ECO EDO NIHONBASHI
ECO EDO NIHONBASHI is about learning the “mechanism of circulation” and “heart of coexistence” found in the everyday life of Edo (former name of Tokyo), and thereby creating new value unique to Nihonbashi and widely disseminating such to society.
Mitsui Fudosan proactively supports such endeavors.
In the junkangata shakai (recycling-oriented society) of the Edo Period, the “heart of coexistence” of treasuring bonds among people and between people and nature was alive. The initiative seeking to disseminate new value from the Nihonbashi area that observes this tradition and spirit of Edo is ECO EDO NIHONBASHI.
The ECO EDO NIHONBASHI Executive Committee was established with Meikyo “Nihonbashi” Hozonkai as well as local organizations and businesses at the core, and launched its activities in August 2008.
At Mitsui Fudosan, the Nihonbashi Revitalization Plan is being pursued through the united efforts of the public sector, private sector and community. Endorsing the purpose of ECO EDO NIHONBASHI, which is also in line with the philosophy of our “
” mark, Mitsui Fudosan is a member of the Executive Committee and also serves as a special sponsor for a variety of events.
The initiatives of ECO EDO NIHONBASHI will continue to be undertaken on an ongoing basis to firmly establish the image of “Nihonbashi = Eco” towards 2011 when the Nihonbashi Bridge will celebrate its centennial.
On August 1, 2008, the ECO EDO NIHONBASHI declaration was made at Taki no Hiroba, Nihonbashi. A great many people ranging from the Chairman of the Executive Committee to local citizens took part in the declaration.
The declaration ceremony was followed by uchimizu throughout Nihonbashi. Joined also by Nihonbashi restaurant and merchants associations and others, people in yukata (light kimonos for summer) performed the traditional Japanese eco act with tubs filled with water.
ECO EDO NIHONBASHI Declaration
Mission Uchimizu
The people living in the town of Edo realized a recycling-based society by using goods with care and through the wisdom and techniques of coexisting with nature. Underlying the era of sustainable “peace” were the heart of valuing the bonds among people, refraining from selfish acts and promoting a way of life in which people as well as those around them live comfortably.
The act of tilting the umbrella outward when passing someone in a narrow alley on a rainy day, known as kasa kashige, is one such example. This involves both parties having a feeling of “compassion” by ensuring the other does not get wet, and the feeling of “using goods with care” by ensuring the umbrellas do not tear.
ECO EDO NIHONBASHI is about a town that passes on such a spirit of coexistence, which was alive in the town of Edo, to today, and creates and disseminates a new style unique to Nihonbashi.
A recycling-based society is built on the heart of treasuring the bonds among people and between people and nature. Nihonbashi will be the starting point for urban development that draws on old and new wisdom.
ECO EDO NIHONBASHI chopsticks
During the month of August, a campaign which granted special privileges to people who brought my hashi (their own chopsticks) and people who wore yukata was implemented with the support of restaurants in the Nihonbashi area. Original ECO EDO NIHONBASHI chopsticks (NIHONBASHI is a pun on the Nihonbashi area and the Japanese word for Japanese chopsticks) were also available for purchase. Ten percent of these sales went to the “MY-HASHI Fund,” which provides assistance to conservation of the natural environment and charity work.
Metro link Nihonbashi is a free shuttle bus operated under the auspices of local organizations and businesses. This is a new “circulation” endeavor that uses vegetable diesel fuel (VDF), which is made from refining the oil used for deep-frying that is discarded as waste at restaurants in the Nihonbashi area, as fuel for the bus. For the time being, 10% of the fuel per diesel bus is replaced by VDF.
Metro link Nihonbashi ECO
