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General Elections Hotel
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A novel about work.
This was the order I received from the editor.
I said "Okay" and thought about which industry I would focus on for the story.
I thought of flowers, coffee and hotels. I liked all of these and had always been interested in them.
After studying further, I chose hotels.
I thought a story of heart-warming interaction between a hotel man and guests would be nice and started to create a plot but nothing of substance came to mind.
The story just wouldn't take off.
While I was faced with this dilemma, the opportunity to talk directly with a hotel man presented itself to me.
This man shared with me many things about working at a hotel.
From what he told me, I realized just how difficult and complex this line of work is.
One difficulty arises from the fact that hotel work does not involve handling a tangible product.
Also, a hotel is a special environment with a large number of staff members and job types.
I would be at a loss if I had to work at a hotel which was struggling to stay in business.
That is when I had the idea of having someone from a different field work in this hotel.
Someone who does not know the theory of the hotel industry, nor have hotel-specific general knowledge.
This sort of person would undoubtedly make outrageous suggestions.
I then created the profile of such a character.
I decided on the details, such as the type of personality he would have, what kind of childhood he would have had, what he would have done up until now, what his likes were, and what he was poor at.
This is how I developed the character of Motoyama.
I decided to make Motoyama - a rather pushy, unique character - the president of this hotel.
"How would he deal with the hotel's crisis?" I wondered.
So I asked him, "What would you do?"
I am fully aware that what I am saying is strange.
I am too deep in my fancy. But there are in fact authors out there who possess the odd trait of asking a character they have created certain questions.
I am one such author.
And, when I asked Mr. Motoyama, he said something outrageous.
To find out what he said, please read my novel.
His demands have the hotel staff members running around like mad.
Amidst this, Motoyama rethinks what it is to "work" and confronts himself. This is what my novel is about.
