【Summary Report 2019 | Toshima】

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 Toshima took in FY 2019.

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

Toshima's Treasures and Brand Value

The people from Toshima reorganized the treasures on their island, which include industrial appeals such as camellia woods and the large Japanese spiny lobsters and turban shells, and the island's dialect, which refers to the strong west winds as Teppatsu. Among them, appeals related to people such as the unique communication on a small island with approximately 300 people and the fact that everyone is like family were heavily discussed.

The brand value that was extracted from those discussions was "the blessings of nature and human wisdom inherited by 300 islanders." Things that are ordinary for the island are in fact, its values.

Toshima's Target Persona

The target persona of Toshima was set as "people who want to cherish a natural life." The meaning behind it lies in the residents' desire to give people a fresh feeling and have them love nature through coming into contact with many of its blessings and daily workings.

In order to communicate the appeal to the target persona, the first thing that was considered was an information communications headquarters. During the study tour, the participants visited Marugoto Nippon, a private commercial facility, Melon and Roman, an antenna shop operated by Tsugaru City in Aomori Prefecture that specializes in melons, and Aogashima-ya, a pub in Shinjuku owned by someone who was raised in Aogashima. While the participants felt the difficulties of operating a dining facility, they also learned that if there is an appealing story involved with the product development, then it would be possible to tell the customers about the appeal of the product.

Toshima's Brand Concept and Initiative Ideas

Toshima's brand concept, which was verbalized through the discussions, was set as "fully enjoying the blessings of an island, providing happiness for 6,000 years."

To communicate the brand value of "the blessings of nature and human wisdom inherited by 300 islanders" to the target persona, the initiative idea was set as building a headquarters off-island in the future to promote the communication of the appeals of Toshima's food and products.

In order to appeal the value of Toshima outside of the island, it is important to first increase the number of products that can be promoted and to increase their quality. Specifically, seafood products such as yellowfin tuna, bonito, and seaweed, as well as processed products that use specialties like ashitaba and niboshi-mochi as their ingredients are being considered. Furthermore, the island is also considering cooperating with existing dining facilities and retail stores to communicate its products.

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 chefs that specialize in developing processed products, companies that assist the opening of dining facilities, and other companies that showed interest in the contents of Toshima's presentation, which became an opportunity to realize the initiative ideas later.

FY 2019 Toshima Initiatives

June 4, 2019 First Island Meeting | Consideration of the island's treasures
July 8, 2019 Third Tokyo Treasure Islands Meeting (Comprehensive Meeting) | Study tour and talk session on regional brand
July 9, 2019 Second Island Meeting | Consideration of the target persona
October 9, 2019 Third Island Meeting | Consideration of initiative ideas
November 25, 2019 Fourth Tokyo Treasure Islands Meeting (Comprehensive Meeting) | Interim reporting on brand concept and initiative ideas
November 26, 2019 Fourth Island Meeting | Study tour
January 15, 2020 Fifth Island Meeting | Brush-up of initiative ideas
February 18, 2020 Tokyo Treasure Islands Branding Debriefing Session | Presentation

Toshima is working on polishing its treasures, which are products that the abundant nature has nurtured. The Tokyo Treasure Islands Project is continuing to let more people find out about the island's appeal.

Participant Feedback

It was a good opportunity to sit down and talk with people who normally don't gather together. I noticed a difference in the degree of recognition that each person has in terms of branding. In order to move forward with the initiatives in FY 2020, I hope we can focus on a participant-centered environment. (Ryusuke Hasegawa, Regional Coordinator, regional development volunteer)