NOMURA Co.,Ltd. SCENESinsights

Hiraiwa Kuniyasu, founder of the NPO After School, has been working to create a place for children to hang out after school. Nakamura Tomoe and Okabe Aoi of NOMURA Co.,Ltd., whose work involves solving social issues in their local communities, spoke to us about the ingenuity behind their first joint project and what it has revealed about places in society in the future.

For Nomura Co., NOMURA Co.,Ltd., computational concept design is one of the most important tools for expanding the possibilities of creativity. Rather than using the capabilities of computers primarily for the purposes of efficiency and labor savings, they utilize computers to expand the creativity of creators. Beyond that, new possibilities for "spatial concept design" and "spatial experiences" open up. What exactly does computational concept design involve? We asked them to tell us about the actual process of concept design production.

Kubota AgriFront is a unique agricultural learning facility where children can learn about current issues in food and agriculture and come up with multiple solutions together. Despite the theme that tends to be rather serious, the children who participated all seemed to enjoy themselves. Even children who don't know each other quickly become friendly and engrossed in the program. How did this facility come about? We followed the facility from concept creation to operation.

The Amami Rabbit Museum, Quru Guru, opened in April 2025. While serving as a conservation and research facility for treating and rehabilitating injured Amami rabbits (hereafter referred to as "black rabbits") with the aim of returning them to the wild, it also conducts hands-on displays to study the rabbit's ecology, promote environmental education, and promote coexistence with humans.

In July 2025, NOMURA Co.,Ltd. Group opened "mirocco," an indoor children's playground planned and designed by the Nomura Group and operated for approximately 11 years. This marks the first time we, a company with a history of creating a variety of spaces, have operated a children's playground. For more information on the project, click here. Located on "Tamari Hill," a 22nd Century Hill owned by Kakegawa City in Shizuoka Prefecture...

The "Osaka-Kansai Expo concept design Exhibition" was held at the Osaka Prefectural Enokojima Cultural Arts Creation Center (enoco) from October 1st to 19th. This article introduces the discussion from the talk program held on October 11th, "See you, Expo—What legacy will the Expo leave for society?" After the opening of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, visitors and fans created derivative works on social media...