WE ARE NOMURA

A project manager working to space creation

Haruka Tashiro of the Cultural Environment Business Division. Since joining the company in 2019, she has worked in sales, proposing and managing projects for public cultural facilities. She has also been involved in social good activities, such as attempting to obtain international forest certification for a project she was in charge of. We spoke to her about the aspirations she has held dear throughout her career.

 

Leading a space creation project as a salesperson. Seeking new value in space creation

Leading a space creation project as a salesperson. Seeking new value in space creation

Tashiro is a manager in the Cultural Environment Business Department of the Sales Promotion Division. He is involved in public cultural facilities such as museums and children's facilities, and is responsible for project development and promotion as a salesperson.

Tashiro: "During the development phase, sometimes customers will come to us for consultations, and other times we will cold call them. Either way, our mission is to first sort out the issues and concerns that customers have that have surfaced, identify the problems that really need to be solved, and propose solutions that we can provide.


In the promotion phase, we manage everything related to the project, including budgets, deadlines, and personnel assignments, based on the client's requests and the internal situation. Projects are dynamic, and the situation changes from moment to moment depending on the phase and the environment. Constantly optimizing these is a constant process of trial and error, but it's satisfying when internal and external parties work well together to move the project forward."

On the other hand, Tashiro says that NOMURA Ltd. has many unique charms.

Tashiro: "NOMURA 's business activities are broad, ranging from planning to design, layout, production, construction, operation and management, and I think what's appealing about it is that we can be involved in all kinds of creative work related to space creation, from BtoB to BtoC.


I am currently working towards obtaining an MBA in order to learn management and marketing perspectives, and in the process I learned about a framework called “The Elements of Value”(※).


It is made up of 30 value elements that customers want, divided into four stages: Functional, Emotional, Life Changing, and Social Impact. If we apply this framework to our company's business, we have the hard solutions of design and construction, and the soft solutions of operation and management, so I feel that we have the fertile ground to take on the challenge of creating even more value, depending on the ideas of each individual."

* Eric Almquist, John Senior and Nicolas Bloch, “The Elements of Value”, BAIN & COMPANY, 30 Jan 2023

 

Facing domestic challenges was a turning point: Interest in space creation cultivated through different cultures

「浜松市こども館」

▲ The renovation of the Hamamatsu Children's Museum, which he was in charge of in his second year at the company


Tashiro first became interested in the field of space creation when he was a university student majoring in cultural anthropology and development studies.

Tashiro: "I once had the opportunity to invite a woman living in a slum in Kenya to give a lecture, and after the lecture I showed her around Tokyo. She suddenly asked me, 'Japan is certainly an economically rich country, but are there many happy people?' This unexpected question got me thinking about what a truly prosperous community or town looks like." 

In search of a model for the city of the future, he went to Totnes, a small town in the south of England. His experiences there became the starting point of his interest in space creation.

Tashiro: "Totnes is the birthplace of the Transition Town movement, which aims to transition to a sustainable society. This movement aims to move away from a fragile society that consumes large amounts of energy and towards a flexible and resilient society where local people work together to use the appropriate amount of energy. This movement is now spreading all over the world.


Seeing local people come together and talk enthusiastically about a town that is kind to both the earth and themselves through an open process, I felt like I had found a clue to solving the problem that a Kenyan woman had presented to me when I was a student.

I wanted to be involved in creating spaces that would foster such communities, so I joined NOMURA, which is involved in a wide range of business areas, including creating spaces for local hub facilities."

 

Obtaining the company's first international forest certification through space creation and discovering ways to contribute to a recycling-oriented society

「魔法の文学館」(江戸川区角野栄子児童文学館)

▲ The Magical Literature Museum (Eiko Kadono Children's Literature Museum in Edogawa Ward) opened in November 2023.


Since joining the company, Tashiro has worked in sales, mainly in charge of cultural and public facilities. There is one project that left a particularly strong impression on him.

Tashiro: "In my second year at the company, I was put in charge of renovating the Hamamatsu Children's Center. Hamamatsu Children's Center is a public facility that provides an environment where parents can enjoy raising their children. In conjunction with the renovation, the project used Tenryu timber, which is produced in Hamamatsu, and aimed to obtain FSC Project Certification, the world's highest level of forest certification, an unprecedented endeavor for our company."

Tashiro says that obtaining the certification was a process of trial and error, but through teamwork with the Hamamatsu City Forestry Promotion Division and the forward-thinking, highly motivated people at our partner companies, we were able to achieve FSC® Project Certification, the first in Japan for a castle and similar public children's facility, along with the Hamamatsu Castle project, which we were in charge of renovating at the same time.

Tashiro: "Connecting to the right supply chain is a way for us, a company that uses a lot of wood in the manufacturing process and manufactures things together with many partner companies, to contribute to a recycling-oriented society.


I was convinced that such a method existed, and at the same time, I gradually felt a sense of accomplishment in the knowledge that I was concept design an invisible process that contributes to recycling. The people of Hamamatsu City, who have a strong passion for the facility's philosophy and the use of wood, gave me a valuable opportunity to learn new things.


Later, I participated in a tour of the Tenryu Mountains organized by the Hamamatsu City Forestry Promotion Division, and seeing the forests, which are not only beautiful but also protect the diversity of living things and plants, made me feel very happy that I was able to contribute in some small way. It reminded me once again that I want to create spaces that are good for customers, good for me, and good for the planet."

The Magical Literature Museum (Eiko Kadono Children's Literature Museum, Edogawa Ward), which also opened in November 2023, is another project that Tashiro will never forget.

Tashiro: "Eiko Kadono is a children's author known for "Kiki's Delivery Service" and is also a recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Award, known as the Nobel Prize of children's literature. We were in charge of the displays design and construction project for the literature museum, which aims to pass on her imaginative worldview and achievements to future generations.


The Magical Literature Museum was created as a place where children can freely choose books, pick them up, and enjoy them, thereby nurturing a rich imagination. In the process of creating the Literature Museum, we learned a lot from the invaluable experience of creating an unformed imagination together with many people, including the people of Edogawa Ward, Eiko Kadono, art director Mario Kuboshi, the people at Eiko Kadono's office, architectural firms, landscape design firms, publishers, and our own internal members and partner companies.


The other day, a friend who had a baby recommended the Magical Literature Museum as a place she would like to take her baby when he or she is born, which made me very happy. It is a joy to be involved in creating a space that cultivates sensitivity and seeks out experiences that can only be had in a real place."

 

NOMURA aims to create multifaceted value by taking advantage of its wide range of business fields.

NOMURA aims to create multifaceted value by taking advantage of its wide range of business fields.

From 2023, Tashiro will be in charge of project management for displays design and construction of the "Shizuoka City Marine and Earth Museum Development and Operation Project (tentative name)." With the business concept of "a campus for everyone connected to Suruga Bay," he is involved in creating a space that conveys the joy of exploring the earth and oceans, aiming for the museum's opening.

Tashiro: This is the first time that our company has participated as a representative company in a PFI project, and we will not only be responsible for displays production but also for operation for approximately 15 years.
 

Our goal is to create a new type of museum that is not just fun to see and experience, but also encourages activities to protect the future of the Earth and the oceans.


It's not an easy task, but we're up to the challenge because we've decided to take on not only design and production but also operation. We want to use our experience to expand the possibilities for creating win-win-win situations through space creation."

As a member of NOMURA, Tashiro's challenge to contribute to multifaceted value creation continues.
 

*The information provided is current as of January 2024.

Haruka Tashiro
 

He studied cultural anthropology at university, and since 2014 has been involved as a designer in revitalizing local communities from an administrative perspective and in creating towns that coexist with nature. In 2019, he joined NOMURA as a sales representative. He is currently working hard every day in charge of sales for public facilities such as museums and literary museums across the country. He is also working on obtaining an MBA in order to promote projects from a business management perspective.

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