Student Ideas to Energize the Region Wanted! "Tamarism Project 2026" Kicks Off

The "Tamarism Project," which was well-received last year with the participation of many students and collaboration with local communities, will start again in fiscal year 2026. This project aims to create and implement plans that utilize students' unique and flexible ideas to promote tourism and regional revitalization in the South Tama area. This year, based on the achievements and challenges of the previous year, the recruitment categories have been divided into two: "New Project Course" and "Continuing Project Course." This provides an environment that is easy for first-time participating teams to engage in, while also establishing a system that allows teams continuously working on projects to challenge more advanced practices. In addition, advice from specialists, including small and medium-sized enterprise consultants, will continue this year. Furthermore, the first screening will be held publicly, allowing companies and tourism association officials to directly view student ideas, thereby creating a system that easily leads to demonstration experiments and collaborations. The kick-off briefing for the fiscal year 2026 project will be held as follows: "Kick-off Briefing" Date and Time: April 24 (Friday) 15:00-16:30 Content: Overview of this project, introduction of the five cities in South Tama. *Universities that participated last year and organizations working on commercializing student project proposals are also scheduled to speak. Target: Teams of two or more students enrolled in universities, graduate schools, junior colleges, colleges of technology, vocational schools, etc. *There is no upper limit on the number of people. Method: Online (Zoom) Application: From the application form below. Application Deadline: April 20 (Monday) until 17:00. Main events for fiscal year 2026: (1) Symposium: May 22 (Friday) Administrative bodies, companies, tourism associations, etc., will participate in the Tamarism Project from their respective standpoints and discuss how to connect student projects to tourism promotion. (2) Matching Event: June 13 (Saturday) Student teams will interact with officials from administrative bodies, companies, tourism associations, etc., and refine their project content more practically through opinion exchange. (3) Public First Screening: July 11 (Saturday) Student teams will undergo a presentation screening. Teams that pass the screening will receive activity support funds (up to 100,000 yen). In addition, participating companies and tourism associations can vote for one project they wish to collaborate with. (4) Results Presentation: December 14 (Monday) The results of the demonstration experiments conducted will be presented and awarded. This will create opportunities for matching with newly interested companies and lead to the creation of projects and continuous initiatives in subsequent years. About the Tamarism Project: The Tamarism Project evolved from the "Tamarism Contest," which was implemented from fiscal year 2021 to fiscal year 2024 as the first initiative of its kind in Tokyo. Starting from fiscal year 2025, it began as a project where students and local communities collaborate to promote town development more proactively, incorporating advice from specialists such as small and medium-sized enterprise consultants. This project is implemented in collaboration with the five cities in South Tama (Tama City, Inagi City, Hachioji City, Hino City, Machida City) and students and companies. It was also featured on TOKYO MX (terrestrial 9ch) news and information live program "Hori Jun Live Junction"! For more details, please see the news on the official Tamarism website below.