Hello, everyone.

This is Enta.

I was looking at some old digital photos.

That's a photo from when I was still working at a major company.

It’s no exaggeration to say that the site in that photo changed my life as a construction manager.

This is the scene of the Niigata Chuetsu Earthquake.

This is the site of the earthquake that occurred on October 23, 2004 (Heisei 16), at 5:56 p.m., with a maximum seismic intensity of 7.

 

The set here was amazing.

The reason is that at the time, I was working on a project as the general contractor in a place called Shuzenji in Shizuoka Prefecture.

Now that the on-site briefing (from the government office) is over, the construction plan has been submitted, and the contractor has been selected, it’s time to get started.

One week after construction began, the site representative was replaced, and off to Niigata... lol

Since it was a directive from headquarters, not the branch, my personal opinion didn't matter at all.

 

Anyway, it was a total mess, and above all, we couldn't get the ingredients! This was extremely difficult—since we couldn't estimate the quantities, we ended up ordering extra, or rather, about twice as much as we had planned.

Even so, it still wasn't enough, and I ended up running around in circles.

Was this the prototype for Japan’s first zabuton frame? Or rather, since I didn’t know what a zabuton frame was back then, I just made one on the spot.

(When I looked into the zabuton frame, I found that the patent was filed in Heisei 14 and published in Heisei 16.)

This is the prototype for the zabuton frame I made on a whim lol

We were constructing the formwork using wooden frames.

Actually, all of these ground anchors (the visible parts) have been retensioned.

The reason is that the general contractor (a major construction firm) was simply following the design specifications.

So I tried to stop him, saying that wasn't a good idea. But he went ahead with it anyway, and just as I expected, it turned out to be a total disaster lol.

We hurriedly filled in the area.

I felt like saying, “I told you so…” but from then on, it was a whirlwind of design proposals and design changes day in and day out.

In a way, that was the start of "Hell Mode" lol

While adhering to the minimum design requirements, we proposed and implemented a method that was tailored to the site and could be completed quickly.

We really did it all—design, construction, and construction management.

Since I couldn't level it out, I made a zabuton-style frame.

It was really tough because I wanted to finish it before the snow came.

It was a job where I managed to pull it off with what I thought was a pretty good idea.

(The "Zabuton" segment that came later wasn't my idea or anything like that. I was just doing it on my own at the time.)

Here, we installed anchors and applied sprayed concrete during the day, and performed rebar insertion work at night.

Well, aside from things like retaining walls, there was literally everything—it’s like there wasn’t a single type of construction work that wasn’t related to slope stabilization, lol.

Thanks to that, it was a workplace where I was able to significantly hone my skills.

Looking back now, it was a pretty crazy set.

I think everyone was just so desperate and focused solely on clearing the road as quickly as possible.

 

Looking at old photos brings back all sorts of memories.

Good things and bad things alike. But by facing them head-on, we can rise even higher.

I think we can continue to improve our skills even further.

Try comparing yourself to who you used to be.

Are you doing much better now? Or are you slacking off?

When you get home, take a look at the old photos from the site. You'll see plenty of traces of everyone there.

Your enemy is yourself!!

 

See you later.