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Subtract Billboard

Using crowdfunding for civic purposes is not new, but what struck me about this idea is how crowdfunding is used not to add new elements to the city, but to erase them. I'm still not entirely sure if this is really worthy of the top prize, but a refreshing take nonetheless. If this idea is ever brought to practice, however, systems must be in place so that initiative remains in the hands of citizens; we can easily imagine large, well-funded corporations using this platform to remove competitors' billboards, for example.
(Yasutaka Yoshimura)

Each billboard in Ginza does go through a rather strict review process that evaluates its content, and any ads deemed offensive will be rejected. However I hear that the process is struggling to keep up these days with the rise of digital billboards, and bringing citizens into the loop sounds like an interesting solution.
(Rui Izumiyama)

What I found interesting about this proposal is that it reveals citizens' reactions towards ads in a quantitative manner; companies and ad agencies should have their own ideas about what kinds of ads are effective, where best to place the billboards, etc., but this will show whether those ideas are actually rooted in reality. Although this proposal only deals with erasing ads, I feel that the mix of crowdsourcing and billboards can open up other intriguing scenarios as well.
(Yuri Naruse)

This idea may at first seem like a blow to ad agencies and corporations who are paying a lot of money to set up these billboards, but in the long term, having a way to measure citizen reactions toward billboards should prove useful to them as well.
(Yoshihiro Kawahara)

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GOTable

I want to see this idea become reality right now! Services like Uber Eats are already popular here, but this idea goes beyond them; now the streets of Ginza can instantly turn into restaurants. This seems like a great way for new restaurateurs to enter the business, and also for more established, upscale restaurants in Ginza to gain new, young patrons. I'm hoping that these kinds of ideas will eventually lead to creations of new legal frameworks, that give citizens more rights in their use of public space.
(Rui Izumiyama)

I'm a heavy user of Uber Eats so I'm all for this idea. Lately I've heard that some people are engaging in what they call "chairing" — people bring foldable chairs to parks and start ad-hoc parties, with food delivered to them using Uber Eats. This is a more structured implementation of that same idea, it should be a lot of fun.
(Jun Rekimoto)

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Virtual window shop

Tokyo has a lot of underground passageways, but as of now they're designed with the single goal of moving people from point A to B as quickly as possible. They're underutilized, and also tremendously boring from an aesthetic standpoint. Due to the lack of space installing physical shops into these passageways is impossible, but these virtual shops might work — we just have to turn them off during rush hours.
(Yasutaka Yoshimura)

I was intrigued by this phrase in their text: "a virtual shotengai, only 4 centimeters thick". They're not lying, these virtual shops are just digital displays so 4 centimeters sound reasonable. Displays are getting cheaper every year, and ideas like this suggest that we could potentially come up with many new ways of utilizing them.
(Yoshihiro Kawahara)

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SAVE CITY

I was intrigued by how the flying vehicle in this concept is not a simple drone, but a combination of a drone and a balloon. Drones have rather limited range, and so I'm having doubts whether they will ever be able to serve as citywide logistics solutions, but combined with balloons it might just be possible... Anyway, I think walking around a city with all these balloons floating around would be a lot of fun.
(Jun Rekimoto)

In the old days, a lot of merchants used to do business on the streets in Ginza. However, the city has gone upscale since then, and now commercial activities are mostly hidden inside buildings, making the streets rather empty. This seems like a fascinating way to bring back life to the streets. I also like how the sheet contains a drawing of a human hand holding the drone. A hand inserting elements into the city from above — the idea has a bit of a SimCity vibe to it, which I thought was appealing.
(Rui Izumiyama)

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Wonderspace Public Machine

A machine that eats up plastic bottles and turns them into new products — whether this idea will ever become technically feasible is debatable, but the idea of making waste management, an undertaking more or less hidden in modern cities, into a more visible and distributed process is interesting. Getting citizens involved in the process through voting is also a nice touch.
(Yasutaka Yoshimura)

People always complain about the lack of street furniture in Ginza, so this idea sounds like an especially good match for this city.
(Rui Izumiyama)

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Digital Drawing Wall

There were several other ideas involving large-scale digital displays, but I liked this one the most. It's technically feasible, and the design seems well thought out. Kids love to draw, being able to create huge artworks on walls should be a lot of fun for them — well maybe not just kids but for everyone.
(Jun Rekimoto)

The solution proposed here stands out for its simplicity, and appears to be accessible to all members of the public. It seems like something that can be implemented at a low cost in various locations.
(Amin Anjomshoaa)

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StreetVote

A voting system for hokosha tengoku! Hokosha tengoku of course is great, but it's always the same roads that become closed to traffic. So in reality, only a small subset of stores and restaurants in Ginza receive benefit from hokosha tengoku. This idea can help bring attention to the lesser-known streets of Ginza, which all have their own personalities and charms.
(Yuri Naruse)

Hokosha tengoku is managed by the Metropolitan Police, and from a legal perspective it is extremely difficult to move them to different streets. So at least for now this idea has little chance of becoming reality, but it's something I'd like to see implemented someday.
(Rui Izumiyama)

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WINDOW ARTING

We received many ideas of augmented reality apps, but I especially liked this one due to its focus on architectural facades. The designs are virtual, so anyone can go about designing new facades for the buildings of Ginza, which fits in well with the Wikitopia concept. Perhaps some young people will make a name for themselves through this app, and jump-start their careers to become star designers — I would definitely encourage architecture students to use this app!
(Yasutaka Yoshimura)

The proposal mentions that in addition to facades, designs for projection mapping can also be uploaded through this app. I've noticed how the Tokyo Skytree changes its color everyday through the use of LEDs; it would be interesting if those kinds of lighting effects become more prevalent throughout the city.
(Yoshihiro Kawahara)

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Qhatu

This is a clever idea that showcases the potential of using IoT (Internet of Things) in public places. The minimalist stalls are nicely designed, and I can see this functioning well as a new type of market. The smartphone app creating some interactions between the public and shop owners is a nice feature as well.
(Amin Anjomshoaa)

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MAKE THE STREETS GREEN AGAIN!

Looking at all the submissions, I'm finding myself being more intrigued by ideas like this one that have an unmistakable physicality to them, as opposed to the more "computer science" ideas that mostly take place in the digital realm. The modular concept is well thought out too. One of my pet peeves about Tokyo is that while the pavements here are impeccably maintained, nowhere near the same level of attention is paid to greenery — the priorities are messed up!
(Jun Rekimoto)

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Hello, GINZA SONY ISLAND

This is not limited to Ginza Sony Park, but generally speaking, on rainy days there's not much you can do in outdoor public spaces — you get the feeling that the rain saps the life out of these places. I like how this idea presents an experience that can exclusively be enjoyed on such gloomy days. The paintings become invisible on sunny days, of course, but maybe we can introduce an augmented reality app that allows visitors to see them through their phones...this idea triggers my imagination in many ways.
(Rui Izumiyama)

I think this is an exemplary submission, very well done! The sheets are beautifully designed, clearly conveying the idea and juxtaposing visitors' experiences on sunny and rainy days. I'm not entirely sure if hydrochromic ink can really be used to create such vivid paintings though...
(Yoshihiro Kawahara)

This idea reminded me of my school days, where we practiced calligraphy using special paper that you can write on using water; the letters disappear when the paper dries. In this competition we've seen many entries that use projectors to cast images onto environments, but this idea shuns such digital solutions, which makes it distinct. The graphics are great too, it's easy to imagine what the actual experience would be like.
(Jun Rekimoto)

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HyperGameFest

This idea reminds me of traditional Japanese festivals — the huge Ginza monster prowling around the park evokes the image of nebuta, for example. In some regions in Japan everyone in the local community, including kids, work together to build dashi (floats) for their festivals; I like how this proposal creates an experience similar to such traditional activities, but using cutting-edge digital technology.
(Yasutaka Yoshimura)

Everyone's drawings merging to create a monster, which has to to be defeated again with help from everyone — I like how participatory principles permeate all aspects of the idea, this is a great idea for a public event. Sony makes popular gaming consoles, so I guess it's a good fit for the site as well.
(Yuri Naruse)

A combination of VR gaming and public space, this is a novel vision that gives us fresh insights on how parks can be used in the future. If we're actually going to deploy this, however, we'll probably need to think of stopping traffic on nearby streets; it seems quite dangerous otherwise.
(Rui Izumiyama)

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Late Night Movies between Buildings

Many people of my generation should have fond memories of setting up screens on rooftops like this, and watching movies with friends at night. This proposal makes me nostalgic! Here, the screen is cast horizontally so we'll be watching movies while laying on the ground, which will probably make me asleep rather quickly...but having a shared experience with many other people in the city sounds great. It's a technically feasible idea as well.
(Jun Rekimoto)

Not being of Rekimoto-san's generation, I don't really have experience of watching movies on rooftops — but I know it used to be a thing back then. It does seem to create a great ambience.
(Yoshihiro Kawahara)

The idea of projecting movies at parks isn't really that uncommon in suburban or rural areas, but this proposal brings that experience to central Tokyo. Sometimes in Japanese cities, I get the feeling that there aren't many things to do at night aside from eating and drinking, so ideas like these are welcome. However, looking at Ginza Sony Park, casting such a large screen across the sky doesn't seem like a trivial task...
(Rui Izumiyama)

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Neither Ordinary nor Extraordinary

Wild animals in Ginza, what an unexpected combination! Look above you and see a flying bird, look sideways and see a grazing zebra...not something you can experience in current Ginza. Sony Park will eventually be demolished and a new building will take its place, but the same animals will continue to live on — I like how this idea can create a sense of continuity in ever-changing cities. Exactly how do we feed the virtual animals? What happens if we give them too much food? My imagination is running wild.
(Yuri Naruse)

We received a large number of proposals involving AR, but I like this one the best. Here, AR is used not only to create some unique entertaining experience, but as a means to promote social interactions and engagement among citizens.
(Amin Anjomshoaa)

A playful and imaginative proposal with a civic mission. I like how the experience is not confined to the digital realm. Nice graphics too.
(Rashmi Ramaswamy)