JSP Founder’s 2017 Essay on “Creative City Chiba”
Chiba, Japan — Japan Stadium Partners (JSP) today reflected on a landmark local opinion essay published in Chiba Nippo on March 19, 2017, titled “Making Full Use of Chiba’s Assets Toward a Creative City.” The essay was authored by Masa, Founder and Managing Partner of JSP, and articulated a vision for Chiba that remains deeply relevant today.
Back 8 years ago today, when Chiba was often described primarily as a commuter city to Tokyo, Masa wrote that the city needed to break away from precedent and conventional reliance on the central government. Instead, he argued that Chiba must craft its own future direction — one rooted in a “Creative City” vision that could serve as a fresh reference point for urban revitalization in Japan.
In the article, Masa proposed three interconnected pillars as the foundation for “Creative City Chiba”:
Healthcare: Establishing neighborhood doctor systems, expanding emergency networks, and positioning Chiba as a hub for regenerative and sports medicine.
Tourism: Attracting cruise ships to Chiba Port, creating a multi-lingual, multi-cultural town, and linking global dining, art, culture, and sports into a distinctive visitor economy.
Education: Enabling lifelong learning through IT-enabled, open environments that support children, seniors, and entrepreneurs alike.
By connecting these tangible and intangible assets, the essay suggested that Chiba could generate a virtuous cycle of people, capital, and information, creating a city where security, healthcare, culture, and innovation attract both residents and entrepreneurs.
“In 2017, I wrote that Chiba must see itself not as a bedroom town, but as a creative hub,” said Masa, Founder of JSP. “That thinking continues to guide me today. The ideas of Creative City Chiba — health, tourism, and education connected through finance and governance — still shape how I view the future of urban development.”
For JSP, revisiting this essay underscores the continuity of Masa’s proposal: from an early call for a Creative City Chiba to today’s efforts to design frameworks for globally credible, locally accountable public-private collaboration.
JSP will continue to draw inspiration from this long-term vision, ensuring that projects it pursues in Japan reflect the spirit of Creative City Chiba — initiatives that not only deliver facilities, but also foster health, learning, and sustainable community growth.
Source: Chiba Nippo, March 19, 2017, “Opinion: Making Full Use of Chiba’s Assets Toward a Chiba Creative City”
