Ishizaka Inc. will renew the symbol mark of Santome Konjakumura to mark its 10th anniversary

Ishizaka Inc. (Headquarters: Miyoshi-machi, Saitama Prefecture; President: Noriko Ishizaka) is marking the 10th anniversary of the launch of its environmental education field, “Santome Konjakumura,” with a new tagline, “Reconnecting Nature, Culture, and People,” under the creative direction of graphic designer Taku Satoh. This new symbol further clarifies the concept and identity of the project. Despite being a necessary facility for the community, the waste treatment facility has often been perceived negatively. “Santome Konjakumura” has revived the local ecosystem, bringing people together and fostering businesses through co-creation and collaboration. We will promote this project not only domestically but globally as a new model of a small, circular economy that coexists with the local community.

<New Symbol Mark>

The area surrounding Ishizaka Inc., known as Santome-shinden, was developed 330 years ago during the Edo period. Once a beautiful satoyama(traditional Japanese woodland) with sunlight filtering through to the undergrowth, the area was left untended and overgrown, resulting in repeated illegal dumping.
In 2012, ten years after beginning conservation activities to restore the satoyama to its original state with the aim of coexisting with the local community, this place became the second in Japan to receive the highest AAA (Triple A) rating from the JHEP certification. In 2013, it became the only one in Saitama Prefecture to be certified as a “Place of Experience Opportunities” by the Ministry of the Environment under the Environmental Education Promotion Act. Biodiversity has been restored with over 1,300 species of flora and fauna, including endangered plants, and the regenerated, beautiful satoyama has become the setting for the creation of the Santome Konjakumura, an environmental education field.
In 2022, we joined the 30by30 (Thirty by Thirty) Alliance, which aims to effectively conserve more than 30% of land and marine ecosystems as healthy ecosystems by 2030, thereby halting and restoring biodiversity loss, as pledged at the 2021 G7 Summit. Santome Konjakumura, where a resource recycling plant and satoyama combine to protect the region’s rich nature and culture and coexist with the local community, completed the “Oak Woods Communitu Plaza” in 2015. In 2016, we held an event named “Living with SATOYAMA EXPO” which attracted 10,000 people.
Since then, Santome Konjakumura has continued to evolve over the past 10 years, with new additions including the “Ishizaka Organic Farm,” which preserves the Musashino Leaf Compost Farming Method, designated a Globally Important Agricultural Heritage System; the “SANTOME Poultry Garden,” where visitors can learn about animal welfare; the “Naya Saryo MEGURU,” where visitors can experience the soil’s cycle through food; and the “TOILETOWA,” a bio-toilet that recycles everything.
Until now, waste treatment facilities were considered necessary but undesirable in residential areas (NIMBY, “Not in my backyard”), but they have now become YIMBY (Yes in my backyard) facilities, where 60,000 people visit the plant and satoyama annually from all 47 prefectures in Japan and over 45 countries, fostering co-creation and collaboration with various companies, universities, and organizations.

①   About the New Symbol Mark:
Ishizaka Inc. has adopted the vision of “Zero Waste Design” to realize a sustainable society. The company operates an industrial waste intermediate treatment plant that practices the SDGs, as well as the environmental education field “Santome Konjakumura.” The new symbol mark features a spiral representing the five cycles of sun, fruit, greenery, water, and soil. These spirals, based on Ishizaka’s vision of an even better state, expand and link together to form a circle, symbolizing a circular society for a new era.

② Start Date:
October 19, 2023, and will be gradually implemented from then on.

③ Creator of the New Symbol Mark:

Graphic Designer Taku Satoh

He graduated from the Department of Design at Tokyo University of the Arts in 1979 and completed his graduate studies at the same university in 1981.
After working at Dentsu Inc., he founded the Taku Satoh Design Office in 1984. He is currently the representative director of TSDO Inc.
Starting with the product development of Nikka Whisky Pure Malt, he has worked
on package design for Lotte Xylitol Gum and Meiji Oishii Gyunyu (Delicious Milk),
graphic design for PLEATS PLEASE ISSEY MIYAKE,
and logo design for the 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art, Kanazawa and the National Museum of Nature and Science. He has
also served
as art director for NHK Educational TV’s “Nihongo de Asobo,” general director of “Design Ah!”, and director of 21_21 DESIGN SIGHT.
He received the Medal with Purple Ribbon in the spring of 2021.

Regarding the Mitomi Konjaku Mura mark 　, graphic designer Taku

Satoh believes that Santome Konjakumura is a place that “Reconnects Nature, Culture, and People.”
The mark embodies this slogan, featuring a spiral representing the five cycles of sun, fruit, greenery, water, and soil, arranged in a circle. If you look closely, you’ll see the Ishizaka Sangyo mark hidden in the center of each spiral.
Ishizaka Inc.’s vision of circulation is not a circle that rotates and returns to its original state, but a spiral that strives for an even better state. The five spirals that expand from this spiral each link together to form a complete circle.
The Santome Konjakumura logo symbolizes a new era of circular society that incorporates industrial waste disposal and reconnects nature, culture, and people.

An image of a small circular economy coexisting with the local community.

[About Ishizaka Inc.]
Ishizaka Inc. aims to recycle 100% of construction waste through thorough sorting and classification, and currently has the industry’s highest reduction and recycling rate of 98%. With a vision of “Zero Waste Design,” we are a company that “designs circulation” by creating resources to realize a society where waste does not become waste and a sustainable society that curbs the consumption of natural resources.
https://ishizaka-group.co.jp

Ishizaka Inc.’s “Zero Waste Design” Vision:
https://ishizaka-group.co.jp/vision/vision


About Santome Konjakumura:
This environmental education field utilizes a satoyama that Ishizaka Inc. reclaimed from a mountain of illegally dumped garbage. Formerly known as Santome-shinden, this place is open to the public to promote the importance of resource recycling and the creation of a sustainable planet. Surrounded by nature, the site covers an area roughly the size of 4.5 Tokyo Domes, and offers a variety of seasonal environmental education experiences.
https://santome-community.com/


About the Ecosystem Conservation Society-Japan:
The Ecosystem Conservation Society-Japan is a nonprofit public interest incorporated foundation established in 1992 with the aim of creating a sustainable nation and community that coexists with nature.
https://www.ecosys.or.jp/

The Japan Habitat Evaluation and Certification Program (JHEP) certification system, run by the Ecosystem Conservation Society-Japan, is a registered trademark of the association and objectively and quantitatively evaluates and certifies contributions to biodiversity conservation.

Case study: “Kunugi no Mori Satochi Satoyama Project,” a JHEP-certified project.
https://www.ecosys.or.jp/certification/jhep/case/case106.pdf


[About Experience Opportunities]
Based on the Act on the Promotion of Environmental Conservation through Environmental Education, etc. (Environmental Education Promotion Act), prefectural governors certify facilities offering experiential activities, such as nature experiences, provided by companies, NPOs, and other organizations. As of May 2023, 30 businesses (32 locations) have been certified as “Experience Opportunities” that provide experience activities and programs.
https://www.env.go.jp/policy/post_57.html


[30 by 30 Alliance]
30 by 30 is a goal to effectively conserve more than 30% of land and ocean ecosystems as healthy ecosystems by 2030, in order to achieve the goal pledged at the G7 Summit in June 2021 to “conserve and protect at least 30% of a country’s land and ocean areas by 2030.” This alliance was established as a voluntary coalition of government agencies, companies, NPOs, etc., including the Ministry of the Environment, with the aim of building a system to achieve the 30 by 30 goal domestically, and more than 200 organizations have participated to date.
https://policies.env.go.jp/nature/biodiversity/30by30alliance/


For more details, please see below.
“Ishizaka Inc. will renew the symbol mark of Santome Konjakumura to mark its 10th anniversary (PDF)” is available here.