Asking People in Akihabara Vol. 10: NPO Ricorita ~Sanada Takeyuki~

The project involves interviewing people who are active in or work in Akihabara, and sharing their heart-warming love for Akihabara.
Another aim is to have those interviewed introduce their friends to help keep the Akihabara community going.

For this 10th installment, we spoke with Takeyuki Sanada from Ricorita, an NPO that carries out various initiatives in Akihabara.

↓Click here for Part 9 of Asking People in Akihabara

Asking People of Akihabara No. 9: Akiba.TV Co., Ltd. ~Yuichiro Yoshioka~

Takeyuki Sanada, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Ricorita, a non-profit organization that contributes to society in Akihabara

This interview was conducted on the Flying Scotsman, which is unusual for Ask People.
Despite the sweltering heat, we sat in the ice-cold interior of the cafe, enjoyed iced coffee, and some of Akihabara's best pancakes as we listened to Mr. Sanada tell us all about his experiences.
What is the Akihabara Citizens' Association that Contributes to Society?
What are the roots of Sanada, who has been active in Akihabara for many years?

20 years since Uchimizu began in Akihabara

Q
Thank you for your time today.
First of all, how long has it been since you started operating in Akihabara?

A
The Uchimizu Campaign began in 2003.
We started the Uchimizu event in Akihabara in 2004, so this year marks the 20th anniversary.

Q
20 years is a pretty long time.
What motivated people to start sprinkling water?

A
The trigger was a public relations project for the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism's road projects.
My main job is producing public relations for government agencies and other organizations, but at the time I was helping out with road administration work, and I was in charge of planning public relations for a utility sewer project.

As a result, we also received consultations from departments related to road paving.
Asphalt absorbs a lot of sunlight and gets hot.
There is a type of pavement called heat-reflecting pavement that uses a special paint to reflect sunlight and prevent heat absorption.
They told me that sprinkling water on the ground would be a great way to promote the pavement, and asked me to come up with a plan for sprinkling water on the ground.

Q
This is what led to the Akihabara Uchimizu event.

A
However, it wasn't Akihabara from the beginning.
We started by paving the Ginza pedestrian zone.

The Uchimizu project spread rapidly, then to Akihabara

Q
It all started with the water sprinkling in Ginza, and was a way to promote road construction.
How did that lead to Akihabara?

A
I went to the Uchimizu Strategy Headquarters to ask for advice on planning a water sprinkling event in Ginza. There I found a group of people who wanted to try out different kinds of water sprinkling. Everyone was excited, saying things like, "Let's do it there next time," or "Let's do it here."
In the midst of all this, students at the time began to say that if Diet members were to do it, the activity would spread to a wider range of people, and I wondered if that was really possible, and then I saw with my own eyes that their plan to sprinkle water in front of the Diet Building was realized and the project progressed.

Then, I suddenly realized that although I was working hard to come up with a plan for Ginza at someone's request, I actually wanted to do it somewhere else.
After discussing various things, I realized that I actually wanted to do it in Akihabara, which I love. From there, we started planning, and Uchimizukko was launched within three months.
There were a lot of developments happening pretty quickly.

Q
Now it has grown into a large-scale event held at Kanda Myojin Shrine.

A
At first it was small, with everyone gathering in the park with buckets in hand.
In the second year, we held it right there (in front of Daibiru).
The rotary in front of the station is still under construction, UDX has not yet been completed, and only Daibiru remains.
At that time, I thought it would be interesting to do it at the rotary that was under construction in front of Daibiru, but the first thing I wondered was who owned this place.
While I was researching and talking with the people in charge,
"We don't own the roads, but we'll support you as a community."
"It's hard for women to get changed, right? I'll lend you a conference room."
"Maybe a good place to meet would be under Daibiru?"
The conversation went on like this.

We were able to successfully coordinate the event date we wanted with the construction period, and we are now on track to hold the event.
At first, it was just a random idea, but it ended up becoming quite important (laughs).

When we decided to gather at a park in Chiyoda Ward, we didn't know anything about the laws, so we consulted with the ward.
"Isn't it okay because it's not something bad?"
It turned out that rather than being a relaxed atmosphere, everyone cooperated and showed their support.
I also learned a lot of other things and had to go around town saying hello to people, so it was a lot of work.

Q
It was pretty much like cold calling.
Were you good at sales?

A
Within my advertising work, I was on the production side, so I wasn't very good at it.
There were a lot of kind people there, so I feel like I was helped by others.

Sanada's entry into Akihabara...

Q
I've heard a lot about Ricorita's activities.
What does Akihabara mean to you, Sanada?

A
First of all, when I was in elementary school, I started with the Famicom.
From then on, I had a desire to own a computer... I had friends who played MSX, but old computers were expensive, so I couldn't afford it... A friend of mine got bored of MSX, so he gave me his for a cheap price, and I became obsessed with it. After that, I saved up some money and bought a used game like FM Towns, but it wasn't enough...
When I was taking the high school entrance exam, my parents told me, "If you get into the school of your choice, I'll buy you a computer," so they bought me a PC98.
I think a color laptop at the time cost about 50 yen.
I'm really sorry (lol)

Q
Computers were expensive back then.
The whole set is often worth 100 million yen...

A
So, going back a bit, my science teacher in junior high school introduced me to computer communication.
He was the teacher of the computer club, but he gave the modem to me instead of the club members.
"Sanada-kun, you like this kind of thing, don't you?" he said.
I wasn't in the computer club, but I got along well with the members and would often show up, so for some reason...
I got some old books from the teacher, but the internet speed was so slow (lol).

Q
From there, I became addicted to it...

A
That's right.
I loved things like computer communication, so I started going to Akihabara.
I also had offline meetups with people I'd become friends with through computer networking, and they took me to lots of different places.
At that time, I didn't hang out much with my classmates and spent all my time doing things like that.

Q
Do you think it was intense when words like computer communication and the Internet first came into use?

A
Yes, Akihabara's roots may be strongly related to PCs and the Internet.

Of course, I've always loved PCs, even after the introduction of Windows.
However, if you play games and find that your hard drive is not enough, you can add more.
Rather than just adding things because I didn't have enough memory, I preferred things like communication.
I think it wasn't the movement or power of the machines that was interesting, but rather the fun of interacting with them.

From then on, I started to put more effort into getting people to participate than into participating.
That said, it still feels like an offline meetup.
It's like sprinkling water on the ground, but it's also like an offline meet-up with a microphone.
Rather than performing something you love in a big venue, you can say to each other afterwards, "That was fun."
"I hope there won't be a typhoon next summer either."

After the third interview with the people of Akihabara

This time, we spoke with Mr. Sanada from Ricorita, an NPO that organizes various events in Akihabara.
One of the cultures of Akihabara is offline meetups, and when you trace their origins, it seems that they were founded on a desire to have some kind of interaction with "people."
Now that we can easily connect online, I hope to see many more events being held in Akihabara where we can connect with people in person.