Selling ramen for 1,500 yen , attracting many people to a marginalized community.
What do you think is important to make Fussa a place where people come to visit or live?
Sato:In my father's time ... around the 1970s, the hippie culture flourished, with people growing their hair long like John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Because of the presence of the U.S. military base, the Tama area was the first town to introduce cutting-edge culture from the U.S. At that time, creative people in the fields of magazine editing, design, and music were heavily concentrated in the Tama area. The president of a well-known boutique store tried to stock indigo-dyed pants and shoes with the word "NIKE" written on them that could be seen over the base fence.
At the time, I heard stories of people who liked that kind of culture coming to visit the U.S. Army House, thought it was "kind of nice," and the next week went to a real estate agent and moved in from Tokyo. However, 50 years have passed since then, and the building has been deteriorating, and now it is just a rundown one-story house.
A popular after-dinner or snack spot is DO THE DONUTS‼︎, which offers freshly fried doughnuts. Order a latte made with coffee beans from VERVE COFFEE ROASTERS, a specialty coffee shop in Santa Cruz, California, and a chocolate donut set (1,000 yen).
Nakajima:What I would like to say to the landowners and building owners in Fussa is that I would like to see them turn the apartments into stylish apartments, if only for a moment. Many of the buildings in this city are old and will soon be destroyed. . When they are rebuilt, I want them to be turned into cute apartments for the next generation. It doesn't have to be an American house, but something with a bit of an esprit de corps, and rent it out for 10,000 yen more than the market rate, or something like that. I would like to see the idea of making Fussa a desirable place to live.
Kurosaki:. We can make the city green by planting large trees in various parts of the city, etc.
Sato:If we continue to do what we have been doing, we can only rent at the normal rent rate. President Takeshi's company sells ramen for 1,500 yen, but it sells like hotcakes. I think that is value. Mr. Kurosaki, with his "TAKIGAHARA FARM," you have opened up a depopulated, marginalized village to the public, and by organizing cultural activities, you have attracted about 2,000 creators from Japan and other countries to the area each year. You are doing such things on various levels, aren't you? For example, we need to make such a movement in the center of Fussa, with the citizens' cultural awareness, the landowner's awareness, and the government all playing their respective roles. I hope this place will be a catalyst for such a movement.
Do you have any advice for Mr. Sato from your seniors?
Nakajima:. If we make Fussa just an ordinary town, this town will not flourish. Let's make Fussa the most energetic and fun city in Japan. A completed town that makes people happy just by being there , will no longer prosper. . But a town that has once been desolate will revive once more. Fussa was prosperous early, so it is desolate now, but it can be done if only one man puts his energy into it. . It doesn't matter if he builds a lot of cute stores along Route 16. You have to have a dream. Even if someone says to you, "Where is your dream in Fussa? I want you to have the feeling that, even if people say, "Where are your dreams in Fussa?
Kurosaki:Portland is not everything, so I think it would be good to have everyone come together and share their wisdom, without relying on community or other side words, and have them decide that they are prepared to create a unique Japanese culture that is properly suited to this place. They could send out information via podcast, establish a corporation or fund, communicate with the government, consult with President Takeshi, and so on. I think the town will change if we do so.
Indeed, it seems that building a relationship with the government will be important in urban development.
Sato:In fact, we are now in discussions with the mayor of Fussa City to have a meeting with him. At that meeting, I intend to use the experience I have accumulated through FLAG to make a proposal regarding Fussa's urban development. I would like to take the lead in the development of the city from both a macro and micro perspective.
