About

As our relationships with our neighbors become weaker, as our population shrinks and as disasters increase, I often wonder what we can do to help. We are always wondering what we can do in the face of a shrinking population and increasing disasters. Staple's involvement in this project will help to create a new future for the community. Staple's involvement will increase the number of such communities. I am convinced once again that this is what we can do.

Since the Second Industrial Revolution, the pursuit of economic growth has led people to concentrate in cities, and we have entered an era of homogenization, where the same goods can be found anywhere you go. As a result, local cultures and natural resources are being lost (left side of the figure).

Staple aims to reverse this trend and create a “local economy” where natural capital is sustained, culture is strengthened, and the economy is completed locally. We want to foster a new type of economy where goods circulate within the region and people and ideas transcend regional boundaries.

‘New infrastructure’ for ‘New locals’

Staple does not simply divide people involved in a town into locals and tourists, but defines “locals” as ‘locals’ as well as “new locals,” “repeaters and fans,” and “tourists and visitors” as potential locals. We believe that a major step toward regional revitalization is when people who visit a city as tourists or travelers are attracted to its atmosphere and become “new locals,” and when these four layers of locals eventually become friends through their "hometowns.

Create a new infrastructure that attracts new locals.
Make the neighborhood more livable for all three types of locals by developing dynamic new infrastructure.
Staple recognizes that the foundation for quality of life in any microcosm is the existence of soft but essential infrastructure such as schools and workspaces, the local bathhouse, coffee shops, and even simple vegetable stands. Developing this soft infrastructure allows people to live in a way whereby the local history, culture, land, and climate is reflected in all aspects of daily life. Methods of creating, producing, and consuming goods–and even energy–can all be clearly felt as tied specifically to that place.