Dwango — Kabukiza Tower: net culture made above a kabuki theatre

Concept

Yourself, and Dwango

What the company aims at is an environment where people can be themselves, be Dwango, and pursue what each of them thinks is ideal.

How people work is up to them: many are productive remotely, and when they come in they use the office for conversation and making things together. Discretionary and flexitime systems back that up.

01 · Reception

A tower you enter from the station

The tower connects straight to Higashi-ginza station on the Hibiya and Asakusa lines. The entrance and reception are where a one-of-a-kind location and the company’s own character meet.

02 · Workspace

Desks for the days you come in

The work floor is for making content and writing code, with colleagues close enough to ask a question or turn a screen around. Remote staff get an allowance for electricity, communications and setting up a place to work at home.

03 · Meetings

Open rooms, quick decisions

Meetings on office days use open rooms — not closed off — to keep cross-team conversation and decisions quick.

04 · Break & studio

A studio in the office

A break area is there to switch off or chat. The office also holds a studio: Niconico video and live broadcasts are made and streamed from inside the building. At the end of the year the whole group holds a year-end party with catering, awards and a look back at the year.

05 · Welfare

A hair salon at work

The most unusual benefit is the in-house hair salon, artifata GINZA KABUKIZA, built on the idea of “office × hair salon” with Wi-Fi, power and a desk for a laptop, so you can get your hair cut and still work. Beyond that: insurance and pension, a corporate defined-contribution plan, an employee shareholding scheme, IT health-insurance union facilities, a counselling desk, a dormitory for new graduates for two years, and remote-work and commuting allowances.

06 · How they work

Side jobs, and moving inside the group

Side jobs are allowed with prior approval, and an FA system lets people raise their hand for a move to another department in the KADOKAWA Group. Optional seminars run online on careers and self-care, and ZEN Study IDs for programming, web design, video and exam courses are free on request. Official clubs — board games, yoga, music, baseball, ballroom dance, electronics, models, cooking — get a subsidy.