We have joined the Yanagase Area Platform, a public-private partnership with Gifu City as its secretariat, as a business member.
The Yanagase Area Platform brings together businesses, individuals, and organizations involved in the neighborhood — not just to talk, but to shape Yanagase's future through a series of small pilot projects. For details, see the Gifu City website (Japanese).
Our role is a "pedestrian survey" that uses AI cameras and our own model to convert footage into data. As more pilot projects take place in Yanagase, every one of them will need numbers that answer the question: "So, did it work?" We continuously measure not just how many people passed by, but what kinds of people they were and how they spent their time, giving the area a common yardstick for before-and-after comparisons. The survey is operated in line with the Japanese government's Camera Image Utilization Guidebook.
2026 is a year of big changes for Yanagase: the demolition of the former Takashimaya building, the construction of Yanagase Square, and the drafting of the Area Vision. We are the only ones who can record it all in one continuous stream — from today's "before construction" townscape through to after the square opens. As a member of this neighborhood, we will keep a numerical record of how Yanagase changes.