6 | The Japan Times | Monday, January 25, 2021

ESG promotional content susainable japan produced by The Japan Times Cube Living hisory: You could send a night in a casle ing the important cultural property. But tem — and Value Management is taking Satoyama~Authentic the castle stay can serve as a high-profle that responsibility.” icon of the city,” he said, explaining that it In 2020, Value Management faced a Japan has attracted a lot of domestic and inter- major risk. Total sales were expected to MAIKO MURAOKA national media attention. drop by more than 40% from the previous CONTRIBUTING WRITER year due to the coronavirus pandemic, The town, not just its castle Tarikino said. Although castles are one of Japan’s most Using the castle stay as an eye-catching Although the Go To Travel campaign, popular tourist destinations, not many feature of the rural city, with a population which started in late July, helped improve people know you can actually spend a of about 42,000 people, Value Manage- sales to some extent, according to night in a 400-year-old castle. ment worked on the community devel- Tarikino, losses were too big to cover. “We Jun Tarikino, CEO of Value Manage- opment of the city to make it attractive lost most of the MICE-related opportuni- ment Co., is the person who made stay- to tourists. “The idea was to monetize the ties” — on meetings, incentives, confer- ing at Ozu Castle possible, along with the whole city not by scraping what is already ences and exhibitions — “and corporate combined eforts of various stakeholders there and building something new, but by events have been canceled, impacting our in the city of Ozu, in Ehime Prefecture. utilizing existing assets,” Tarikino said. While staying at Ozu Castle, you can even sales seriously,” he said. Value Management specializes in revital- Garyu Sanso villa is another historic You can become a lord of the Ozu-jo Castle, the become a samurai. This special attraction will The guest rooms are renovated in a modern Despite the difcult circumstances, izing communities and historic facilities building in Ozu that is designated as an frst castle in Japan where you can stay in. make you feel like you are playing a part in way while retaining the texture of historical Value Management continues to pursue by preserving and monetizing them. important cultural property. Value Man- VALUE MANAGEMENT history. VALUE MANAGEMENT buildings. VALUE MANAGEMENT its vision of promoting and sustaining “There are many castles used as hotels agement has turned it into a breakfast Japanese culture. “Culture is a valuable in the world, but there was nothing like venue for guests who stay at Ozu Castle. the town and its economy. commercial purposes and are spacious, it to diferent cities and towns in Japan element of humanity that is needed that in Japan,” said Tarikino in an online This way, the villa can remain open to making them easier to use now in various with adjustments as appropriate, saying throughout the ages. We are dealing with talk session called Satoyama Cafe hosted the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., like most Money troubles on all sides ways, while those in the countryside are that starting from scratch in each location something that will not come back for by the Japan Times Satoyama Consor- other publicly owned important cultural Tarikino stressed that revitalizing the typically smaller, ofering limited capacity. would lower the success rate. “If we use a good if it is lost, something that we need tium on Nov. 30. Satoyama Cafe is a series properties. whole community is the key to preserve “But a townscape consists of a suc- diferent method for each city, every time to hand down to the next generations,” of events that feature various rural revital- Value Management has transformed the area’s historic properties, especially cession of buildings, so what if we can will be a new challenge and we will never Tarikino said. ization eforts. various other old buildings in the city into outside the town itself. Maintaining commercialize a whole town — 10 build- know if we will succeed or not,” he said. “Actually, we cannot make much accommodations. “We intend to preserve cultural assets is costly, but fnancial ings in a district instead of just one? We “Even if the business model is the same, money from this service alone because the townscape and create accommoda- resources are shrinking regardless of who can increase proftability that way,” said each city has a diferent appearance and the castle can be used as accommodation tions that allow guests to experience the owns a particular property. Tarikino Tarikino. culture, which we can use as they are to only during the spring and autumn. Air- town itself,” Tarikino said. Since each explained that most tangible assets are To do this, Value Management created create values unique to that particular conditioning and heating equipment are building is small, guests tend to go outside owned either by the public sector, citi- a framework for community develop- city.” not installed, for the purpose of preserv- and enjoy walking around, rejuvenating zens, or temples and shrines, each with ment based on the utilization of existing That is how Value Management has fnancial difculties. The public sector is resources and assets. The framework con- monetized and revitalized not only 48 For more information, please visit: facing a shortage of tax revenues due to sists of all the steps necessary for turning buildings in Japan but also several entire https://www.vmc.co.jp/ depopulation, and private owners have a community into an attractive tourist towns, including Ozu. But Tarikino noted issues of succession and property tax, destination, including marketing, plan- that the application of this community This section, “Sustainable Japan,” fea- while temples and shrines are sufering ning, formulating a business strategy and development framework requires the tures issues related to the environment from a decreasing number of parishioners a fnancial framework, repairing and reno- engagement of all stakeholders of a town and a sustainable society. It highlights who support them fnancially. vating buildings, developing tourism fea- — including the local government, fnan- the satoyama activities of companies and Under these circumstances, the only tures, creating an organizational structure cial institutions, companies and residents other organizations and also introduces way to preserve historic properties is to and providing operational support. — from the beginning. “We need to start municipalities and local companies pro- monetize them to cover maintenance from working together to create an entire moting the beauty and excellence of the costs. Making enough proft from one Building on successful plans picture of how we want the commu- real Japan. such property seems difcult, especially Tarikino emphasized the importance of nity to be, and then divide roles. It does For more information, see in rural areas with small populations. making such a framework incorporate not work well the other way around,” https://sustainable.japantimes.com/ Value Management Co., CEO Jun Tarikino (lef) and Satoyama Consortium secretariat chief Yuto Tarikino also pointed out that many of practices that have already proved suc- Tarikino said. “Finally, someone has to satoyama and Yoshida at the Satoyama Cafe online session held on Nov. 30 THE JAPAN TIMES the historic urban buildings were built for cessful in one or more areas and applying take the risk of operating the whole sys- https://sustainable.japantimes.com/esg Evonne Yiu, U.N. researcher and champion of foress and sea

and satoumi (coastal seas). As a researcher Once maintained by communities through ESG / SDGs with the U.N.-afliated International Part- logging, hunting and foraging, now up to 77 TIMOTHY SCHULTZ nership for the Satoyama Initiative (IPSI), percent of shiyū rin land is abandoned or in CONTRIBUTING WRITER she is dedicated to a distinctly Japanese need of maintenance due to depopulation. approach to conservation and biodiversity. Millions of hectares are choked with dead- The early morning sea of Ishikawa Prefec- Yiu speaks passionately about her orga- falls and overgrown with evergreen trees ture was gentle, the fsherman sitting casu- nization’s Japanese origins. “The terms like cedar and cyprus. As wildlife encroaches ally at the boat’s bow. They were idling just ‘satoyama’ and ‘satoumi’ mean ‘forest’ or ‘sea,’ and landslide-prone hillsides become over- inside a breakwater, an artifcial reef made of but not as unspoiled, untouched places. The burdened, the consequences are ofen massive concrete blocks. He pointed at the two terms also imply productivity and use- deadly and self-reinforcing. The Ministry of water and spoke in a local Japanese dialect fulness to humans. There are modern Eng- Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has put to his passenger, a polite female academic lish terms that do this now, like ‘ecosystem’ the damage caused by birds and beasts in who had been asking questions around his or ‘sustainable development,’ but the Japa- 2018 at about 15.8 billion yen ($150 million), fshing village. For some reason, he trusted Evonne Yiu nese language included such ideas long ago.” with 157 people hurt and two deaths from her. Unfortunately, the satoyama and satoumi animal attacks. This makes the communi- “Go ahead. Feel it.” The woman put her each telling her the same story: These break- are facing a crisis of multiple causes. “When ties near satoyama less productive, lead- hand in the water. Warm to the touch, waters were hurting their sea. I frst lived in Japan and drove by the forests, ing to even more rural abandonment and Breakwaters lining Noto Island, Ishikawa Prefecture facing the tranquil Toyama Bay EVONNE YIU almost like a lake. The fsherman shook I thought they were these picture-perfect urban crowding. “It will take not just strug- his head. “The concrete, it heats the water. Devoted to sustainability places. Now I understand so many are dying gling local governments, but also the more issues. They are intrinsically linked. Every- IPSI also ofers outside examples for Japan’s And with warming oceans, fsh are chang- Evonne Yiu is a Singaporean researcher from the inside out.” funded and competent urban institutions to thing on land — from the plastic we burn in government ofcials. “Taiwan is ceasing ing. More of-season catches, hybrids, rather with the United Nations Institute for the manage these lands,” Yiu said. our crowded cities to sewage runof — could installation of breakwaters and implement- worrying.” Advanced Study of Sustainability living in The quiet crisis The seaside was similar: Local communi- end up in the ocean eventually. And so ing satoyama concepts in their environment It was just like he had described in the iza- Tokyo. Her mission: to apply the U.N.’s 17 Much of the forests seen from a shinkansen ties once fshed and maintained industries much of what the sea gives us — fsh, fresh policies, while Philippines is switching back kaya the night before. Nobuhiro Kido was sustainable development goals (SDGs) and window are shiyū rin (private forest): 58 such as fsh farming, but always within air, salt — is incredibly important for our to biodiverse solutions like mangroves and one of many fsherman she had spoken to, maintain Japan’s satoyama (village forests) percent, according to a decades-old survey. sensible limits. Depopulation is also the vil- survival.” As past generations understood, to coastal forests.” lain here, with the added enemy of govern- threaten satoyama or satoumi is to threaten ment mismanagement. Nearly 50 percent Japan itself. Local wisdom to global action of Japan’s 35,000 kilometers of coastline Even with so much to do, Yiu radiates More needs to be done, which is why Yiu Monthly Times Gallery has been covered or somehow altered by confdence. Her organization, IPSI, show- was out on that boat, testing the water with tetrapods and other forms of concrete. The cases inspiring case studies from both here her own hands. “The people who know the breakwaters in particular are hurting the in Japan and abroad. In Japan these are ofen most — about both the issue and the tradi- coastlines they were built to protect, caus- organized by private companies. This is a tional solutions — these aren’t academics or ing heated seas and “coastal deserts’’ beref unique aspect of Japan: Instead of being the politicians or business leaders, but the local of seaweed. Yiu notes an interesting statis- villain, big business is the opposite. “The people. They might be humble, but it’s hum- tic: “At ¥100,000 a tetrapod block, there are Keidanren” — Japan’s top business lobby bling for me when I can connect with them. perhaps other reasons these things are still — “are actually some of our biggest support- I’m inspired to be a voice for them, and that’s being built.” ers of SDGs,” Yiu said. From Sony’s private what IPSI does best.” How are breakwaters and abandoned forest in Aichi to food processor and chain Yiu’s mission is a mission for everyone forests linked? Yiu thinks it is obvious. restaurant owner Aleph’s work to preserve in Japan, and it is easy to help. While Yiu “Satoumi and satoyama are not separate Lake Biwa, IPSI’s site ofers many examples. said, “It’s never too late to join the United Nations!” a job change isn’t required to help Takehiko Inoue (third from lef) receives the Latino Award from Cuervo y Panama Ambassador Carlos Pere (second from the front) and Second the forests and the sea. Instead of supermar- Sobrinos, a famous watch brand that originated in Havana, at the inaugu- Secretary Georgette Constantino (front) welcome Tohoku University kets, buy from farmer co-ops like Co-op ration of an exhibition of illustrations of the Cuban city held at the professors and students who visited the embassy to learn about Panama’s Sanchoku. Embassy of Spain on Nov. 16. EMBASSY OF CUBA public policies on Nov. 24. EMBASSY OF PANAMA Skip Sunday shopping to spend time in forests like Aokigahara. Search online for “beach clean-up,” like the ones organized by Minimal Living Tokyo. You might fnd your- self side by side with a certain Singaporean Indian Ambassador activist with a big smile, great stories and a Sanjay Kumar Verma sense of purpose we can all share. reads out a message from Prime Minister Narendra Modi while giving the opening remarks at an event to celebrate Vishwa Hindi Diwas (World Indonesian Ambassador Heri Akhmadi submitted his letter of credentials Hindi Day) on Jan. 13. Noto Island farmers setting up an electric fence against wildlife encroachment in July 2016 to Emperor Naruhito on Dec. 17. EMBASSY OF INDONESIA EMBASSY OF INDIA EVONNE YIU

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