【Summary Report 2019 | Hahajima】

Many treasures including the vast natural landscape, specialty products, and unique traditions and cultures can be found in the 11 islands of Tokyo. The Tokyo Treasure Islands Project, which began in FY 2018, is an initiative carried out by the inhabitants of the islands that aims to brand the Tokyo Islands region through polishing and widely communicating these treasures.

Following the four islands of Oshima, Kouzushima, Miyakejima, and Hachijojima, which participated in FY 2018, residents from seven islands consisting of Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima, Mikurashima, Aogashima, Chichijima, and Hahajima participated in FY 2019 and held island meetings to discuss the branding of the islands.
The following is a reflection of the initiatives that Hahajima took in FY 2019.

<Contents>
Hahajima's Treasures and Brand Value
Hahajima's Target Persona
Hahajima's Brand Concept and Initiative Ideas
Presentation at the Branding Debriefing Session
FY 2019 Hahajima Initiatives
Participant Feedback

Hahajima's Treasures and Brand Value

Hahajima's island meetings began as a place to clearly verbalize the thoughts of the islanders in response to participants saying they would like to use it as an opportunity to raise the foundation of the region's power and undertake initiatives not only from the perspective of tourism, but also by taking into consideration the demands of the residents.
In the presentation of the island's treasures, the participants listed ideas including culture and history such as the nanyo-odori and battle sites from World War II, nature including the starry night sky and the ocean inhabited by dolphins, island cuisine such as sea turtle dishes and rum matured on the seabed, and even geographical conditions that seem harsh at a glance such as the fact that moving away from the inhabited area cuts off cellular connection and how it takes 26 hours to get there from Tokyo, which is enough to go to the other side of the Earth.

Furthermore, the participants acknowledged that even under such conditions, a humanly lifestyle that involves people supporting each other like family exists. The brand value of Hahajima was decided as a motherly island where a humanly lifestyle is possible.

Hahajima's Target Persona

During the discussion on Hahajima's target persona, ideas such as not limiting the target to tourists and including everyone that is interested in the island, as well as making not only the visitors, but also the current residents of the island recognize the greatness of the island were raised.
Ultimately, the participants' desire to go beyond the barrier of age, occupation, and gender and welcome anyone who wants to live a warm humanly lifestyle came to fruition, and the target persona was set as people searching for the essence of a humanly lifestyle.

Furthermore, the participants, who obtained an opportunity to rethink the future of Hahajima and Ogasawara through the island meetings, raised many ideas on creating opportunities for interactions with people within and beyond the island to think about the future and essence of the island.

The participants visited the Kanazawa-bunko Art Festival, which has been run by volunteers for the past 21 years, and Bakatsudo, which aims to use spaces to vitalize companies and organizations, in order to obtain hints on community organization and space vitalization.

Hahajima's Brand Concept and Initiative Ideas

In light of the discussions, Hahajima's brand concept was decided as "a motherly island where people can live as they like."

The initiative idea was dubbed Hahajima Bukatsudo, which involves creating a space that allows people to incorporate the perspective of visitors in a continuous dialogue of Hahajima's present and future in order to increase fans both within and beyond the island. The people are currently creating a roadmap to make the creation of a space for the easy congregation of residents one of the island's new treasures.

Presentation at the Tokyo Treasure Islands Branding Debriefing Session

A debriefing session was held on February 18, 2020 at the Marunouchi vacans. During the session, those that participated in the island meetings presented their brand concept and initiatives for ideas to business operators on the mainland.

After the presentation, opinions were exchanged with companies that excel in creating organizations and operating corporate training activities, and various companies that showed interest in the contents of Hahajima's presentation, which became an opportunity to realize the initiative ideas later.

FY 2019 Hahajima Initiatives

June 10, 2019 First Island Meeting | Consideration of the island's treasures
August 25, 2019 Second Island Meeting | Consideration of target persona
August 27, 2019 Third Island Meeting | Consideration of initiative ideas
October 28-29, 2019 Fourth Island Meeting | Study Tour
November 25, 2019 Fourth Tokyo Treasure Islands Meeting (Comprehensive Meeting) | Interim reporting on brand concept and initiative ideas
December 10, 2019 Fifth Island Meeting | Brush-up of initiative ideas
February 18, 2020 Tokyo Treasure Islands Branding Debriefing Session | Presentation

One of Hahajima's appealing points is how the residents polish the treasures as they discuss them and make the space a new treasure. The Tokyo Treasure Islands Project is continuing to allow more people to recognize that fact.

Participant Feedback

The activities in FY 2019 were very meaningful, so I believe the initiative ideas will raise the foundation of the Hahajima region. Connecting with people from the other Izu Islands from the perspective of our daily lives instead of that of meetings or tourism was also meaningful. From now on, I would like to focus on what the islanders truly desire so that we can sublimate it through trial and error. I also think it would be nice to collaborate with several islands or all of the Tokyo Treasure Islands for activities. (Masashi Miyagi, Regional Coordinator, Miyagi Natural Organic Farm）