Seki Kukan Sekkei
Seki Kukan Sekkei
About Us
Sustainable design and management
Seki Kukan Sekkei was founded in 1996 and is located in Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. The company was primarily an architectural design company. The company has since been developing its designs into green technologies and sustainable construction in line with the times. These developments have been supported by the employees. Seki Kukan Sekkei aims to build irreplaceable architecture combining history, culture, and people’s needs. Mr. Watanabe, the current CEO of Seki Kukan Sekkei explained that the employees cooperatively work by sharing their thoughts, ideas, and new innovations, to achieve their goals. He also emphasized that the company aims to create sustainable and environmentally friendly architecture.
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Contribute to community development through designing community-based architecture
Seki Kukan Sekkei’s primary philosophy is ”Spirit Of Place.” This means that they contribute to community development through designing community-based architecture. They want to design architecture which suits important aspects of the local area including the history, culture, spirit of the local people, geographical characteristics, etc. To achieve this goal, dialogue with local people is extremely important. Seki Kukan Sekkei therefore aims to contribute to society by creating sustainable and irreplaceable architecture through extensive dialogue with the local community and working together to create a desirable future for the area.
Image of Ideal Candidates
A company that values
the workers’ perspectives
To work for Seki Kukan Sekkei, you require not only a passion for the job, but individuality such as your experiences, skills and ideas. Mr. Watanabe said that it is most important to approach projects from your own unique perspective. In addition, they welcome people who can engage in problem solving. You need enthusiasm for architecture and cooperating with others. Seki Kukan Sekkei is a place where you can design architecture through solving problems and fully expressing your individuality.
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Coexisting with cultural differences
and facing new challenges
Mr. Coyle, who works at Seki Kukan Sekkei, said that working in Japan has been very rewarding in understanding the cultural differences, similarities and language barriers. He also said that by joining different communities and interacting with people, he was able to understand cultural differences and find them interesting. At Seki Kukan Sekkei, linguistic and cultural differences don’t bother him, so he can focus on the goal of creating sustainable architecture, which is his interest.
International students would like to know
About the company’s problem solving methods
At Seki Kukan Sekkei, there is a continuous system of improvement for the working environment. They have been drastically improving their working environment since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Since its business is related to construction, demand greatly increased, which resulted in heavy workloads and overtime. Since then, the working environment has improved thanks to the efforts of its employees. Now, there are a lot of employee committees set up to improve the company, such as the standard working hours’ committee and the working environment improvement committee. Recently, the working environment improvement committee has been developing a free-address plan which provides employees with space to communicate with their colleagues.
Most foreigners who want to find a job in Japan are worried about language difficulties. However, the most important thing about working at Seki Kukan Sekkei is not necessarily language skills, but whether you can communicate with your colleagues. For communication, you can use not only Japanese, English and body language but you can use your knowledge of construction/design. Mr. Watanabe said that all you have to bring to the company is a great passion for construction/design and your unique perspectives. You can use the cultural differences of your country as your unique ability. David, who works for the company and is from England, suggested coming to Japan and starting with a short-term visa. Later, you can follow your true passion and search for a job in your preferred field. Please, come to Miyagi where Seki Kukan Sekkei is located!
Seki Kukan Sekkei has created various sophisticated buildings. I learned in our interview that this was not only because of their skills but also because of their spirit towards their work itself. The workers refer to their company by its slogan. That made me feel that this spirit is certainly shared in the community and workｓ well. In addition, the company culture of openness is fascinating too. I imagine such flexibility in their culture and their firm spirit forms a strong foundation for the company.
At first, I thought there might be some strict employment conditions especially for foreign employees because of its specialized business content. But rather than that, the CEO stressed the most important thing is how much they like their jobs, which really impressed me. He also said that a variety of ideas are needed for their jobs, thus he welcomed the first international employee, David-san. Although the number of foreign employees are few for now, I think this company will be a good workplace for foreign people who want to use their ideas or be involved in city development.
Through the interview, I found they try to treat both foreign workers and Japanese workers equally. It is difficult but I felt they could do it. They encourage their workers to go abroad using the overseas training system to experience diverse cultures. Moreover, Mr. Watanabe, who is the CEO, said it is the most important thing to have passion and unique perspectives. This corporate culture encourages employees to develop various opinions and perspectives and improves equality in the company.
Personally, I feel Seki Kukan Sekkei is an impressive company. The consistency of the company in executing great projects is exceptional. In my opinion, it is extremely challenging to establish a stable consulting company in this changing climate and fast-moving technology. However, Seki Kukan Sekkei could come up with innovative ideas with an open mind, without disregarding the main goal of satisfying the people’s needs. Regardless of the technical hardships and situation, the workers always bear in mind their slogan itself, which is the “Spirit of Place” that energizes them to work to the best of their ability.
It was an honor for me to visit Seki Kukan Sekkei. I heard them speak about “sustainability” and the “local area” with strong passion many times. I recognized again that Miyagi prefecture has various good aspects that we take for granted, like a convenient transportation system and a long history. In addition, their workplace is changing the purpose of work into one of communication. It is an ideal environment where everyone expresses their own opinions. The warm welcoming atmosphere was the most impressive thing for me.