The Sanjo Monozukuri School was established in 2015 by renovating the closed Sanjo Municipal Minami Elementary School. It is attracting attention from within and outside the prefecture as a completely new information dissemination base in the Tsubame-Sanjo area, which is attracting attention as a 'manufacturing town'.

The Tsubame-Sanjo Mini 4WD University OPEN CAMPUS 2017 was held on 3 December 2017.This was the second time the event was held, and the food event Baybay Day, where you can enjoy bread made from rice flour and other products, was held at the same time.

The first part of this report provided a photo report of the event.

The second part of this article focuses on the aspects of the thoughts behind the event, with talks by Kota Nezu, Takayuki Yamazaki and JUN WATANABE, as well as key persons from the organisers, Sanjo Monozukuri School.

In between the heated battles for the President's Cup, a trilogy talk was held by the guests of this Mini 4WD event, Kota Nezu, President of Tsubame-Sanjo Mini 4WD University, Takayuki Yamazaki and JUN WATANABE.

The three are also known as the 'Tamiya Three Musketeers' among fans, as they share the common ground of having introduced Tamiya's popular products to the world.

The theme of the trilogy was "Hobby Breakthrough!"

They discussed technical topics such as the difference in road grip between radio-controlled and mini four-wheel drive vehicles, as well as valuable stories about the design process.

The three are in the same position as designers. They talked about how we normally tend to think of them as being 'connected by design', but in fact they are not, but rather 'connected by hobby'.

Mr Kota Nezu. Creative communicator/designer, born 1969, Tokyo. Graduated from the Department of Industrial Design, Faculty of Engineering, Chiba University. After joining Toyota Motor Corporation, worked as concept development leader for the i-unit at Expo 2005 Aichi, Japan, and established his own company, znug design, in 2005. Designed Tamiya's popular mini 4WD models 'Raikiri' and 'Astral Star'.

This theme was originally set up based on a question raised by Mr Nezu, who said that "the hobby has the power to 'break through' industries and categories and connect with them".

Mr Takayuki Yamazaki. Hyper designer.Born 1972 in Nagano. Formerly a designer at Honda Technical Research Institute. 2012 founded pdc_designworks, based on his experience working on hit products such as the Ape, zoomer and GROM. designed the RC car 'Dual Edge', etc.

The three are wearing Tamiya logo hoodies with two ★ marks on them. Wearing this hoodie, they naturally strike up conversations with model fans as well as mini 4WD and RC car enthusiasts without any barriers.

Mr Nezu says: "It may have become less common nowadays, but with cars, for example, there used to be a natural connection between 'real cars, radio-controlled cars and mini four-wheel drive'.

It is easy to understand or even imagine that interest spreads in the same 'car' category. However, they have recently proposed a slightly different way of spreading interest.

Mr JUN WATANABE. He is active in a wide range of fields, from apparel to film production. He has released the RC car "Hornet by JUN WATANABE" from Tamiya. He also has a deep knowledge of radio-controlled cars and holds radio-controlled cup competitions under his own name.

As well as designing radio-controlled vehicles, JUN WATANABE is also involved in a number of other products, including trainers and apparel.

I originally designed clothes and trainers. By making radio-controlled cars with the exact same design, I aim to attract people from that side (JUN WATANABE's apparel fans) to this side (radio-controlled cars). If we don't do that, it won't spread. We want to create more opportunities."

The important thing is to create more opportunities.

The three agreed that it was important to create an opportunity to get people interested from a completely different world, rather than to get them interested in a horizontal way from a close category.

The 'smart by JUN WATANABE' designed by JUN WATANABE, which also includes an attempt to "simultaneously launch trainers and radio-controlled vehicles of the same design" (vehicle rental cooperation: crosspark ).

Hobbies are created with a destiny to create fun. Fun may expand unexpectedly by creating a kick-start.

Improvised collaborative drawing using blackboards!

Expect to get more kicks instead of working on them.

One man in the audience looked warmly at the heated competition and trilogy for the President's Cup.

Ltd, which operates the Sanjo Monozukuri School, is Katsuki Takayama, President of the Monozukuri School.

The combination of mini 4WD and school started at IID Setagaya Monozukuri School, the first monozukuri school (opened in 2004, rented from Setagaya Ward in a building of the former Ikejiri Junior High School, which was closed down). It would be fun to run mini four-wheelers in the long corridors of the primary schools! was Mr Nezu's idea. A course was set up in the facility and mini four-wheel drive events were held.

This movement led to activities to bring courses to areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake and to provide playgrounds.

'At one point, it occurred to me. I wondered what would happen if we pulled up the course we had brought in. The people who used to play there would have no place to play. Then we thought, why don't we just use cardboard, plastic or whatever we can make? That's why we started experimenting with handmade products at the IID Setagaya Monozukuri School," says Takayama.

These developments naturally linked up and led to the Tsubame-Sanjo Mini 4WD University.

New connections can be created from movements that are not too much under their control, says Takayama.

'I expect unintended connections to be made. For example, when we hold a mini four-wheel drive event, it's obvious that people who aren't interested basically don't come. So this time, Niigata = rice, so our staff came up with the idea of an event using rice flour and stuck it together."

Once they had organised the event, things then proceeded naturally.

This is exactly the kind of thinking that Tsubame Sanjo needs. Mr Takayama says so.

Nippers and tools are essential for mini 4WD production. Tsubame-Sanjo is home to a number of companies that produce them

'The enthusiasm for manufacturing in Tsubame-Sanjo is tremendous. In a place like that, it would be a waste if our (Sanjo Monozukuri School) staff planned various things and the local people just followed along. Instead, I think that if the local people don't use the place (well) themselves, there is no point in this kind of place existing," says Takayama.

I think that if we introduce this designer to a company, something interesting might come out of it. In the area of Tsubame-Sanjo, there really is an abundance of potential. We don't want to set up a firm structure there, but rather continue to create a place where spontaneity can occur."

While walking around the event site, Mr Takayama did not tell us to do this or that, but rather gently watched over us, which itself seemed to indicate the direction of the Sanjo Monozukuri School. His appearance was somewhat like that of a school headmaster.

Hiroyuki Saito, Executive Director, Sanjo Monozukuri School.

Hiroyuki Saito, the Executive Director, who is in charge of the practicalities on the ground, adds.

'It is important not to colour in', he said.

By not daring to label the place as "this is the kind of place it is" or to give the event too much colour, they hope to draw out unexpected chemical reactions.

'It's a ____ event.' If you declare that you are going to be there, it inevitably becomes a form of enclosure. Other people might feel that they are not allowed to come. I wanted to create an event where, for example, the 'hardcore' mini 4WD freaks can enjoy themselves, while those who just show up on the spur of the moment can still have a bit of fun," says Saito.

It is neither too limited nor too broad.

And we don't force them to work on it.

Interest and learning come from chance.

When I think about it, I feel that primary school was a place that provided many such places and opportunities.

The Sanjo Monozukuri School, which occupies what used to be a primary school, is probably the best place for play and learning, as it is a natural place for this to happen. It was a day that made us think so.