33

Our man Mr Sato was recently granted access to the offices of Twitter Japan—and it turns out they put on a great spread every Monday!

1

It’s not every day that the people behind a globe-spanning social network let reprobates like the RocketNews24 team into their offices, but earlier this week our very own Mr Sato was given special permission to take a tour of their headquarters located in the Tokyo Square Garden business centre in Tokyo’s Chuo Ward.

20

18

15

As sleek and stylish as their meeting and reception rooms were, however, there was one thing that our in-house gourmand was really interested in: Twitter’s staff lunch room up on the 19th floor, about which he’d heard great things.

Having just moved to Tokyo Square Garden from Akasaka just last summer, it’s little surprise that Twitter Japan’s dining space is as bright and airy as it is spotless, with round tables chosen to foster communication and facilitate happy break times.

2

Of course, this might not blow the minds of many readers who work for western companies, but for Japan, this kind of office space is still considered pretty luxurious (you’ve seen the RocketNews24 office, right?), so Mr Sato was genuinely impressed by the facilities staff were able to enjoy.

Off in the far corner of the meeting space-cum-lunch room, a variety of snacks and drinks are available, with everything from coffee and tea to a wide selection of potato chips, chocolate and nuts for staff to help themselves to. Staff are asked to bring in their own food either from home or nearby outlets, with the special lunch provided once a week.

5

▼ J-snack aficionados will notice the jar of Black Thunder chocolate bars on the bottom shelf. Clearly Twitter Japan does not mess around when it comes to snacks.

6

But it was the special lunch, which Twitter Japan apparently lays on every Monday, that really made Mr Sato’s day.

Served buffet-style, the selection and quality of the food available took our writer’s breath away. Here’s the full menu on the day he visited:

– Rice
– Vegetable consommé soup
– Thai-style shrimp & harusame noodle salad
– Thai chicken stir-fry with basil and summer vegetables
– Chicken with okra and wasabi
– Deep-fried tofu with bamboo shoots
– Stir-fried komatsuna (Japanese mustard spinach) with egg
– Tandoori chicken
– Szechuan-style spicy pickled vegetables
– Deep-fried pork with vegetables in amazu sweet vinegar
– Mayo-baked salmon

“I was expecting the food to be much heavier,” remarked Mr Sato, “but the selection here was actually quite healthy.”

Not only that, but the lunch menu, he later found out, changes every week, with staff able to make requests so that they never get bored with what’s on offer.

Quite how you could tire of this fine selection every Monday, though, we don’t know!

▼ Mayo-baked salmon

31

▼ Deep-fried pork

30

▼ Tandoori chicken

28

▼ Spicy Szechuan-style pickled vegetables

27

▼ Stir-fried komatsuna with egg

26

▼ Deep-fried tofu with bamboo shoots

25

▼ Chicken with okra and wasabi

24

▼ Thai chicken stir-fry with basil and summer vegetables

23

▼ Thai-style shrimp & harusame noodle salad

22

And here’s Mr Sato’s surprisingly modest, yet incredibly tasty-looking lunch:

12

▼ Look at his happy little face…

13

“I feel like this would be a fun place to work,” thought Mr Sato as he patted his full belly and watched Twitter’s staff enjoying their lunch. Perhaps we could add a cafeteria floor to Rocket Towers??

14

Photos © RocketNews24