Places that free people to live their own way.

More people are looking for meaning in how and where they live, beyond efficiency and convenience. Place is the foundation for that. If you love surfing, you might live near the sea; if you value warmth, a small community where everyone knows each other.

Yet the shaping of places has long belonged to a few: governments, investors and developers. We want to open it up. A sports brand can design a public space, a film company can build a hotel, a nutritionist can open a nursery. Brands and places both shape how people live.

So we work with every kind of brand and person to create places that give people more freedom in how they live.

How we work

  • Ask better questionsThe quality of an answer depends on the question. Our name comes from “Alternative Question”.
  • Self-buildEach of us owns and sharpens our own craft, and keeps learning, even when that means letting go of old assumptions.
  • Keep it realTrust comes from being genuine. We build services we would want to use ourselves.
  • Zero-to-one mindsetWe are drawn to things that have not been done or named yet, and move early to try them.

Founder

Akimoto Kobayashi, Founder and CEO

Akimoto spent 18 years abroad, in Chicago, Taiwan, Minnesota, Thailand, New Jersey and New York. After graduating from Keio University he joined 3M Japan, where he was selected as the youngest-ever Japan delegate to its global business analyst programme.

He founded ATTIQUE in 2012 and has since supported urban brand strategy and placemaking for Japan’s major real estate developers. Between 2019 and 2020 he also worked in Recruit’s corporate strategy office, sourcing overseas start-up investments and leading post-merger integration.

His focus now is uncovering the appeal of smaller places and growing a “creative population”: people who invest their ideas in a place, not only their visits.

Company profile

Name
ATTIQUE Inc. (株式会社ATTIQUE)
Founded
March 7, 2012
CEO
Akimoto Kobayashi
Office
Shinjuku Park Tower N30F, 3-7-1 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 163-1030, Japan
Business
Place-led brand strategy connecting Japan and the world: place branding, overseas marketing, and events
Team
10 people
Major clients
Mitsui Fudosan, Mori Building, Mitsui Fudosan Building Management, Nihonbashi Muromachi Area Management, Toray Industries, Fujitsu, Terrada Warehouse, Hinode Publishing (Safari), MHD Moët Hennessy Diageo, Central Nippon Exis, Hankyu Hanshin Properties
ATTIQUE team structure

Taking your brand across borders, or bringing it to Japan?

Tell us about your place, brand or event. We reply within two business days, in English or Japanese.

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