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apfseditor 
Date and time February 11, 2013 (holiday) 15:00-17:30
Venue: Itabashi Ward Green Hall 601 Conference Room
Organized by the Oyama Area, Itabashi Ward Regional Community Revitalization and Multiculturalization Project Promotion Team
Supported by Toyota Foundation
On February 11, 2013, APFS held a symposium with the Yuza Oyama Shopping District Promotion Association to consider "multiculturalism" and "shopping districts." The symposium was attended by the following speakers: Morita Tadayuki, former chairman of the Shin-Okubo Shopping District Promotion Association; Hayakawa Hideki, representative of the Multicultural Town Development Workshop; Mizukami Tetsuo, professor in the Faculty of Sociology at Rikkyo University; Honda Seiji, chairman of the Yuza Oyama Shopping District Promotion Association; and Yoshinari Katsuo, director of APFS.
In his keynote speech, Mr. Morita spoke about how a shopping district that attracts so many tourists was created in Shin-Okubo, the area with the largest number of foreigners in Japan, drawing on his own experiences.
Afterwards, a panel discussion was held with Mizukami as moderator, in which each panelist described what they have done so far and the problems they are facing, and then discussed what is needed to solve these problems.
Both Mr. Morita and Mr. Honda stated that "Major chains have not entered the shopping district, and the issue of successors has not yet been resolved." They also pointed out the difficulty of getting along with foreign store owners in the shopping district.
Mr. Hayakawa introduced the example of a town revitalized by young foreign residents, centered on Icho Danchi. Mr. Yoshinari from our organization said, "Because the number of foreign residents is increasing, we want to take the initiative as a citizens' organization to think about how to interact with them."
The main points raised at this symposium were "the current situation of the lack of successors for shopping districts," "the difficulty of working with foreign store owners in shopping districts," and "the need for a citizens' group to act as a middleman between shopping districts and foreign store owners," and it was a lively symposium with many questions from participants and others. APFS once again feels the need for a citizens' group that can approach both foreigners and Japanese people, and we hope to continue contributing to the revitalization of the region through supporting foreigners.