Going beyond the ordinary. What is sustainable business growth and the future of stations?

What is essential for a company to change while protecting what must remain unchanged?

New businesses connecting with local communities are emerging one after another, using stations as their base. "ECUTE Akihabara," launched in April 2025, is a next-generation station-based commercial facility. It features robot utilization, centralized all-cashless registers, shopping baskets upcycled from umbrellas left behind at stations, and game machines where playing contributes to the local community. Furthermore, "earth song," which opened for a limited time in May at the Takanawa Gateway Station event space "Machiai," is engaged in an upcycling initiative themed around "a system where the community and flowers circulate," aiming to create a new cycle for the community and resources.

In this article, Koichi Egoshi, Managing Executive Officer and General Manager of the Sales Department in charge of the New Business Strategy Division at JR East Cross Station Development Company (JR-Cross), and Yukihiro Harada, General Manager of the New Business Strategy Division, who promoted the two aforementioned projects, along with Kosuke Kato and Akihiko Miura from Dentsu Inc.'s Business Transformation Division 1, who supported the projects, discuss the theme of sustainable business growth.

You can view a digest version of the interview here.

 

(From left) Dentsu Inc.: Mr. Kato; JR East Cross Station Development Company: Mr. Harada, Mr. Ego; Dentsu Inc.: Mr. Miura

Always pouring passion into the community. A future vision extending from the past 20 years

Miura: In this series, we've explored the keys to success for each project, focusing on JR-Cross's new concept station-based commercial facility "ecute Akihabara," developed with Dentsu Group's support, and "earth song," a store born at Takanawa Gateway Station that fosters local resource circulation. This time, I'd like us to discuss the background, business strategy, and vision behind both projects.

First, I'd like to ask about the image of success envisioned by JR-Cross. For example, if ten years from now, new ventures were constantly making headlines and receiving extensive media coverage, including TV interviews—what kind of coverage do you imagine?

Egoshi: Frankly, I think it would be better if we weren't deliberately featured in the media by then. The ideal scenario is that we continuously launch new initiatives every year, leading to a societal perception like, "JR-Cross again?" or "Well, that's just par for the course from JR-Cross."

But in ten years, times will have changed significantly. Naturally, simply continuing current initiatives as they are now won't resonate with customers at all. So I envision a future where, just like today, a new generation centered around young people in ten years' time will be challenging each initiative with free-thinking ideas.

Miura: So your goal is to achieve generational change within the organization while perpetually maintaining the company's perspective. This time, Dentsu Inc. collaborated with JR-Cross on the "ecute Akihabara" and "earth song" projects. I was truly impressed by how everyone at JR-Cross, including young and mid-career employees, possesses such a passionate commitment to the local community.

Egoshi: That passion for the community is JR-Cross's driving force. This year, Ecuite celebrates its 20th anniversary. In fact, 20 years ago, I was the founding store manager when we launched this new venture with the goal of "creating a new type of station-based commercial facility!" Since then, I've always held an unwavering desire to "grow together with the community."

I want to contribute to the vibrancy of the community. Driven solely by this purpose, I've proposed various ideas and implemented initiatives. I feel that accumulating this experience is JR-Cross's greatest asset.

Kato: Over these 20 years, each region has changed significantly. Therefore, we need initiatives that not only focus on current challenges but also anticipate "how things will change next." How can we create a new agenda that looks ahead, considers the entire region and its diverse stakeholders, and ultimately makes the whole community happy? This is a point that Dentsu Inc. is also constantly mindful of.

Harada: Furthermore, in ten years, Ecute will celebrate its 30th anniversary. Considering typical business cycles, it's possible we might face some kind of crisis at that point. What becomes crucial then is the perspective: "Why does Ecute exist in this area?" and "Is its value truly embraced by the community?" I believe that unless we continuously integrate into the community and establish our inherent necessity within it, success ten years from now will be unattainable.

Egoe: The factors defining necessity vary completely depending on the area. That's why, this time too, we thoroughly explored the fundamental question: "What defines the essence of Akihabara? What defines the essence of Takanawa Gateway?"

Harada: Especially our field team members practice "walking the streets and listening to what local residents need." Then, through repeated discussions, we expand on those ideas.

Miura: There's so much you can't understand without actually walking around. I really resonate with this perspective and think it's crucial. I also walked all over Akihabara taking notes while brainstorming ideas.

Nurturing the core purpose with a sense of mission to "safeguard safety and security" as the foundation

Miura: I think it was excellent that JR-Cross, who has created new businesses together with local residents, and Dentsu Inc., which sparks new business ideas from a consumer perspective that moves people's hearts, could work together as one team.

JR-Cross's team wasn't just from Mr. Bata's New Business Strategy Department; professionals from various fields like development and sales came together. Because of our different perspectives, we sometimes had heated debates where we'd say, "This isn't right!"

Inspired by that dynamic, we felt, "Dentsu Inc. can't be outdone!" and contributed many new ideas ourselves. The process of resonating the ideas from both companies to arrive at a single solution was incredibly stimulating.

Harada: That's right. We weren't just discussing things from the field perspective; we were able to fuse Dentsu Inc.'s unique innovative consumer-centric viewpoint and their know-how for creating new businesses in local areas. That's precisely why I believe we were able to implement measures truly needed by the community.

Miura: For Dentsu Inc., we were also deeply moved by the strong sense of mission held by everyone at JR-Cross to "protect safety and security." It was striking how often discussions centered on questions like, "If safety and security are compromised at stations—platforms that are the lifeblood of national mobility—they lose all value," and "Can this initiative truly safeguard safety and security?"

Egoshi: The mindset of "safeguarding safety and security" is the core philosophy permeating all initiatives at JR-Cross. I feel it is absolutely essential, especially for realizing the Development Company's purpose: "A moment at the station – a little, more, forever."

For example, if the core purpose is the main trunk of the business, the various initiatives by each facility are the branches and leaves extending from that trunk. Some branches grow straight, while others bend into unique shapes.

Furthermore, the soil of "safeguarding safety and security" is indispensable for thickening and growing the trunk. When faced with uncertainty, we return to the trunk's raison d'être and expand the branches and leaves that realize safety and security. This cycle is how we grow our business.

Harada: Because purpose is at the center, even if opinions arise early on that might not lead to adoption, we have to accept everything at first. Discussions spark like, "Maybe this opinion is important for protecting purpose, even if I haven't realized it yet," or "If it's important, we have to make it happen; there might be a way to achieve it, even if the difficulty is high." We explore every possibility. That's why new perspectives for transformation are born so easily.

Egoe: Through these stimulating discussions, combining perspectives different from Dentsu Inc.'s, our pool of ideas has definitely expanded. Different regions approach initiatives and produce outputs completely differently. An idea shelved for Akihabara might be perfectly adaptable for a project in another region with the right tweaks.

Miura: That's great. Since so many interesting ideas emerged this time, we compiled the over 70 initiative proposals from everyone into a single "Idea Book." We created it hoping it would spark inspiration just by flipping through it during work, and serve as material to either focus or broaden perspectives.

Harada: The Idea Book was truly invaluable. While JR-Cross has accumulated its own know-how over time, clinging solely to internally developed methods leads to stagnation. This experience reaffirmed the importance of asking, "How might incorporating external perspectives drive change?"

Embracing change, forging innovative new chemical bonds with partners to transcend the ordinary

Miura: Now, let's turn our eyes to future business. What do you think are the challenges for surpassing what's been "the norm" until now?

Egoe: Our schemes must evolve with the times, right? While we firmly believe the foundations built over the past 20 years are essential, that doesn't guarantee the company's growth forever.

What matters is not fearing change. I believe the evolution we're called to now is generating numerous high-quality ideas. To achieve this, we cross-pollinate ideas through communication with external partners, including Dentsu Inc. This breadth of perspectives is the lifeline for pioneering new ventures.

Harada: As one such initiative, developing this idea-generation framework together with Dentsu Inc. proved highly effective. The keyword "Open Up, Ekina-ka" itself emerged from discussions during our workshops.

Egoshi: Furthermore, once a successful case emerges, we can share that methodology within JR-Cross and scale it horizontally to other projects. For example, when a successful initiative is reported at an Écu store manager meeting, discussions start: "Why did this initiative succeed?" and "Let's try it ourselves!"

Often, within a few months, similar approaches are planned at other stores. But it's not mere imitation. They are absolutely adapted to suit the local area. That's why customers likely perceive them as distinct initiatives.

Kato: That's because everyone at JR-Cross deeply understands their respective regions. They know what the challenges are and what kind of initiatives will be accepted. I think another key point is that everyone, including not just store managers but also young members on the front lines, works together with the same perspective.

Methods for leveraging young staff's free thinking and expanding ideas

Egoe: Ideally, we'd entrust everything, including idea generation, to the younger staff. I want them to communicate with people outside our group, gather information, and share their ideas more proactively. To achieve that, I believe our job is to push them, saying things like, "You can do better!" or "Don't you have any other ideas?"

Harada: For example, if there's a key person you think, "I want to talk to this person," take action without hesitation. We've had initiatives that started with someone literally knocking on doors unannounced to ask questions, leading to discussions and then planning and implementation.

Egoe: The "MATCH-UP MATCHA - A Moment to Meet Matcha" fair, held at multiple stores in Tokyo and Kanagawa, is one such example. It started when the manager in charge of the Shimbashi area visited the newly opened Ito En museum in the area, thinking, "Maybe we can do something interesting here. Let's go check it out."

The person involved didn't seem to imagine it would expand that far, but behind the scenes, their supervisor was pushing them, saying, "Can't we do something even more interesting?" Following that momentum, it spread further: "Let's talk to the teams in Yurakucho, Shibuya, Yokohama, Fujisawa, and others, not just Shimbashi, and try doing it jointly!"

Kato: That proactive approach is fantastic. Taking the initiative to create work. Traditionally, cold calling had a negative image, but everyone at JR-Cross seems to genuinely enjoy putting it into practice.

Miura: I agree. I think it's truly important to constantly change and keep challenging ourselves, without being bound by existing methods. For example, going forward, we could publicly share JR-Cross's ideas with local communities and ask, "Would you like to collaborate?" Building connections with regions through open innovation might be a great approach.

Egoe: That sounds incredibly interesting! Moving forward, we want to keep combining Dentsu Inc. and JR-Cross's ideas to launch initiatives that continually surpass the "ordinary," realizing our purpose: "A moment at the station – a little, more, forever."

Harada: Every time I speak with local residents, I feel the immense expectations they have for the station. That's precisely why we must exceed those expectations. I strongly feel we need to fuse our ideas with the community's requests to create initiatives that truly bring them joy.

Miura: In a world where DX, including AI, will accelerate even more, we anticipate the value of the real world becoming increasingly important. By creating unique value that only JR-Cross can provide—based on the platform of stations, which are a platform for the Japanese people—we can offer what digital cannot: warm human communication and locally rooted interaction platforms. This should invigorate Japan as a whole. Dentsu Inc. hopes to join you in building this new future for Japan.