episode-16

Midnight in Hanoi.
Greetings to Than Tai, the god of wealth.
Hope to see a good dream soon.

This time, let's talk about, “follow the rules you have decided” from 5S.
When I visited Hanoi for the first time, I thought, “Vietnam and Japan are the same.
We are in the same East Asian civilization and cultural sphere.”
For example, there is an illustration of altar. You can find them in hotels, restaurants, souvenir stores, cafes, and everywhere else.

I light incense every day. After burning, the incense will become smaller and round in shape. Since I light incense every day, the freckles after burning become very delicate. They overlap and gradually become larger. I often both pay attention to light incense so as not to damage the round bundles, and enjoy looking at them.

In Japan, there is actually an altar called "kamidana" with a similar meaning. It is made as shown in the illustration, but there are various types.

Just like in Vietnam, we offer water and sake, light incense sticks, and pray by putting our hands together.
The distance between Vietnam and Japan is 4,000 kilometers. Even though they are so far apart, they share a similar civilization and culture.
With a bit of excitement and surprise, I did a Google research and ended up in a hotel in Hanoi on my first day. I will never forget the strong affinity I felt for Vietnam at that time.

The altar in Japan is very simple. I think it is possible to blog around the difference in altars, thereby explaining the differences between Vietnamese and Japanese cultures. But I don't have the energy to write anymore. Unfortunately!

In Japan, there is a saying, “Mikka-bosu” When you decide to do something and then quit it in three days. Or it doesn't last long.
The same can be said for the ARIGATOU Cafe. The members are always the same.
We don't have that many people.

Arrange、Tidy、Refresh、Clean. Basic principles of working in a cafe are always the same “Because I did it yesterday.... I did it in the morning... I was busy today...” These are just a few of the many reasons why people stop doing 5S.
It is not the fault of any of the members. If you keep doing the same thing day in and day out with the same members, the organization tends to say, “Next time.”
The scary thing is that such a mood can fill the cafe.

The spirit of “hospitality” and “Treasure every meeting, for it will never recur” (jp. proverb) will disappear and the tension will be lost.

The future of the store will be determined by how thoroughly the staff adheres to the rules defined by us. New every day. At the ARIGATOU Cafe, we use posters and ask staffs to read out every time they come to work the behaviors and concepts they have to learn. Since they are university students, after 3 repeats, they have a rough understanding of the meaning and contents of the poster.
However we always use posters for training.
People who have been working for a long time maybe read the same poster 50 or 100 times.

They pair up, one of them plays the role of a teacher to practice. At the beginning, both sides were not very enthusiastic, a bit timid, and their voices were also quite small. Now, they see it as a part of themselves.

“Why do you keep using the same poster over and over again?”
I'm very happy to hear questions like this, but asking questions to Japanese people who can't speak Vietnamese is quite irrelevant.
They are working on it with a face like, “There we go again.” But they don't look puffed up at all. That's one of the cute things about Vietnamese ladies.
Understanding and acting are two different things. Always do what is necessary for the company every day.
Make it a routine. This is the secret to prosperity in business.

The meaning of reading out the poster is:
“I'm counting on you today!”, “Please do them today too!”
It is a kind of request.
It' s like how Vietnamese people pray at the buddhist altar or Japanese people pray at the household altar
every day.
We appreciate the fact that the store was safe yesterday, and carry on hoping that many more customers will visit the store today.

By the way, the altar at the ARIGATOU Cafe is a very small type.
After 10:00 p.m., when all the customers have gone, I turn off the lights in the store and make it dark.
Lighting the incense sticks. It smells so good.
Then turn on a favorite Jazz standard.
After 15 minutes, I am very relaxed and very frank.
The altar has 3 gods inside.
The god in the middle is Than Tai, the god of wealth.
“ Tan- chan, wish me well tonight”, I said, and went to the bedroom.
For two years now, I've been longing for the goddess Than Tai to appear in my dreams and talk to me.
He doesn't show up in my dreams as I' d like him to.

Please let me see you!