JOURNAL
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Closed Schools × Agriculture & Sixth-Sector Industrialization — Plant Factory, Processing, and Direct Sales Conversion Models
A complete guide to converting closed schools into plant factories, agricultural processing facilities, and farm-direct shops for sixth-sector industrialization. Covers LED hydroponics, regional branding, renovation costs, revenue models, subsidies, and success stories — with the latest 2026 information.
Closed Schools × Childcare (Nurseries & After-School): Floor-Area Standards, Grant Shares, and Cases from Mihara, Saikai and Yokkaichi
What to check when converting a closed school into a nursery, a certified centre for early childhood education and care, or an after-school children's club. Covers the floor areas set by ordinance for nursery rooms and dedicated areas, the requirements for buildings with nursery rooms on the second floor or above, the cost shares and raised rates of the facility grants, how a private nursery's commissioning fee and an after-school club's operating costs are set, and the renovation costs of the Mihara, Saikai and Yokkaichi cases in MEXT's casebook, all checked against the ordinances and the Children and Families Agency documents.
Closed Schools × IT & Coworking: Ten Cases from the MEXT Casebook, Zoning and Urbanization Control Areas, Trial Satellite Offices and Grants
What to check before using a closed school as a satellite office or coworking space: the count of business and start-up support facilities in MEXT's survey, the uses, contract forms and renovation costs of ten casebook cases with offices or coworking spaces, change-of-use confirmation and zoning under the Building Standards Act, urbanization control areas under the City Planning Act, MIC's special local allocation tax measures for trial satellite offices, and the Cabinet Office grant and corporate hometown tax donations, checked against the statutes and ministry documents.
Closed Schools × Tourism & Lodging: Inn Permits, Zoning and Fire Rules, Farm-Stay Grants, and Six Cases from the MEXT Casebook
What to check before turning a closed school into a lodging facility. Covers the business types and structural standards under the Inns and Hotels Act, confirmation for a change of use and zoning under the Building Standards Act, permission in urbanization control areas, the fire code category, the grant rate and caps of the farm-stay type of the Rural Promotion Grant, and the contract forms and renovation costs of the six MEXT casebook cases used for lodging, all checked against the statutes and ministry documents.
Anjo City × Deloitte Tohmatsu — Legal Constraints and Scheme Design for a Historic Park Kominka
An analysis of the Small Concession case involving the former Kamiya residence (registered tangible cultural property) within the nationally designated historic site of Honshoji Temple in Anjo City, Aichi. This article examines the scheme design structure under dual legal constraints — historic site designation and cultural property registration — with Deloitte Tohmatsu serving as the expert advisor.
Munakata City's Former Oshima Gakuen — Reusing a Closed School on a World Heritage Island
On Oshima in Munakata City, Fukuoka, the consolidation of elementary and middle schools into a compulsory education school has left a former school building requiring repurposing. As a remote island housing components of the UNESCO World Heritage 'Sacred Island of Okinoshima,' this case sits at the intersection of tourism, community exchange, and settlement promotion under unique constraints.
Beppu City Harukigawa Park — Park-PFI in a Hot Spring City and the Design Behind ¥14 Million in Annual Usage Fees
Beppu City's Harukigawa Park is a landmark Park-PFI case as western Japan's first three-dimensional urban park. By stacking commercial facilities on the first floor and park functions on the second, the operator's proposal projects approximately ¥14 million a year in usage fees and related payments to the city. This article examines the design behind that figure.
Yokohama City's Park-PFI — The Frontline of Large-City Park Activation
Yokohama City has deployed Park-PFI across three parks — Yamashita Park Resthouse, Odori Park, and Yokohama Zoological Forest Park — building a large-city park activation model. This article provides a structural analysis of Yokohama's Park-PFI strategy, featuring major operators including Mitsui Fudosan, Zetton, and Forest Adventure.
How Landscape Companies Can Enter Park-PFI [2026 Edition]
A practical guide for landscape and greenery contractors entering the Park-PFI program. Covers how to leverage your strengths, build the right organizational structure, write a winning proposal, and manage operations — with the latest 2026 information.
Small Concession Financing — What Municipalities Paid in the Handbook's Cases, the Caps on the Two Study-Cost Subsidies, and the Interest Subsidy Rate and Term
Small concession financing checked against the primary documents: the MLIT and Cabinet Office guidebook Recommending Small Concessions, MLIT's draft promotion measures, and the application guidelines of the national subsidy programs. It sets out what municipalities paid in the six case studies and which subsidies they used, the financing instruments open to municipalities and to private companies, the caps and conditions of the two programs that subsidize study costs, and the rate and term of the Regional Revitalization Interest Subsidy.
Small Concession Latest Trends [2026 Edition] — One Year of the Platform: Achievements and Challenges
A look back at the first year of the Small Concession Platform (December 2024 – December 2025). The breakdown of the 1,547 registrations, an interim report on expert dispatch to seven municipalities, institutional challenges, and the outlook for 2026 and beyond — written accessibly for newcomers.
Traditional Townhouses and Small Concessions — Why 4 of 7 Projects Involve Kominka [2026 Edition]
An analysis of why 4 of the 7 municipalities selected for Japan's Small Concession Formation Support Program are activating traditional townhouses (kominka). Covers case studies of Manazuru, Anjo, Himeji, and Nara, along with cultural property compatibility, renovation considerations, and revenue models for accommodation, dining, and cultural experiences.
READING GUIDE
Choose a starting point.
Follow a short route through the basics, examples and practical steps. Community groups, researchers and students are welcome.
ROUTE 01
For municipal planning
Start with the basics, then move through cases, process and dialogue design.
- What Is Public Facility Management? Challenges, Concepts, and Next Steps
- Sapporo Yurigahara Park Park-PFI LiLiLi — Sapporo's First Case, Community-Led SPV Park Operation
- The Complete Park-PFI Process — A Four-Year Roadmap from Concept to Opening [2026 Edition]
- Market Sounding for PPP: 8-Item Question Template and Step-by-Step Guide
ROUTE 02
For prospective operators
Understand the system, test viability and prepare a proposal.
- What Is a Small Concession? A Complete Guide for Local Government Officials [2026 Edition]
- Higashi Yuenchi URBAN PICNIC — Kobe Sannomiya Redevelopment and Park-PFI After 8 Years of Citizen-Led Social Experiments
- How to Build a Park-PFI Revenue Plan — With Simulation Template [2026 Edition]
- How to Write a Park-PFI Proposal — Working Backward from the Scoring Criteria [2026 Edition]
ROUTE 03
Learn from setbacks
See how projects stall and which conditions to avoid.
- Abandoned School Reuse Failures — Why Repurposed Schools Become Idle Again: Structural Causes of Withdrawal and Business Collapse
- 5 Patterns of Park-PFI Project Failure — Structural Analysis of Contract Termination, Financial Deterioration, and Resident Opposition
- The Zero-Response Sounding Problem — 5 Reasons Private Operators Don't Participate and How to Fix It