【Book Publication】The Representative, known as "Recruit's Festival Man," Introduces Tips for "Working on Your Own Terms" for Professionals Who Can't Find Fulfillment! 『Don't Read the Air, Measure the Temperature!』
Mitsunori Ojima, President and CEO of Zeroin Inc., published his fifth book, "Don't Read the Air, Measure the Temperature!" which became a weekly bestseller at Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store. The book offers 31 practical skills for professionals struggling to find meaning and fulfillment in their work, guiding them to work on their own terms.
📋 Article Processing Timeline
- 📰 Published: April 15, 2026 at 19:00
- 🔍 Collected: April 15, 2026 at 10:31
- 🤖 AI Analyzed: April 16, 2026 at 01:56 (15h 24m after Collected)
Mitsunori Ojima, President and CEO of Zeroin Inc. (Headquarters: Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), a company that energizes corporate "work" through general affairs consulting and outsourcing, published his fifth book, 『Don't Read the Air, Measure the Temperature! ~31 Communication Techniques to Elevate Others' "Temperature" Without Being Swayed by Your Surroundings~』 (Publisher: Poplar Publishing Co., Ltd.) on March 3, 2026.
This book achieved the No. 1 spot on the weekly bestseller list in the Business (Self-Help) category at Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store, one of Japan's largest general bookstores with four floors (aggregation period: February 26 to March 4, 2026).
This book is for professionals who want to work with a sense of purpose but struggle with feelings like "I can't find meaning in my work" or "I'm not appreciated or rewarded." It covers 31 practical skills for graduating from "forced work" and working on your own terms, from finding meaning in work to building relationships with superiors and forging your own career path.
The sentiment behind the title 『Don't Read the Air, Measure the Temperature!』 — Mitsunori Ojima's Comment
"Don't read the air" means to have the ability to make your own judgments. Instead of being swayed by your surroundings through unthinking conformity, you need to constantly ask yourself, "What do I want to do?" and "What can I do to achieve it?"
"Measure the temperature" embodies the wish to energize everyone you interact with. To energize everyone, you need to communicate in a way that matches the other person, while checking their "temperature." This idea connects to "Zeroin," a radio term that means aligning your frequency with the other person's frequency, which is also the origin of our company name. At our company, this is practiced as a matter of course when working with clients and partner companies, and it has become ingrained as part of our organizational culture.
Timeline Tracing Author Mitsunori Ojima's Experiences and Book Episodes
1965 — Born in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture
1983 — Served as cheerleading captain at Aomori Prefectural Hirosaki Minami High School
He was elected cheerleading captain by student vote in the student council cheerleading election and experienced activities that energized the entire student body. At that time, he commuted to school by passing through an apple orchard.
1984 — After graduating from high school, joined Recruit Co., Ltd.
After graduating from high school, Ojima joined Recruit Co., Ltd. and was assigned to the General Affairs Department. Recruit's General Affairs also played a role in planning events for employees and energizing them. Under Recruit's motto at the time, "Create your own opportunities, and change yourself through those opportunities," he continued to challenge himself beyond the confines of general affairs, while also experiencing setbacks, one of which was described by Mr. Ezoe as "the biggest stain in Recruit's internal event history."
Ojima spent the period from the eve of the bubble economy to the onset of the deflationary economy at Recruit, continuously invigorating the company through his general affairs work, earning him the nickname "Recruit's Festival Man."
Below, we introduce Ojima's initiatives during his time at Recruit that raised employee morale.
Finding Meaning in Work Through Vending Machine Management
Ojima's first challenge as a professional was managing vending machines. It was a task that involved submitting deposit slips to accounting, a job that quickly became routine. However, on a hot day, Ojima saw an employee disappointed because they couldn't buy the drink they wanted from a vending machine. So, he obtained sales data from the vending machine vendor and adjusted the product lineup, successfully eliminating stockouts. Later, the sales manager called the General Affairs Department to express gratitude, saying, "Recently, General Affairs' service has improved significantly," which made Ojima realize the value that General Affairs could provide. Through this seemingly trivial task, Ojima deeply felt the importance of considering "what is the meaning of work?"
Started an advice column in Recruit's in-house magazine. Continued to energize Recruit employees for 34 years even after leaving the company.
Ojima was working in General Affairs at Recruit during the time of the Recruit Scandal (1988). Exposed to significant public criticism, employees were going through a very difficult time. Amidst this, Ojima, wanting to energize employees even a little, went to the editorial office of the in-house magazine "Kamome" and proposed publishing an advice column. The editor-in-chief at the time reportedly thought it "wouldn't last long," but the column continued even after Ojima left Recruit, and has been energizing Recruit employees for 34 years to this day.
1998 — Established Zeroin Inc.
Ojima established Zeroin Inc., which provides "general affairs that energize employees" in an outsourced format. At Zeroin, employees who have inherited Ojima's approach to work from his Recruit days engage in initiatives to energize clients. Here are some examples:
Working Without Drawing Lines Between Jobs or Tasks
Soon after Zeroin was established, a client consulted them because they couldn't find a moving company to transport computers during an office relocation. At the time, computers were very expensive, and there was no insurance applicable for damage. So, Zeroin proposed, "We will transport them carefully, but we cannot compensate if they break. If that's not a problem, we will transport them." This proposal led to Zeroin gaining a reputation within the client company as a company that "can do anything."
Customer-Centric Approach
Recently, a Zeroin employee stationed at a client's office noticed a pregnant employee struggling to use a lower locker and proposed moving the lockers to a more accessible position. Such small suggestions slightly energize the client's daily work life.
Also, at another client site, an employee continued an activity of making one business improvement every day for a month. As a result of accumulating small improvements daily, the client told them, "Because Zeroin continues to make improvements every day, we also feel inspired to challenge ourselves with new things for our customers."
Book Overview
【Title】Don't Read the Air, Measure the Temperature! ~31 Communication Techniques to Elevate Others' "Temperature" Without Being Swayed by Your Surroundings~
【Author】Mitsunori Ojima
【Publisher】Poplar Publishing Co., Ltd.
【Release Date】March 3, 2026
【ISBN】978-4-591-18863-7
【Price】1,760 yen (1,600 yen + tax)
[Purchase on Amazon here]
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Finding Meaning in Work — Breaking Free from the "Forced Feeling"
1. What Vending Machine Management Taught Me About the True Meaning of Work
2. I Don't Want This Drill, I Want a 0.25-inch Hole.
3. New Work That Emerges from Knowing the Customer Better Than They Know Themselves
4. The Story of How a Seemingly Trivial Task Was Actually a Treasure Trove
5. Rebuilding Relationships with the Reiwa-era "Sanpo Yoshi" (Three-Way Good)
6. The Unexpected Teaching: Ask the Customer When You Don't Understand
7. Stop Using YOU Messages and Switch to I Messages
Chapter 2: I Want to Work by "Utilizing the Company," Not "For the Company"
8. Recruit Founder's Words: "Utilize the Company to Enhance Your Market Value"
9. If You Think "This is Good Enough," Immediately Cross-Departmental Boundaries.
10. Self-Declaration is a Magic Button That Changes Your Life
11. An Unexpected Way to Become a Lucky Person
12. Believing You Are Lucky Makes You Lucky
13. Visualizing the Moment Failure Turns into Success
14. Feedback Techniques Learned from Bats
15. The Reason Why Consulting a "Diagonal Relationship" Solves Problems
16. If You Want to Promote Yourself to Your Boss, Use a Third Party's Words
17. What Excites You?
Chapter 3: Work Fulfillment and Problems All Come Down to Human Relationships!
18. The Reason Why Second Penguins Create Movements
19. Do What No One Else Does — The Origin of Recruit-Style Innovation
20. Court Onmyoji vs. Folk Onmyoji, Which Are You?
21. There's a World You Can't See Unless You Step Outside
And 31 other skills introduced!
Includes special dialogues with Mr. Akira Ishikawa (author of 『Deep Skill』) and Mr. Yasuyuki Onishi (journalist).
Company Profile
Company Name: Zeroin Inc.
Established: February 2, 1998
Representative: Mitsunori Ojima, President & CEO
Headquarters: Uchisaiwaicho Heiwa Building 20F, 1-5-2 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0011
Capital: 36.9 million yen
Number of Employees: 218 (as of April 2026)
This book achieved the No. 1 spot on the weekly bestseller list in the Business (Self-Help) category at Maruzen Marunouchi Main Store, one of Japan's largest general bookstores with four floors (aggregation period: February 26 to March 4, 2026).
This book is for professionals who want to work with a sense of purpose but struggle with feelings like "I can't find meaning in my work" or "I'm not appreciated or rewarded." It covers 31 practical skills for graduating from "forced work" and working on your own terms, from finding meaning in work to building relationships with superiors and forging your own career path.
The sentiment behind the title 『Don't Read the Air, Measure the Temperature!』 — Mitsunori Ojima's Comment
"Don't read the air" means to have the ability to make your own judgments. Instead of being swayed by your surroundings through unthinking conformity, you need to constantly ask yourself, "What do I want to do?" and "What can I do to achieve it?"
"Measure the temperature" embodies the wish to energize everyone you interact with. To energize everyone, you need to communicate in a way that matches the other person, while checking their "temperature." This idea connects to "Zeroin," a radio term that means aligning your frequency with the other person's frequency, which is also the origin of our company name. At our company, this is practiced as a matter of course when working with clients and partner companies, and it has become ingrained as part of our organizational culture.
Timeline Tracing Author Mitsunori Ojima's Experiences and Book Episodes
1965 — Born in Hirosaki City, Aomori Prefecture
1983 — Served as cheerleading captain at Aomori Prefectural Hirosaki Minami High School
He was elected cheerleading captain by student vote in the student council cheerleading election and experienced activities that energized the entire student body. At that time, he commuted to school by passing through an apple orchard.
1984 — After graduating from high school, joined Recruit Co., Ltd.
After graduating from high school, Ojima joined Recruit Co., Ltd. and was assigned to the General Affairs Department. Recruit's General Affairs also played a role in planning events for employees and energizing them. Under Recruit's motto at the time, "Create your own opportunities, and change yourself through those opportunities," he continued to challenge himself beyond the confines of general affairs, while also experiencing setbacks, one of which was described by Mr. Ezoe as "the biggest stain in Recruit's internal event history."
Ojima spent the period from the eve of the bubble economy to the onset of the deflationary economy at Recruit, continuously invigorating the company through his general affairs work, earning him the nickname "Recruit's Festival Man."
Below, we introduce Ojima's initiatives during his time at Recruit that raised employee morale.
Finding Meaning in Work Through Vending Machine Management
Ojima's first challenge as a professional was managing vending machines. It was a task that involved submitting deposit slips to accounting, a job that quickly became routine. However, on a hot day, Ojima saw an employee disappointed because they couldn't buy the drink they wanted from a vending machine. So, he obtained sales data from the vending machine vendor and adjusted the product lineup, successfully eliminating stockouts. Later, the sales manager called the General Affairs Department to express gratitude, saying, "Recently, General Affairs' service has improved significantly," which made Ojima realize the value that General Affairs could provide. Through this seemingly trivial task, Ojima deeply felt the importance of considering "what is the meaning of work?"
Started an advice column in Recruit's in-house magazine. Continued to energize Recruit employees for 34 years even after leaving the company.
Ojima was working in General Affairs at Recruit during the time of the Recruit Scandal (1988). Exposed to significant public criticism, employees were going through a very difficult time. Amidst this, Ojima, wanting to energize employees even a little, went to the editorial office of the in-house magazine "Kamome" and proposed publishing an advice column. The editor-in-chief at the time reportedly thought it "wouldn't last long," but the column continued even after Ojima left Recruit, and has been energizing Recruit employees for 34 years to this day.
1998 — Established Zeroin Inc.
Ojima established Zeroin Inc., which provides "general affairs that energize employees" in an outsourced format. At Zeroin, employees who have inherited Ojima's approach to work from his Recruit days engage in initiatives to energize clients. Here are some examples:
Working Without Drawing Lines Between Jobs or Tasks
Soon after Zeroin was established, a client consulted them because they couldn't find a moving company to transport computers during an office relocation. At the time, computers were very expensive, and there was no insurance applicable for damage. So, Zeroin proposed, "We will transport them carefully, but we cannot compensate if they break. If that's not a problem, we will transport them." This proposal led to Zeroin gaining a reputation within the client company as a company that "can do anything."
Customer-Centric Approach
Recently, a Zeroin employee stationed at a client's office noticed a pregnant employee struggling to use a lower locker and proposed moving the lockers to a more accessible position. Such small suggestions slightly energize the client's daily work life.
Also, at another client site, an employee continued an activity of making one business improvement every day for a month. As a result of accumulating small improvements daily, the client told them, "Because Zeroin continues to make improvements every day, we also feel inspired to challenge ourselves with new things for our customers."
Book Overview
【Title】Don't Read the Air, Measure the Temperature! ~31 Communication Techniques to Elevate Others' "Temperature" Without Being Swayed by Your Surroundings~
【Author】Mitsunori Ojima
【Publisher】Poplar Publishing Co., Ltd.
【Release Date】March 3, 2026
【ISBN】978-4-591-18863-7
【Price】1,760 yen (1,600 yen + tax)
[Purchase on Amazon here]
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Finding Meaning in Work — Breaking Free from the "Forced Feeling"
1. What Vending Machine Management Taught Me About the True Meaning of Work
2. I Don't Want This Drill, I Want a 0.25-inch Hole.
3. New Work That Emerges from Knowing the Customer Better Than They Know Themselves
4. The Story of How a Seemingly Trivial Task Was Actually a Treasure Trove
5. Rebuilding Relationships with the Reiwa-era "Sanpo Yoshi" (Three-Way Good)
6. The Unexpected Teaching: Ask the Customer When You Don't Understand
7. Stop Using YOU Messages and Switch to I Messages
Chapter 2: I Want to Work by "Utilizing the Company," Not "For the Company"
8. Recruit Founder's Words: "Utilize the Company to Enhance Your Market Value"
9. If You Think "This is Good Enough," Immediately Cross-Departmental Boundaries.
10. Self-Declaration is a Magic Button That Changes Your Life
11. An Unexpected Way to Become a Lucky Person
12. Believing You Are Lucky Makes You Lucky
13. Visualizing the Moment Failure Turns into Success
14. Feedback Techniques Learned from Bats
15. The Reason Why Consulting a "Diagonal Relationship" Solves Problems
16. If You Want to Promote Yourself to Your Boss, Use a Third Party's Words
17. What Excites You?
Chapter 3: Work Fulfillment and Problems All Come Down to Human Relationships!
18. The Reason Why Second Penguins Create Movements
19. Do What No One Else Does — The Origin of Recruit-Style Innovation
20. Court Onmyoji vs. Folk Onmyoji, Which Are You?
21. There's a World You Can't See Unless You Step Outside
And 31 other skills introduced!
Includes special dialogues with Mr. Akira Ishikawa (author of 『Deep Skill』) and Mr. Yasuyuki Onishi (journalist).
Company Profile
Company Name: Zeroin Inc.
Established: February 2, 1998
Representative: Mitsunori Ojima, President & CEO
Headquarters: Uchisaiwaicho Heiwa Building 20F, 1-5-2 Uchisaiwaicho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 100-0011
Capital: 36.9 million yen
Number of Employees: 218 (as of April 2026)