Place-led brand strategy connecting Japan and the world.

Welcoming the world

Developers, hotels, venues and area management bodies

A place needs a clear reason for people to care about it. We define that reason and give visitors from home and abroad a reason to come, stay and come back.

• Area vision and place conceptResearch, interviews and our place branding model, used to decide what a district or building stands for and who it is for.
• Brand strategy and identityConcept, naming, visual identity, film, websites and tools that make the place recognisable.
• MICE and destination strategyPositioning districts as international business-event destinations, communication for overseas planners, and support for new destination management organisations.
• Event representation for venuesA monthly retainer for halls and event spaces that want to reach organisers and fill their calendar, with planning support that makes the venue the obvious choice.

Taking Japanese brands abroad

Makers of materials, food and consumer goods expanding overseas

Customers abroad rarely respond to a brand presented the way it is in Japan. We start from how people live in each market, decide who to reach and in which moments, and build the places to meet.

• Market-by-market brand strategyFor each target country, we put into words who you are for, in which moments, and what you promise.
• Key visuals adapted by country and audienceKeeping the brand’s world intact, we use AI to adapt people, homes, streets and seasons for each market.
• Trade shows, pop-ups and showrooms abroadSpaces abroad designed to start relationships, not only to display products.
• Learning from visitors to Japan before you exportWe test reactions in places that welcome visitors to Japan, and feed what we learn into how you present yourself abroad.

Bringing global brands to Japan

Global brands entering or growing in Japan

A shop sells. A place starts a relationship. We find the place, the moment and the format for Japanese audiences to experience your brand, and run it from plan to delivery.

• Entering the Japanese marketLocalised brand strategy, content in Japanese and English, social creative, and introductions to venues through our long relationships with Japan’s major developers.
• Brand spaces, pop-ups and takeoversShort-run spaces timed to the moments your audience already cares about, designed to be talked about rather than to sell.
• Brand houses and showroomsLonger-term spaces where clients, partners and creators meet the brand, including exhibition concepts that go beyond product display.
• Dinners, salons and gatheringsSmall, carefully hosted occasions with chefs, makers and creators, often in our own Kyoto venues.

Events and conferences

Across all three

From a single evening to a district-wide conference. We plan, programme and run events, and can be your team on the ground while you are abroad.

• New event formatsEvents designed from scratch around a clear idea, with speakers, partners and audience to match.
• English-language conferencesProgrammes run entirely in English, such as Akasaka Circular City Conference & Tourism 2024, where about 40% of attendees came from abroad.
• District-wide eventsEvents spread across several venues in one neighbourhood, so visitors experience the district rather than a single room.

How we work

Every project moves through the same three steps.

• 1. DefineWe decide what the place or brand stands for, and who it is for, through research and interviews.
• 2. VisualiseWe show the finished experience before anything is built, using film, design and AI-generated visuals, adapted for each market and audience, so decisions are faster and less risky.
• 3. DeliverWe make it real through events, spaces, content and commerce, with a team that also runs its own venues in Kyoto.

Your outside overseas marketing team

Beyond one-off projects, we can stay with you from strategy to market-by-market visuals and the places to meet. If you have no one in-house for overseas marketing yet, we can start from the first step.

Why clients choose us