How Overseas Assignments Changed Perspectives on Household Chores and Parenting: Two Male Employees From Sumitomo Corporation Take on New Challenges

Both of you have used Sumitomo Corporation’s "0→1 Challenge* to pursue your business ideas. Can you give us an overview of the services you have developed?

Okuse I developed a service called "Peer Sitter," a matching platform that allows employees and their families to exchange babysitting services. Targeting dual income households, we are promoting the service as an employee benefit tool for HR departments at large companies. It was selected for the "0→1 Challenge" in FY2023 and we are now conducting trials to bring it to market. While collaborating and exchanging information with people inside and outside the company, I’m working alone to handle everything from app development to trials and hypothesis testing.

Ueda My business, "Arai-san, Laundry" is a delivery service for laundry. Users can schedule a pick-up time for laundry via LINE (messaging App), and if their pick-up is scheduled before 10 AM, the laundry will be washed, dried, folded and returned on the same day. We started offering the service in Shibuya in 2023 and have since expanded to five total wards in Tokyo. We have teamed up with Hakuyosha, a major dry-cleaning company, and marketing professionals from TBWA HAKUHODO, in addition to two Sumitomo Corporation employees, and are working to launch a full-scale business.

What motivated you to develop household support services as businesses?

What was particularly striking to you while living abroad?

After returning to Japan, what challenges did you notice in the context of household chores and parenting?

Okuse One thing that stood out for me after returning was a strong resistance to relying on others. Although there is data showing that leaving children in the care of others can nurture their social skills and have a positive impact on their personality development, there are still many people in Japan who feel guilty about leaving housework and childcare to others.

Ueda I’ve also noticed that in Japan, there’s a cultural tendency to value "endurance" and "self-sufficiency." When looking at the fees for servicesthemselves, Japan’s prices aren’t significantly higher than those abroad, but the widespread adoption of household support services is hindered by psychological barriers. Even expats, who use housekeeping services as a matter of course abroad, return to Japan and hesitate to outsource tasks due to social judgement. This includes the idea that outsourcing childcare or chores is something to be ashamed, or because they are reluctant to let others see inside their houses, in other words, their own territory.

Where do you think the differences between Japan and abroad come from? And how did you adjust your services to accommodate these differences?

Ueda I believe cultural and historical factors are a large part of why people in Japan are more resistant to outsourcing household help. In Western countries, it’s common to have someone from a different ethnic background, with whom you have no prior connection, come to your home and provide services. But in Japan, the staff are typically Japanese, and it’s perhaps more common for someone to feel uncomfortable and think, "What if a friend of a friend ends up coming to my house?" To address this cultural difference, we created "Arai-san, Laundry" as a non-contact service that can be completed at the doorstep, so customers don’t have to interact with staff directly.

Okuse As Ueda mentioned, cultural differences are a huge factor, especially when it comes to leaving children with others. From our research, including over 300 interviews with people inside and outside the company, we found that there are two distinct groups: those who use such services frequently, and those who have never used them. The key is to lower the initial barrier. After plenty of trial and error, I realized that having a system where colleagues help each other – people you trust and who share similar views on compliance – could make it easier for people to feel comfortable using these services.

Ueda Both our services aim to "lower the psychological barriers" to outsourcing chores. The interesting thing is that we’re using opposite approaches: one focuses on "never meeting the person you will rely on," and the other focuses on "relying on someone you're already familiar with."

Okuse That’s true. In either case, we want to create systems where people more easily seek help from others, rather than trying to do everything on their own and pushing themselves too hard.

In closing, please share your vision for the future of your business and the goals you want to accomplish.

Okuse Our first goal is to commercialize the service, and through that process, we hope to refine usability and convenience to create a platform easily accessible by families. As we continue trials, the following words from a female colleague at Sumitomo Corporation really stuck with me: "I really wanted to send my child to kindergarten and enroll them in a variety of extracurricular activities. But even though I worked so hard for their sake, I was never sure if they were truly happy." I want to create a service that addresses these real concerns and allows people to support each other.

Ueda People often talk about the "burden" of parenting, but spending time with children should be a wonderful experience. I want to ease the stress of household chores so that people can enjoy more quality time with their kids. To do this, I plan to first solidify the foundations of the laundry service business and, eventually, expand to offer full-range household support services, creating an infrastructure that allows people to enjoy their lives to the fullest.