Hi I have been looking for like-minded people in Japan. I am very interested in starting a computer programmer (just an initial idea, I am open to broadening scope or changing it) worker coopš
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Welcome to the forum! I donāt personally know anyone in Japan in this area but Iām sure someone will 
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Coooool @yasu how did you hear about CoTech?! And also, are co-ops common/easy to set up in Japan? Welcome to the forum 
Anyway, we work with a lovely designer and she is currently in Japan so I told her about your message, sheās worked with us for a while so has a good handle on worker co-ops.
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Thank you for warm welcome!!
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I searched for a forum like this. I couldnāt find anything in Japanā¦
I know it is done, through creative use of existing laws 
. However, I understand that the real worker coop legislation is currently going through the Japanese parliament and might be enacted in a few months (followed by 2 years of āpreparationā period [Iā donāt know the exact t legal term])
Most of the existing worker coops in Japan appear to be contractors of services such as people-care, cleaning, etc, for municipal governments. I know of, or heard of, only a few IT worker coops. I would love to know more about IT worker coops in the UK and elsewhere!!
But (I have recently written an essay on this in Japanese ), I think the real question is how to get the initial capitalā¦
It would be wonderful to see her! Is she anywhere near Tokyo? Just a few days ago, I met someone from a worker coop think-tank in Tokyo and we discussed the methodology of web site design and maintenance, in general (although my expert friend did most of the relevant talk )!
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She is near Tokyo but I think sheās been out exploring and not checking emailsā¦ I would love to know more about co-ops in Japan, and Iām sure more people on this forum would too. In terms of the initial capital, I guess itās just that little tension at the start of spending time to set up a good business (i.e. a co-op) versus delivering a project to get paid. If you ever translate your essay into English, please let me know 
Really glad that you were searching about this kind of forum (and sorry for all of these questions) but what has drawn you to co-ops? I talk about them a lot on podcasts/events and I am convinced that people are fed up of the exploitative Capitalist system in which we work. So if youāre willing to share/have the time, please do let me know why you have interest in this great way of working.
Thanks
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Oh yes, maybe I should translate it into English, too. Let me check with the coop think-tank folks (they published it in their monthly journal). Iām sure they wonāt mind.
And yes, I am also sick of the exploitation. My essay was about my thoughts into how we can transition from ānormal companiesā to Workersā Self-Directed Enterprises.
I am probably ideologically incompatible with the authoritarian corporate structures that are predominant today. 
I value things like truth, transparency and democracy way too much and they just cannot exist, without being fake, in the places like the major American bank I worked for 10 years.
Part of my essay was about the initial capital. I figured, if an IT worker coop take contract work, It could become just a variation of a labor union. I thought that for a worker coop to be really meaningful, it would have to develop its unique products and services, thus requiring the initial capital.
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Hi @yasu !
We tried to get a group together when there was growing momentum for launching a Platform Co-operativism Consortium. The group sort of fizzled, but there is an active dev community and Iād love to be of assistance in bringing folks together!
I did a Nerd Nite presentation about two years ago about Platform Co-operativism and got a lot of positive feedback and interest. Iām based in Tokyo and will be pretty flexible over the next two months if you want to brainjam!
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Great letās meet! I work at Toranomon. My phone number is 090-6523-2640 and my email is yasu@yasuaki.com
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