At ITO BINDERY, each day begins with a morning meeting before we start our work.
By sharing information, we consider how each person can move most effectively, and whether there is anything we can support one another with. Because many of our products are made through collaboration, this is an important time for us.
Within the week, on Tuesday and Friday mornings, we also take time to clean before the meeting. It lasts about five to ten minutes.
Each of us attends to what we notice.
Sweeping the floor, cleaning the restrooms, organizing materials even clearing away wood chips and dust from the road outside the factory. During this time, the factory becomes very quiet. You hear only the sound of a vacuum cleaner or the soft brushing of a broom. No one is talking; everyone simply moves their hands. Until some time ago, the cleaning of the restrooms and floors was handled by the building owner alone.
Then one day, our factory manager said, “This is a space we all use, so we should all take care of it.” That was how this time came to be.
One day, while checking products in the shop, I happened to look outside and saw staff members cleaning. They made eye contact with passersby and neighbors, and greeted them with a simple “Good morning.” And those greetings were returned in the same way. Watching this exchange made me very happy.
It reminded me that we are able to carry out our daily work while being connected to the people in this neighborhood.
The cleaning time is short, and we cannot make everything perfectly clean. Still, something feels refreshed and put in order.
To prepare the place before making something. And to take a moment to face each other and align our minds.
Both are an essential part of our work.
