English 
Japanese 
Spanish 
French 
Bengali 
Myanmar 
Nepali 
Tagalog 
Urdu 
Thai 
Persian 
ZWC_yamada 
Date and time February 11, 2013 (holiday) 15:00-17:30
Venue: Itabashi Green Hall, Conference Room 601
Organized by: Itabashi Ward Oyama Area Community Revitalization and Multiculturalization Project Promotion Team
Grant provided by the Toyota Foundation.
On February 11, 2013, APFS, together with the Yuza Oyama Shopping Street Promotion Association, held a symposium to consider "multiculturalism" and "shopping streets." The symposium featured participants such as Tadayuki Morita, former chairman of the Shin-Okubo Shopping Street Promotion Association; Hideki Hayakawa, representative of the Multicultural Community Development Workshop; Tetsuo Mizukami, professor of sociology at Rikkyo University; Kiyoshi Honda, chairman of the Yuza Oyama Shopping Street Promotion Association; and Katsuo Yoshinari, director of APFS.
In his keynote speech, Mr. Morita shared his personal experiences and explained how Shin-Okubo, the town with the largest number of foreigners in Japan, came to be a shopping district that attracts a large number of tourists.
Following this, a panel discussion was held with Mr. Mizukami as the moderator. Each panelist described what they had done so far and the problems they were facing, and then the discussion focused on what was needed to solve those problems.
Both Mr. Morita and Mr. Honda expressed the opinion that "large chains have not entered the shopping district, and the issue of succession has not yet been resolved." They also pointed out the difficulties of getting along well with foreign shop owners in the shopping district.
Mr. Hayakawa presented examples of how the town has been revitalized through the efforts of young people of foreign nationality, particularly in the Icho housing complex. Our organization's Yoshinari commented, "Since the increase in foreigners is unstoppable, we want to consider how we can interact with them and what we, as a citizens' group, can take the lead in."
The symposium focused on key issues such as "the current shortage of successors in shopping districts," "the difficulties of working with foreign shop owners in shopping districts," and "the need for a civic organization to act as a liaison between shopping districts and foreign shop owners." The symposium was lively and saw many questions from participants and attendees alike. APFS reaffirmed its commitment to the need for a civic organization that can reach both foreigners and Japanese people, and intends to continue contributing to regional revitalization through support for foreigners.