Sapporo City, NoMaps, Morisawa, and Professional Graduate School of Social Design Launch "Sapporo-based Corporate Value Concept Project"

Sapporo City (Mayor: Katsuhiro Akimoto), Morisawa Inc. (Headquarters: Osaka, Japan; President: Akihiko Morisawa), the NoMaps Executive Committee (Secretariat: Sapporo; Chairman: Hiroyuki Ito), and the Professional Graduate School of Social Design (Headquarters: Tokyo; President: Koji Yoshikuni) have launched a collaborative research project, the "Sapporo-based Corporate Value Concept Project," focused on regional revitalization and creating corporate brand value starting from Sapporo. Applications are now open for project researchers to participate in the project ahead of its launch in August 2026.

The launch ceremony was held at Sapporo 4-chome Plaza on June 2, 2026. (From left: Toshio Morimura, Secretary General of NoMaps; Akihiko Morisawa, President of Morisawa; Norihiko Asamura, Director of the Urban Development Policy Bureau of Sapporo; Tetsu Nakagawa, Dean of the Graduate School of Communication Design at the Professional Graduate School of Social Design; Professor Masami Kawamura of the Professional Graduate School of Social Design.)

A public-private co-creation project to refine brand value and create new value from Sapporo.

In an era where the environment surrounding companies is changing rapidly and customer/market values are diversifying, branding that clearly defines and consistently communicates an organization's reason for existence and value, both internally and externally, is essential for organizations to remain chosen. With this background, the four parties—Sapporo City, the NoMaps Executive Committee (which operates the urban festival of technology, entertainment, and creativity in Sapporo/Hokkaido), Morisawa Inc. (a font manufacturer also developing solution businesses for municipal information dissemination), and the "Professional Graduate School of Social Design" (a graduate school for working professionals that fosters talent with conceptual capabilities)—have formed a partnership to launch this research project aimed at creating corporate brand value starting from Sapporo.

This project is a hands-on research group that utilizes the essence of the curriculum from the Professional Graduate School of Social Design and the Graduate School of Project Design, focusing on constructing branding and formulating brand plans starting from an organization's philosophy and vision.

It will consist of 10 researchers under one professor and will be held 10 times over a six-month period from August 2026 to January 2027. Project participants will be granted the status of Institute Researcher at the Foundation for Advanced Education.

Project Overview

In this project, participants will re-examine their company's brand value and work on constructing a brand concept and formulating a strategic brand plan, starting from their philosophy and vision.

Starting from an environmental analysis of the organization, participants will aim to formulate a strategic branding plan through activities such as organizing the company's PMVV (Purpose, Mission, Vision, Value), concretizing the brand core identity, and creating inner and outer branding plans.

1. Duration: August 2026 to January 2027 (10 sessions, approx. 3 hours per session) 2. Venue: Venues within Sapporo and online 3. Number of participants: 10