Remote work strips away the physical cues that make empathy easy. Omoiyari teaches: (1) read the digital signals — a normally quick responder who goes silent, a camera that is usually on but today is off — these are information, (2) check in without interrogating — 'thinking of you' is omoiyari; 'are you okay? you seem off' is an investigation, and (3) respect time zones and schedules — sending an email at midnight says 'I don't consider when you will read this.'

Going Deeper

Explore this concept further in The Japanese Art of Omoiyari by Takeshi Mori.

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