Why I Build.

I returned to Japan just a month before the world changed due to COVID. For a long time, my social circle was small—just one close, quiet friend whom I saw only occasionally. Life was predictable until a chance encounter at a local bar changed my perspective. A stranger at the counter simply asked, 'Want to drink with me?' That one question led us through three more bars that night and sparked a genuine friendship. When my future wife visited Japan, he welcomed her to our lunch with beautiful, thoughtful gifts—two pouches made from traditional kimono fabric. From that night on, we became 'neighborhood friends' who visited each other's homes. Knowing I had a good friend just a few blocks away changed how I felt about my community. That feeling—the security of a spontaneous local connection—was the second major spark for this app, joining the observation I had made months earlier in that Tokyo supermarket.