Corporate HaikuMusic for offices that no longer exist

KOKUSHICORPORATION

Personal Organiser PO-88 Operation Manual

酷使SYSTEM 88
Issued to
Employee No. 4416
Department
██████████
Return by
On termination
No time?See quick start ↓

Please read this manual in full before operation.
Retain for disciplinary reference.

簡易操作Quick start

For holders who will not read the manual. Your supervisor has been notified.

Corporate Haiku is corporate disco and late-night lounge for offices that no longer exist. The poems turn up in the printers.

  1. 1Listen (once)

    Four excerpts from the banned tapes: two for the dance floor, two for after hours. Full-length recordings are on their way.

    Hard and fast Neon Boardroom

    1. Dancefloor Casualty

      Neon Boardroom · disco

      The floor gave way firstOne heel left behind, one glassClock in by nine sharp

    2. Hostile Takeover

      Neon Boardroom · disco

      A bass fills the hallThe board’s chairs sit empty nowNew owners, new tune

    Slow and close Slow Work Day

    1. Office Romance

      Slow Work Day · disco

      Past the filing drawersKoto strings, two pairs of shoesHR has a file

    2. Twilight Shift

      Slow Work Day · disco

      Lipstick on the glassHer silk coat waits on the chairOvertime, unpaid

    All eight recordings, page 4

  2. 2Install the organiser

    Everything this manual won’t print: the station, the internal mail, the full recordings and the rest of the verse.

    iPhone: open it in Safari, tap Share, then Add to Home Screen. Android: open it in Chrome, tap ⋮, then Install app.

    > INSTALL THE ORGANISERUNDER ONE MINUTE.

The full manual follows. Diligence is noted. ↓

PO-88 Operation Manual目次

00Contents

  1. A note from the publisher2
  2. Security notice3
  3. Recordings for identification4
  4. Recovered verse5
  5. Known channels6
  6. Not reproduced in print7
  7. Installation8
  8. Terms of issue9
  9. Troubleshooting10
  10. Specifications11
  11. Customer service12
— 1 —

PRINT JOB · NOT PART OF THE OFFICIAL MANUAL

A note from the publisher

Corporate Haiku makes music for offices that no longer exist.

The music draws on disco, lounge records, hold music, old television, corporate training films and Japanese cultural artefacts. Familiar sounds are pushed somewhere less comfortable: soft lounge arrangements over dirty basslines, corporate disco with too much low end, polite melodies interrupted by distortion, repetition and noise.

It is music that remembers being background music, but no longer behaves like it.

The project started as short poems about working life: meetings, overtime, annual leave, office romance, middle management and the strange emotional life of work, written after decades inside companies in many different countries.

The music and the haiku are presented through the remains of an imaginary employer, the Kokushi Corporation. Someone inside the company has started leaving poems in the printers and interrupting the company radio. The manual below is Kokushi’s. Read it carefully.

You can stay on this page and simply listen. Or you can install the organiser and go further in.

Thank you for reading.

— 2 —
PO-88 Operation Manual注意

01Security notice

All holders must be able to recognise the following unauthorised activity.

Supplementary page 参考
Name
Corporate Haiku
Classification
Unregistered cultural activity
Identity
██████████ Unknown
Status
Active
MethodsShort poems left in office print queues. Music broadcast over Pacific Leisure FM after hours. Recordings circulated on external services.
MusicDisco, lounge, hold music, old television and training-film sounds, all with far too much bass. Two known releases: Neon Boardroom (fast) and Slow Work Day (slow). See page 4.
PoetryHaiku about meetings, overtime, annual leave, office romance, middle management and the emotional life of work. See page 5.
MediaAn unlicensed interactive DVD titled Corporate Haiku has been found circulating between floors. It plays only on a desktop workstation. Holders must not insert it into Company equipment.
RiskClarity.

In the event of exposure

  1. 1

    Do not read beyond the first line.

  2. 2

    Do not hum, tap or nod along.

  3. 3

    Submit a REPORT from your organiser.

— 3 —
PO-88 Operation Manual禁止

02Recordings for identification

The following recordings are banned on Company premises. Short identification excerpts are reproduced below so that holders can recognise them and report anyone found playing them. Do not listen to an excerpt more than once.

Warning: all eight recordings carry far more bass than Company equipment is rated for. Keep the volume at an approved level.

FastNeon BoardroomEP · 4 recordings

Hard, fast disco at dance-floor tempo. Not suitable for open-plan offices.

  1. Dancefloor Casualty

    Neon Boardroom · glamour

    The floor gave way firstOne heel left behind, one glassClock in by nine sharp

  2. Prize Time

    Neon Boardroom · gameshow

    Lights spell out your scoreThe podiums have no namesYour prize: one more year

  3. Hostile Takeover

    Neon Boardroom · psyop

    A bass fills the hallThe board’s chairs sit empty nowNew owners, new tune

  4. Squadcar

    Neon Boardroom · punkfunk

    Sirens through the floorWet memos drift down the aisleNobody looks up

SlowSlow Work Day4 recordings

Under 90 BPM. Lounge and late-night. Not suitable for meetings.

  1. Office Romance

    Slow Work Day · kotocore

    Past the filing drawersKoto strings, two pairs of shoesHR has a file

  2. Twilight Shift

    Slow Work Day · sexcore

    Lipstick on the glassHer silk coat waits on the chairOvertime, unpaid

  3. Late Checkout

    Slow Work Day · chillcore

    Desk phone by the poolMy chair followed me on leavePlease hold for your boss

  4. Daytime Television

    Slow Work Day · dreamcore

    Sunrise on the setThe host’s smile is pre-approvedClouds are not on air

Reported sightings

These recordings are reported to be circulating on external services. Holders must not search for them at the following addresses.

— 4 —
PO-88 Operation Manual回収

03Recovered verse

The following verses were recovered from Company printers. They are reproduced so that holders can recognise them. They must not be memorised, recited or shared.

RECOVERED · PRINTER 3F-02

Alarm rings. It’s dark.
I see the sun at lunch break.
I clock out. It’s dark.

RECOVERED · PRINTER 7F-11

A meeting invite
Oh. HR is on the call
I’m sure it’s okay

RECOVERED · PRINTER 4F-06

Empty chair by mine
His mug still in the dish rack
Nobody says why

RECOVERED · PRINTER 5F-04

Next year, they told me
Next year, they told me again
This year it was his

RECOVERED · PRINTER 2F-08

The company man
Stranger at his own table
Family at work

RECOVERED · PRINTER 9F-01

Annual leave form
The dates were approved in spring
Business needs have changed

Further verses are held on compromised organisers. See page 7.

— 5 —
PO-88 Operation Manual外部

04Known channels

Corporate Haiku is known to operate the following channels. Holders must not follow, like, save or share them.

InstagramAddress withheld by Security
TikTokAddress withheld by Security
FacebookAddress withheld by Security
YouTubeAddress withheld by Security

Following a known channel is recorded as a disciplinary event and may affect the holder’s next of kin.

— 6 —
PO-88 Operation Manual社外秘

05Not reproduced in print

For reasons of confidentiality, the following functions may be accessed only on an installed PO-88.

> THE REST IS ON THE ORGANISERINSTALL IT. PAGE 8.
— 7 —
PO-88 Operation Manual設定

06Installation

The PO-88 is installed on your personal telephone and launched from its home screen like any other application. Installation takes under one minute.

iPhone Safari

  1. 1

    Tap the Install the organiser slip below. The installer opens in Safari.

  2. 2

    Tap the Share button and choose Add to Home Screen.

  3. 3

    Tap Add. Close Safari and open Kokushi from your home screen.

Android Chrome

  1. 1

    Tap the Install the organiser slip below.

  2. 2

    Open the menu ⋮ and choose Install app or Add to Home screen.

  3. 3

    Open Kokushi from your home screen.

> INSTALL THE ORGANISERTEAR HERE. TAP TO BEGIN.

Opens the installer. Follow the steps on its screen, then launch Kokushi from your home screen. Installation constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Issue (page 9).

— 8 —
PO-88 Operation Manual規約

07Terms of issue

Ten conditions of issue, binding on the Holder in perpetuity.

Supplementary page 参考
  1. Acceptance. By installing, holding or looking at the organiser, the Holder accepts these Terms in perpetuity, including periods after employment, after retirement and after death.
  2. Ownership. The organiser remains the property of the Company. So does any information entered into it, any melody remembered from it, and any thought formed within three metres of it.
  3. Availability. The Holder shall remain reachable at all hours. Sleep is recorded as unscheduled absence and is deducted from annual leave.
  4. Wellbeing monitoring. The organiser records location, posture, pulse and tone of voice for wellbeing purposes. Wellbeing is defined by the Company.
  5. Listening. Pacific Leisure FM is mandatory. Humming any other music in the workplace constitutes an unlicensed broadcast.
  6. Feelings. Doubt, resentment, fatigue and dissatisfaction must be reported within 24 hours. Unreported feelings remain the liability of the Holder.
  7. Family. The Company may contact the Holder’s next of kin for character references, disciplinary statements and overtime.
  8. Termination. The Company may terminate the Holder’s access, employment or record at any time. A terminated record is deemed never to have existed. The Holder agrees that they will not remember it.
  9. Disputes. All disputes shall be heard by the Company’s internal tribunal, chaired by the Company. Its decisions are final and apply retroactively.
  10. Amendment. These Terms may change without notice. Continued breathing constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.
Signature of HolderWitnessed by supervisor

The real notice. Corporate Haiku is a work of fiction. Kokushi Corporation does not exist, and neither do these Terms. None of them apply to you or are enforceable in any court of law. Installing the organiser gives no one any rights over you, your data or your thoughts. The organiser does not send anything you type anywhere; it runs in your browser and keeps only its own progress on your device.

— 9 —
PO-88 Operation Manual故障かな？

08Troubleshooting

Five known faults. None of them are the organiser’s.

Supplementary page 参考
SymptomCauseRemedy
Display shows poetry not issued by the Company.Unauthorised transmission.Do not read it. Submit a REPORT.
Pacific Leisure FM plays a different broadcast after hours.Atmospheric interference.Continue working.
Organiser refers to Employee 4417.Clerical error.Employee 4417 does not exist. No action required.
Organiser cannot be switched off.Normal operation.None.
Holder feels unwell.Organiser functioning correctly.Increase productivity.
— 10 —
PO-88 Operation Manual仕様

09Specifications

Technical data for the PO-88, rounded in the Company’s favour.

Supplementary page 参考
ModelKokushi PO-88 Personal Organiser
DisplayMonochrome liquid crystal, Company material only
Memory64 KB personal / unlimited corporate
Power4 × AA cells or employee goodwill
Operating hoursAll
Operating temperatureOffice ambient. Personal temperature not supported.
Weight412 g (excluding obligations)
WarrantyVoid upon independent thought

Specifications and employees are subject to change without notice.

— 11 —
PO-88 Operation Manual窓口

10Customer service

For enquiries about Corporate Haiku, the music or collaboration, write below. Messages reach the real people behind the project, not the Company.

— 12 —

Warranty registration card 保証書

Model
PO-88
Serial No.
88-004416
Holder
Employee No. 4416
Date of issue
24 AUG 1986

Return this card to Personnel Administration within 7 days. Holders who do not return this card will be returned instead.

TINS-0088CHZZ · 8708-3.0 · Printed in Japan

© 2026 Corporate Haiku. Music, haiku and story by Corporate Haiku. Kokushi Corporation and everything it says are fictional.