Toy Creator Shimpei Takahashi (Representative of Usagi Co., Ltd.) / Pursuing products that bring laughter to life

Table of Contents

When I was a student obsessed with laughter

Mr.

Mr. Takahashi, who has the title of "toy creator," says that when he was a child, he didn't like special toys compared to those around him.

When I was in elementary school in my hometown of Akita, I was shy and introverted. While the children around her joined the baseball club and worked hard at practice, she was always playing alone because of her chronic heart disease.

“Of course, I was obsessed with plastic models and Mini 4WD. Rather than just loving toys, I think I was a child with a strong desire for output, wanting to create something to express myself.”

However, even when I showed my own crafts and comics to my parents who were strict, all I could get back was no good. Even though she stays inside herself, she is always swirling with the desire to express something. Such a depressed state continued until high school.

Mr. Takahashi, who had been unable to find a place to express himself for a long time, encountered “comedy” at university. After graduating from high school, he entered a university in Sendai City, Miyagi Prefecture, where he studied manufacturing such as programming and robot technology in the engineering department. And what I chose as a circle activity was the rakugo study group. What is the reason why Mr. Takahashi, who looks back on himself as "dark", suddenly knocked on the door of comedy?

"I've always loved Ucchan Nanchan since I was in elementary school, and I've been watching it on TV for a long time. When I was in high school, a program called 'Vocabulary Heaven' was popular, and I was very interested in the laughter problem and Neptune. After that, the “Bakusho On Air Battle” program started, and the one I got most into was the duo Ramenz (who will go on hiatus in 2020).

Until then, comedians have a cheerful image. Since they were the exact opposite of me, I thought they couldn't do the same thing. However, Ramen's skits are surreal, not acting brightly. The place where you can feel the intellect really grabbed my heart. I've always wanted to do something like this."

Continuing with that thought, I found a recruitment for the rakugo study group, which was the only comedy circle at the university. Luckily no one knows about his past as he is far from her hometown. I reset everything and decided to make my college debut.

"I joined with enthusiasm, but the first two years weren't successful at all... I've never made anyone laugh, so I'm already trembling on stage. So, 3 years. I couldn't tell you how happy I was when I saw the audience laughing for the first time.It was so moving, so happy and fun.I want to make people laugh and do something funny for the rest of my life. That's how I felt strongly."

The output desire that had been hidden inside was released at once, and I was fascinated by the power of laughter.

One-point breakthrough job-hunting

Job-hunting after thinking through what you want to achieve throughout your life. Since then, the axis of my work has not changed.

After graduating from university, I went on to graduate school to continue my engineering studies. Having learned to be involved in manufacturing for six years, he vaguely planned to work for a manufacturer in the future.

"Before I started job hunting, I had an internship at a big electronics manufacturer. But I didn't find it interesting at all. I didn't get it at all when I listened to the recruiter's story. I experienced it there. I couldn't imagine doing a job for the rest of my life.I wanted to make people laugh after all.

When I searched for “jobs that make people laugh” on a job hunting site, I happened to come across the option of a toy maker. I had never played with or bought toys when I was in college, but I was convinced that toys are the kind of products that make people laugh. There was toy making ahead of the combination of “manufacturing” and “laughter”.

It's finally time for job hunting. Surprisingly, only one major toy maker, Bandai, took the recruitment test.

"Now that I think about it, I can only say it's reckless (laughs). I'm convinced that I'm going to get a job making toys, so I can't think of any other options. I had some idea about toy makers, but Bandai was the first to start accepting entry sheets.Because it was a popular company, just passing the entry sheet was a big barrier.I spent a lot of time thinking about transcendence. I'm really bad at writing, but I wrote every single character very carefully and finally submitted it."

I never really studied toys carefully. Rather than liking toys, I want to make people laugh through my toys. As a result of putting such passion into the entry sheet, I was informed that I had successfully passed the selection process.

From my experience at the rakugo study group, I was obsessed with the joy of making someone laugh. I pushed through the interviews that followed.

Because character toys are the mainstream of the company, I think I was the only one who didn't understand why among the students who liked them. Because I was mumbling in a peculiar way, the interviewer said, ``You've always said you want to make people laugh, but you don't look like you're funny at all'' (laughs). But that may have left an impression on me.”

When I was a young employee with a series of rejected plans

"In my first year at the company, I submitted about 1,000 plans, and they were all rejected," says Mr. Takahashi.

Mr. Takahashi, who got a job at his long-awaited company, belongs to the variety toy department that does not use characters. He was put in charge of the whole process, from product planning to PR and marketing.

“In the beginning, I was very motivated to make people laugh. So, the contents were messed up, and I was scolded for continuing to make proposals full of blurry elements.

In the second year of joining the company, employees who joined the company at the same time were active in commercializing character goods one after another and making sales. While I was having a hard time getting through product planning, I encountered a certain toy. "20Q (Twenty Cue)" was a hit in the United States at the time, selling over 2 million units. The department I belonged to was in charge of importing it and selling it as a Japanese version.

"20Q" is a toy equipped with artificial intelligence. When the player imagines an object and answers 20 questions with "yes" or "no", the toy guesses what the object was.

"I was just demonstrating and selling it at a toy store, and a toy that cost about 2,000 yen was selling like crazy in front of my eyes. I was shocked when I saw them excitedly buying things, and I realized how wrong I had been.

Until then, the plan hadn't gone through at all. I was satisfied with making my relatives laugh with the proposal, and I had a ridiculous idea that if I was asked if I would buy it if I actually commercialized it, I wouldn't buy it.

In 20Q, I finally understood that if you don't make something that someone wants to pay for, or something that pleases them, it's pointless. At the same time, I felt a kind of jealousy towards the American developers I had never met who created such a hit toy.”

In the third year after joining the company, this led to the development of a product called "Human Player" that combined the elements of a personality diagnosis, and it sold well. And in his fourth year with the company, he commercialized the blockbuster "∞ (Mugen) Puchi Puchi," which won the 1st Toy Grand Prize.

Meeting with my biggest hit product

A product that became a hot topic for its addictiveness that keeps pushing it for some reason

“∞Puchi Puchi”, which was released in 2008, is a strap-type toy that reproduces the so-called “Puchi Puchi” bubble buffer. It's the toy that many people get addicted to, which makes them want to push the round protrusions in front of them. What was the background to the birth of the hit product?

At the time, Mr. Takahashi was in charge of game toys, and mainly dealt with board games. On the other hand, Nintendo's game machine DS series was in its heyday. Board game sales were down. Adding to the blow is the popularity of mobile phone straps. Before I knew it, the game toy sales floor had transformed into a space lined with hundreds of types of straps.

"It was the day when the planning meeting was approaching tomorrow. If the game toy didn't sell, I was wandering around the company late at night in half desperation to make an even more interesting strap. Then I found a roll of bubble wrap for shipping products in the corner of the office.When I looked at it at night, I somehow saw a round protrusion that looked like a button.This is likened to a button with bubble wrap. I thought that if I made it into a strap, everyone would want to touch it.

Although the project was once rejected by the superiors of the department because it lacked game elements, Mr. Takahashi, who had experienced so many rejections, was not discouraged. There is something that appeals to people's instincts that they absolutely want to touch. After making a logical presentation and patiently presenting it, the plan went ahead and the product was released. As a result, a total of 3.55 million products were sold in Japan and overseas.

"On the day of the release, I happened to stand at a store that was demonstrating sales in 20Q. Then, it sold ten times as much as in 20Q. The product that was made by someone who was not good at it came back and made it seriously. I was so happy and happy that I was completely absent-minded.”

Make something worthwhile that people want to pay to experience. Mr. Takahashi realized once again the essence of toy making. After that, after working on various products, he gained experience for two years in the capsule toy division that handled gashapon. Then, 10 years after joining the company, he became independent from the company and started a business.

In order to deliver what I think is really interesting

The management philosophy of Usagi, a company that was established independently, is "Health First"! The motto is to work “gently, with a smile, while having fun”

What inspired you to leave a big company and start your own company, Rabbit, at the age of 34? He says there were two main reasons.

"One of the reasons was that I fell ill when I was a company employee and spent a year and a half battling illness. After that, I got married and had a child, but at that time I was busy with work and was sick again. There was a sign that it was going to happen, but I still had a strong feeling that I would never hurt my body again.

When you belong to an organization, it's only natural that there are things you can't decide and things you have to do. It looks like this, but it's serious, so I'm going to do my best and try to live up to expectations. As I get older, I have to seriously think about how the weakest business person like myself can live a healthy and happy life.”

Another big reason was that I had a strong desire to realize what I really wanted to do.

"Large companies are really blessed to be given an environment where they can take on challenges. On the other hand, it doesn't make sense unless it's a large-scale business, so we have to always aim to be a big hit and sell a lot." Then, in a niche area, you can't make a product that will please a small number of people.

But rather than trying to be a hit with everyone, it's more valuable to me to deliver something that I'm genuinely interested in to people who really sympathize with it. As I planned various products for 10 years, that feeling became stronger.”

Mr. Takahashi is currently planning and selling toys, games, creative miscellaneous goods, etc. as a "toy creator" at the company that was launched. In addition to that, he also makes a living from all kinds of activities that make the world fun and playful, such as writing and giving lectures related to idea generation, and creating quizzes.

"As a percentage of my work, I often receive consultations on product development from companies and individuals and help them." There are strengths and weaknesses, such as ``I have a sales network, but I can't come up with new ideas.'' First of all, I listen to what they have to say, and I work with them in planning, manufacturing, sales, PR, etc.

Even if you want to make a toy, there is no place you can consult. If you're a major manufacturer, no matter how interesting the product is, you can't handle a small amount. I would like to become something like a last-minute temple where people can feel free to consult at such times.”

"Conversation design" when holding a toy

"The moment when I feel happy in my work is when I see the people who have the product in their hands enjoying it." and Mr. Takahashi

Mr. Takahashi says that his desire to make people laugh through toys has not changed since he first entered the industry. That is why, in making toys, what is important is the "design of conversation" that is created between the people who hold them in their hands.

“For example, in a game called UNO, it’s interesting to see how you can draw cards and say, ‘Wow, what the heck!’ That's why I imagine and write down what kind of conversations will occur when I see a toy for the first time, give it to someone, or receive it.

When I was young, I thought that if the toy itself was funny, it would make me laugh. A robot that tells jokes that make people laugh and makes funny movements. But it gets boring at some point. Rather, laughter is something that is born in relationships between people. That's why I realized that making people laugh with a toy would create conversations and laughter among the people who played with it."

The “Anger Management Game” was created with the actual conversation design in mind. This is, so to speak, a card game where you “hit the point of anger”. Others guess how angry the player will feel when he/she draws a card with various events written on it.

"I have played this game with my family. My wife often scolds me at home, saying, 'You put the washed dishes in the wrong position!' But that is my biggest anger. At the point (lol) I get annoyed saying, ``Isn't it okay if the place to put it back is different!?''.As a family, we usually don't get angry at all, so why only that? I think it's really fun to have laughter in the midst of such negative topics.

I think it's the same as creating a comedy material to have laughter in a place that you have prepared. The moment when I can feel that is the happiest moment in this job.”

How can we continue to create new ideas while working on many products every day? According to Mr. Takahashi, one of the keys to achieving this is maintaining flexibility in thinking.

"Even if you think it's the best idea and prepare for a presentation, you're likely to get objections at the meeting. If you do that, the idea that you've worked hard to come up with is the cutest, and you'll usually stop thinking and think about the next one. But I think it's important to be flexible and change the way you do things.

This is training, but I try to have a lot of tricks up my ideas. One of the most well-known ideas is the "Osborn's Checklist" idea generation technique. There are 9 ways to shift ideas, such as making the scale a little smaller, turning it upside down, and combining it with something else. Including that, I am making a list of 77 ways to shift by myself. I think the secret to arriving at the best idea is to be able to come up with ideas that change the angle in an instant like that.”

I want to be like a toy

"I still haven't given up on my dream of becoming a rakugo performer!"

When I asked Mr. Takahashi about his future career as a toy creator, he unexpectedly responded, "I want to become a toy myself."

"To me, I think of everything as a toy. For example, if a book makes someone happy or makes them laugh, then it can be said to be a toy. 10 years from now, we may be doing something completely different.

Honestly, if I can talk and entertain people, I'd like to become a rakugo storyteller someday (laughs). That said, I'm not cut out to be a comedian, so I'm making toys, but I think it's a fine art to make things and get laughs.

If you think about it that way, ultimately I think I want to become a toy myself. I want to be a person who is said to be funny or funny when talking to this person. I would be happy if I could work like a toy and be entertained by everyone.”

Postscript

On the day of the interview, Mr. Takahashi calmly appeared on the online screen saying, "Thank you very much." Throughout the interview, his unwavering passion for believing in the power of laughter was conveyed behind his slow and gentle tone. Listening to the story makes me feel excited and happy.

While striving for someone's 100 points, there are many people who have the problem of "I don't know what I want to do." However, when I touched on Mr. Takahashi's way of life, I once again felt that I could find a job that matches my life's purpose only if I go to the end of my heart without falsehood and sincerity.

During the final video message, Mr. Takahashi said, "I want you to focus on doing your work with a healthy and happy feeling." For me, being able to hear the story this time was truly a joyful and enjoyable job.

If you are curious about the occupation of a toy creator, why not take this opportunity to look it up on Job Navi? It explains in detail the skills and suitability required for toy creators, and the places where they can be active. I hope that you will take a look at it and make use of it in your career choices.

Video Message

Introduction of Mr. Shinpei Takahashi

Shimpei Takahashi / Toy Creator
CEO of Usagi Co., Ltd. Born in Akita Prefecture in 1979. Joined Bandai Co., Ltd. in 2004. Involved in the planning, development and marketing of variety toys for about 10 years, including “∞Puchi Puchi”. In 2013, he took the stage at "TEDxTokyo" and delivered a speech about idea generation all over the world. Established Usagi Co., Ltd. in 2014. Working as the planning brain of various companies, he is engaged in manufacturing in various ways, such as launching new products while cultivating teams. His books include "Memo Techniques for Plans that Don't Have to Work for a Lifetime" (Asa Publishing). He presides over "IDEA of LIFE", a small-group seminar to create the next project you want to do in your life.

Shimpei Takahashi's Links

Official Website: Rabbit Inc.
Twitter: Shinpei Takahashi / Toy Creator (Representative of Rabbit Inc.)
note: Shinpei Takahashi / Toy Creator
> Seminar: IDEA of LIFE

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Wakana Noshita

After graduating from university, worked as an editor for a monthly magazine for women. After that, she was in charge of creating video content and launching an article site as a director of web media for moms. Currently working as a freelance editor and writer. I love interview articles about careers and lifestyles. I am also studying psychology and a coaching qualification.