Hi everyone, nice to meet you. My name is Kinubari Ezomaru. I moved to Kamikawa Town in 2019 as a Regional Development Cooperation Volunteer and created Earth Friends Camp (EFC) Inc. in 2021 with my friends, believing that "in order to continue to live and do business in this town, we need to take action with the entire community in mind. Since then, EFC has been engaged in community development projects based on the concept of "a port in this town without an ocean" and the "Exchange & Coworking Space PORTO," a facility for connecting people with people and people with the community and for creating a life together.

In this issue, we would like to introduce the town of Kamikawa where we live and the "ANSHINDO Project" we are conducting in Kamikawa.

Kamikawa Town, a tourist town aiming to become a "northern mountain resort

Kamikawa Town is located in the center of Hokkaido, and is home to the "Daisetsuzan National Park" where mountain climbing and skiing can be enjoyed, as well as "Sounkyo Onsen", one of the most famous hot spring resorts in Hokkaido. The town also boasts many other attractive features such as the "Taisetsu Forest Garden" tourist garden, the famous "Kamikawa Ramen" and the "Kamikawa Taisetsu Sake Brewery" sake brewery.

The city center, where about 90% of the population lives, is a very comfortable place to live, with stores, banks, post offices, schools, hospitals, etc., all compactly located in one place. In recent years, the number of young people, including local development cooperatives, moving to the town and the number of new businesses opening in the town have been increasing.

The concept of the town, which combines tourism and lifestyle, is a "northern mountain resort. The town is being developed with the aim of fusing local residents, tourists, and the great outdoors in close relationship. The town's atmosphere of proactive support for new initiatives and the many cooperative agreements with businesses have made it one of the most promising towns in Hokkaido.

Linking livelihood and tourism to revitalize the urban area

Despite the town's hot activities, the town as a whole has a long-standing problem in that people who live and work in the urban area are not able to benefit from tourism because the tourism area and the living area are separated by more than 20 km (about 25 minutes by car).

In response, the ANSHINDO Project was launched with the aim of revitalizing the city center by creating a new hub facility in the center of the city that would serve as a destination for visitors by connecting people's daily lives and tourism. The three-story building of a former pharmacy, which had been vacant for many years, was renovated in the center of the city to create a complex facility based on the concept of "a lighthouse that illuminates and connects the city.

ANSHINDO Project" to connect with the local community through "Stop, Steady, and Work".

The ANSHINDO project is a complex of stores, restaurants, accommodations, workspaces, and other facilities that will allow visitors to experience not only leisure tourism, but also "lifestyle tourism," a stay that allows them to experience local life and daily life, as well as work and corporate training programs. By using ANSHINDO as a catalyst to increase the flow of people involved in Kamikawa Town and tourism visiting the urban area, we aim to develop tourism not only in Sounkyo, but also in Kamikawa Town as a whole, as well as the local economy.

From here, we will introduce the features of each floor of ANSHINDO!

3rd floor: Shared office

Shared offices are maintained on the 3rd floor. There is a free-address co-working room that can be freely used by corporate and individual members as well as guests, and two private rooms that can be used as rental offices or meeting rooms. It will also be used as a base for workcations, corporate training, and local start-up support.

2nd floor: Micro Hotel

The second floor is a small hotel that blends into the daily life of the town and allows visitors to stay as if they were living there. Through interaction with the staff of the first floor tenants and the local residents who visit the hotel, the hotel will provide local information and a stay experience that cannot be found in tourist guidebooks.

1st floor: tenants wanted!

We had hoped to turn the first floor into a retail and restaurant, but renovations on the 2nd and 3rd floors cost too much money and we were unable to build the first floor ourselves... (Of course, as the property owner, we plan to do minimal work on the water and other areas...!) We definitely want to open a store on the first floor to become a "lighthouse that illuminates and connects the town"...

The first floor is quite spacious, so it can accommodate a variety of businesses and types of stores, such as a bar where you can enjoy craft beers from the northern Hokkaido region, including Kamikawa, a restaurant where you can eat local gibier cuisine, or a workshop and store that makes processed products using local agricultural products. We also welcome inquiries based on ideas such as "I'd like to try this kind of restaurant! If there are any companies or individuals in Kamikawa who are interested in working with us at EFC to create ANSHINDO, please contact us.