Earth Friends Camp" taking action for the whole community

This "ANSHINDO Project" is being promoted as Earth Friends Camp (EFC) Inc. was founded in 2021 by Yohei Shimizu, a former Hokkaido official who opened Sounkyo Hostel in Sounkyo Onsen, Kamikawa Town in 2018 and in 2019 I, Kinubari Coffee, and Kinubari Ezimaru, who moved to Kamikawa Town as a Community Development Cooperation Volunteer with the aim of opening a roastery café, founded it together.

Currently, we are working on a community development project with other members who moved to the town because they share EFC's vision and activities, based at the "Exchange & Co-working Space PORTO", a facility to connect people with people and the community and create a lifestyle together under the concept of "a port in this town without a sea".

We decided to do it here, so we will do it, believing in the future that lies ahead.

EFC has been in business for three years and has been operating mainly on government contracts until now, but the ANSHINDO project was too large a project for EFC, which, to put it bluntly, is "not self-financed" and "fed by taxpayers' money.

Therefore, we asked a person with local knowledge and experience in the establishment and operation of complex facilities to act as an expert in the project, and together we worked out a business plan and an income/expense plan so that the project could run on its own as its own business. But what we found there was the very naivete of our own thinking.

Even in a town with a population of 3,000, it would be very difficult to build a renovated three-story building with a total floor area of 450 m2 in a town with a population of 3,000, attract tenants on the first floor, and directly manage the second and third floors as a micro hotel and shared office space. It is much more difficult than we imagined, and we are spending our days thinking about it every day. It's really, really hard.

Nevertheless, we have decided to do it here, and we will do it. There are two reasons for this.

"We are going to make our lives interesting."

The first is because we see potential in the future of this town.

It may be a tough town to make a lot of money in a short period of time, but when we think about "how we can continue to enjoy living in this town for a long time to come," we can see what we should do and what we can do. This challenge is one of them.

Kamikawa has an atmosphere, or rather a culture, that supports our challenge, with people cheering us on and saying, "I'm looking forward to your opening! and "I'm looking forward to your opening! There are so many people who are willing to help us, saying "I can't help it!

Of course, there are many difficult relationships that are unique to the countryside, but that is the case no matter where you go, and since there are already people in Kamikawa who support and help us, we want to do it here in this town. In fact, an increasing number of people are moving to Kamikawa and opening stores here, attracted by the town's charms. I am sure that the reason why we have been able to reach cooperative agreements with many companies is because they see the potential of Kamikawa Town.

The second reason is that it is more fun to create our own work and lifestyle, even if we suffer from problems, than to live in a given environment.

Rather than doing something we know we can do from the beginning, we want to try something we are not sure if we can do, but if we can do it, it will be very interesting. And not alone, but with people who will sympathize and support me. Even if I can't do something now, or something I might not be able to do alone, I might be able to do it with others. In this way, we want to make our lives and work more interesting through all the challenges we take on in this town.

In other words, we want to make our lives more interesting! We want to be able to create enjoyable and prosperous jobs and lives for ourselves, even in a small rural town with a small population.

I want this town to be a place where people can say out loud what they want to do, even if they are not good at it or not confident about it.

I want us to be a town where we can support each other, cooperate with each other, and make it happen.

I hope that the people who live in this town can continue to live with pride.

I hope that the children born and raised in this town will be able to proudly say, "I am from Kamikawa! I hope that the children born and raised in this town will be able to proudly say, "I am from Kamikawa!

The ANSHINDO Project is a project that we are prepared to take on with the utmost of our current capabilities.

We are also challenging crowdfunding!

We are also challenging crowdfunding in order to cover the cost of the building renovation! The period is until the end of November. We have already received over 1.5 million yen in support from more than 100 people. Thank you so much!

Our goal is 3 million yen! We have prepared various returns so that both Kamikawa-cho residents and non-residents can support this project. We hope you will take a moment to read through our project page and keep an eye on the future of the ANDHINDO project.

Check it out as well!

Domingo Local Topics

Domingo Local Topics" brings the charms of the region to you through the "real voices" of local residents. The content varies from region to region, including unique local stores, student initiatives, and events created by everyone. We will bring you topics from the region that will make you feel more familiar with the local area and want to visit it.