A TOWNIS MADEBY PEOPLE.
What kind of town do you want to live in?
Somewhere bright and open, where you somehow end up talking with people you've never met.
A place to give something a try: when someone wants to start something, others say, “Let's do it.”
A town like that is one we make ourselves — not one someone else finishes for us.
Each of us gets involved with the town, starts something small, and as it's passed from person to person, it grows into something more.
That is the Okubo we want to create.
About
Okubo's past, carried into its future.
Based in Keisei-Okubo, OKUBO BASE works to make this a town where people gather, mingle, and start new things. What we value most is weaving and connecting. Okubo has people who have made this town what it is. There are festivals, a shopping street, the rhythms of local life — and in them, the hopes of the people who lived through each era.
We want to receive those hopes with our own sense of today and hand them on to the next generation, rather than putting them away as something old or freezing them just as they were. And at the same time, we want to make what Okubo needs now, together with the people here now.
A place where people can gather. A place where someone can express themselves. A place to try something new. A place where, across generations and roles, people find themselves connected. We make such places, grow them, and keep renewing them. What has long been here and what is yet to be born.
We connect people who live here with people who come to learn, adults with young people, shopkeepers with those who come to play. By bringing them together, we create a new cycle of culture in Okubo.
OKUBO BASE is a base for growing the town we want to live in, with our own hands, rather than waiting for someone else to make it better. Cherishing Okubo's past, we make Okubo's future — together. That is why we move.
What We Do
01
Organizing Festivals
The Okubo Shopping Street Festival is hosted three times a year by the Okubo Shopping Street Cooperative, and we take on its planning and operation. Every January we host the New Year Mochi Festival ourselves, from planning through to running the day.
ProjectsOkubo Shopping Street Festival / New Year Mochi Festival
02
Promoting Culture
OKUBO GACHA, street music and more — one by one, we create places where culture can grow in town.
ProjectsOKUBO GACHA / Street Music
03
Coming soon
Connecting with Chiba
The project is called “大久保経由 (Okubo Keiyu).” We will visit sake breweries, farms, companies and other makers across Chiba Prefecture to interview them and introduce them to the people of Okubo, and build a way for people to buy what they make at local shops in Okubo. The interviews are planned as a JOURNAL series, “つくり手を訪ねて (Tsukurite wo Tazunete).”
Projects大久保経由 (Okubo Keiyu)
04
Coming soon
Talking About the Future
We invite guests to join regular conversations about the future of our town, in parks and at talk events. It's still in preparation; we'll announce it here when it begins.
Open Call
Flea Market Vendors WantedOpen
We're looking for flea market vendors for the Okubo Shopping Street Festival Christmas Market on Sunday, December 6.
Volunteer Staff Wanted
We are looking for volunteers to help run events and shape projects. Students and working adults welcome.
Mochi Festival Sponsors WantedComing soon
Every January we hold the New Year Mochi Festival. We'll soon be looking for sponsors to welcome the new year in town with us.
Street Musicians WantedComing soon
We'll soon be looking for musicians and performers to play at events at the station square and local parks.
OKUBO GACHANext call: once the next round is set
OKUBO GACHA is a capsule toy where every turn wins a ticket to use at a local shop. The next call for shops and host locations will be announced here once the next round is set.
Details and applications are in Japanese.
Journal
Our Journal — event reports, announcements and media coverage — is currently available in Japanese only.
Contact
Event collaborations, interviews, joining our community work — feel free to reach out about anything.
The contact form is in Japanese.