Weekly News Digest
産経オンライン英会話 ニュースディスカッション教材
Amuse Inc. (Tokyo), a major Japanese entertainment agency, officially announced on April 1 that it will move its headquarters to the town of Fujikawaguchiko in Yamanashi Prefecture, at the foot of Mount Fuji.
The new location is 116 km west of Tokyo. Full-scale operation is expected to begin in July 2021.
The 8,800-square-meter site will be developed as “Amuse Village” based on the company’s concept of “UPCYCLE LIFE”, said its spokesperson.
Amuse intends to transmit the culture of the new era- its answer to adapting to the new reality since the onslaught of COVID 19 – through its four mottos:
purification of mind and body,
return to origin,
coexistence with nature, and
release from constant connection.
The company’s current head office in the Sakuragaoka-cho neighborhood of Shibuya, right in the center of Tokyo, will also remain in operation, but will no longer be the only headquarters.
Amuse is listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The company represents well-known artists such as the Southern All Stars, singer and actor Masaharu Fukuyama, and actress Yuriko Yoshitaka.
On March 26, Masaki Nakanishi, President of Amuse Inc., visited Yamanashi Prefecture Governor Kotaro Nagasaki to inform him of the move, according to a report by The Sankei Shimbun.
The move has been welcomed by Yamanashi Prefecture, which has been promoting the concept of “two-base residence,” where people live and work in both the city center and in Yamanashi. It is envisioned as a way of adapting to the new reality following the spread of the new coronavirus.
The company’s new headquarters will be at the site of the former Hotel Lake Saiko (literally “West Lake”), which closed last Autumn due to the Corona pandemic, said a company spokesperson. Renovation work is currently being carried out.
大手芸能事務所のアミューズ（東京）は１日、山梨県富士河口湖町に本社を移転すると正式に発表した。７月から本格稼働するとしている。
約８８００平方メートルの敷地を「アミューズヴィレッジ」として整備し、「『ＵＰＣＹＣＬＥ ＬＩＦＥ』をコンセプトに『心身の浄化』『原点への回帰』『自然との共生』『常時接続からの解放』を通じて、新時代の文化を世界へ発信する」としている。現在本社としている渋谷区桜丘町のオフィスは残すという。
アミューズは人気バンド、サザンオールスターズや歌手で俳優の福山雅治さん、女優の吉高由里子さんらが所属する東証１部上場企業。
中西正樹社長が３月２６日、山梨県庁に長崎幸太郎知事を訪ねて報告し、産経新聞の取材に移転を認めていた。関係者によると、移転先は西湖（さいこ）の湖畔で、新型コロナウイルス感染拡大の影響で昨年秋に閉館した旧レイクホテル西湖の建物や周辺施設。現在改修工事が行われている。
山梨県は新型コロナ感染拡大による新たなライフスタイルとして、都心と山梨の両方で生活や仕事をする「２拠点居住」を推進しており、アミューズの移転を支援した。