Asteria Opens 1st Resort Office in Karuizawa as a Place that Promotes Employee Well-being and Productivity at Work
Press Release
Tokyo — July 4, 2023 — Asteria Corporation (Japan listed, Security Code: 3853) announced today the opening of a resort office in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture (hereinafter “Karuizawa Office”) on July 3. The office has been certified as eligible to receive subsidy from the prefectural government geared to businesses in the ICT industry that set up a new office within the prefecture as part of its “Shinshu IT Valley Initiative”.
Asteria promotes diverse work styles to flexibly adapt to today’s rapidly changing lifestyle. It positions Karuizawa Office as an advanced initiative as well as the workplace of the near future aimed at boosting employee well-being*1 and productivity.
Background
From left to right: Asteria CWO SHIMADA Yuka,
CEO HIRANO Yoichiro (Pina), and AMAKAWA Seiji
from Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
To adjust itself to changes in the workplace environment triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, Asteria redefined office space fit for the VUCA*2 era, and classified it into five dimensions — central office, satellite office, home office, resort office, and virtual office. As part of this initiative, the company decided to set up its first resort office in Karuizawa to foster a creative and productive workspace where employees can thrive in a state of well-being. The office location was determined based on the convenience of transportation, BCP*3 against possible risks, etc. The resort office was completed in June 2023 and officially opened its doors on July 3.
The Karuizawa Office is situated within community hub called “Karuizawa Commongrounds,” recently developed by Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd. Asteria will encourage collaboration with other community members while putting into practice advanced work styles.
The office is open for use by all Asteria employees. The addition of this nature-rich office space would afford higher levels of comfort and productivity. The office is equipped with the latest filming equipment, such as a 230-degree widescreen “half-moon theater,” making it not only a place for Asteria employees but also a technology information dissemination center and a hub for business partners as well as companies and local governments focusing on digital transformation (DX) initiatives
Furthermore, the Karuizawa Office embraces the idea of “local production for local consumption” to promote sustainability; over half of its building materials are wood and stone sourced from Nagano Prefecture. The solar power generation system installed in the office is capable of generating 100% of the electricity consumed in the office on sunny days and even sharing surplus electricity with other companies within “Karuizawa Commongrounds”.
To mark the grand opening, Asteria started on the same day a training program, which runs through July 6, named “Well-being Camp: Learning through the Five Senses”, created by CWO (Chief Well-being Officer) SHIMADA Yuka. A total of 24 employees from six teams, including both domestic and international participants, will join the event sometime during the period.
*1: A state of being completely happy and satisfied physically, mentally and socially.
*2: VUCA is an acronym that stands for volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity.
*3: An abbreviation for “Business Continuity Plan”. It is system of prevention and recovery from potential emergencies and threats to a company.
<Overview of Karuizawa Office>
| Office Name | Karuizawa Resort Office (Abbreviation: Karuizawa Office) |
| Location | 3660-4, Toriihara, Nagakura, Karuizawa-machi Kitasaku-gun, Nagano 389-0111, Japan |
| Access | 12 minutes by car from Karuizawa Station or 15 minutes on foot from Naka-Karuizawa Station |
| Operation start date | July 3, 2023 |
| Size | Two-story wooden office building with the total land area of about 1,540 square meters and floor area of about 380 square meters |
| Building materials sourced from Nagano Prefecture | Larch, Japanese cypress, cedar, sawara cypress, Shinshu teppeiseki stone, etc. (50% of the building materials used in the office are produced in the prefecture.) |
| Main facility | Starlink satellite internet service, “half-moon theater” room with a 230-degree screen, 5.1-ch sound system, accommodation with a capacity of up to eight people, workspace, kitchen, bar, wine cellar, fireplace, garden terrace, etc. |
<Message>
Karuizawa Commongrounds was opened in March 2023 as a community facility promoting interaction with local people in Karuizawa, which is one of the most famous resort towns in the world. The complex houses the Naka-Karuizawa branch of “Karuizawa Books” bookstore, an international school, cafes and a co-working space. With Asteria’s Karuizawa Office joining this thriving community, the area’s role as a communication hub will be significantly enhanced. Moreover, we expect that Asteria, the only IT company, will also contribute to the area’s further development as a workplace that fosters new ways of working and interactions with diverse talent.
Karuizawa Commongrounds aims to bring together diverse individuals through the connections of everyday lifestyles, encompassing community engagement, entertainment, business, and temporary residency, with our partners who are engaged in various fields. This, we hope, will result in intergenerational interactions that will help build the future of the community and revitalize the local area. By nurturing this dynamic synergy with our Karuizawa Commongrounds partners who are working in various fields, we are committed to becoming a regional community that will enrich lifestyle in Karuizawa and enhance the lives of residents.
AMAKAWA Seiji, head of the Estate Strategy Division
at Culture Convenience Club Co., Ltd.
I became Asteria’s first Chief Well-being Officer (CWO) in July 2022, and have been devoted my energy to increasing well-being on the part of our employees, their families, and the broader community in Japan. Especially, I’m actively promoting insights and information related to well-being management in companies. I firmly believe that “workation” (a phrase coined for a new workstyle that enables us to vacation while working) has a positive impact on employees, and I have high expectations that the Karuizawa Resort Office, which is part of Asteria’s original “five dimensions of office” scheme, will play an important role as a “sacred place”, which contributes to elevate employees’ well-being.
While Asteria adopts telework for all staffs, the company is committed to further pursuing team building activities through occasional in-person gatherings and encouraging employees to choose the most productive work style at their discretion. We intend to use the Karuizawa Resort Office as a base for well-being awareness-raising activities, providing people inside and outside the company with information about what values well-being can offer to them.
Asteria CWO SHIMADA Yuka
<Photos of main facilities within the precinct of the office>
with a fireplace serves as a recreation area
About Asteria Corporation
Established in 1998 as Infoteria Corporation, Asteria developed its first no-code product in 2002. It sells software and services which connect a variety of in-house computers and devices. Its key product, ASTERIA Warp, is middleware which integrates data in different computer systems without coding. As of end-March 2023, 9,931 companies, mainly large and medium ones, had introduced the product. Another product, Handbook, allows users to carry around materials used for sales activities and meetings as well as product catalogues in electronic files on smartphones and tablets. A total of 1,680 companies and public institutions had adopted the product through end-March 2023.
For more information, visit https://en.asteria.com/
For the press enquiries, please contact KOIZUMI Masumi of Asteria’s PR and IR department.
TEL: +81-3-5718-1297 / E-mail: press@asteria.com
ASTERIA and Handbook are registered trademarks of Asteria Corporation.