Story #9 “One App, Endless Possibilities: How a Japanese Innovation is Revolutionizing Industries”

When developing a handwriting input app for iPad, I instructed the development team to ensure the display remained smooth and free of jagged edges, even when zoomed in. This led to the launch of the note-taking app, MetaMoJi Note, in 2012, which has since become one of our flagship products.

In the spring of 2014, representatives from Obayashi Corporation, one of Japan's leading construction companies, visited our Tokyo office. They explained that despite distributing iPads, many remained unused in office drawers, and they wanted to increase iPad usage on construction sites. They believed iPads, unlike traditional computers, could significantly streamline on-site tasks. However, many workers were hesitant to adopt new technology.

Through interviews, they discovered that many employees were already using MetaMoJi Note as a digital replacement for traditional "field notebooks" (野帳) — small handwritten memo books that construction site supervisors carry everywhere.

This insight sparked a collaboration with Obayashi to develop a dedicated digital field notebook. The requested features included automatic date stamping, task management, spreadsheets, and more. Rather than simply implementing their requests, we actively proposed features that enhanced usability and leveraged the iPad’s unique capabilities.

By 2015, we completed eYACHO, a product that exceeded their initial expectations. It is now widely used, not just in construction sites but across various industries. Building on eYACHO’s success, we stripped away construction-specific elements to create GEMBA Note, making it versatile for diverse work environments.

As intended, GEMBA Note has gained traction in various fields. For example, it’s used in plant maintenance and design tasks—industries closely related to construction. Unexpectedly, it’s also been adopted in film production, aiding location scouting, prop sketches, and communication between directors and staff. During a studio visit, I saw it being used as a communication tool between directors and crew, which delighted me.

GEMBA Note has even found its way into dental clinics, where it replaced paper-based sub-charts, simplifying record-keeping for medical staff.

Reflecting on this journey, our mission to enhance productivity—unchanged since creating Ichitaro—has found new meaning. It fills me and Hatsuko (my co-founder) with pride to see our app thriving in unexpected ways across various industries.

Stay tuned for the final story in this series, where we’ll share a deeply personal chapter in the MetaMoJi journey—one that underscores the values that have guided us from the very beginning.