Starting 2022 with a trip to Okinawa — Chapter 3: Work from Resort

If someone said three years ago that they are able to work from a calm beach, for a fast-paced Japanese company based in Tokyo, it would have certainly sounded like a dream. Fast forward 3 years, the post-covid era looks a bit different. Companies (especially in the tech industry) have realized that their employees can be equally or more productive when working from home or anywhere they feel comfortable (with security and compliance still being bottlenecks).

My company, Mercari, started the policy of “Your Choice”, giving employees the option to work from anywhere in Japan. Using this opportunity, I decided to try working from a resort in Okinawa for a week and enumerate all pros and cons of working outside of Tokyo in the future.

Work from Okinawa, thanks to Mercari

Here are some of the pros and cons I thought of working in a new environment

Good Points

1. Refreshed mind: Nature, ocean, clean air, and pleasant weather — these are the perfect ingredients to refresh your mind. With a refreshed mind, I was able to work positively and dedicatedly.

Evening walk after work

2. Rework your routine: Away from the distractions and buzz of the city, I was able to get my daily routine back.

3. Optimal temperature & higher productivity: There are a lot of studies on how an optimal external temperature (22–28 Celcius) enhances productivity. I could actually realize this given the extreme cold in Tokyo was making me lazy and reluctant to go out of my home.

4. Explore a new world: Every day before or after work, I was able to go around and explore new places, people, and cultures. This made me more excited for every day and thus, significantly improved my productivity at work.

Orion beer, Okinawa Soba, Nature, Perfect temperature

Not So Good Points

1. Work Environment: Wifi speed getting slow or the study table being too low, the work environment was not ideal. This made me frustrated sometimes, especially during the meetings.
2. Food: Being vegetarian, I felt Okinawan food did not have many vegetarian options. This made me really miss Tokyo!

Rare vegan restaurant in Okinawa (Malayalam) ~ 50 km from my resort

Overall, I had a really great time working from a resort in Okinawa. Big thanks to my company, Mercari for allowing this. I will definitely try this again but this time I will research better on the resort/hotel’s work environment as well as the availability of vegetarian restaurants nearby.

PS: Mercari is hiring for a lot of positions in Japan. Do take a look at the careers website here: https://careers.mercari.com/search-jobs/