Daisuke Suga, Representative Director, Smart Design Association
- “I decided to move here not just because of the earthquake, but because I thought running a business and living in Tokyo both carried big risks.”
- This is the first thing that Daisuke Suga says. The designated interview location is SALT, a coworking space that Suga himself runs. It’s the perfect location, with the cobalt-blue sea stretching out before us, and sound of the waves breaking on the white sand forming a natural soundtrack.
- “At first, I was looking for another place because I assumed I would live between the two places, Tokyo and another place. At the time Fukuoka wasn’t much of a draw as a place to move to, but anyway I rocked up and instinctively settled on Fukuoka,” remembers Suga.
- What did he find so appealing about Fukuoka, a place he’d only visited once?
- “People’s energy. Also, the expressions of people around the city. I felt a certain generosity of spirit. Even when you don’t say anything, people in restaurants provide you with a baby chair, or talk to you on the subway if your child starts to cry: a heap of small things, but things I appreciate. Also, the ocean. I felt I could enjoy a decent quality of life here.”
- After moving, Suga was kept busy with the launch of the Fukuoka Migration Project and the running of his office-sharing enterprise. The Fukuoka Migration Project paved the way for many creative people and engineers to follow Suga and make the move to Fukuoka, he says. For people who work in a way that is not tied to time or place, Fukuoka seems to stand out as an attractive place.
- When asked about how he spends his free time, Suga says: “As a family we enjoy the outdoors and go to hot springs a lot. I also do community conservation volunteering and things like that.”
- With a sudden smile he ends by suggesting that enjoying the exquisite distinction between city and nature is a very Fukuoka-style way of spending one’s free time.
