that lead to improvements. A business trip to Vietnam is planned for the future as well, so I want to build up more specialist knowledge and become someone the people around me can rely on.