A 33-Year Journey Now Flows into WAY... "In the End, It's About People" Is Our Motto [Tracing the Source #4 Finale]

Hello, this is yasu.

Today is the final installment of the "Tracing the Source" series.

In the first part, I traced my encounter with technology back to when I was in elementary school. In the second part, I spoke about the "quiet warmth" that flows within me through the figures of two mentors. In the third part, I looked back on my days as a project leader and shared the single wish I held: "I want to create an atmosphere where children can learn happily."

And today. How all the "sources" I have spoken about so far are now flowing into me. And what I aim to achieve from here on out.

WAY, a small brand run by a married couple.
A way of working with AI as a partner.
The future shape of supporting individuals and small-scale ventures.

I would like to share these stories with you slowly as the final installment.

One day, I couldn't go to work anymore

In this series, I have talked about my 33-year journey as a teacher. As a homeroom teacher, a research director, an academic affairs director, and a municipal project leader.

However, that path was not always straight.

One day, I became unable to go to work. My heart wouldn't stop racing, and my body was shaking. At the clinic, I was diagnosed with adjustment disorder.

Of course, I loved my job. I cared for the children, my colleagues, and above all, I held them dear.

But my daily duties gradually became harder, and the care for my elderly parents and family added to the burden. Before I knew it, I think I had exceeded my own limits.

At that time, supported by the kind words of my supervisor, I made the decision to take a break. And then, I submitted my resignation.

The children, the parents, and everyone at my workplace. The feeling that I caused trouble still remains deep in my heart.

But now, I have come to believe that it is precisely because I stopped at that time that I am who I am today.

I started note during my recuperation

Recuperation is a strange time.

Completely stepping away from work and just resting. At first, I was bewildered by that "time of doing nothing."

However, little by little, my heart began to move.

"Isn't it too late to start preparing after I finish my recuperation?" "I want to start something now, within the scope of what I can do."

For about ten years, I have held a dream in my heart.
“I want to try a job that I can do while moving from place to place.” I felt that this timing was the moment to get closer to that dream.

I thought about what I could do.
Writing articles.
Editing videos.
Creating presentation materials.
I love music and am also interested in DTM.

Among these, the most natural thing to start with was publishing my writing.
I had also been interested in the lifestyle of a web writer from the beginning.

“For now, I’ll start by publishing my own writing.”

I decided that and opened a note account. This was in January 2024.

The axis that became visible as I kept writing

At first, I didn't clearly know what I wanted to write about.

About brain science.
About Adlerian psychology.
What I learn from Zen teachings.
About mindfulness.

I wrote about the themes I was interested in, one by one.
Honestly, those were days of trial and error.

But as I kept writing, something strange happened.

The number of people reading my work gradually increased.
There are people who press the 'like' button.
There are people who leave comments.
I myself get energy from the articles of people in similar situations.

“The words I created from within myself are reaching someone.” That sense of response was the happiest thing of all.

And as I kept writing, my themes gradually became defined.
Utilizing AI in daily life.
Messages for parents and adults involved with children.

However, I felt that if I limited it to 'child-rearing,' the readership would be too narrow.
So, I expanded the target to 'all adults involved with children.'

This was the same idea at its root as the words I used during my time as a teacher, which I talked about in the third installment.
“To raise children's motivation, we must raise the teachers' motivation.”

It is difficult to directly energize children through note.
But I can energize the adults involved with children.
If those adults become energized, it will eventually reach the children.

I now think that my belief from my teaching days has changed form and continued to live on within note.

My wife and I launched WAY

And in April 2026.
My wife and I launched a brand called 'WAY -Work Anywhere Yasushi-'.

This was not something I stepped into with a sudden, grand resolution.
While I kept writing on note, something close to confidence sprouted little by little, very little by little.
It was a small step taken on top of that accumulation.

There were people who read our work.
There were people who reacted.
There were people who supported us in the comments.
There were people who added our articles to their magazines.

Each and every one of those things gave my wife and me the courage to "take one more step forward."

The WAY slogan is, "For the sake of precious children, we listen carefully and we convey."
Not using my 33 years of teaching experience as a title or authority, but transforming it into practical value by being "someone who can translate the school's true intentions" and "a sounding board that never denies." That is the WAY philosophy.

My wife has a command of the Japanese language from studying modern literature and an intuitive sense for catchy copy.
I am good at listening and at streamlining things using gadgets and AI.
The system where we double-check everything together has become our greatest strength.

AI, our other partner

And, WAY has one more important "partner."
That is AI.

My wife and I often talk about this.
"If we didn't have AI as a partner, would we have been able to make it this far?"

To be honest, I don't think we would have made it this far.

When my head is cluttered, it helps organize my thoughts.
It helps build the structure of articles together.
It streamlines back-office tasks like contracts and accounting to the absolute limit.
It acts as a sounding board for brainstorming and draws out our own words.

It's not that AI gives us the answer to everything.
But the feeling that another "thinking companion" has joined our small two-person team is truly reassuring.

And what is important is what we do with the "margin" created by leaving things to AI.

We want to use that margin for "time to carefully face the person in front of us."

Leave the back office to AI, and have humans firmly face each other in human-to-human communication.
This is the "division of roles" we value at WAY.

The encounter with technology that I talked about in the first installment.
That experience of encountering new worlds through people is now leading to an encounter with a new "non-human partner" called AI.
I deeply feel that it is a mysterious coincidence.

There are things that can only be done because we are individuals/small-scale

One of the future goals for WAY is the form of an "AI consultant for individuals and small businesses."

Why not large organizations, but individuals and small-scale?
This is deeply connected to what I realized during my 33 years of teaching.

When I was working as a promoter at a designated research school, I felt the "frustration of things not changing" many times.
While there was an atmosphere of "let's adopt new things" on the surface, there were also people who stood by as if it were someone else's problem.
Even when we created a project team and started moving, we were chased by daily tasks and couldn't get around to it.
Every time a new system was introduced, we were swayed by trying to understand it.
Hardware was also updated one after another.
Some people started to question, "Is this an improvement or a change for the worse?"
In a conservative atmosphere, the feeling of "why isn't the way we've always done it okay" was conveyed even without words.

Of course, those voices were also important.

While carefully listening to those opinions and also listening to the thoughts of the management, I continued to search for a compromise, believing that there must be a point of agreement somewhere.

However, continuing to do that in a large organization really required a lot of energy.

Even taking schools as an example, large schools, small schools, urban areas, and places rich in nature all have completely different numbers of children and situations.
Applying a uniform solution doesn't reach the front lines.

That is precisely why I want to demonstrate my abilities in the field of 'individuals and small-scale' from now on.

Because the number of people is small, I can think things through carefully with the key people involved.
I can work together with them to create systems and content that are truly close to the front lines.
I can engage deeply and on a small scale with people who wish to change.

This is also a path to utilize the 'quiet warmth' and 'unwavering axis' I received from the two mentors I spoke about in the second installment in my future work.

Future dreams... with various people in various places

My wife and I have one more shared dream.

We want to work while traveling to various places.

We want to experience the culture and atmosphere of each region, not for two or three days, but for a month, or if possible, a year at a time, and apply what we learn there to our work.

Our one-month stay in Okinawa starting next month is the first practical step toward that dream.

While visiting the nostalgic land where I spent my student days and covering how current AI and technology are rooted in daily life,
my wife and I want to slowly breathe in the air of that land.

And eventually.

In various places in Japan.
And if the situation allows, with people from abroad as well.

I hope to meet them in person, communicate with a smile, and continue my work in AI consulting, parenting consultation, and writing.

Since my recuperation, the opportunities to meet people have decreased significantly.
From now on, I want to gradually regain that time.

Work is, of course, important.
But more than that, I want to meet various people and learn various things.
If my small strength can be of use to someone, I would love to be of service.

With that thought in mind, I will walk forward from here.

In the end, it's all about people

There is a phrase that my wife and I often say.
'In the end, it's all about people.'

While writing this series, this phrase was always on my mind.

A friend who showed me a "big box" at his house 50 years ago.
My father, with whom I drew pictures on a BASIC computer when I was in junior high school.
A professor in Okinawa who delivered a cold air fan to use as a substitute for an electric fan, even while I made unreasonable requests during my student days.
Mr. A, who casually appeared during cleaning time when I was in the 6th grade of elementary school.

A senior colleague who made coffee for me in the living room at night after I became a teacher.
A principal who was calmly warm and ran through the research designation with me.
Fellow researchers with whom I studied at the Education Center.
Teachers at the designated research school who sang "It's okay to be yourself" along with me.
Children who danced over and over again while watching the video.

Many readers I met on note, which I started during my recuperation.
And my wife, who is always by my side supporting me.

The existence of each and every one of them makes me who I am today.

I have come this far by receiving from many people.
From now on, I hope to pass on what I have received to someone else, little by little.

With that thought in mind, I would like to nurture WAY.

Together with my new partner, AI.
Together with my wife.
And with the many people I will meet from here on.

Thank you very much for reading the four-part "Tracing the Source" series.

Now that I have finished writing this series, I am probably on a ferry heading from Kagoshima to Okinawa.

Returning to the nostalgic land where I spent my student days as another version of myself.
I am truly grateful that you stayed with me until the end of this quiet finale.

I will continue to put into words, little by little, the small path that my wife and I walk together.

Conclusion

People pass on what they have received from someone to someone else.

It may be a small thing, but I would like to walk that "passing on" segment carefully.

Is there anyone you can look back on and think, "I am who I am today because of that person"?
And perhaps you yourself have already become a "source" for someone else.

Please continue to support us, my wife and me, and our partner, AI.
See you in the next article.

Thank you for reading until the end.

▼ 【Tracing the Source】Click here for the series magazine

Why am I able to welcome AI as a "partner" so naturally?
Why do I feel it is so important to "balance technology and humanity"?

Over the course of four parts, I have been putting my journey into words little by little.
I talk about my encounters with technology, my two mentors, the days I spent running as a driving force, and how I arrived at the current WAY.

▼ [Organizing Adult Time: AI Life Design Techniques] Click here for the series magazine

Previous articles and future updates will be compiled in this magazine.

If you would like to have "time to cherish yourself"

please follow us and look forward to new articles.

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