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INTEREST: Kadokawa Envisions 'Cool Japan' Headquarters in Saitama




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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 4:29 pm Reply with quote
$238million for that? Well Cool Japan is a white elephant as it is, so it might as well be housed in one, I suppose.
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Vent



Joined: 22 Aug 2009
Posts: 319
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:37 pm Reply with quote
I cannot believe Cool Japan is still a thing.
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Mr. Oshawott



Joined: 12 Mar 2012
Posts: 6773
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:40 pm Reply with quote
The Cool Japan team must really be hoping for Saitama to be a huge tourist gathering with nearly $240 million being poured in to set up shop there.
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Hoppy800



Joined: 09 Aug 2013
Posts: 3331
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 5:57 pm Reply with quote
Might want to get rid of the shareholders and put more cultural experts on the board to give the project a fighting chance.
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EricJ2



Joined: 01 Feb 2014
Posts: 4016
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 6:31 pm Reply with quote
Vent wrote:
I cannot believe Cool Japan is still a thing.


If you want to kill off a trend, commercialize it into mainstream acceptance.

Quote:
Saitama is also the setting of anohana: The Flower We Saw That Day, Lucky Star, Kamisama Kiss, Crayon Shin-chan, and The Anthem of the Heart.


Add a Haruhi Suzumiya-themed cafe, and we're talking tourism. Cool
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samuelp
Industry Insider


Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 2233
Location: San Antonio, USA
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 8:06 pm Reply with quote
Wow, I just moved from Tokorozawa earlier this year.
I have no idea why they'd choose that as the site to build something like this. I'm pretty sure I know where that sakura-lined stream is and the old sewage treatment plant (it's not far from my old apartment), and it's a good ~20 minute walk from the train station.
A train station which is almost an hour from western Tokyo.

I'm sure the area would benefit from the money and jobs but wow does this seem like a huge boondoggle for saitama tax money.
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yaki-udon



Joined: 05 May 2015
Posts: 83
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 8:47 pm Reply with quote
Saitama is anything but cool. Chiba is the best damn prefecture in Japan! I secretly admire Urawa Reds, though.
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omiya



Joined: 21 Sep 2011
Posts: 1833
Location: Adelaide, South Australia
PostPosted: Fri Jun 05, 2015 9:12 pm Reply with quote
yaki-udon wrote:
Saitama is anything but cool. Chiba is the best damn prefecture in Japan! I secretly admire Urawa Reds, though.


Every time that I visit Japan I feel that I'm only seeing a tiny part of what is worth seeing.

What attracted me to Saitama (Animelo Summer Live shows):



Logo on Isumi Line train in Chiba:

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hyojodoji



Joined: 08 Jan 2010
Posts: 585
PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 12:34 am Reply with quote
The irony of it is that a facility to promote 'Cool Japan' will be built in so-called Dasaitama (Uncool Saitama).
One of the reasons why Kadokawa bought the lot in question from Tokorozawa City is that Kadokawa wants to build a new base for publishing and logistics. Kadokawa has an old base for logistics in another place in Saitama, but it became superannuated. The 'cultural' stuff may be an omaké thing, in a sense.
 
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samuelp
Industry Insider


Joined: 25 Nov 2007
Posts: 2233
Location: San Antonio, USA
PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 4:50 am Reply with quote
hyojodoji wrote:
The irony of it is that a facility to promote 'Cool Japan' will be built in so-called Dasaitama (Uncool Saitama).
One of the reasons why Kadokawa bought the lot in question from Tokorozawa City is that Kadokawa wants to build a new base for publishing and logistics. Kadokawa has an old base for logistics in another place in Saitama, but it became superannuated. The 'cultural' stuff may be an omaké thing, in a sense.
 

Less omaké and more tatemae in my opinion.
I'm sure that the Tokorozawa mayor saw Kadokawa's interest in the site and went "How can I get my town some of that government money earmarked for "Cool Japan"?" and saw this as the perfect opportunity.
Kadokawa gets free publicity and probably part of its building costs subsidised, Tokorozawa mayor gets political cred, and Japan gets a Cool Japan center out in the middle of nowhere in Saitama where I can assure you will get hardly any visitors at all.
And meanwhile my sales tax gets raised.
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Hameyadea



Joined: 23 Jun 2014
Posts: 3679
PostPosted: Sat Jun 06, 2015 1:26 pm Reply with quote
The idea of reusing an old sewage processing plant it neat, because it symbolizes renovation.
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