A member of the Manufacturing department. She rotates through the multi-head quilting machine that quilts a shikibuton’s fabric, inner cotton and non-woven layer at once, the inner-cotton roll-shaping line, and the pillow-making line.
What the multi-head quilting machine is about
I am in the Manufacturing department, mainly running the multi-head quilting machine — a machine that quilts a shikibuton’s three layers, “fabric, inner cotton and non-woven,” together at once. I also rotate onto the inner-cotton roll-shaping line and the pillow-making line, and now and then the comforter sewing machine. Each machine has its own temper, and the handoffs between processes need constant familiarizing.
My first night on the workshop’s shikibuton
The first time I slept on a shikibuton the workshop made, I was struck by an “unimaginable comfort” — and after that first-hand experience, making each one is no longer just “manufacturing” but “letting another person feel that same moving comfort.” “Making futon that can move the customer” — that is my yardstick each working day.
Nerushiru® and the visualisation of sleep
The workshop developed a sleep-journal app called “Nerushiru®.” After using it I could see my own sleep data clearly — when I sleep deeply, when I am restless. Only after that visualisation did I realize how much of my own sleep there is to adjust. That “making visible” makes me want to understand sleep more deeply.
A workshop where “everyone is kind”
What warms me about the workshop is “truly a workplace where everyone is kind and full of consideration.” When someone is in difficulty, the person beside them fills in at once; being multi-skilled means no panic when short-staffed. That fine mutual care makes one want to stay more than any system could.