TIPNESS Signs Partnership Agreement with Komatsu City to Promote Exchange Between Urban Children and Satoyama Communities

TIPNESS Co., Ltd. (headquarters: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President and Representative Director, Executive Officer: Akihiro Shimizu) signed a partnership agreement on May 8, 2026, with Komatsu City, Ishikawa Prefecture (Mayor: Shoei Miyahashi), aimed at building ties between urban areas and satoyama communities and promoting exchange and revitalization. The agreement seeks to invite children from cities to Komatsu’s satoyama areas, where they can take part in nature-based experiences and interact with local residents. The initiative is designed to support children’s healthy physical and mental development while creating vitality in Komatsu’s satoyama communities and communicating their appeal. TIPNESS Kids, the company’s children’s school program, operates under the concept “OPEN MANY DOORS!” and aims to expand the future possibilities of each child. Beyond sports instruction inside its facilities, TIPNESS has broadened learning opportunities outside its gyms and has continuously held open-school programs in Komatsu’s satoyama areas since 2024. These activities have provided children with diverse experiences in nature, exposure to local traditional culture, and interaction with residents, fostering learning and awareness that are difficult to gain in urban settings. This ongoing work led to the signing of the agreement. On March 31, 2026, TIPNESS also developed “TIPNESS Kids Village” near Nishimata Campground by making use of unused land, including fallow fields. The site will be used to expand satoyama-specific experiences such as tree planting, vegetable gardening, and mud play. TIPNESS has previously worked with local governments mainly in areas where it operates facilities. This agreement with Komatsu City represents a new type of partnership in a region where the company does not have its own facility. Going forward, TIPNESS aims to help participating children see Komatsu as a “second hometown” through ongoing exchange, while supporting both children’s growth and regional revitalization. The main areas of cooperation include planning and operating nature-experience programs for urban children; preparing and coordinating host systems at satoyama facilities in Komatsu; cooperating on publicity and participant recruitment; preserving satoyama environments and creating opportunities for interaction with local residents; building a partnership model for continuous program development; and creating new relationship populations between urban areas and satoyama communities. As a concrete initiative, future open-school programs will use the newly developed TIPNESS Kids Village as one base, with plans for local residents and children to take part together in tree planting, gardening, mud play, and other activities. The program will also extend beyond the Nishimata area to various satoyama locations across the city, fostering ongoing engagement with Komatsu as a whole and expanding forms of exchange between cities and local communities. Komatsu Mayor Shoei Miyahashi commented that rural satoyama areas face challenges such as depopulation in farming and mountain villages and fewer opportunities for exchange, while people in urban areas also have fewer chances to engage with nature in daily life. He said it is highly meaningful from the perspective of emotional education for children from central urban areas to visit Komatsu and deepen exchange through diverse experiences, and expressed hope that they will come to regard the region as a “second hometown” and build long-lasting positive relationships. TIPNESS President Akihiro Shimizu said that children in urban centers live in what is often called a “concrete jungle” or “heat island,” and that he often hears of children staying indoors playing games. He said it is exciting to imagine children playing freely and energetically amid the clear waters flowing from sacred Mount Hakusan, the rich greenery nurtured there, and the vivid blue Sea of Japan. TIPNESS will continue working to make these activities a bridge between urban centers and Komatsu City, and to strengthen and multiply those bridges in ways that contribute to mutual development.