Social good ideas for working on regional revitalization

Regional revitalization is also one of the important issues in NOMURA Co., Ltd. 's concept of social good. In this session, we invited clients of NOMURA Co., Ltd., who have been working on regional revitalization from various standpoints, and asked them about social good ideas in their efforts.

This article is a report article of the event "Social Good Week 2021" that introduces the "Social Good" projects of NOMURA GROUP.

* Click here for details on “Social Good”
NOMURA GROUP 's Social Good (Part 1 / Part 2)
* Click here for a list of report articles on “Social Good Week 2021”

Social Good Boot Camp “Designing the relationship between cities and regions”

Tokyu Land Corporation Urban Development Unit Smart City Promotion Department / Urban Development Unit Urban Development Division Shibuya Project Promotion Department 1
Mr. Daisuke Maaki
Joined Tokyu Land Corporation in 2016 after working as a property management company for office buildings and commercial facilities. Involved in asset management of commercial facilities, business development of Tokyu Hands, launch of Tokyu Plaza Ginza NewsPicks GINZA, etc. Currently, he is in charge of new revenue acquisition and data utilization for office buildings and commercial facilities under the jurisdiction of the urban business unit, and smart city promotion work for the redevelopment of Shibuya Station Sakuragaokaguchi area.

KADOKAWA Co., Ltd. Business Produce Department Account Business Department Account 2 Section Manager, Marketing Strategy Office and 2021 Office Regional Revitalization Promotion Project Manager
Hiroyuki Omi
After working at an advertising agency, joined KADOKAWA in 2013 and was in charge of advertising sales for websites and magazines. We develop various projects that utilize our own media development capabilities and IP content. Engaged in work such as collaborative events with local governments and PR / promotion to the present.

Corporate Strategy Department, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
Hiromi Sugiyama
Engaged in real estate-related business mainly at financial institutions. It has been five years since he was seconded from SMBC Trust Bank to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation. Wanting to solve various social issues through urban development, last year he launched the SDGs Smart City Project, where people can continue to live with peace of mind, and is active as a consultation desk for urban development projects nationwide.

NOMURA Co., Ltd. Co., Ltd. Planning Division, New Domain Creation Division / Business Production Division, Social Good Strategy Office
Ryusuke Nomura
Engaged in development of commercial facilities, regional revitalization, concept planning of workplace space design, etc. I also worked on the direction of the communication space that was the venue for today.

Design for solving regional issues

Nomura
Today, we would like to discuss the theme of "designing the relationship between cities and regions." There was also the idea of ``social good that connects cities and regions,'' but there are many different ways to interpret social good, and it is difficult to understand, so I broke it down a bit and made it into a design. What is it?” I answer, “Art poses problems, and design solves problems.” This time I use the word design, including that meaning.
Let's get straight to the point, but today I would like to talk about the following three themes. The first is "region x information dissemination", the idea of turning stores into media that conveys the charm of the region, the second is the idea of creating a mechanism that attracts people locally with "region x content", and the third is. I would like to ask about the idea of mutual help and urban development in the "region x finance". Now, I would like to hear from Mr. Masaaki of Tokyu Land Corporation about the first theme, "Community × Information Dissemination."

NewStore by TOKYU HANDS, which took on the challenge of turning stores into media

Masaaki
On July 1, 2020, "NewsPicks GINZA" was opened with NewsPicks, the largest economic news platform in Japan, on the 7th floor of Tokyu Plaza Ginza. On the floor, there is a project-type school "NewSchool" with the concept of "learning, creating, earning", "NewStore by TOKYU HANDS" where you can think about new ways of selling things and communication, and a cafe called "NewCafe". . Among them, Tokyu Hands opened the second "NewStore by TOKYU HANDS" (hereinafter referred to as "NewStore") as an experimental store.

At first, I was thinking of a different plan, but it became difficult to attract real customers due to the corona crisis, so I changed the plan significantly. I thought I'd have a point of contact with. Therefore, we have started distributing the NewStore information program "NewStore Studio" on the official YouTube channel of Tokyu Hands. Since July 2020, we have been broadcasting live every month, and Panasonic FUTURE LIFE FACTORY asked us, "Would you like to collaborate with us?"
"DIG UP!" means "excavation", and it is a project where designers from different fields such as home appliances and housing gather to discuss openly with people from various industries and envision the future. The prototype of the product was actually exhibited at NewStore, which is a real place.
For some time now, Tokyu Hands has stores all over the country, including in prime urban areas, and I have had the idea of not only selling products there, but also using them as media. In addition, the Tokyu Hands Twitter account currently has about 180,000 followers, so I was wondering if I could make more use of it.
In our efforts with Panasonic, we provided a combination of YouTube owned media, NewStore, a real store, and Twitter as an announcement tool. This method led to PR work in Ehime Prefecture and Asagiri Town in Kumamoto Prefecture, which will be introduced next, and became an opportunity to use the real store called NewStore as a media.

“Ehime Encyclopedia POPUP”, which is a collaboration with Ehime Prefecture, will be held in February 2021, and Ehime’s “Sugoaji・Sugomono” products will be sold at Tokyu Hands Shinjuku store. NewStore delivered an online event that connects Ehime's "people, goods, taste" with customers.

In collaboration with Asagiri Town, Kumamoto Prefecture, we exhibited products from Asagiri Town, Kumamoto Prefecture at NewStore, and created a collaboration menu at NewCafe. Although this is not distributed online, we have also prepared a project that connects NewStore and local producers online and allows customers who visit NewStore and local producers to talk in real time.

Until now, Tokyu Hands has made a profit by purchasing and selling products, but NewStore will link real and online stores and turn them into media. Or do you prefer Tokyu Hands? Customers are forced to make a choice.

Nomura
Thank you very much, Masaaki-san. What I thought was new about this initiative is that it has a studio function and skillfully uses owned media to integrate it with a real store.
Mr. Omi of KADOKAWA, I think you are often involved in media media.

Komi
Our publisher can only create content, so I was very envious of being able to go all the way through to the real point of contact for buying and selling things.

Fukuyama City Zoo succeeded in attracting and creating customers with IP content

Nomura
Now, on the second theme of "region x content", I would like to ask Mr. Omi of KADOKAWA about examples of regional revitalization using IP content*.

* IP content: IP stands for Intellectual Property, and IP content refers to content such as manga and anime that uses intellectual property (mainly copyright).

Komi
One of the many inquiries from local governments is that they want to make a booklet to revitalize the region. The other is "I want to do something using IP content", but in the latter case, the affinity between the region and the IP content is a very important point. It is easy to understand if the content is set in the area, but if it is not, it is necessary to create some kind of affinity.

This time, we would like to introduce an example of a collaboration between Fukuyama City Zoo in Fukuyama City, Hiroshima Prefecture and one of our IP content, Kemono Friends. The reason for this is that when we were producing an information magazine for Fukuyama City, we learned that there was a relatively rare animal called a serval in the zoo. That's what I did.

However, that alone would not be enough to spread the word, so we set up animal explanation panels using characters inside the zoo.
When using such IP content, it is very important to use it in a way that will please the fans of that IP content. Checkpoints include whether the user understands the work properly, whether there is something special about it, whether it is a first attempt, and so on. Fortunately, it's a zoo, so it's easy to relate to the work, and it was the first collaboration with a zoo in the Chugoku region.

After that, a large event called the Rose Festival was held at several parks in Fukuyama City, and many panels of "Fukuyama City Zoo x Kemono Friends" were displayed there as well. People who came to the rose festival and fans of Kemono Friends took pictures of this panel and posted it on social media, which attracted attention to the Fukuyama City Zoo. It seems that some fans came all the way from outside the prefecture to take pictures of the panels. As a fan, it's nice to be able to see a lot of official things at once, and it seems that it was also a point that you can't see it unless you go there.

Also, for the explanation panel at the zoo, the keeper wrote an explanation, which was rewritten by KADOKAWA's editorial staff in the tone of the character. Also, there was a reaction among the fans that each character wrote a comment for Fukuyama City.
In addition to that, the zoo also implemented a project that considers fans, such as a panel exhibition tour. Through such cooperation, we were able to attract core fans from outside the prefecture. As a result, fans frequently posted information about the event, how to get to the zoo, information about the area around the zoo, etc. on SNS, and it became an unexpected spread.

In this way, IP content can be very powerful if the user uses it with affection for the work from the fan's point of view. However, if you make a mistake and treat the work poorly, there is a danger that it will go up in flames. Therefore, I think the key to success is to think about the affinity between regions and IP content, understand the work well, and think from the fans' point of view.

Nomura
There are many facilities like the municipal zoo in Fukuyama City all over Japan, so it's an example that can be used in other areas as well. Mr. Masaaki, you are also working on various commercial facilities in urban areas. Will you use IP content there?

Masaaki
Would you like to use it for promotional purposes? We often hear that. At suburban shopping malls, I think it would be possible to encourage visitors with characters, and have them stop by the food court or shop at apparel stores. However, in the center of the city, both meals and shopping are in a high price range, so it is difficult to make a "next". Many facilities do not have a large capacity, so I think they are more suitable for suburban shopping malls than city centers.

The Shikoku Aquarium where the wishes of local people come true

Nomura
Now I would like to move on to the next theme, "Region x Finance." I would like to ask Mr. Sugiyama of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation about helping people and community development.

Sugiyama
First of all, I would like to explain why financial institutions are doing community development and what they are doing. The SMBC Group has issued a sustainability declaration, and we would like to proactively solve social issues, recognize our high public nature as a financial institution, and support "urban development/smart cities." .
Until now, when building a building, when the project was decided, we consulted on financing, which was the point of contact with urban development at financial institutions. From now on, we would like to help our customers from the point of thinking about the project. Today's society is extremely complex, and finance is diversifying, so I think that the possibility of realizing a project will increase if we financial institutions get involved from an early stage.
In addition, even after urban development is completed, the role of financial institutions is to continue to provide various services as the SMBC Group to the people who live and work there, and to commit to sustainable urban development. I feel that

The SMBC Group does business not only with companies, but also with local governments, schools, hospitals, and NPOs. I think
What is important in urban development/smart cities is that the people who live there feel safe and like this city! I want to continue living in this town! It is to create a city that thinks. Since launching the SDGs Smart City Project, where people can continue to live with peace of mind, we have received various consultations from all over the country, and each of them is a project that leads to regional revitalization.

Introducing the "Shikoku Aquarium" project in Utazu Town, Kagawa Prefecture, led by SMBC Trust Bank. The impetus was a strong desire from the locals to build an aquarium to revitalize Utazu Town. In response to this thought, we were involved from the conception stage, first applying based on the provisions of the Urban Renaissance Special Measures Law, and it was approved as a private urban regeneration development project plan. SMBC Trust Bank became the asset manager and solicited investment. In addition, we collect funds in the form of silent partnership investment from local residents and others who understand the importance of regional revitalization. Today, there are investors who do not simply pursue yield, and I hear that there are wealthy people who want to donate but do not know where to donate. From now on, I think it is important to take action to utilize the money from such people for regional revitalization.

Being close to the feelings of local people is social good

Nomura
thank you. If such a place is created in the area, it will become a base, and it will lead to area management that people who come there will go to other places. Also, I feel that we are entering an era in which the thoughts of the community are united and they agree with the concept and collect money.
I am also involved in regional work, and I feel that some regions have a high level of energy and others do not. Mr. Omi, what kind of things do you pay attention to?

Komi
If we consult with you, what do you want to do in that area! If the wavelength of each other matches, the work will progress. and how much we can provide covering fire.

Nomura
I believe that Masaaki's company also supports startups, but do you have any opinions as an investor?

Masaaki
It may be a little different from the answer to the question, but I think that it is useless if there is a perspective of trying to do something for the people in the community. I have been thinking about the theme of the event, the word "social good". So, I think it's more important to "work together to make everyone in the community happy" rather than "doing something".

Nomura
Today, we talked about "designing relationships with local communities." Lastly, what do you think is necessary for sustainable relationships with local communities? I thought that rather than trying to improve the local community, I thought that social good is about interacting with various people in the community in various ways. Could you please tell me how to maintain a lasting connection with that person?

Komi
KADOKAWA is basically a medium that owns works and IP content, so I would like people from all over Japan to see it, regardless of region. However, what I personally think about the relationship with the region is that when you go to the region, if you are conscious of noticing the goodness of the land, you will be able to see things that were not visible. I think it's important to convey that "local people see it this way, but we see it this way."

Sugiyama
I don't think it means "I'll give it to you" either. It is important to stay close to the thoughts of local people. Again, when I was sick, I said "thank you" to the volunteer who took care of me. I was. I was surprised because until then I had thought that volunteering was something to do. I think that this perspective is the same for both individuals and companies, not "I will do it" but "I do it because I want to". I was taken aback by Mr. Masaaki's words, thinking that it would be presumptuous to do something for the community.

Masaaki
I think it is important to be interested and think about things from the other person's point of view in order to have a sustainable relationship with the community. Also, when we talk about social good, we tend to think of it as volunteering, and we have a strong image of doing something good. If it doesn't follow, it won't last. I think it is important to think about a good balance between business earnings and social contribution as a company.

Nomura
Thank you for your many useful comments. It was a short time, but I am very happy that I was able to talk with this member, and I would like to thank everyone again. thank you very much.

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I feel that there is a great possibility that the knowledge of space creation can also contribute to regional revitalization through efforts unique to each industry, such as information dissemination that conveys the charm of the region, content that attracts people, and support for urban development through finance. it was the program. The importance of having a sustainable relationship with the local community as a business operator and how to maintain that awareness were once again shared, and the audience gave a big nod and applause. At NOMURA Co., Ltd., we help solve local issues centered on space creation, such as the hands-on green tea, agriculture, and tourism food park “KADODE OOIGAWA” planned by the facilitator Nomura. Please refer to this article for "KADODE OOIGAWA". (nomlog editorial department)

Text: Sho Iwasaki/Photo: Yui Yasuda (during the event)