Case Studies
Case Studies
Selected projects in placemaking, regional branding, and experience design — with the challenge, our approach, and what actually came of it.
Selected Projects
Most of our work is commissioned by local governments and public institutions, often over multiple years. The projects below are representative of that practice. Full project pages are published in Japanese.
SETAGAYA PORT
Overview
- Client: Setagaya City (in collaboration with the ward’s industry promotion division)
- Launched: March 2021
- Our role: Concept design, platform build, and ongoing operation
- Scale: More than 7,700 registered members as of July 2026
Challenge
Setagaya is Tokyo’s most populous ward, yet the people working, creating, and running businesses inside it had no shared place to meet. Talent, ideas, and local enterprise existed in abundance but stayed disconnected, and the ward had no continuous channel for reaching them.
Approach
Rather than a one-off campaign, we designed SETAGAYA PORT as a standing platform — a “port” where residents, businesses, and the local government could dock, meet, and launch projects together. We built it with the ward as a genuine public–private partnership and committed to operating it over the long term.
What We Did
- Designed the platform concept, brand, and communication strategy
- Built and operate the website and member registration system
- Plan and run recruitment, matching, and community programmes
- Coordinate continuously with the ward’s industry promotion division
- Grow and manage the member community on an ongoing basis
Outcome
The platform has grown to over 7,700 registered members as of July 2026 and has become a standing point of contact between Setagaya City and the people who work and create within it, rather than a campaign with an end date.
Daizawa Seseragi Park — Trial Experience Day
Overview
- End client: Setagaya City
- Client: Landscape Design Inc.
- Date: 1 June 2025
- Our role: Planning, design, and operation of the trial experience day
- Scale: Approximately 300 visitors against an expected 100
Challenge
An adjacent site of about 2,350 m² is being brought into Daizawa Seseragi Park, with an expanded park targeted to open in spring 2028. The question was how to involve residents in shaping a space that did not exist yet — and how to gather real reactions rather than abstract survey answers.
Approach
We turned the consultation into an experience. Instead of asking residents to imagine the future park, we let them use the site for a day, so their feedback came from having actually been in the space.
What We Did
- Planned and designed the programme for the trial experience day
- Designed the on-site layout and activities within the future park area
- Operated the event on the day, including staffing and visitor guidance
- Gathered resident reactions and input to feed into the design process
Outcome
Attendance reached roughly 300 people against an expected 100 — about three times the projection — producing a far larger and more grounded body of resident input for the park’s design than a conventional consultation would have generated.
Park Challenge @ MIKASA — Craft no ◯△□
Overview
- Location: Mikasa Park, Yokosuka City (GREEN SQUARE area)
- Date: 28 October 2023
- Programme: Park Challenge @ MIKASA
- Policy context: Yokosuka Revitalization Plan 2022–2025
- Our role: Planning and delivery of the craft experience programme
Challenge
Yokosuka’s revitalization plan calls for making better use of the city’s public spaces. Mikasa Park is a well-known waterfront landmark, but the challenge was giving people a concrete reason to spend time in it — and testing what kinds of programming a park like this can support.
Approach
We designed a hands-on craft programme built around simple shapes — circle, triangle, square — so that participation required no prior skill and visitors of any age could join on the spot in an open public setting.
What We Did
- Planned the craft experience programme for the GREEN SQUARE area
- Designed the activity format and materials around the circle / triangle / square motif
- Delivered the programme on site as part of Park Challenge @ MIKASA
- Coordinated with the wider park utilisation initiative
Yahoo! Kids Rebranding
Overview
- Client: LINE Yahoo
- Our role: UI/UX design and rebranding
- Scope: Yahoo! Kids website
Challenge
Yahoo! Kids is a long-running service for children in Japan. A service with that much history needs its identity and interface periodically brought back into line with how children and their guardians actually use the web today.
Approach
We approached the work as a rebranding rather than a cosmetic refresh, aligning the visual identity and the interface so that the experience felt coherent for a young audience while remaining trustworthy to the adults around them.
What We Did
- Led rebranding for the Yahoo! Kids service
- Designed the UI/UX for the Yahoo! Kids website
- Aligned visual identity with the needs of a children’s audience
SETAOLE LABEL
Overview
- Location: Setagaya City, Tokyo
- Full launch: October 2022
- Artists: Three artist groups
- Output: Seven songs in season 2, eight in season 3, and six in season 4
- Our role: Label concept, production, and ongoing operation
Challenge
Setagaya has a deep well of musical talent, but no local vehicle existed to carry it outward. Individual artists could release work, yet there was nothing that connected them to the ward’s identity or gave the music a route to audiences beyond it.
Approach
We created a label as the vehicle. By running it in seasons rather than as a single release, we built a repeatable production cycle that keeps producing new work and gives participating artists a continuing platform tied to the place itself.
What We Did
- Developed the label concept and brand
- Produced music across multiple seasons with three artist groups
- Ran the seasonal production cycle: seven songs in season 2, eight in season 3, six in season 4
- Secured outward exposure, including placement on the Tokyu SDGs Train
Outcome
The label has sustained production across multiple seasons since its full launch in October 2022, and its work has reached audiences outside the ward through channels such as the Tokyu SDGs Train.
SETAGAYA NEW WAVE
Overview
- Location: Setagaya Kumin Kaikan (Setagaya Civic Hall), Tokyo
- Date: 11 February 2025
- Format: 30-30 SESSION
- Our role: Event planning, programme design, and operation
Challenge
Bringing together the many people creating things in Setagaya requires more than putting them in one room. The challenge was a format that would generate real exchange in a single day rather than a series of disconnected presentations.
Approach
We built the day around a “30-30 SESSION” format, using tightly structured sessions to keep energy high and give a wide range of participants a genuine chance to present and connect.
What We Did
- Planned and designed the SETAGAYA NEW WAVE event
- Developed the 30-30 SESSION programme format
- Coordinated participants and programming
- Operated the event at Setagaya Kumin Kaikan
Other Work
AKITA TOURISM — a regional tourism and workation initiative developed with municipalities across Akita Prefecture
Regional food and branding projects — community and product development with partners such as Higashi no Shoku no Kai and TAKaraMORI (Takamori Town, Kumamoto)