| Bank DAI-ICHI KANGYO Credit Cooperative (DKC) |
| Client Omatsuri Japan |
| Location Tokyo, Japan |
Omatsuri Japan is a company with the motto “Inspire Japan through festivals”.
“Omatsuri” is the Japanese word for festivals. Japanese love omatsuri because it brings entertainment and also plays an important role in community, like a seasonal ceremony.
Ms. Yuko Kato, president of the Omatsuri Japan, asserts: “We celebrate 300,000 Festivals in Japan, they are the soul of Japanese people. However, it seems that most of the festivals are losing energy nowadays. It could be due to the gradual loss of vitality of the hosts and communities, the declining of the birthrate, the ageing of the population, or being stuck in a rural environment.”
The Omatsuri Japan project started with the Aomori Nebuta Festival, which was held just after the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011. Despite the situation, Ms. Kato saw the local people took good care of the festival and were so activated with it. Even some tourists went to see the festivities. Seeing this, she thought that losing festivals would mean losing precious social activities: the source of people’s power, the place where local communities are formed while promoting economic circulation. She took the decision of founding the first company in Japan focused on festivals, “Omatsuri Japan”, in 2014.
DAI-ICHI KANGYO Credit Cooperative (DKC), as a member of local communities, also participates and supports festivals actively. DKC has been joining more than 600 festivals per year, always taking important roles in them.
DKC got to know the Omatsuri Japan through “Tokyo Accelerator Program”, which aims to assist start-up business owners and entrepreneurs in Tokyo. Being deeply impressed and feeling sympathy with the Omatsuri Japan’s policy “Activation communities through festivals”, DKC decided to give financial support and form a business alliance with the company.
Omatsuri Japan supports local festivals in multiple ways, but its main business activities are:
- Websites coordination. They coordinate and operate sites about festivals, providing information and Web-supports for festival-organizers.
- Touristic promotion. Omatsuri helps local governments publicize their festivals, producing and planning some festival tours for foreigners and youth.
- Business promotion. Omatsuri developed a matching system for companies and business owners to promote their products at festivals using different marketing strategies.
DKC has a strong relationship with local communities. Through cooperating with the Omatsuri Japan, DKC can assist a lot of local regions that have difficulties in retaining festivals on their own. The alliance brought new sympathizers to Omatsuri Japan, increasing its profits and the number of co-workers. Together, they expect the growth of Omatsuri Japan to activate local communities and inspire all Japan through festivals.