CREATIVE KIDS TOP Other Convenience Store of the Future

Other

2023.11.03
Convenience Store of the Future

I visited “Mirai Convenience Store,” the world’s most beautiful convenience store—winner of 11 international design awards—located in the Kito district of Naka Town, Naka District, Tokushima Prefecture.

Just hearing the name might make you imagine a high-tech, futuristic convenience store, but that’s not the case. It was a warm and welcoming convenience store created to bring smiles to the faces of local residents and secure a future for the children—as part of a challenge to revitalize a remote village facing issues such as depopulation, a declining birthrate, and an aging population.

The interior features a yellow-themed design inspired by the yuzu orchards—a local specialty of Kito—and visitors can not only sample original yuzu products but also try their hand at squeezing yuzu.

Apparently, the name comes from Osamu Tezuka's "Children Are People of the Future."


　

Profile


  • Digital Picture Book Author

    Professor, Keio University; Ph.D. (Policy and Media)
    Director, B Lab
    Chairperson, Learning of Tomorrow (General Incorporated Association)
    Chairperson, CANVAS

    After graduating from the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Tokyo, he served as a visiting researcher at the MIT Media Lab before founding the NPO CANVAS and the Learning of Tomorrow Association, a General Incorporated Association, and assuming the role of representative. He serves as an outside director for Matsuya Co., Ltd., Fuji Media Holdings, Inc., and Digital Garage, Inc.
    He has served on various government committees, including the Information and Communications Council of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, as well as the NHK Central Broadcasting Program Council. He also serves as a director of the Digital Signage Consortium, among other roles. He holds a Ph.D. in Policy and Media.
    His publications include *Turning On Children’s Creativity!*, *What Are Smart Kids Doing on Their Smartphones?*, *The Forefront of Online Education in Japan: Considering Learning in the Post-COVID Era*,“What Is Programming Education? 45 Questions Parents Want to Know,” and “Declaration on Digital Education.” He has also provided supervision for numerous works, including “Ah, I See! Programming Education for Parents and Children Through Manga.”