4th Tokyo Treasure Islands Meeting

The fourth Tokyo Treasure Islands Meeting held on November 25, 2019 at Akasaka in Tokyo. Around 80 relevant people from all of Tokyo's 11 islands came together to present the progress of their island's branding and exchange ideas. The following is a report on the meeting.

Presenting the ideas produced by seven of the islands

For the fourth Tokyo Treasure Islands Meeting, the Chairman of the Treasure Island Promotion Committee Atsuro Yamada and committee member Alex Kerr were invited as guest advisors. Representatives from the islands that began holding meetings in 2019 including Toshima, Niijima, Shikinejima, Mikurashima, Aogashima, Chichijima, and Hahajima presented the branding concepts that were discussed on their respective islands and announced midterm reports on initiatives currently underway.

The first island is Toshima, whose concept is "Enjoying blessings: An island home to 6,000 years of happiness." The island appealed its specialties including camellia oil, Japanese spiny lobsters, and turban shells, and the fact that its population is steady at 300 and how there is an increase in the number of 35 to 40-year-olds doing I-turns, etc., but pointed out the challenge of having a low recognition among the Izu Islands.

The representatives presented dining establishments that use ingredients produced in Toshima to communicate the greatness of the island and opening a small antenna shop in Tokyo that focuses on a single product like camellia oil to communicate the appeals of the island in the capital while promoting interactions with the islanders as action ideas to solve these challenges.

These are Toshima's branding concepts.

The concept of Niijima, the second island, is "An island that connects with new."
A video created for the younger generation who are unaware of Tokyo's islands was played, and after the atmosphere was shared, the brand value of a "connection that allows you to be a friend of the island" was presented.

The image of the ideal visitor was based on the island's appeal of having open-minded residents and was introduced as "people who can make the island their support." For the action ideas, the representatives presented a framework to cooperate with a company that matches transportation methods on apps and a company that operates a service where individuals offer experience programs to link the "treasures" of people, experiences, things, and places, which Niijima prides itself in, to create connections that make people a friend of the island.

These are Niijima's branding concepts.

The third island is Shikinejima. This brand value of the island, which is rather small compared to the others and has vibes that remain from the time when outlying islands were a boom, was expressed as a "good old Japanese island." The island considered action ideas under the theme, "An island that creates a new nostalgia," that call in passionate people who will bring a zephyr of freshness and eventually become a local hero, and ultimately decided on the idea of a Co-workation, which crosses the appeals and challenges of the island.

In response to the idea, which offers a place for working and vacation and whose name combines the words "coworking" and "work-ation," the audience said that there is a demand for this because work-ations are trending nationally.

These are Shikinejima's branding concepts.

Mikurashima, the fourth island, introduced its brand value as "An island with experiences that feel special."

There are many fans that visit the island because there are wild dolphins that live around it. On the other hand, considering tourism with no psychological burdens and given that the number of visitors the island can accept is limited due to the number of lodges, the action ideas that were considered focused on making the limited number of visitors feel special instead of calling in more new people.

Ideas such as placing a deck or treehouse in the forest to create a place where people can interact, a digital detox tour utilizing Nango-sanso, which has no cellular reception, and a village guide walk where the islanders act as guides were introduced.

When the audience asked, "What is important when it comes to creating harmony between the island's residents and visitors?" the presenter responded with, "We want the content to make people interested in the island," referring to its traditional industry. It was announced that the plan would focus on providing experiences that allow visitors who can harmonize with the residents use the island's resources to create its future together.

These are Mikurashima's branding concepts.

Aogashima, the fifth island to present, began by singing a song from the island before presenting. The brand values of Aogashima, which comes from the fact that the island has no ships, is geographically located in a harsh place, and is closed, are "nature, life, relationships among people, and exceptional sentiment."

The team announced an action idea that uses drones an aerial photography that effectively use the unique environment of the island.

Guest advisor Alex Kerr commented by saying, "It's like the Japanese Santorini*. It's not a place where a lot of tourists can go, so it's good if you can show it as an island with special sentiments."
*One of the Cyclades islands in Greece that was formed in an eruption in 16th century BC that has a steep caldera shape.

These are Aogashima's branding concepts.

The sixth island to present was Chichijima.
The brand value of Chichijima, which can be accessed by a 24-hour ship ride from the Tokyo, has Bonin blue colored oceans, and its own ecosystem, was presented as, "An otherworldly island where life shines as is."

Keeping in mind a lifestyle that takes care of the island's nature, Chichijima presented environmental conservation programs that teach the ecosystem while participating in alien species extermination and microplastic extraction, issuing passports that increase the motivation of those that frequently visit Ogasawara to visit the island, and creating a bird's eye view picture from Takeshiba to Chichijima. In conclusion, it was presented that these initiatives also contribute to Ogasawara's own development and SDG's*.
*A global goal intended to be achieved by 2030 adopted in the 2015 United Nations General Assembly that consists of a collection of 17 goals and 169 targets.

These are Chichijima's branding concepts.

The last to take the stage was Hahajima, located 1,050km away from the capital.
In line with the island's name, the brand values of the island where everyone gathers at the gaju-base , a resting area near the port, greets each other, and lives peacefully surrounded by beautiful nature, was presented as "A motherly island where everyone can be themselves." The representatives said that they wish to present these values to "people who are searching for the essence of a human-like lifestyle" (their target).

The first action idea that they came up with to increase "Hahajima fans" within and beyond the island by communicating the brand value was to conduct a well-side round-table discussion. There, people from all age groups and backgrounds will incorporate perspectives from outside the island and come together to discuss the strengths and challenges of the island, what needs to be done, as well as the future beyond that." Mr. Miyagi said, "It's important for people with various perspectives to work towards the same goal of making everyone happy. We would like to build things that contribute to that."

These are Hahajima's branding concepts.

The initiatives of the four islands that conducted island meetings last year

After the presentations by the seven islands, the executive office reported on the initiatives Oshima, Kozushima, Miyakejima, and Hachijojima, which went ahead and conducted island meetings in FY 2018. Kozushima, whose concept is "Noticing everyday miracles: Living on an island with abundant water," set up fishing village experience programs and other experience-type contents where people can interact with the abundant water. Foreign people who matched the target were invited to the island for a monitor tour. Hachijojima, whose slogan is "An island that restores your color and shines in rainbow" executed an initiative to increase fans of the island by partnering with a dining establishment on the mainland to communicate its appealing points. Specifically, it conducted an observation tour on the island and invited people from dining establishments with relations to the island, such as those that use ingredients from Hachijojima. Afterwards, the pictures photographed on the tour were collected in an album, which was then displayed in the establishment on the mainland to communicate the island's appeal to the customers. Miyakejima, whose slogan is "Living with a volcano will awaken your five senses," is considering appealing spots focusing on volcano-related areas ahead of the volcano crater tour scheduled to begin in FY 2020 and the use of apps and photo prints to promote it. Oshima, the "island where you can be a regular and find things just right," focused on "the perfect way to spend time in Oshima" and is considering the identification of experiences on the island and using websites to communicate information on them.

Here are the brand concepts for the four islands:Oshima、Kozushima、Miyakejima、Hachijojima

It's important to focus to make life on the islands rich

After all the islands finished, the guest advisors made their comments.

Alex Kerr said, "A period of ageing and population decline is also a wonderful period when tourism blooms. If you think of sound uses of the island's assets, I think you'll be able to find a direction that won't lead to over-tourism."

Atsuro Yamada said, "You have to think about the island's capacity when it comes to protecting the island's environment and nature. The purpose of the Treasure Island Promotion Committee is to make life on the islands richer. We would like to have more people visit the island if possible, but I think it'll be difficult to do that on islands that have reached their respective capacities. Every island has many wonderful people and is rich in nature, but just as the islands presented their concepts today, we need to focus on something as we make the islands richer. Wouldn't it be nice if people who don't destroy the islands' nature and are interested in the culture and products visit?"

After a heated midterm report, four islands will further substantiate their actions, while seven islands will look forward to the final island meeting.