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5. Contributing to Local Communities
Contributing to Local Communities
The KADOKAWA Group is helping develop a rich culture through a variety of businesses as it contributes to the sustainable development of local communities.
The Group is utilizing its various management resources to help revitalize regions and build safe and secure social infrastructure.
- Contributions to local economies
- Contributions to safety and security
- Contributions to the promotion of culture
Contributions to local economies
The KADOKAWA Group values its relationships with local communities, and it is working to help boost local economies.
[Regional revitalization that starts with anime-related and other IP]
The KADOKAWA Group has been working to maximize the value of its IP by creating a broad range of IPs and using them to release many different types of media, including print publications, anime and games. By expanding its IP, the Group is encouraging communities to move and interact, leading to regional revitalization.
Its system supporting anime-led regional revitalization activities is one example of the Group's initiatives. The KADOKAWA Group shares its knowledge, expertise and staff with the Anime Tourism Association, which holds an international fan vote to select Anime Spot 88 and promotes regional revitalization and inbound tourism. Through these initiatives, the Group is helping build a foundation that enables anime tourism, visiting any place related to anime, to contribute to local communities.
An excellent example of successful anime tourism leveraging IP is “Lucky Star.” In 2004, “Lucky Star” began to be printed serially in Comptiq magazine published by KADOKAWA SHOTEN (currently KADOKAWA), and it became an anime in 2007. The fictional Takanomiya Shrine featured in the story was modeled after Washinomiya Shrine in Kuki City in Saitama Prefecture. Since then, “Lucky Star”-related events and other local initiatives have attracted many fans to Kuki City, contributing to its vibrancy and revitalizing its economy.
[Community-based employment]
●KADOKAWA DAIEI STUDIO CO., LTD. (Chofu City, Tokyo)
KADOKAWA DAIEI STUDIO CO., LTD. handles a variety of film-making operations for movies, dramas, commercials, music videos and other products. In the hiring of people for part-time positions, it prioritizes residents of Chofu City and the areas along the Keio Line, realizing stable community-based studio operations.
●Okinawa area (Naha City)
KADOKAWA UPLINK INC. is responsible for organizing information for the TV program content business, KADOKAWA KEY-PROCESS Co., Ltd. creates data for digital printing, does typesetting and oversees e-book production, and KADOKAWA ASCII Research Laboratories, Inc. operates a wide range of businesses, including research, consulting and marketing businesses. They all have offices in Naha City in Okinawa Prefecture. They hire residents of Okinawa so that these organizations can utilize the local workforce.
[Support for local farmers by promoting local production for local consumption]
Canteen KADOKAWA, located within TOKOROZAWA SAKURA TOWN in Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture, actively sources agricultural products from the Musashino area. By developing and serving menu items centered on fresh vegetables from Tokorozawa and other parts of Saitama Prefecture, an area blessed with rich natural surroundings, it promotes local production for local consumption and contributes to the development of local agriculture.
●Canteen KADOKAWA
A buffet-style dining space where guests can enjoy the bounty of the seasons and deepen their appreciation of food. In a carefully designed setting, it offers a dining experience that satisfies both body and mind.
Contributions to safety and security
The KADOKAWA Group is working in partnership with local governments, organizations and local communities to ensure everyone's safety during emergencies.
[Iidabashi area (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo)]
KADOKAWA CORPORATION has concluded an agreement with Chiyoda-ku to enable stranded commuters to use the KADOKAWA Fujimi Building in Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku as a temporary reception facility for people who have difficulties returning home. Emergency supplies are stored in the building for the estimated number of people that would shelter there. The company also regularly participates in training programs to learn about effectively sheltering stranded commuters. This system allows us to ensure the safety of people in the community, both residents and visitors, in the event of a large-scale disaster.
[Musashino area (Tokorozawa City, Saitama Prefecture and the surrounding area)]
Based in TOKOROZAWA SAKURA TOWN, the KADOKAWA Group works with the local government and police to participate in community safety activities.
●Support for crime prevention and traffic safety activities
The KADOKAWA Group, Saitama Prefecture and the Saitama Prefectural Police concluded an agreement regarding the development of neighborhoods where residents feel safe by increasing people's awareness of crime prevention and traffic safety activities.
- Agreement on the development of anti-crime neighborhoods in Saitama Prefecture (in Japanese only)
- Agreement regarding community safety in Tokorozawa City (in Japanese only)
Contributions to the promotion of culture
TOKOROZAWA SAKURA TOWN is the base for "the COOL JAPAN FOREST Initiative" promoted jointly by KADOKAWA and the Tokorozawa City government and the Saitama Culture & Tourism Republic based on a tripartite cooperation agreement between KADOKAWA, Saitama Prefecture and the Tokorozawa City government. The KADOKAWA Group is engaged in revitalizing the Musashino area, where the TOKOROZAWA SAKURA TOWN is located, through cultural and artistic activities.
［Community revitalization through the Musashino Corridor Cultural Festival］
The Musashino Corridor Cultural Festival is a new festival that originated in TOKOROZAWA SAKURA TOWN that was established by organizing an executive committee through a partnership with the local government, the residents' association, local businesses and educational institutions. The festival's goal is to be a fusion of pop and local culture by bringing together cosplay, anime and manga, joint local school festivals and Bon odori festivals where everyone comes together and dances around the traditional raised Bon odori platform built by artists to songs used in anime.