With Business Expansion, LINE Fukuoka Completes Relocation Headquarters

We are pleased to announce that LINE Fukuoka Corporation (located in Hakata Ward, Fukuoka; Representative Director/President/CEO: Noritaka Ochiai) has finished relocating to "JRJP Hakata Building", one of the largest office buildings in Kyushu that is also directly connected to Hakata Station. Business activity at the new office will commence today.

写真: 新オフィス内観

Since its establishment in November 2013, LINE Fukuoka has operated out of three office buildings and leased addition floors in order to accommodate the huge influx of employees due to business expansion. With this relocation, all three offices will merge in one building, facilitating smoother, more active communication between employees and sections, and allowing us to achieve even faster business development.

In order to take LINE to the next stage, LINE Fukuoka will strengthen business growth and innovation, develop expansion support for our global presence faster than ever, and coordinate with LINE to pursue business, all while continuing to strive to secure superb staff.

New LINE Fukuoka Office Overview
Location
JRJP Hakata Bldg. 12F, 8-1 Hakataekichuogai, Hakata Ward
Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture 812-0012
Floors
10 - 12
Total Floor Area
7,371㎡ (79,341ft²)
Access
Directly linked to Hakata Station via JR Kyushu and JR Nishinihon train lines as well as the Fukuoka City Subway
About the New Office

LINE Fukuoka's new office occupies floors 10 - 12 (for a total floor area of 7,371㎡/79,341ft²) of "JRJP Hakata Building". This space can flexibly accommodate an influx of employees due to business expansion, and was designed to offer a comfortable working environment.

Exterior of JRJP Hakata Building

写真: 「JAJP博多ビル」外観

Characteristics of the New Office

With our relocation to the new office, all three offices will merge in one building; in addition to facilitating smoother, more active communication between employees and sections, the office has a cafe in which to interact with visitors, as well as Communication Spaces for informal meetings lining the hallways leading to working areas on each floor. In short, the office offers an environment that promotes more communication.

By clearly dividing work areas, Communication Spaces, and the cafe into either work areas (ON spaces) and rest areas (OFF spaces), the office provides an environment that makes it easy to get a change of scenery or focus on work. We feel that the office will offer our employees a comfortable atmosphere in which they can take pride.

About the Office Spaces
Reception
In addition to placing a "Mega-Brown" (an oversized plush statue of the popular LINE character Brown) in the Floor 12 reception area, green (our corporate color) is used throughout the office, letting visitors and staff alike experience the essence of LINE.

写真: 新オフィス内観

Cafe
As one of the break areas, the office includes an employees-only café where drinks, LINE character goods, and more are available for purchase. However, we plan to use it to hold recruitment seminars, workshops, and other such events in the future

写真: カフェ

Communication Spaces
In order to facilitate transitions from "focus" to "communication", Communication Spaces have been set up on each floor. Separate from the work area, these spaces offer employees a place to get away from their desks and facilitate casual communication between coworkers.

LINE Fukuoka FACTS


LINE Fukuoka Corp. was established as 100%-owned subsidiary of LINE Corp. in November of 2013, and started out an operational base for quality assurance and content optimization to improving the user experience, as well as customer support. Our roles have since expanded and continues to grow; we now oversee Development (including design and implementation that take performance and user experience into consideration), Creative (which offers users valuable design experience through LINE Sticker and various other design), and Planning (which handles content planning and improvement strategizing to increase our active user base).

The Four Roles of LINE Fukuoka

Development
In charge of developing LINE and Family Apps such as LINE Baito. We also handle all engineering, from the necessary client, server-side, Web front-end, or infrastructure development to the analysis and machine learning that accompanying these.
Creative
In charge of UI design for the LINE messaging and Family Apps, as well as illustration and animation of LINE Stickers.
Operations
In charge of quality assurance for improved user experience, customer support that utilizes VOC, analytical evaluation and project direction of our services, translation performed by native speakers, and the operation of a 24/7/365 monitoring structure.
Planning
In charge of planning and operations that encourage the use of our services through individualized planning that makes use of unique regional features.

Employment Trends

In the 2.5 years after its establishment in November 2013, the company grew by 521 members, and those numbers are still on the rise!

Employee Attributes

The ratio of men to women
The ratio of men to women is roughly 50/50 (men make up 51% while women make up 49% of our staff). Women also occupy 30% of management positions, setting a high standard* compared to other domestic companies.
*Based on the "Labor Force Survey" produced by Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications Statistics Bureau
Average Age
We have many young staff members actively contributing to our business activities. In fact, employees aged 25 to 34 make up 65% of the entire workforce, with an average age of 30.
Expatriate Staff Members
Hailing from more than 13 countries throughout the world (including China, England, Germany, Indonesia, Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, the U.S. and more), expatriates make up 10% percent of our total staff, creating an environment rich in diversity.
Employee Roots
More than 40% of our team join the company after working in larger cities; among them, 30% join from outside of Fukuoka or Japan. One of LINE Fukuoka's unique characteristics is that many new hires come not only from Fukuoka but also Tokyo, the Kansai region, and overseas.*
* Based on an independent survey of 648 LINE Fukuoka employees.