is a Japanese sustainable infrastructure company based in

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

. It is active in real estate,

renewable energy Renewable energy (also called green energy) is energy made from renewable resource, renewable natural resources that are replenished on a human lifetime, human timescale. The most widely used renewable energy types are solar energy, wind pow ...

asset management Asset management is a systematic approach to the governance and realization of all value for which a group or entity is responsible. It may apply both to tangible assets (physical objects such as complex process or manufacturing plants, infrastr ...

boutique hotels Boutique hotels are small-capacity hotels that provide more personalized service than typical hotels. They typically have fewer than a hundred rooms, and are considered more "trendy" and "intimate", often due to their location in urban areas. Th ...

precision agriculture Precision agriculture (PA) is a management strategy that gathers, processes and analyzes temporal, spatial and individual plant and animal data and combines it with other information to support management decisions according to estimated varia ...

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

production and other businesses. Ichigo's sustainable infrastructure businesses share a common goal of promoting socially and environmentally sound development. In real estate, Ichigo specializes in the renovation and improvement of existing buildings, an approach that challenges the demolition and redevelopment prevalent in Japan's real estate industry. The company also manages publicly listed funds investing in offices, hotels, and solar power plants. As of 2019, Ichigo and its subsidiaries own and manage some 520 billion yen worth of real estate, centered on the

metropolitan area. In 2019, Ichigo became a top partner of the J.League, Japan's professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

league, in an agreement that will allow Ichigo to renovate and manage stadiums. In renewable energy, it is one of Japan's largest independent

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

producers, owning or operating 60 solar and wind plants across Japan as of February 2020, including the largest solar plant in the

Kanto region Japanese Kanto is a simplified spelling of , a Japanese word, only omitting the diacritics. In Japan Kantō may refer to: *Kantō Plain *Kantō region * Kantō-kai, organized crime group * Kanto (Pokémon), a geographical region in the ''Pokém ...

around Tokyo. It is building a wind farm near Fukushima, and also operates floating solar plants. In 2017, Ichigo opened one of the first boutique hotels in Japan, in the port city of

Yokohama is the List of cities in Japan, second-largest city in Japan by population as well as by area, and the country's most populous Municipalities of Japan, municipality. It is the capital and most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a popu ...

. Ichigo opened a second boutique hotel in Tokyo's

Shinjuku , officially called Shinjuku City, is a special ward of Tokyo, Japan. It is a major commercial and administrative center, housing the northern half of the busiest railway station in the world ( Shinjuku Station) as well as the Tokyo Metropol ...

district, and is now building and operating boutique hotels across Japan. In 2019, Ichigo started investing in Japanese anime, including the latest production by

Mamoru Oshii is a Japanese filmmaker, television director and writer. Famous for his philosophy-oriented storytelling, Oshii has directed a number of acclaimed anime films, including ''Urusei Yatsura 2: Beautiful Dreamer'' (1984), ''Angel's Egg'' (1985), '' ...

, known for ''

Ghost in the Shell ''Ghost in the Shell'' is a Japanese cyberpunk media franchise based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Masamune Shirow. The manga, first serialized between 1989 and 1991, is set in mid-21st century Japan and tel ...

''. The series, called '' Vladlove'', is written by Oshii and co-directed by

Junji Nishimura is a Japanese anime director and producer currently residing in Karatsu, Saga. After graduating from Meiji Gakuin University in 1980, Nishimura entered into the anime studio Nishiko Production. Nishimura had his first job as a producer for '' Ba ...

. The move has been described in

The Japan Times ''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo. History ''The Japan Times'' was launched by ...

as part of a new wave in financing Japanese anime that will challenge the “sclerotic production committee system” and give more creative freedom to directors like Oshii. Ichigo also owns the Akiba Cultures Zone, a large retail building in Tokyo's

Akihabara is a neighborhood in the Chiyoda ward of Tokyo, Japan, generally considered to be the area surrounding Akihabara Station (nicknamed ''Akihabara Electric Town''). This area is part of the and Kanda-Sakumachō districts of Chiyoda. There is an ...

neighborhood that is a center for Japan's anime subculture. Ichigo builds and leases smart greenhouses, which use sensors and processors from the IoT (

Internet of Things Internet of things (IoT) describes devices with sensors, processing ability, software and other technologies that connect and exchange data with other devices and systems over the Internet or other communication networks. The IoT encompasse ...

) to optimize levels of , water and other inputs to increase agricultural yields. The company was founded in 2000 as Asset Managers, which was a leader in the securitization of nonperforming loans. In 2008, Ichigo Asset Management, a long-term Japan investor, became its largest shareholder. The company changed its name to Ichigo Group Holdings two years later, and in 2015 simplified that to Ichigo Inc. The name comes from

Ichi-go ichi-e is a Japanese language, Japanese four-character idiom (''yojijukugo'') that describes a cultural concept of treasuring the unrepeatable nature of a moment. The term has been roughly translated as "for this time only", and "once in a lifetime". T ...

, an ancient Japanese idiom meaning “one lifetime, one encounter.” The company also sponsors several internationally competitive athletes, including Olympic medalist weightlifter

Hiromi Miyake , born 18 November 1985) is a Japanese retired Olympic weightlifting, weightlifter. In the 48kg category, she won the silver medal at the 2012 Olympics and won bronze at the 2016 Olympics. Her father and coach is Yoshiyuki Miyake, who was a bronze ...

, who has been an Ichigo employee since 2007.

References

External links

* {{official website, https://www.ichigo.gr.jp/en/ Japanese companies established in 2000 Real estate companies established in 2000 Real estate companies based in Tokyo Companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Energy companies based in Tokyo

See also

References

External links