OTERA Inc. Begins Recruiting Regions for "Mamoruba," a Community Mutual Aid Service with Nearly 200 Local Supporters, Aiming for Nationwide Expansion Based on Over 100 Monthly Life Support Cases
OTERA Inc. has started recruiting regions and co-creation partners for "Mamoruba," a community mutual aid service that connects the elderly with "small inconveniences" to local "supporters." With over 100 monthly life support cases, the company aims for nationwide expansion of its mutual aid model.
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- 📰 Published: April 30, 2026 at 20:30
- 🔍 Collected: April 30, 2026 at 12:01
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OTERA Inc. (Headquarters: Zushi City, Kanagawa Prefecture; Representative Director: Kei Takeda; hereinafter, "the Company"), which develops life support services for the elderly, has begun recruiting regions and co-creation partners for "Mamoruba," a community mutual aid service that connects the elderly and others with "small inconveniences" to "people who can help a little" in the community.
"We want to support the small inconveniences of elderly residents in the community with the power of the community."
"We want to create a sustainable mutual aid system where every resident can have a role."
We aim to implement a network of "mutual help" in each region by collaborating with individuals, local governments, NPOs, and companies that share these concerns.
■ Background: "Small inconveniences" that cannot be fully addressed by existing systems remain in the community.
As the population ages, many "small inconveniences" exist in daily life—such as shopping, cleaning, smartphone operation, light bulb replacement, and visitation for monitoring—that are "difficult to be covered by long-term care insurance or existing systems, but are critical for the individuals and their families."
On the other hand, there are people in the community who "want to help someone" and "want to use their free time for the community."
However, opportunities for those in need and those who want to help to connect naturally are limited. Continuing to recruit, interview, train, match, manage fees, and conduct public relations activities solely by the community incurs significant operational burden.
"Mamoruba" is a service that connects these life support needs, which fall between existing systems, with the latent power of mutual support in the community, thereby assisting in the creation of a sustainable community mutual aid system.
Based on its operational track record in the Kamakura, Zushi-Hayama, and Yokosuka regions, the Company has decided to begin consultations for implementation tailored to the specific circumstances of each region to address these local challenges.
■ What is the community mutual aid service "Mamoruba"?
"Mamoruba" is a community mutual aid service that connects "people who are a little troubled," such as the elderly, with "people who can help a little (supporters)" in the community.
Currently, it operates mainly in the Kamakura, Zushi-Hayama, and Yokosuka regions, with nearly 200 supporters. In less than a year since its service release, it has responded to over 100 life support cases per month, and its utilization as a mechanism to meet local life support needs is expanding.
Key support services include:
- Shopping assistance/accompaniment with transportation
- Cleaning inside and outside the house
- Visitation for monitoring
- Support for using smartphones and other devices
- Small tasks such as light bulb replacement
- Other responses to small daily inconveniences
Mamoruba is not just a matching service. By combining a safety confirmation and customer management system powered by technology with warm offline support from local people, it aims to serve as a "community hub" that connects people with people and people with local resources.
Furthermore, the Company has been working on verifying the community mutual aid model through demonstration projects in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Community Mutual Aid Service "Mamoruba"
https://otera.co.jp/mamoruba/life
Kanagawa Prefecture Demonstration Project Release
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000007.000147307.html
■ Target for Recruitment
This recruitment is open to individuals, local governments, NPOs, community organizations, and companies, regardless of their type, who are seeking consultation on "creating a system to support the life assistance and monitoring of the elderly in the community."
We will jointly consider the possibility of introducing a mutual aid model utilizing Mamoruba, depending on the challenges of each region, such as small inconveniences not fully covered by long-term care insurance or existing systems, recruitment and operation of local supporters, prevention of elderly isolation, and contributions to the community/CSR.
■ About Implementation and Operational Support
Mamoruba's operational headquarters supports the following operations to enable the launch of a mutual aid system while minimizing the burden on the implementing regions:
- Provision of customer management and matching systems
- Billing, collection, and payment management for support fees
- Operational support for supporter recruitment, interviews, and training
- Support for public relations and PR activities
- Operational design and launch support during the initial implementation phase
Local entities can focus on "activities to expand the circle of mutual aid," such as building local collaborators, informing residents, and collaborating with administration, organizations, and companies.
"We want to introduce a new system, but we lack operational resources."
"We see the regional challenges, but we don't know how to concretely launch a solution."
For such regions, the Mamoruba operational headquarters will provide comprehensive support from implementation to the creation of new contributors.
■ Comment from Kei Takeda, Representative Director of OTERA Inc.
"In the lives of the elderly, there are many 'small inconveniences' that cannot be fully supported by systems or families. Even if each one seems small, accumulating them can lead to reduced opportunities for going out, isolation, and anxiety.
On the other hand, there are people in the community who 'want to help someone' and 'want to use their free time for the community.'
"We want to support the small inconveniences of elderly residents in the community with the power of the community."
"We want to create a sustainable mutual aid system where every resident can have a role."
We aim to implement a network of "mutual help" in each region by collaborating with individuals, local governments, NPOs, and companies that share these concerns.
■ Background: "Small inconveniences" that cannot be fully addressed by existing systems remain in the community.
As the population ages, many "small inconveniences" exist in daily life—such as shopping, cleaning, smartphone operation, light bulb replacement, and visitation for monitoring—that are "difficult to be covered by long-term care insurance or existing systems, but are critical for the individuals and their families."
On the other hand, there are people in the community who "want to help someone" and "want to use their free time for the community."
However, opportunities for those in need and those who want to help to connect naturally are limited. Continuing to recruit, interview, train, match, manage fees, and conduct public relations activities solely by the community incurs significant operational burden.
"Mamoruba" is a service that connects these life support needs, which fall between existing systems, with the latent power of mutual support in the community, thereby assisting in the creation of a sustainable community mutual aid system.
Based on its operational track record in the Kamakura, Zushi-Hayama, and Yokosuka regions, the Company has decided to begin consultations for implementation tailored to the specific circumstances of each region to address these local challenges.
■ What is the community mutual aid service "Mamoruba"?
"Mamoruba" is a community mutual aid service that connects "people who are a little troubled," such as the elderly, with "people who can help a little (supporters)" in the community.
Currently, it operates mainly in the Kamakura, Zushi-Hayama, and Yokosuka regions, with nearly 200 supporters. In less than a year since its service release, it has responded to over 100 life support cases per month, and its utilization as a mechanism to meet local life support needs is expanding.
Key support services include:
- Shopping assistance/accompaniment with transportation
- Cleaning inside and outside the house
- Visitation for monitoring
- Support for using smartphones and other devices
- Small tasks such as light bulb replacement
- Other responses to small daily inconveniences
Mamoruba is not just a matching service. By combining a safety confirmation and customer management system powered by technology with warm offline support from local people, it aims to serve as a "community hub" that connects people with people and people with local resources.
Furthermore, the Company has been working on verifying the community mutual aid model through demonstration projects in Kanagawa Prefecture.
Community Mutual Aid Service "Mamoruba"
https://otera.co.jp/mamoruba/life
Kanagawa Prefecture Demonstration Project Release
https://prtimes.jp/main/html/rd/p/000000007.000147307.html
■ Target for Recruitment
This recruitment is open to individuals, local governments, NPOs, community organizations, and companies, regardless of their type, who are seeking consultation on "creating a system to support the life assistance and monitoring of the elderly in the community."
We will jointly consider the possibility of introducing a mutual aid model utilizing Mamoruba, depending on the challenges of each region, such as small inconveniences not fully covered by long-term care insurance or existing systems, recruitment and operation of local supporters, prevention of elderly isolation, and contributions to the community/CSR.
■ About Implementation and Operational Support
Mamoruba's operational headquarters supports the following operations to enable the launch of a mutual aid system while minimizing the burden on the implementing regions:
- Provision of customer management and matching systems
- Billing, collection, and payment management for support fees
- Operational support for supporter recruitment, interviews, and training
- Support for public relations and PR activities
- Operational design and launch support during the initial implementation phase
Local entities can focus on "activities to expand the circle of mutual aid," such as building local collaborators, informing residents, and collaborating with administration, organizations, and companies.
"We want to introduce a new system, but we lack operational resources."
"We see the regional challenges, but we don't know how to concretely launch a solution."
For such regions, the Mamoruba operational headquarters will provide comprehensive support from implementation to the creation of new contributors.
■ Comment from Kei Takeda, Representative Director of OTERA Inc.
"In the lives of the elderly, there are many 'small inconveniences' that cannot be fully supported by systems or families. Even if each one seems small, accumulating them can lead to reduced opportunities for going out, isolation, and anxiety.
On the other hand, there are people in the community who 'want to help someone' and 'want to use their free time for the community.'