＜prologue＞
I started a blog called “The Baby Boomer Generation’s Miscellaneous Blog”（Dankai-sedai no garakutatyou:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳） in July 2018, about a year before I fully retired. More than six years have passed since then, and the number of articles has increased considerably.
So, in order to make them accessible to people who don’t understand Japanese, I decided to translate my past articles into English and publish them.
It may sound a bit exaggerated, but I would like to make this my life’s work.
It should be noted that haiku and waka （Japanese short fixed form poems） are quite difficult to translate into English, so some parts are written in Japanese.
If you are interested in haiku or waka and would like to know more, please read introductory or specialized books on haiku or waka written in English.
I also write many articles about the Japanese language. I would be happy if these inspire more people to want to learn Japanese.
my blog’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多（がらくた）帳 | 団塊世代が雑学や面白い話を発信しています
my X’s URL:団塊世代の我楽多帳（@historia49）さん / X
１．Car Sharing
Renting a car temporarily in a tourist area or using a rental car as a loaner vehicle when an accident or breakdown requires repairs has been around for some time. Bicycle rentals are also increasing in tourist areas.
Recently, however, amid the current trend of “young people driving less,” “car sharing,” in which people do not own their own cars in the first place and use them only when and for as long as they need them, has been gaining popularity.
ORIX CarShare, Times CarShare, and Careco Car Sharing Club are the three major car sharing companies.
However, in some “resort clubs” where members mutually use resort hotels and vacation homes, there are times when reservations are not available during the top season. I have also heard of a golf course that has attracted too many members and that “even though I am a member, I can’t get a reservation.
I am also concerned about whether we can guarantee that registered members will always be able to get a car in time when they really need one. In addition, from a management standpoint, many companies are withdrawing one after another due to the “short time use” and “vulnerability to cost fluctuations (e.g., gasoline price hikes)” aspect.
２．Rent-a-cycle
In addition, “rent-a-cycle” services such as “HUB chari” and “Green Flag,” which can be considered bicycle versions of this system, are now often seen. This is a system in which people do not own bicycles, but instead rent bicycles on a daily basis, such as on a monthly basis, from vendors who place a large number of bicycles near train stations (“one-day use” is also acceptable).
Using this service is cheaper than using the bicycle parking lot in front of the station with one’s own bicycle, since there is no need to “pay for the bicycle” or “park the bicycle” and no need to “manage” the bicycle, such as putting air in it. I predict that the number of users will continue to increase, as people living in residential areas quite far from the station often use these rental bikes for “commuting” to work or school, rather than taking the bus.
３．Share Office and Coworking Space
Recently, the term “shared office” has become more common in newspapers and other media. A shared office is “an office that can be rented by the hour, complete with office furniture and Internet access, where you can get straight to work.
Coworking space” is similar to ‘shared office’ and there is no clear line between the two, but while ‘shared office’ is a ‘place to work,’ ‘coworking space’ seems to have a strong aspect of encouraging business through interaction among users and the formation of a community.
It is like a “modern business version of renting a room” as opposed to the “renting a room in a house” that used to be common in the past.
（１）Major conference room rental company “TKP
In April of this year, “TKP,” a leading rental meeting room company, announced that it would acquire Japan Regus Holdings, the Japanese subsidiary of IWG, which operates shared offices, for approximately 50 billion yen.
IWG operates approximately 3,300 shared office locations in more than 110 countries around the world, and in Japan has 145 shared office locations nationwide (as of the end of 2018) under the “Regus” brand and others.
TKP states that “there has been some overlap between TKP and Regus users for some time, and we can expect synergies from the acquisition,” but is there any chance of success?
In the case of regular office leasing, once a corporate tenant moves in, stable rental income can be expected over the medium to long term, but in the case of shared office space for small and medium-sized companies and individuals, it is necessary to accumulate “monthly members,” and earnings are not stable due to the rapid turnover of members.
I hope TKP’s acquisition is not “overstretched”, not that a third party like me can say anything about it…
（２）We Work”, a leading coworking space
We Work Midosuji Frontier” opened in the Umeda area of Osaka in June 2019. We Work, an American coworking space provider, has leased an entire floor of the 20-story Midosuji Frontier Tower, which was completed in 2010 but had been vacant for some time, to provide a coworking space for entrepreneurs. The monthly fee starts at 59,000 yen.
This is the second location in the Kansai region, following “We Work Namba Scaio.
<added 10/18/2019> Business conditions at We Company, which operates We Work.
The company’s December 2018 financial results showed a final loss of $1.6 billion, and its listing was also postponed. The company’s major shareholder, SoftBank, has proposed a 500 billion yen financial support package.
There are currently 404 “unicorns” (unlisted start-ups with an enterprise value of over $1 billion) around the world, but many of them seem to be struggling due to excessive initial investments.
（３）Mitsui Fudosan’s “Work Styling
Mitsui Fudosan offers “Workstyling” shared offices, rental offices, and serviced offices.
In Osaka, there are two locations: Workstyling Umeda on the 10th floor of the Hankyu Terminal Building and Workstyling Osaka-Honmachi on the 1st floor of the Midosuji Mitsui Building.
４．Rental Rooms
Recently, I have seen “rental rooms” in central Osaka for “salesmen’s rest”. I suspect that there are more of them in Tokyo.
Free places for salespeople to rest include park benches, libraries, and odd places like churches and temples. For paid places, it used to be coffee shops and pachinko parlors, but nowadays Internet cafes, manga cafes, and karaoke rooms are the norm.
However, there seems to be an increasing number of “rental rooms” for those who want to take a relaxing nap. However, those who are given business cell phones with GPS functions should be aware that they may be remotely monitored.