Story #7 From Ichitaro to MetaMoJi: A Journey of Reinvention and Innovation

After a downturn in business, we had to let go of JustSystems and started a new company. This decision came from our desire to once again take on new challenges alongside the engineers who helped build JustSystems.

The name of the new company is "MetaMoJi." "Meta" means "to transcend." It symbolizes "transcending characters." JustSystems brought the groundbreaking Japanese word processor software, "Ichitaro," into the world. With this new company, we aimed to create something that surpasses it. That’s the sentiment behind the founding of "MetaMoJi." I became the president, and Hatsuko took on the role of managing director. It was a fresh start for the two of us.

Setting sail as a couple at the age of 60, we embarked on a new journey. So, what would we do with this new company? We already had ideas. There was no end to what we wanted to do. However, an encounter with new technology prompted us to make a sudden change in our direction.

Toward something even more exciting—just like when we founded JustSystems at the age of 30 and brought Japanese word processors into this country, Hatsuko and I found ourselves encountering a similar sense of possibility.

At the beginning of that year, a groundbreaking product was born: the iPad, a tablet developed by Apple. Watching Steve Jobs' presentation video amazed us, but the moment we held the actual product left an unforgettable impression.

Before it was released in Japan, a patent attorney who had long supported us went to Hawaii to buy an iPad and showed it to us. I vividly remember the shock I felt at that moment. "That’s it!"

When I held the iPad, the conventional PC suddenly felt cumbersome. The iPad could be used anytime and anywhere without being tied to a desk. It was a completely different experience from smartphones, which, with their smaller screens, were not yet suited for detailed tasks. Having walked alongside the progress of computers for so many years, I realized this was the next innovation.

So, we decided to develop an app that would allow people to effortlessly write by hand, just as we once created ‘Ichitaro.’ It was the start of an exciting new chapter for us and MetaMoJi.