March 24, 2023

Tokyo’s Mita Kosan builds locally, thinks globally

Sustainable Japan Magazine

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Masamichi Idemitsu President, Mita Kosan Co., Ltd

Acommon perception of the Mita district in Tokyo’s Minato Ward may be something like “an upscale neighborhood home to many embassies right in the middle of one of the world’s biggest cities.” But in fact, if you get off the train at Tamachi, Mita or Akabanebashi stations, the area is lively with Keio University students and local residents running errands as well as businesspeople. There is also Mita Kasuga Shrine, which local residents have revered for over 1,000 years.

Masamichi Idemitsu, CEO of Mita Kosan Co., Ltd., is one of the residents who were born, raised and still live and work in Mita. Mita Kosan is a real-estate developer and leasing company focusing mainly on the district. “I established the company in 2021 with the aim of contributing to my hometown,” he said.

Mita-dori, a six-lane avenue running north-south on the eastern side of the district, provides stunning views of Tokyo Tower. To many elderly Japanese, the tower, built in 1958, evokes special sentiments about the vibrancy of people and cities during the postwar era of high economic growth. Although Idemitsu was born after the tower was completed, the people of the shopping district had been in the area since long ago. “Just as it was depicted in the film ‘Always: Sunset on Third Street,’ people who lived here in the mid-20th century must have looked up at Tokyo Tower as it was being constructed and becoming higher each day, feeling hopeful for their future,” Idemitsu said. “I want to bring the vibrancy back to this town through my business.”

Since he has witnessed how his hometown has changed over time and communicates with residents and shop owners almost every day, he knows what the neighborhood is missing. “To connect with and support the community, we are listening to the needs of the local people and constantly trying to attract the kinds of tenants that will be beneficial to the community,” he said.

Mita area is surrounded by Tamachi station, Akabanebashi station and Mita station. The Mita Kosan-owned properties and projects under development are spread out around Mita’s main avenue.

Mita Kosan owns several buildings, including the one that houses the embassy of Hungary, and four new buildings will be completed within this year. “Instead of merely constructing new buildings, we are adding new values to both new and existing buildings by making them greener and more useful for tenants and visitors,” Idemitsu said, explaining that one of the buildings that will be completed this September, MA Building Mita, will have a rooftop garden in cooperation with Hibiya-Kadan Floral Co., Ltd. Idemitsu stressed that the garden will not only contribute to mitigating the heat-island effect, save energy and provide a biotope for various birds and insects, but also will support the well-being of the tenants’ workers.

The building will also have highly insulating “green” walls and windows, and special systems for heating and cooling that do not leak air outside. Thanks to these efforts, the building is due to be certified as ZEB Ready ——“ZEB” stands for zero-energy building —— by the Ministry of the Environment upon completion.

ZEB Ready, the third of the four ZEB statuses, is granted for buildings that have managed to reduce their energy use to 50% of a conventional building of the same size. “The electricity consumed in most of the properties that we manage is 100% renewable energy supplied by Idemitsu Green Power K.K.,” Idemitsu added.

Hibiya-Kadan Floral Co., Ltd. is supervising the current ongoing project, a roodtop garden and vertical garden.

The company has been nurturing its relationship with the community in many different ways outside its main business, too. It serves as a “green sponsor” for Tokyo Saiseikai Central Hospital in the neighborhood and provides indoor greenery products “We support the Mita Festival, held on Mita-dori in July every year,” Idemitsu said. The company’s support extends to people who come to the area from outside as well. It sponsors classes held in English for scholarship students from abroad at Keio University.

The company’s commitment to protecting the environment and serving people is manifested in its corporate logo, which has a red kokoro (heart) kanji in a green frame. The kokoro character was written by Sazo Idemitsu, the founder of Idemitsu Kosan Co. Ltd., an energy company established in 1911. “‘Magokoro’ [sincerity] is the word that Sazo Idemitsu, who is my grandfather, valued and used very often. I want to continue pursuing this principle in my business,” Idemitsu said. Green is the color of nature and is also a sacred color for Muslims, which means much to Idemitsu, who thinks of Saudi Arabia as his second home. “I stayed and studied there from 1997 to 2000, when it was still not so common to see Japanese people on the street even in Riyadh, the capital. I remember all the kindness I received from Saudi Arabian people,” he said.

Idemitsu heads another company called Deetex Shokai K.K., a trading company that exports automotive machine tool parts mainly to India and aims to expand its business to Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia in the near future. “To continue contributing to society as a responsible company, our business itself needs to be sustainable. With a solid base in the community we are in, we always want to look to the world,” Idemitsu said.