Story
Building Communities With Neighbors to Prepare for Emergencies
Meet The Neighbors!
Ichigo is taking on the new challenge of building communities characterized by kindness and vitality at Ichigo-owned/managed buildings in an industry where relationships between landlords and tenants are known to be rigid. Although similar initiatives have been launched at retail buildings, they remain rare at office buildings, and such initiatives require new perspectives that transcend traditional landlord-and-tenant relationships.
One of Ichigo’s community-building initiatives is its Meet The Neighbors! events held at Ichigo-owned/managed buildings, which were inspired by the CEO of a tenant in an Ichigo building.
When the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake hit, one of the tenant’s Tokyo store and stores nearby faced difficulty securing communication lines and emergency supplies but were hesitant to help each other. Attributing this to a lack of community amongst neighboring stores, the CEO decided to hold events where stores could mingle. The events featured food, company introductions, games, and prizes, as well as AED training sessions in case of emergencies. The AED training sessions were particularly popular amongst guests, who appreciated learning how to use the AEDs in public spaces.
The mission of these events, called Meet The Neighbors! (MTN) events, resonated with Ichigo Estate President Yasuhide Hosono, who decided to launch these events at Ichigo-owned buildings. In 2023, Ichigo held its first MTN event at its own Ichigo Fiesta Shibuya building in Shibuya.
The first MTN event inviting all of the building’s ten tenants as guests, was catered by one of Ichigo’s hotels nearby, and featured AED training sessions and an opportunity for guests to mingle.
Given the event’s success, Hosono became confident that the MTN events can be the core of Ichigo’s initiatives to build ties with local communities.
“Connecting with your neighbors has a huge impact in people’s daily lives as well as in the event of an emergency. Although the events may seem like any other party, the main purpose of the events is community building, in order to help each other in case of emergencies. Going forward, we would like to hold these events at Ichigo-owned/managed assets in different areas,” says Hosono.
Ichigo has held five MTN events at Monzen Nakacho, Akasaka, and Odaiba over the course of two years, and is planning to hold MTN events regularly.
Although the MTN events vary by building, all of the events include AED training sessions. Fukuda Denshi, the company providing the training sessions, began selling AEDs in 2004, when AEDs were approved for use by non-medical professionals. The company contributed to AED proliferation in Japan, which currently has the second highest number of AEDs in the world with 690,000 devices installed across the country, and offers first aid AED training sessions to educate people on its use during an emergency.
“I wanted to help with MTN events because I felt that first aid AED training sessions can help build communities within a building. I have seen a lot of people meeting for the first time at training sessions, helping each other and becoming more comfortable with each other through participating in the sessions,” says Fukuda Denshi’s Naoko Kuratani, who has taught at all of the AED training sessions at Ichigo’s MTN events.
At training sessions that simulate emergency situations with people working at nearby companies, participants appear hesitant at first, but gradually become more comfortable as the session progresses. These joint exercises help strangers develop ties and foster a common awareness amongst those working in the same building, driven by the urgency of disaster prevention.
The AED usage rate by civilians in situations of cardiac arrest is 4%.
“Although approximately 80,000 people experience cardiac arrest annually in Japan, most people that have undergone AED training have not encountered situations where someone is in cardiac arrest. I have seen training session participants’ awareness of lifesaving efforts grow after learning how to perform CPR under an AED trainer, despite not having experienced such situations. I hope the training sessions will increase the number of people that understand the role of AEDs in first aid and have the courage to use them,” says Kuratani.
For the MTN event held at the Ichigo Akasaka Village in September 2024, Ichigo outsourced the event planning and operations to an external company, FICC Inc. (“FICC”).
FICC, an Ichigo Akasaka Village tenant, provides marketing and branding support for companies via the development of communication plans and design projects that leverage its liberal arts perspective.
FICC’s mission to make society better through its contributions to clients resonated with Ichigo’s employee in charge of MTN events, who ultimately asked FICC to work on MTN events together.
“Our employees and I held extensive discussions on how to create concepts and experiences that would foster a shared awareness of communities amongst people working at other companies in the same building, based on our own experiences with local communities that go beyond physical buildings,” says FICC Representative Keiko Mori.
“When Mr. Matsumoto (Ichigo employee) visited our office, we explained how we interact with our clients, and as we talked further, we were invited to collaborate with Ichigo on their MTN events,” says Nanako Minematsu of FICC’s Administration Group.
Similar to most of its managed assets, one floor at the Ichigo Akasaka Village is occupied by a single tenant. Although the Akasaka MTN event planning began with the tenants not knowing each other due to limited daily interactions as a result of a lack of common areas, the event was a huge success, with people staying to talk to one another even after the event’s conclusion.
The event featured an AED training session, a quiz competition, a feast, and a role-playing game created by FICC, and led to relationships between tenant companies, the foundation of communities, being built.
“The important thing was to involve other tenants from the event planning phase. I thought that the more people get involved when hearing about the event, the more meaningful the Meet the Neighbors! event would be. I felt that people who were involved from an early phase enjoyed the event even more, and their enjoyment spread to those around them,” says FICC Creative Director Yu Morita.
“After the event, one of our clients gave us sample products. Although we usually distribute them internally, we decided to share some with our neighbors on the other floors, kind of like when people share food they cooked with their neighbors. This led to the realization that this is what communities are about. The client was surprised when we told them, and the people receiving the samples were very happy,” says FICC Director Mirai Mizushima.
Mori says Akasaka’s charm is that it is a city where people can find the latest trends as well as the quality, timeless things, and the MTN event has given her the opportunity to talk to people that also have a fondness for the city of Akasaka.
Tradepia Odaiba is one of Ichigo’s largest office buildings. The occupancy of the building, which declined during Covid has since recovered, with only a few vacancies remaining, and approximately 4,000 people working at the office today. MTN events were held here in both 2023 and 2024.
For two years in a row, “One Million Classic Live” classical music concerts were held as part of the program of the MTN events.
“One Million Classic Live” is a nationwide event operated with the aim of sharing emotions, creating opportunities to connect performers and society, and revitalizing local communities through classical music performances by professional musicians.
The company supporting the event is Spice Factory Co., Ltd. (“Spice Factory”), a tenant of Tradepia Odaiba. Spice Factory President Mr. Hironosuke Takagi supports the philosophy of “One Million Classic Live,” and has led the planning of the concerts at Odaiba over the years.
There is always a positive reaction to lunchtime concerts with those pausing to listen to the normally unheard sounds of the violin and piano as they walk by, to those who sit and listen until the end of the concert.
“We are committed to contributing to the community that we are situated in, and so we decided to hold the ‘One Million Classic Live’ concerts,” said Ayano Ryugo, Director and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO).
Ichigo decided to sponsor the event when they were approached about holding it in the entrance hall on the first floor, and decided to incorporate it into its MTN event.
Spice Factory moved to Tradepia Odaiba in 2023 in search of an office with floor space big enough for all of its employees, but until then, the company did not have any particular connection to Odaiba.
“After we had narrowed down the list of potential office sites, we asked department leaders for their opinions. Many of them chose Tradepia Odaiba for its S-Class environmental building certification, and it made us realize that we have many environmentally-conscious employees.” (Ms. Ryugo)
The company achieved remarkable growth as a DX company and is also recognized for its high awareness around social contribution. For example, when establishing an overseas subsidiary, Spice Factory provides support to local university students who have financial difficulties in balancing school and living expenses. As a means of local contribution, the company financially supports one student with school and living expenses for every five employees hired.
Spice Factory has developed a social contribution plan for each of the areas where its offices are located, and the “One Million Classic Live” concerts are part of their cultural support initiatives in Odaiba.
Ms. Ryugo says that an office building would be perceived as more attractive by the local community if it establishes an open and welcoming atmosphere.
“We are a member of the Social Welfare Council of Minato Ward where Tradepia Odaiba is located, and we can recruit volunteers who are registered there. When we held the live classical music concert at a nearby retail asset, we were able to find many volunteers. We have found that a lot of people are interested in taking part and helping out at events like the ‘One Million Classic Live’ concerts. We hope to work with other companies to help make Odaiba a more vibrant place. I hope that by collaborating with other companies, we can create a warm and welcoming city, and contribute to a vibrant atmosphere in Odaiba.”
The MTN event at Odaiba attracted many people from day to night. In addition to the “One Million Classic Live” concert, the event offered AED training, practical instruction on evacuation drills and first aid support by the Tokyo Fire Department, a dinner buffet, a presentation by the B-League Team building a home arena nearby, and an AR game tournament. There was also a draw for prizes provided by a number of neighboring establishments that share the desire to make Odaiba a more attractive place.
Ichigo handing out small gifts to participants at the end of the event became a valuable opportunity for Ichigo to directly receive thought-provoking feedback and detailed tips leading to tenant satisfaction.
It was also the moment when Ichigo realized that its relationships with the tenant companies who helped promote the MTN events had become stronger.
It was not just from a sense of relief that the event went well, but also from a shared sense of the significance of building a community, and a sense of achievement that the event’s vision has taken shape.
“When I talk to people at Ichigo, I get the impression that many of them work for the company because the company’s initiatives and vision resonate with them. They are friendly and a delight to work with, and being able to collaborate with them and build business relationships is very important to us.” (Ms. Ryugo)
The MTN events are short but significant, and Ichigo learned that by seeking relationships that transcend the traditional landlord and tenant relationship at these events, a community can be created among the tenants and solidarity can be expected in the event of an emergency.
Ichigo plans to continue its Meet The Neighbors! initiative at other assets not only in Tokyo but also in regional cities.
