Inside Kashiwa-no-ha: Hitachi Smart City near Tokyo
“Koil” is an Open Innovation Lab in Kashiwa-no-ha devoted to the incubation of startup companies. The area is available for startup companies to rent out. The ceiling in the building is deliberately unfinished to resemble a factory, to look like it is still in development.
The lab also includes a room for businesses to use 3D printers and laser cutters.
Kashiwa-no-ha Smart City is a collaboration between government agencies, universities, research institutions, Mitsui Fudosan and Hitachi.
Located just outside of Tokyo, the city aims to provide an environmental-symbiotic city, a city of health and longevity, and a city of new industry creation.
Hitachi provides area energy-management solutions that operate, monitor, and control energy across the city.