Using characters to create a comfortable space within the hospital | Jikei University Kids Comfort Project | Creating a child-friendly space

Sega Corporation (Headquarters: Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director President and CEO: Utsumi Shuji; hereinafter referred to as Sega) and NOMURA, Ltd. (Headquarters: Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director President and CEO Okumoto Kiyotaka; hereinafter referred to NOMURA) renovated the pediatric department entrance on the first floor and the treatment room on the fifth floor of the Maternal and Child Medical Center at the Jikei University Hospital on Friday, December 6, 2024, creating a space that will make the hospital more appealing and familiar to children who are outpatients and their parents.
The area will utilize SEGA's character IP such as "Sonic the Hedgehog" and "Puyo Puyo," and the entrance will be a space where children can wait in peace and without getting bored, while the treatment room will be designed to be a space that makes children feel as little scared as possible.

The impetus for this project came from Professor Oishi Kimihiko, Medical Director and Head of the Pediatrics Department at the Jikei University School of Medicine, who, based on his experience working in the medical field in the United States, felt that the current space within the hospital was new and beautiful, but is it a comfortable place for the children? What about the families? And what about the staff working there?
Sega and NOMURA supported Professor Oishi's desire to create a "comfortable space," "a place where children could visit with peace of mind," and "an environment within the hospital that would ease their anxiety, even if only a little." Sega assisted in creating the environment through content and characters, while NOMURA was in charge of planning, design, layout, and construction the space.
The concept of the project is "a hospital with a story."
We have created a space and mechanisms to help children undergoing treatment at the hospital develop the determination to face and overcome their own treatment. Children will enjoy original stories featuring Sega characters set in the hospital, become the protagonists = "heroes," and come to understand their own bodies and the details of their treatment together with the characters. We will gradually create a hospital space with a story that supports the healing powers of the minds and bodies of children trying to overcome illness.

■ Area Introduction

<Maternal and Child Medical Center 1st floor entrance>

We aimed to create a space where children visiting the outpatient department and their guardians could feel at ease while waiting. Graphics of Sonic and Friends, who are close to the children and support their recovery, are used throughout the space, and the environment of the first floor waiting room is concept design to evoke the prologue of a "story" in which the hospital faces illness together with the children.

<Maternal and Child Medical Center, 5th floor treatment room>

In a group discussion with medical staff working at the Jikei University School of Medicine Maternal and Child Medical Center, many of them expressed a desire to ease the "anxiety" they felt about treatment. As a solution, we placed Puyo Puyo characters to guide them from the hallway in the treatment room, which children find particularly frightening. Furthermore, by adding Puyo Puyo images, we aim to create a treatment room where children feel less anxious by creating a space surrounded by lively characters.

■Comments from each representative
<Kimihiko Oishi, Director of the Pediatrics Department at the Jikei University Hospital and Professor of Pediatrics>

"Contributing to protecting children's health: from developmental medicine to advanced medicine" is the mission of the Pediatrics Department at the Jikei University School of Medicine. As I constantly search for ways to achieve this mission, I repeatedly recalled an experience I had in the US, where I previously worked as a doctor at a hospital, where children's heroes, such as athletes, provided various forms of support through donations, and I witnessed how their actions and the spaces they created empowered children. From this experience, I felt a strong need to turn the newly built Maternal and Child Medical Center into a space where children could regain their energy.
As we were thinking about how to realize this vision, SEGA Corporation and NOMURA Co., Ltd. shared our thoughts and we decided to launch the "Jikei University Kids Comfort Project: Creating a Child-Friendly Space" together.
The aim of this project is to "create a space where children who are patients, their families, and medical staff can feel safe and comfortable." We are truly pleased that this initiative will mark a new stage in protecting children's health, and we would like to express our deep gratitude to everyone at Sega Corporation and NOMURA Ltd. for their tremendous efforts.
All staff at the Jikei University School of Medicine's Department of Pediatrics will work even harder in this new environment, striving to contribute to the health and happiness of children.

＜Haruki Satomi, Representative Director President and Group CEO of Sega Sammy Holdings Inc. and Representative Director Chairman and CEO of Sega Corporation＞

The Sega Sammy Group's mission and purpose is to "Continue to create moving experiences - making society more energetic and colorful" and to provide moving experiences to people all over the world through the power of entertainment.
I feel very honored to be able to contribute to creating a safe and secure environment for children at the Pediatrics Department of the Jikei University Hospital.
This project was initiated by issues in the medical field reported to us by our employees. We deeply sympathized with the desire of Professor Oishi and other medical professionals to "create an environment where children can spend their time with a positive attitude," and decided to support them with SEGA's content and characters.
We hope that the Sega characters will bring energy and hope to hospitalized children and their families, as well as medical professionals, and help with treatment. Going forward, the Sega Sammy Group will continue to use its entertainment power to be a part of your daily life and provide moving experiences.

< NOMURA Co., Ltd. Representative Director President and CEO Kiyotaka Okumoto>

NOMURA has delivered a great deal of "Delight and Passion" through space creation.
For this project, with the cooperation of Sega, we worked on the concept of a "hospital with a story" and created a space that depicts a story of children overcoming their illnesses together with other characters.
To consider the spatial concept design, we interviewed everyone at Jikei University Hospital. We listened to the fears and hopes of patients and their families, and the joys and worries of hospital staff about their work, and considered solutions to make the pediatric department more appealing. We aimed to create a space that is reassuring and comforting, with concept design based on a concept, so that each child can weave their own "story."
We will continue to contribute to improving hospitals by creating comfortable and functional spaces for patients, their families, and medical professionals who visit hospitals.

■ Introduction of each company
<The Jikei University School of Medicine Hospital>
Originating from the Seiikai Training School opened in 1881 (Meiji 14), the university was established in 1921 (Taisho 10) as the first private medical university established under the University Act. Under the founding principle of "treat the patient, not the disease," the university practices patient-centered medical care. The Jikei University School Corporation has four affiliated hospitals, including the hospital itself, and aims to be a university and affiliated hospital that leads medical care, education, and research, from community medicine to advanced medicine, and from basic research to clinical research, by utilizing its collaboration with local medical institutions.

＜SEGA Corporation＞
SEGA Corporation develops its business around the planning, development, sales, and operation of games for home consoles, PCs, and smartphones, and also plans, develops, and sells digital services and character products, including prizes, utilizing the know-how it has cultivated in the game business. In the game business, the company provides game content developed in studios in Japan and overseas to the world through bases in Japan and around the world.

< NOMURA Co., Ltd.>
Nomura Co., Ltd. is a comprehensive space production company that handles everything from planning, concept design, construction, and operation management for commercial facilities, hotels, corporate PR facilities, workplaces, expositions, and museums. The group operates through 10 locations nationwide, 8 locations overseas, and 6 group companies both in Japan and overseas. Utilizing the comprehensive capabilities that it has cultivated since 1892 (Meiji 25), it delivers "Delight and Passion" to people by providing spatial value that combines the physical and virtual.