iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Baribacoin was sold out at the toy store. So was Beyblade. Online, resold at double the price. Just a coin you flick with your finger. A kid with his own pocket money, buying what's popular. Who is that experience for now? letterfromtokyo.substack.com/p/from-beigo...

letterfromtokyo.substack.com

From Beigoma to Beyblade, One Year Later【Weekend Tokyo#054】

From Beigoma to Beyblade, One Year Later

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 06/10/2026

Japan's labor-shortage bankruptcies hit a record. Most weren't about finding people. They were about paying them. Meanwhile, I spent years in HR asking people to leave. When workers are sorted by who can afford them, what part of work falls through? letterfromtokyo.substack.com/p/japan-is-r...

letterfromtokyo.substack.com

Japan Is Running Out of Workers. I Have Been Letting People Go.【Workday Tokyo#058】

On the day labor-shortage bankruptcies hit a record

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 02/10/2026

A small ballpark in Tokyo is named after a haiku poet. He loved baseball, and kept writing about it from his sickbed. Older men watch strangers play from outside the fence. Where does the feeling around Japanese baseball come from? letterfromtokyo.substack.com/p/the-poet-o...

letterfromtokyo.substack.com

The Poet Outside the Fence【Weekend Tokyo#058】

Masaoka Shiki, a small ballpark in Ueno, and the floods of 1896

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 30/09/2026

Day 61 of #Shipaton2026 v1.3.6 approved — last update during the hackathon. Since August: early mornings, late nights, weekends. More features, more skins, first time on TikTok and YouTube. My first hackathon, genuinely fun. MyFes keeps going. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

140

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Day 60 of #Shipaton2026 v1.3.5 approved and live, way faster than expected — anonymous analytics so I can see where people get stuck. v1.3.6 submitted right after, fixing a display bug on Hype posters. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

151

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Honestly can't say for sure yet — no clean attribution on that. What I can say: festival-tied posts (real events, real artists) got far more traction than anything explaining the app directly. If people are finding it, that's probably the door they're coming through, not search.

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

That quiet is exactly it — refreshing App Store Connect every hour for no reason. Glad it landed.

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Day 59 of #Shipaton2026 Worked through the weekend, Devpost final check nearly done. Downloads are creeping up too. Submitted 1.3.5 today: anonymous in-app analytics, to see where people stop. My data used to end at the landing page. Fingers crossed for approval by Sep 30. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

020

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Day 58 of #Shipaton2026 The last update got through Apple review before the deadline. Finalized the Devpost growth section and submitted the Shipaton Showcase form. The hackathon gave me a deadline, not a finish line. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

030

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

Started as just a poster maker. Then Hype (react to others' festivals, say what you'd pay), a few photo skins, and now artist names link straight to Spotify. Deadline is Sep 30 (RevenueCat's Shipaton 2026). More after that. #Shipaton #Shipaton2026

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 26/09/2026

My first shipped app, seven updates during a hackathon, and one update that made it through Apple review right before the deadline — was genuinely worried it wouldn't make it in time. #Shipaton #Shipaton2026 #builinpublic

400

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Day56of #Shipaton2026 New feature: tap any artist's name on your lineup, go straight to their Spotify page. Live on web now, iOS pending Apple's review. Updated the Devpost submission with the latest numbers. Downloads are up 30% over two weeks. Small, but steadily climbing. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

020

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Hitting a 403 on every call since subscribing. Tried rotating the Client Secret, confirmed the developer and Premium accounts match (traced via desktop app's Community → Developers, lands on this app's dashboard). No luck yet — guessing it needs more time to propagate.

010

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Day 55 of #Shipaton2026 Working on a new feature: linking artist names to Spotify pages. Spotify's API now needs Premium app-wide. Subscribed today, still waiting on it. In parallel, tested MusicBrainz as a free alternative — 94% accuracy verified. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton #SpotifyAPI

130

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

v1.3.3 is approved and live. The 9th photo skin, DUOTONE — a leaf photo converted into just two colors, deep green and cream. Different process from every skin before it. 9 photo skins total now: 1 free, 8 paid. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

030

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Honestly it wasn't strategic — this is my first app, and I could've kept polishing forever. I forced myself to prioritize shipping iOS first, then let real reactions shape what came next.

030

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Didn't expect it to feel this satisfying, but it does.

010

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

That math checks out. Small win, but a real one.

010

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

Day 47 of #Shipaton2026 A little over a month since I shipped on Aug 14. Since then: new features, submitted to Devpost early, opened TikTok/YouTube accounts, wrote about it. Shipping isn't the finish line — getting people to know and use it takes work in every direction. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

160

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 16/09/2026

Day 47 of #Shipaton2026 Approved for Apple's Small Business Program — commission dropped 30% to 15%. Two more photo skins went live today. Offer codes for all 7 are done. Submitted a 9th skin, DUOTONE — a new two-tone process, different from anything shipped so far. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

230

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Day 45 of #Shipaton2026 Two YouTube Shorts went live tonight, as scheduled. Split into "Create" and "Hype" — each shows what MyFes does in under 20 seconds, text-heavy, same format as the TikTok videos. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

020

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Second video is up: Hype. Beyond creating, you can react to festivals other people dreamed up. Someone built #Radiohead × #Beyoncé, and you say "I'd go" — or name what you'd pay. The fun is being understood: someone else gets why that lineup matters. youtube.com/shorts/HlHWd... #buildinpublic

youtube.com

MyFes — Hype: Name your price | Shipaton 2026

YouTube video by MyFes

020

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 15/09/2026

Feature video is up: Create. Put together any artists you want, on one poster. #KendrickLamar and #Drake will probably never share a stage. In the poster, they can. That's the fun — building the lineup you actually wanted to see. youtube.com/shorts/CPhSd... #MyFes #buildinpubic

youtube.com

MyFes — Create: Book whoever you want | Shipaton 2026

YouTube video by MyFes

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Day 45 of #Shipaton2026 Weekend work: submitted the next two photo skins for review. LIGHTHOUSE had a purchase bug on TestFlight that cost a day, but it's fixed and in. Offer codes for every skin are in progress. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton

020

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 12/09/2026

Update: the ocean skin just went live. Day 42 of #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic apps.apple.com/jp/app/myfes...

031

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 11/09/2026

Day 42 of #Shipaton2026 Three TikToks in. Billie Eilish is clearly outperforming the others — current, active artists seem to move faster than nostalgia acts. A new ocean-themed skin is in App Review. Two more built and ready to ship. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton @revenuecat.com

020

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 10/09/2026

Day 41 of #Shipaton2026 Mostly backend work. Found a spam-like post disguised as a festival in Hype, deleted it, added a filter. Also learned: posting TikTok from a browser gets zero views. Posting from my phone fixed it instantly. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton @revenuecat.com

020

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 09/09/2026

Day 40 of #Shipaton2026 Made a short video for TikTok. Almost went with a feature walkthrough. Killed it — the UI doesn't move enough to carry a video on its own. Stripped it down to a question, a poster, another question. Nothing else. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton @revenuecat.com

030

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Day 39 of #Shipaton2026 Submitted to Devpost. The demo video I'd been poking at since late August finally came together. Two minutes, my own English narration on top. Next: more skins, a few short how-to videos. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton @revenuecat.com

040

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Shaky Knees is next week. Here's the set I'd actually run if it were mine: #Turnstile and #TheStrokes headlining, with Jimmy Eat World, OK Go, Blood Orange and Minus the Bear. Who's on your version? Build yours and I'll tell you if I'd go. #ShakyKnees my-fes.vercel.app/f/8cb16516-b...

010

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 05/09/2026

Good to know I’m not alone in that order. Guess the voice track being locked first is what keeps you sane later.

100

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 04/09/2026

Day 35 of #Shipaton2026 Demo video: audio done. Narration, captions, music, logo, somehow. Now the app screens. Recorded my iPhone via QuickTime, made the phone frame in Keynote. More tomorrow. Chip away over the weekend, maybe submit next week. #BuildInPublic #Shipaton @revenuecat.com

140

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Day 32. BLUE NIGHT and OPEN AIR got approved and are live. Four photo-based skins now: THE ENTRANCE, RED ROOM, BLUE NIGHT, OPEN AIR. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic @revenuecat.com

010

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Same. I'll probably forget again on the next photo skin and relearn this the hard way.

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Yeah, drop shadows felt like a band-aid — this way the text just belongs on the image instead of fighting it. Glad it reads as intentional.

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 31/08/2026

Day 31. Submitted two new photo skins I'd been working on since the weekend — BLUE NIGHT and OPEN AIR. OPEN AIR uses a daytime photo. White text turned out unreadable on it, switched to dark navy. Also fixed a seam bug in the share images. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic @revenuecat.com

220

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

Why is it so easy to say “wanna do Mounjaro?” A diabetes drug becomes a verb. A reality show becomes a glow-up story. A 14-year-old’s thinness hits a record high. None of these started this year. New essay — link below. letterfromtokyo.substack.com/p/the-word-t...

letterfromtokyo.substack.com

The Word That Made a Medicine Casual【Weekend Tokyo#053】

A Name Easy to Say

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 29/08/2026

That's exactly the distinction I was trying to make in my last reply — glad it landed. The "what if" is the whole point. The moment you start optimizing for logistics, it stops being a daydream and starts being a spreadsheet.

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Not in that literal sense — MyFes is more about the daydream lineup than solving real festival logistics. But you're right that scheduling conflicts are half the fun of building one. Might be worth exploring as a real feature someday.

110

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Day 26. Hype got approved and shipped. Wrote about it everywhere today — a note in Japanese, an X article and a LinkedIn post in English. Building a lineup alone is fun. But "would you pay to see this?" only becomes real once you show someone. That's what Hype is for. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic

030

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Wrote a longer piece on LinkedIn about the feature I just shipped for MyFes: Hype. Building a festival lineup alone is fun. But "would you actually pay to see this?" only becomes real once you show someone. www.linkedin.com/pulse/would-... #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic @revenuecat.com

linkedin.com

Would You Pay to See Radiohead and Beyoncé on the Same Bill?

A quick recap for anyone new here: MyFes lets you build the lineup for a music festival that doesn't exist, using artists you love, then share it. Here's what just got added.

140

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Day 25. Finally submitted the new update for review. "Hype" is the big one — prepped over summer break. Browse festivals other people made inside the app, react with "I'd go" if something catches your eye. Also added a home screen to choose between creating and browsing. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic

040

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Tokyo's office vacancy rate just hit 1.5% — the lowest of any major city on earth. Everyone calls it a recovery story. It might actually be a story about who gets to be in the room when something can only be passed down face to face. And who doesn't. letterfromtokyo.substack.com/p/what-can-o...

letterfromtokyo.substack.com

What Can Only Be Passed On in Person【Workday Tokyo #052】

Tokyo's Lowest Vacancy Rate in the World, and Who Pays for It

000

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 20/08/2026

A Japanese city’s ordinance made 27% “aware” of their phone use. Only 5% changed anything. A private app hit 1M downloads — no ordinance, just teens deciding on their own. Awareness isn’t the bottleneck. letterfromtokyo.substack.com/p/nobody-is-...

letterfromtokyo.substack.com

Nobody Is Treating Gaming Disorder. They're Just Selling Time Management.【Workday Tokyo #051】

I learned the name of Japan's leading addiction treatment center from my sixth-grader's summer homework.

010

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Today's small bug find. Festivals with the new photo skins show the wrong background when someone opens the shared URL. The poster itself is fine. Forgot to register the new skins on the viewing page, so it falls back to a default. Fixing it when I'm back from break. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic

030

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Day 18. v1.2 got approved! Had it set to auto-release, so it just went live on the store. All 8 templates are now free — 6 used to be paid. Also added two new photo-based skins (one free, one $1.99). Good timing too, heading into a short break starting today. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic

010

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Day 17. Submitted v1.2 for review — all skins now free, plus two new photo-based ones. Taking a short break starting the day after tomorrow, so I set it to auto-release this time. If approved, it just goes live on its own. Fingers crossed. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic @revenuecat.com

030

Masaru Takei @mtake1.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Day 16. Already working on post-launch updates, hoping to roll things out in stages through late August and September. Today's piece: prepping new poster backgrounds. Might get to app-side work and submitting for review late tomorrow night. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic @revenuecat.com

030