PACIFIC CONSULTANTS relocated the Headquarters from Seiseki-Sakuragaoka in Tama City, Tokyo, to its current location in September 2015. This move also meant becoming a member of the Kanda Nishikicho 3-chome Neighborhood Association, known as the "Neighborhood Association closest to the Imperial Palace in Kanda" and the "Birthplace of Japan's first university (the University of Tokyo)," a distinctive educational district with many schools and campuses. The long-established neighborhood association is also committed to preserving the local tradition of the Kanda Festival, and PACIFIC CONSULTANTS is also participating in these activities. Terue KAMINO and Masanori IWATA of Architecture Dept., who have been actively involved in the festival since the relocation, Mizuki YASHIRO of Tunnel Dept. Department, Ryotaro ONUMA of the Architecture Dept., and Miki NAOKI of Aviation Dept. who served as organizer of this year's Kanda Festival, looked back on their efforts.
<What is Kanda Festival?>
The Kanda Festival is a festival held at Kanda Shrine (Kanda Myojin), the main shrine of Edo, worshipped by many people. During the Edo period, it was known as the "Tenka Matsuri" (Tenka Festival) and was so large that even the Tokugawa Shogun is said to had attended. Even today, it is considered one of the three major festivals of Edo, along with the Sanno Matsuri and Fukagawa Hachiman Matsuri, and is considered one of Japan's three major festivals, along with Kyoto's Gion Matsuri and Osaka's Tenjin Matsuri. Held every two years, in odd-numbered years, the main festival features a grand procession of approximately 2,000 people, parading through the 108 neighborhoods of Kanda, Nihonbashi, Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Akihabara, as part of the "Shinkosai" (Shinko Festival), and the following day, the Mikoshi (Portable Shrine) of each parishioner neighborhood enters Kanda Myojin Shrine. The main festival was held in May 2023, four years after its cancellation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
INDEX
- Kanda Nishikicho 3-chome was searching for a new way to run the neighborhood association.
- Connections born from everyday communication.
- It's not just because I love festivals.
- Participate in the festival and tug-of-war tournament.
- New connections formed within the community and the company.
Kanda Nishikicho 3-chome was searching for a new way to run the neighborhood association.
Many of our employees at PACIFIC CONSULTANTS majored in architecture and urban engineering during their student days, studying urban development and conducting fieldwork with local communities. Naturally, they were very interested in the kind of neighborhood Kanda Nishikicho 3-chome that how it would be, where they were relocating. According to documents and other sources, in 1957, the neighborhood association rented an elementary school playground to hold a sports day and organized bus trips to hot springs. However, starting around 1965, the Otemachi business district expanded northward, and office buildings were built one after another in the area, dramatically changing the neighborhood's appearance. Since then, the nighttime population has continued to decline. According to Chiyoda Ward's Basic Resident Register, the current number of households in Kanda Nishikicho 3-chome is 308 (as of July 2022). However, if we narrow it down to the neighborhood association, the number is significantly lower. The neighborhood association also felt a sense of crisis and considered inviting new businesses that had moved into the area to become corporate members, "Striving to maintain close communication between long-time neighborhood members and the new businesses that had joined the association, and to explore a new way for the neighborhood association to function," with the Kanda Festival positioned as a core element of this.
Connections born from everyday communication.
Our first contact with the neighborhood association was personal. I remember that when we first moved, before the COVID-19 pandemic, many employees would explore nearby restaurants for lunch or after-work social gatherings. The area is home to many historic shops deeply rooted in the local community, so we also had many opportunities to communicate with the local community. These daily interactions led to deeper ties with the local community, and one day, one of our employees asked if they wanted to participate in the Kanda Festival. When that employee reached out to those around them, an employee with ties to the Kanda area suggested, "Since we've made the move, instead of just borrowing a hanten and participating in the festival, why not become a member company of the neighborhood and contribute to improving the community?" Employees who agreed reached out both inside and outside the company, and in fiscal 2016, we were accepted as members of the neighborhood association. In May 2017, we made matching hanten coats bearing our company name and participated. Our then - the President also participated.
As the report of this event was disseminated within the company, a call was made for participation in the next event in 2019, and the circle expanded greatly, with 40 employees, including management, carrying the Mikoshi.
The Kanda Festival was cancelled in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but we have participated four times so far, when it resumed in 2023 and again in 2025, and have helped to liven up the festival together. Rather than simply carrying the Mikoshi on the day, we are also consciously involved in the preparations and cleanup before and after the festival, as well as neighborhood association activities outside of the Kanda Festival, and two of our employees served as organizers at the 2025 Kanda Festival. At first, the neighborhood association members were not very familiar with which building PACIFIC CONSULTANTS was in or what kind of work they did, but after participating four times, they are now widely known as "PACIFIC CONSULTANTS at Terrace Square."
It's not just because I love festivals.
Some of our employees originally participated in neighborhood association activities and carried Mikoshi (Portable Shrines) in their hometowns. For them, the opportunity to carry a Mikoshi at the Kanda Festival was a dream come true. The excitement of the Mikoshi entering Kanda Shrine one after another is a unique and coveted scene. However, our company's active participation in the festival wasn't simply due to employees who loved festivals and wanted to carry the traditional Mikoshi. As employees working for a company in this town, we ourselves are part of the community. We came here because of convenient transportation, but if we just worked in a comfortable new building and went home, the company would be nothing more than a "box." If we continued like that, we would remain outsiders. We felt that by working together as employees of this town, we could make the place we work at more attractive. We are a company whose work involves urban development. It is also necessary to build up the town from the ground up, and we have been keen to contribute to a new initiative unique to urban neighborhood associations, in which long-time local residents and employees of new local companies come together as members to build the town.
Participate in the festival and tug-of-war tournament.
Kanda Nishikicho happens to be home to many real estate companies, developers, and other businesses involved in urban development, and as such, there are many companies eager to enliven the neighborhood. Not only the Kanda Festival, but the annual "Go-en-bi" festival and other events are becoming more and more grand each year. The "Go-en-bi" festival, which proclaims, "A gathering of residents, workers, and students alike in Kanda Nishikicho!... You're sure to make many new connections, as well as old ones!", is organized by an executive committee centered around the Kanda Nishikicho neighborhood association and includes business sectors, and has been held five times so far. PACIFIC CONSULTANTS also participates, and has sent a team to the team tug-of-war tournament that is part of the event, twice so far.
New connections formed within the community and the company.
Participating in the Kanda Festival and other town events has also deepened interactions with local residents and people working in companies. Just the act of carrying the neighborhood's historic Mikoshi (Portable Shrine) while moving close together, stepping in unison, and singing in unison fosters a sense of unity. Opportunities to talk have increased not only on the day itself, but also during preparations and cleanup. There are also more opportunities to stop by local shops at lunchtime or after work to chat with the owners, or to exchange words with "neighbors" who happen to be at the festival that they happen to be visiting. Having more familiar faces in the local area where I work has led to a more comfortable working environment and a more relaxed atmosphere.
Even within the company, participation in the Kanda Festival and neighborhood association activities has led to new interactions and connections with people who would not normally meet through work. The experience of the President and other management team members and regular employees, regardless of rank, carrying the Mikoshi in matching festival attire was also valuable in terms of enriching communication within the company.
Kanda in Tokyo is a prime example of how old towns in urban areas are rapidly transforming into business districts. It is our role to create a new model for how we should develop towns and manage neighborhood associations in these areas. As a part of the town where our company has headquarters or branch office, deepening ties with the local community will support the children and elderly who live in the area, as well as the diverse people who visit, and will also serve as a basis for mutual assistance in the event of a disaster. In order to promote the creation of safe and disaster-resistant towns, we hope to continue to deepen our bonds and contribute to the development of the community.
