The beginning of En Media Net, which promotes digitalization
February 22 , 2020. "Fukuripa" was born with the concept of " weaving together the present and future of Fukuoka. "
To be more specific, it was 2:22:22 on February 22, 2020.
The reason we unveiled it to you at this time is because the timing of nine 2s together is a rare opportunity that will not come again unless the era name changes, and also because the Fukuoka city emblem is made up of nine katakana "fu" characters, which represent "happiness ."
The Fukuripa staff gathered together and waited with excitement for 2:22:22 at night.
Going back five years, Fukuripa began when Shinichi Tsubokura thought , "In the coming era, we must promote digitalization in the real estate industry as well."
Shinichi Tsubokura, CEO of En Media Net
Tsubokura
" The real estate industry is dominated by a down-to-earth sales style. When I was a salesman, I traveled all over the country. I think that way of doing things will remain in the future, and I think it needs to be preserved, but at the same time, the world is becoming increasingly digital. I thought that if things continued like this, the real estate industry would be the only one to fall behind .
The power of the web and media is limitless, and I thought it would be great if I could use that power to have a positive impact on the real estate industry. I passionately conveyed this idea to the president, and as a result, we decided to launch En Media Net Co., Ltd., a company within the En Holdings Group that uses media to develop and support various businesses."
En Media Net, Mr. Kensuke Misumi
triangle
"En Holdings Group has customers all over the country, but the product itself is real estate in Fukuoka City. When I was a salesman, I felt that many people thought 'Fukuoka is a great place, isn't it?' but when I asked them 'What's so great about it?' they only gave vague answers like 'The food is delicious' or 'There are a lot of young people'. I would tell them 'But no, there are so many great things about Fukuoka...' and talk about the potential of Fukuoka, but I felt that there is a limit to what you can convey from person to person in words."
Tsubokura
"When I wanted to convey the charms of Fukuoka to more people, the first thing that came to mind was the media . There are many media outlets in Fukuoka. However, when I looked at various outlets, I felt that most of them were aimed at Fukuoka residents, with stories like, 'Here's this delicious restaurant,' or 'This restaurant has just opened,' and there weren't many aimed at the rest of the country. This made me think that there is a need for more work by Fukuoka residents to convey the charms of Fukuoka."
triangle
"Of course, from a company perspective, we would be happy if people would move into Encrest or invest there after learning about the good things about Fukuoka, but we really just want more people across the country to know about Fukuoka! We want to liven up Fukuoka! "
En Media Net's Tomoki Okita
Okita
"I transferred from En Holdings and have been with En Media Net for about six months now. I feel that everyone involved with Fukuripa, including Tsubokura and Mikata, is united in their desire to further enliven Fukuoka ."
A pure desire to enliven Fukuoka!
When Fukuripa was first launched, there were about 15 articles per month.
People around him used to ask him, "Do you think you can keep up with content if you update so frequently?", but now he updates about 40 articles a month, or 1 to 3 articles a day .
Tsubokura
"When we first started, there weren't many readers, but as we updated our articles, we started posting information on social media and linking our articles with external services like Yahoo! JAPAN, and it became a media outlet that many people read. On top of that, Fukuoka is a city that's always bustling with activity, with urban developments like the Tenjin Big Bang and Hakata Connected, new store information, stories about land prices, and Food. In fact, there are so many things we want to write about, and we're currently writing 40 articles a month."
Okita
"When I first joined, I was surprised at the number of articles, but there are no throwaway articles... they are all really well-crafted."
-What is the reputation of your company?
Tsubokura
"It's great. In fact, when employees of the En Holdings Group go on business trips, they sometimes hear from people outside the prefecture that they are reading Fukuripa. Some employees also use Fukuripa's articles when speaking with business partners and customers."
--What do you keep in mind when writing articles?
triangle
"We value reporting from a unique perspective that only Fukuripa can offer. All of the staff at En Media Net are from outside Fukuoka City, so we incorporate perspectives from outside when coming up with article topics. For example, we look at the Hakata Teippon. When we actually write an article about it, we often hear from Fukuoka residents, "I didn't know that!""
▶What is " Hakata Teippon", a hand-clapping ritual that is part of the DNA of Fukuoka and Hakata ? A thorough explanation of the history and full details of " Hakata Teippon"!
https://fukuoka-leapup.jp/city/202208.756
Tsubokura
"However, we can't cover everything from our perspective alone, so we ask for cooperation from people with various areas of expertise. At Fukuripa, we ask influencers to cooperate and introduce them by category, such as 'Top 10 things you'd want to eat even if you had to wait in line.'"
triangle
"I was also surprised by the sheer fact that land prices in Fukuoka are rising year by year. I wrote articles that detailed information on land prices based on data, as well as changes in the city due to events such as the Tenjin Big Bang."
-What do you keep in mind when it comes to reaching people all over the country?
triangle
"For example , if you suddenly mention the names of places in Fukuoka prefecture, people from other prefectures will be confused. That's why we try to write the name of the region together with Fukuoka Prefecture, and not just write the name of the region on its own ."
Okita
"In addition, for example, in the case of an article related to Hakata Dontaku, we start with a heading like, 'What is Hakata Dontaku?' We try to include explanations for keywords that may not require explanation for local people."
About En Media Net's Initiatives
It has been five years since En Media Net was established.
We asked him what role he plays within the En Holdings Group.
Tsubokura
"My main role is to manage Fukuripa and support En Holdings' real estate crowdfunding business , En Funding . With the launch of En Media Net, the trend towards digitalization has strengthened across the En Holdings Group as a whole, and we have decided to promote the " digitalization of business operations."
Therefore, based on the track record of En Media Net, which is involved in online initiatives such as Fukuripa and real estate crowdfunding, I have also taken on the role of person in charge of promoting digital transformation ."
▶En Funding
https://en-funding.en-hd.jp/
triangle
" I am also involved in supporting Tsubokura as we work to create a system that will enable the En Holdings Group to continue for 50 or even 100 years to come ."
What En Media Net aims to achieve
Tsubokura
"The Hotel Trad Hakata opened in Hakata , Hakata as the En Holdings Group's first hotel business. That's why we've seen a huge increase in Tourism from Japan and abroad. Looking at Fukuoka City, there is data that shows that inbound demand is higher than it was before the COVID-19 pandemic. We expect Tourism and Fukuoka to continue to thrive, and we'd be happy if Fukuripa could play a part in that."
-What do you want to do from now on?
Okita
"My hobbies are ramen, alcohol, and saunas, so I'd like to help Fukuripa with their article writing!"
triangle
"The staff at En Media Net all have very strong personalities. In the future, I'd like to try a Serials that makes use of those personalities. By the way, I'm also the voice of a YouTube audio media called Listen to Lipa. People are often surprised and ask me, "Isn't that an AI ?!" but I actually exist (laughs)."
Tsubokura
"Rather than being a one-way media outlet that simply transmits information, I have always wanted to develop it into a media outlet that can connect two-way with readers and those involved with Fukuripa .
In the future, we would like to increase the number of offline events, and while we're at it, it would be great to hold an event together with other media in Fukuoka. If there are any media people who would like to participate, please contact us anytime!
From Fukuoka to the whole country. From Japan to the world.
Currently, Fukuripa is in the process of being multilingualized to support English, Korean, Chinese, and other languages in addition to Japanese .
Tsubokura
" Fukuoka is attracting attention from overseas, so we are initially working on providing support in English, Korean, Chinese, and other languages . In the future, we hope to increase the number of languages available to accommodate people from even more countries."
It was a story that really conveyed their passionate desire to spread the charm of Fukuoka to many people through Fukuripa!
I can't help but hope that they will continue to utilize Fukuripa to help Fukuoka "leap up."
In addition, it seems that a new project is also in the works. It will be announced on Fukuripa soon, so please look forward to it.
Listen to Fukuoka information with your ears on "Kiku Ripa" here [Fukuripa Channel ( YouTube )]
