To coincide with anniversaries of five high-speed Shinkansen lines, we organized a project centering on children living in Shinkansen service areas. Together with local children, we created massive Shinkansen banner artworks then ran with them through various areas in five prefectures in northeastern Japan.

Our project had short-term and long-term goals.

In the short term, children involved in creating the advertising looked at local tourism resources from a new perspective, enabling us to create a fresh and vital advertising campaign. In the long term, the renewed awareness of local children can act as a powerful force to influence members of other generations and inspire regional development.

Over a period of 12 months, the campaign was carried out in five prefectures; more than 4,000 members of local communities volunteered to participate.

The participation of local people was multiplied through interaction with other members of the community. First, we explained our project to local governments. The information spread effortlessly through various communities, including shopping areas and schools. The trigger was the understanding among influential groups that the purpose of our project went beyond advertising promotion, aiming for a change in awareness and a transformation of local attitudes.

Cooperation of local groups and residents was also essential for arranging locations for our art production workshops and organizing routes for the celebratory runs.

Through this project, children discovered the pleasure of analyzing and resolving problems for themselves. Reactions of participating children were overwhelmingly positive: “It was so much fun.” “I was able to rediscover the appeal of our local area.” In addition, they gained inspiration for regional development and active participation in local events.

In addition to the actual advertising that we produced, the project itself was introduced in programming and newspapers in all of the five prefectures.