Nakamura, who had been working for a wholesaler of housing equipment, joined Ueki Kohzai in 2011.
He was initially assigned to the delivery department, where he learned about products and customers while delivering goods.
He was transferred to the sales department around 2012, when Yoko Ueki, the daughter of founder Masayuki Ueki, became president.
“For about 10 years in the sales department, I worked relentlessly, almost without rest.”
Nakamura's efforts to boost Ueki Kohzai's sales, working day and night in sales, bore fruit, and sales, which were around 600 million yen when he joined, grew to nearly 1.1 billion yen.

Nakamura's contributions to the company's growth were not limited to sales.
He also created a training program to strengthen internal administrative operations.
“If we didn't strengthen our administrative work, we couldn't process customer orders quickly. At that time, even looking at order memos, dimensions were unclear, so I created a three-month training program to ensure that employees could work with confidence.”
By strengthening internal operations, Nakamura himself found it easier to go out for sales. Ueki Kohzai was able to grow through the dual efforts of internal strengthening and sales capabilities.

What motivated Nakamura was reportedly the desire to fulfill founder Masayuki Ueki's wish to 'revitalize (Ueki Kohzai) once more'.
“When I joined the company, there were no positions like president or senior managing director, and President Ueki had retired from the front lines.”
When Yoko Ueki became president, the founding couple returned to the company as chairman and senior managing director.
Nakamura, a mid-career hire, admired Masayuki Ueki so much that he devoted himself wholeheartedly to his work because he learned about Masayuki Ueki's character, achievements, and aspirations through the 'Tochigi Cleaning Study Group'.
“The chairman is the founder of the 'Tochigi Cleaning Study Group'. While participating in cleaning activities, I learned from colleagues across the country that the chairman is an amazing person. Feeling his aspirations and vision, I became determined to do my best if there was anything I could do to help.”

“Around November 2019, when the president suddenly told me to step down from the sales department, my world went dark.”
For Nakamura, who had been at the forefront of sales and generating significant revenue, this order came like a bolt from the blue.
What Nakamura was newly tasked with was creating new projects from scratch on his own.
At that time, Nakamura was handling large-volume and highly difficult tasks, such as participating in projects with major trading companies, which other staff could not keep up with.
“The president probably felt that 'this would be too much for both Nakamura and the staff' and 'Ueki Kohzai would exceed its capacity,' and issued the order to put the brakes on things.”
While the intention might have been to apply the brakes, it's also possible that, precisely because of his high evaluation of Nakamura's abilities, the president expected him to leverage his skills with greater autonomy and create new strengths for Ueki Kohzai.

The new project was set to start in the spring of 2020.
Nakamura reportedly envisioned working on projects in collaboration with major trading companies, just as he had done in the sales department.
However, with the declaration of a state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus in April 2020, everything Nakamura had envisioned was reset.
“Because with the uncertain situation of COVID-19, projects stalled, and it became difficult to meet and talk with people from trading companies.”

Therefore, Nakamura focused on developing civil engineering and construction materials. Tochigi suffered significant damage from Typhoon Hagibis in 2019. As a result, a regional plan for national resilience was formulated in Tochigi, and efforts to build disaster-resilient towns had begun.
“I knocked on the doors of 1,300 companies, but there are rules that must be followed between the construction industry and the steel industry. I determined that overcoming those hurdles was too difficult.”

Feeling frustrated that the new project was not progressing as he had envisioned, Nakamura re-examined Ueki Kohzai's origins. He then realized that Ueki Kohzai's resources lay in its processing machines.
“I wondered if we could fully utilize our processing machines and processing technology. Amidst this, the phrase 'our role as a manufacturer supporting manufacturing' from our company's vision resonated with me.”
Thus, Nakamura's search for what could be done 'as a manufacturer' led him to the answer: 'maasa®', an original product brand of beautifully shaped items created by leveraging delicate iron processing technology.
The major impetus for this idea reportedly came from a certain foreign-affiliated hotel.

“A certain hotel was using a design motif based on Kanuma Kumiko from Tochigi. However, when I actually saw it, I was disappointed with the quality.”
He then wondered what kind of products could be created by processing iron with Ueki Kohzai's technology.
From there, he visited Kanuma Kumiko artisans, learned from them, and repeatedly devised ways to express the delicacy of Kumiko in iron.
“Knowing the skills and passion of the Kumiko artisans, I am seriously committed to expressing it in metal, feeling that it would be disrespectful to do anything half-hearted.”

Creating complex and delicate Kumiko patterns with laser processing is not easy.
“When trying to process Kumiko patterns onto a surface, the sheet inevitably warps. We have to control that effectively.”
The way it warps also differs depending on the sheet thickness. Furthermore, if the machine stops, that part of the sheet melts, resulting in a defective product.It depends on the technician's experience and skill to determine which position to hold the sheet and complete the process in one go without stopping the machine.

“When I first requested it, I was told, 'Such fine processing is impossible,' and 'It can't be done.' Nevertheless, we challenged ourselves, and this processing was realized. The factory floor has its own methods, so I respected that and tried not to interfere.”
Thus, delicate processing was achieved, and maasa®'s EDOstyle now allows customers to choose and order from 91 types of Kumiko designs.These designs are traditional patterns received from traditional craft artisans who create interior fittings using Kanuma Kumiko.
It is likely that the traditional craft artisans themselves provided the patterns because they recognized Ueki Kohzai's serious commitment to this new endeavor.

Nakamura is continuously challenging new designs, including those utilizing curves in addition to Kumiko patterns.
“The works with geometric designs applied to round pipes are finished in such a way that any professional who sees them will wonder, 'How is this even possible?'”
It is possible to create designs demanded worldwide, including traditional Japanese patterns other than Kumiko, and traditional European designs.
“Points connect to form lines, lines form surfaces, and surfaces overlap to create layers. This leads to new encounters. It's tough, but it's incredibly enjoyable.”

The initial concept Nakamura created was 'Expressing Japanese Traditional Crafts in Iron and Conveying Them to the World'.
While this concept has already taken shape and produced wonderful works, it is not yet the final goal for Nakamura.
“There are still many things I want to do, so for now, it's still in the preparation stage.”
He reportedly aims to create things that don't exist in the world and surprise many people. To that end, he is currently forging connections with various people and striving to generate new ideas.

“I believe innovation is born when disparate elements combine. The first step is to try. There's a word 'failure,' but true failure is 'losing the ability to be defeated.' So, it's okay to be defeated many times.”
Perhaps the new story created by Ueki Kohzai, maasa®, is still just the beginning.
One cannot help but anticipate the beautiful and grand story that will emerge from further challenges.