McCann Alpha to Hold a Virtually-Accessible Installation Event of “Kotoyama Hyakkei,” a Co-Creation Project with Panasonic That Aims to Connect People with Communities in a Whole New Way, for 2 Days at the Izu Oshima Camellia Festival.
[February 2, 2023 – Tokyo]
McCann Alpha (Director: Ryosuke Yoshitomi), a business co-creation division of McCann Japan (President and CEO: Hiroaki Mori), is pleased to announce the second event of “Kotoyama Hyakkei,” a project planned and developed in 2022 in partnership with Panasonic’s design studio Future Life Factory (FLF). The project connects faraway people remotely to help create new tourism resources and attractions for local communities. Other collaborating partners for this event include KONEL Inc. (President: Mitsuyo Demura), MagnaRecta (CEO: Kaori Yamagai), and the Oshima Tourist Association (Chairman: Yuko Koike). For 2 days from February 25 (Sat.) to 26 (Sun.), the project’s installation will be on display at the Tsubakihana Garden venue (41-1, Tsubaitsuki-Aza Motomachi,Oshima-machi Tokyo) of the Izu Oshima Camellia Festival. In addition, virtual participation in the installation will be accepted through a special website, which will also provide a streaming of the event.
“Kotoyama Hyakkei” in Izu Oshima
Date & Time: February 25 (Sat.) – 26 (Sun.), 2023, 11:00AM-4:30PM
*Admission is permitted until 30 minutes before closing.
Venue: Tsubakihana Garden venue of the Izu Oshima Camellia Festival (41-1, Tsubaitsuki-Aza Motomachi, Oshima-machi Tokyo)
Fee: Virtual participation in the installation and watching the streaming is free. Admission to the Tsubakihana Garden is priced at 830 yen for adults (junior high school students and older) and 400 yen for children (4 years old and older). A 10% discount will be applied to groups of 31 people or more.
About “Kotoyama Hyakkei”
The project began as an exploration of ways for people to co-create across physical and mental distances, while helping to preserve traditions and culture. Online connections make it possible for people that live far away from each other and from the local community to come together and co-create in united purpose, bringing in new perspectives that can help communities create new tourism resources and local attractions. With the connection between people and local communities becoming increasingly weaker, the “Kotoyama Hyakkei” was launched in April 2022 as a new way of connecting that will also provide local communities with new attractions.
About the “Kotoyama Hyakkei” Installation
Based on the project’s previous experimental event held in April 2022, this time, the event will be held for the first time in Oshima-cho, Tokyo, for two days during its annual Camellia Festival. From February 2, photos of the local venue will be posted on the “Kotoyama Hyakkei” special website, where participants will be asked to select a photo and to post a word that describes their reaction to it. The word will then be printed out on a 3D printer at the venue, taking shape in real life. At the real-life event venue (Tsubakihana Garden), the materialized word will dangle down from above and hang in place against the backdrop of the chosen landscape photo, which will be projected on the wall. After a while, the word will drop to the floor, becoming a part of the “kotoyama (word hill)” that has been formed by the words that dropped before it. The participant’s name will then be added to the credits on the website as one of the creators of the word hill.
As more and more people participate, the hill will become larger and more connections will be made between people and Izu Oshima, the festival location captured in the photo. We invite you to participate by first looking at a photo, imagining how the landscape looks like now, and what word you would “drop” to describe your reaction. A live video streaming of the venue will also be made available during the event period.
About the Previous Event
The previous exhibit was an experiential installation with an experimental edge held at the art hotel BnA WALL in Nihonbashi, Tokyo from April 13 (Wed) to 17 (Sun), 2022. On the project’s special website, participants were asked to select a photo from among several photos of “a scene from somewhere faraway” and to post a word describing their reaction. Then a 3D-version of the word was made and hung in place against the chosen landscape photo, which was projected on the wall at the real-life event venue. This was captured in a photo and stored as art. After a while, the word dropped to the floor, becoming a part of the word hill formed by other words before it. This was live streamed online. Some 100 people participated during the 5-day event.
About the Project Team
This project is led by Future Life Factory, with McCann Alpha providing concept development and production support, and Konel Inc. and MagnaRecta participating as collaborators. The Oshima Tourist Association is participating as a co-sponsor of the event with Panasonic.
FUTURE LIFE FACTORY (Panasonic Corporation Design Division)
FUTURE LIFE FACTORY is Panasonic’s design studio that seeks to answer the question, “What does a fulfilling future look like?” Through creative and out-of-the-box thinking, it continues to present the world with ideas that envision a richer future for all.
The Oshima Tourist Association
As the central organization promoting tourism to Oshima-cho, Tokyo, the Oshima Tourist Association works in cooperation and coordination with the town of Oshima, tourism-related businesses, and related organizations to utilize the tourism resources of their island to promote tourism, as well as aims to work with various industries to build a community that takes pride in their region. Their ultimate goal is to promote domestic and international tourism and to increase the number of people that come and interact with the island’s local community.
Konel Inc.
Konel Inc. is a collective of creators and artists from more than 30 professions. With “borderless” as their policy, their approach to projects cuts across the borders of art production, R&D, and brand design. Having offices in Tokyo, Kanazawa, Berlin, and Vietnam, they are shaping the future with a diversity of talent and skill sets.
MagnaRecta Inc.
How do we give shape to ideas? MagnaRecta’s main business is to help materialize ideas through technology, design, and production. In addition to providing special-purpose digital fabrication hardware, such as 3D printers, laser cutters, and robots, it can also propose system solutions about what’s needed and what needs to be created.
McCann Japan / McCann Alpha
McCann Japan is the flagship agency of McCann Worldgroup Japan, the only true international advertising agency in Japan capable of independent planning and buying of media. McCann Japan boasts a client roster composed of both major domestic and international companies. McCann Alpha, established in 2021, is a division within McCann Japan that aims to serve as a co-creation partner for businesses. With multiple projects currently underway, it works closely with clients such as Panasonic to run alongside them throughout a project’s lifecycle, from ideation to realization.