"Lifestyle Organizing School" Presents Brilliant Plans to Revitalize the Largest Apartment Complex in Yokohama

　16 employees from across Japan gathered in a community center in Yokohama City on June 10, 2022 to present their ideas to restore the largest apartment complex in Yokohama under the Lifestyle Organizing School project. The Lifestyle Organizing School was launched in 2018 as an ideathon to develop “Lifestyle Editors” who can discover the charms of local life and propose business solutions based on those charms. It had been held 4 times in the past, once in each of Gifu, Yamagata, Niigata and Saitama Prefectures. The mobile store business – sale of goods through vehicles such as a bus – in Niigata and Yamagata sprang from this project. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

■A Case Study for Revitalizing Apartment Complexes
　As apartment complexes across Japan face population decline and aging, MUJI chose the restoration of Noba, the largest apartment complex in Yokohama, as the subject for the fifth Lifestyle Organizing School. MUJI and Yokohama City have already been collaborating to create a city with pleasant lifestyle and society under a comprehensive cooperation agreement. Noba was chosen because despite 50 years of history its population of approximately 6,000 units is dwindling and many of its residents have difficulties with daily shopping. Since apartment complexes across Japan share similar concerns, MUJI aims to build a successful case study that can be applied in other regions.

■4 Teams Each Presented Their Own Business Plan
　16 employees organized into 4 smaller teams reached out to the local community to research and develop proposals such as making better use of the massive area of greenery currently underutilized. Active residents in the community working at nursery schools, real estates, and community managers from other businesses offered support to each group in coming up with the proposals which was presented to the CEO, Domae Nobuo, the Director of Housing and Architecture Bureau of Yokohama City, and the mayor of Konan Ward among others.

　MUJI will further examine each business plans to measure their feasibility together with the community. Please make sure to keep an eye on how these projects turn out.