Panasonic Holdings Corporation is headquartered in Kadoma, Osaka Prefecture. For the company’s owned media platform, Future Works, I produced an event report on the “monthly open circle (moc),” held in June 2026 by KKPC, a public-private partnership platform for community development.
Connecting Through Who We Are, Not Our Titles:
How 100-Person Meetings Foster Neighborly Relationships for Building the Future [June Monthly Open Circle]
https://tech.panasonic.com/jp/ex007/topics/42.html
Panasonic Holdings “Future Works”
EX Innovation Department, a technology division within the Panasonic Group that conducts research and development not only on technology itself, but also on new ways of working.
・EX Innovation Department (Website)
https://tech.panasonic.com/jp/ex007/about/
・Exploring the Transformation of Work: The EX Innovation Department’s Challenge
https://tech.panasonic.com/jp/ex007/topics/10.html
Future Works is a media platform launched by the department to bring together collective knowledge and insights on new ways of working. It reports on and shares unique approaches and examples from both within and outside the company and around the world, contributing to the research and development of the future of work.
・Future Works（HP）
https://tech.panasonic.com/jp/ex007/
・Articles Contributed to Future Works
https://ropeth.com/tag/panasonic/
会場情報【Technology CUBE】
2040年に向けた「技術未来ビジョン」を具現化するため、研究・開発の進め方や協働のあり方など、働き方そのものを見直し、設計・構築された拠点。
本拠点の本格稼働により、パナソニックHD 技術部門では、研究・開発のスピード、技術を社会に届ける実装力、そして社内外の多様なパートナーとの協働力を進化させるとしています。
5階・8階には、大学・行政・スタートアップ・企業パートナーと共に研究・実証を進める「イノベーション・共創フロア」が設置。共同実験やプロトタイプ開発、研究会・ワークショップなどを通じて、オープンイノベーションを推進します。
実際に、参加者一人ひとりの関心や専門性を起点にした定期的な共創プログラム「Monthly Meetup」をはじめ、さまざまな共創イベントが展開されています。
・Technology CUBEの詳細はこちらから
https://news.panasonic.com/jp/press/jn260309-2
Public-Private Partnership Platform for Community Development “KKPC”
A public-private community development platform comprising four organizations: Kadoma City (K), Keihan Holdings (K), Panasonic Holdings (P), and Culture Convenience Club (C). Rather than being a group formed around predetermined goals or outcomes, KKPC is a community built on relationships between people, with a distinctive approach to community design aimed at creating sustainable value. By enabling diverse individuals to connect organically across organizational boundaries and affiliations, KKPC fosters spontaneous conversations and relationships that can lead to new ideas and projects.
・What Is the Public-Private Partnership Platform for Community Development “KKPC”?
https://tech.panasonic.com/jp/ex007/topics/40.html
monthly open circle（moc）
A monthly dialogue-based event created through the public-private community development platform “KKPC.” It consists of two interconnected spaces: “base,” centered at Panasonic Holdings’ Technology CUBE, and “field,” which opens the initiative to the wider community at KADOMADO, the Kadoma City Library of Culture and Creativity. By moving between these two settings, the program generates new questions and insights, creating opportunities for learning and dialogue where diverse people can connect as “neighbors” in shaping the future.
monthly open circle / June 2026
The June theme was “100-Person Meetings,” a community initiative held in locations across Japan. Daisuke Takashima, founder of the initiative and CEO of INTO THE FABRIC Inc., joined as a guest speaker. Participants learned about the structure of 100-Person Meetings and approaches to community design, while using “self-introduction” as a starting point to explore how people can connect beyond job titles, roles, and other labels.
・100-Person Meetings (Official Website)
https://100ninkaigi.com/
Speaker Profile
高嶋 大介（Takashima Daisuke）
Founder and steward of “100-Person Meetings,” a community initiative held across Japan. Alongside his work at Fujitsu Limited in areas such as UX, design research, and marketing strategy, he established the INTO THE FABRIC Association in 2017. Today, as CEO of INTO THE FABRIC Inc., he creates opportunities that connect people, companies, and local communities through organizational strategy, community design, and event marketing, guided by the belief that informal connections between people can inspire new challenges and shape the future of communities. He is also the author of Let’s Start a 100-Person Meeting!.
In Producing the Event Report
On the day of the event, I was responsible for photography as well as reporting and writing. By exploring the philosophy and structure behind 100-Person Meetings, I portrayed how the “familiar strangers” we encounter in our communities can become “neighbors in shaping the future” as they come to know one another beyond the surface.
Reporting & Photography
In photographing the event, I focused not only on documenting the talks and workshops, but also on capturing the gradual development of closer connections among the participants.
During the talk, I photographed not only Mr. Takashima speaking about the background of 100-Person Meetings and community design, but also the expressions of participants as they listened. By combining images of the speaker with the reactions of those receiving his words, I aimed to convey how the learning experience was shared throughout the entire space.
In the latter half of the event, during the self-introduction and workshop sessions, I focused on capturing moments that reflected the changing atmosphere—from participants’ thoughtful expressions as they reflected on their own experiences and values to the smiles that emerged as they introduced themselves within their groups.
The theme of this article is “connecting through who we are, not our titles.” With that in mind, rather than simply showing the scale or energy of the event, I placed greater emphasis on documenting the moments when relationships begin to form between people—the expressions of individual participants, the way they listened attentively to one another, and the smiles that emerged through dialogue.
In Producing the Report
In this article, I aimed not only to introduce the activities of 100-Person Meetings and the June moc program, but also to explore how getting to know who someone truly is can transform the relationships between people.
At the beginning of the article, I introduce the concept of the “Familiar Stranger,” proposed by social psychologist Stanley Milgram. We may live in the same neighborhood, work in the same building, and see one another regularly, yet never even know each other’s names. Using these “familiar strangers” who fill our cities as a starting point, I then lead into the story of how 100-Person Meetings came to be.
In the middle of the article, I focus on the design principles of “replicability” and “an ending” that helped 100-Person Meetings spread across Japan. While the initiative is built on a simple framework that allows anyone to organize one, it also follows a distinctive rule: each local series comes to an end once 100 guests have spoken. Rather than simply presenting it as a successful event model, I explored the thinking behind its design—including how it sustains organizers’ enthusiasm and encourages communities to continually renew themselves—to convey the essence of what makes 100-Person Meetings unique.
In the latter half of the article, I shift the focus to the familiar act of self-introduction. Rather than emphasizing company names, job titles, or achievements, I highlight the importance of sharing one’s thoughts, values, and personal story. I conclude by exploring how getting to know the person behind the title can inspire us to reach out and start a conversation, creating the foundation for genuine human-to-human relationships.
Familiar Stranger → Getting to Know the Person → Becoming Acquainted → Building a Relationship
Throughout the article, I trace this transformation and ultimately explore the possibility that people who once merely passed each other on the street can come to understand one another’s aspirations and become “neighbors in shaping the future”—supporting each other in new challenges and collaborations.
Connecting Through Who We Are, Not Our Titles:
How 100-Person Meetings Foster Neighborly Relationships for Building the Future [June Monthly Open Circle]
https://tech.panasonic.com/jp/ex007/topics/42.html
My sincere thanks to everyone at Panasonic Holdings who commissioned this project, as well as to everyone who generously contributed to the reporting and interviews.
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An editor, writer, and photographer based in the Kansai region. After graduating from university, I worked as an elementary school teacher, cram school instructor, and childcare professional. In 2019, I joined hyphen LLC, where I worked at coworking space mocco Himeji and helped launch coworking space mocco Kakogawa, serving as a community manager. I later worked as an editor, interviewer, writer, and photographer for *Maruhari*, a local information magazine covering the Harima region of Hyogo Prefecture, before becoming independent. Since March 2024, I have served as a community manager at GRANDSLAM, a coworking space in Fukushima, Osaka.
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