Business Advisor at the Chamber of Commerce (3) Meeting Kota, Reconnecting with the Past [#CreativeAward2025 #WorkNovelCategory]

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One spring day, while patrolling the shopping district, Yuto Morita met a boy who was desperately handing out flyers in front of a small Japanese confectionery shop.
"Mister, please take one!"
What was held out by a small hand was a carefully hand-drawn flyer for the shop. The boy's name was Kota Matsuda. He was a fourth-grader in elementary school. The family business, "Matsudaya," was a long-standing Japanese confectionery shop, but in recent years, sales had dropped, and the business's survival was in jeopardy.
"Oh, you're working hard. Is this your dad's shop?"
"Yeah. If more customers come, my dad will smile!"
That smile pierced Yuto's heart. It overlapped with his own past self.
——The next day.
While patrolling the shopping district, Yuto suddenly noticed sobbing coming from the front of Matsudaya. Peering into the shop, he saw Kota slumped over a desk, shedding tears.
"Kota-kun, what's wrong?"
"At school... they called me 'the kid from the shop that's about to go bust'... They said, 'You're poor, so you can't even buy sweets...'"
Heavy memories resurfaced in Yuto's heart. Once, his own family's business had wavered due to financial difficulties, and he had been told similar things.
——The helpless self from back then. A childhood where he could do nothing but silently watch his family's suffering.
When he returned home, conversation at the dinner table had ceased, and the sound of the factory shutters signaled the end of their life. "It's no use. There's debt. And the suppliers..."
They were turned away by financial institutions, and experts had given up on them.
In the midst of that, only the business advisor from the Chamber of Commerce kept coming back again and again to check on the factory's situation, trying to do something until the very end. However, the family business was already beyond saving.
"Thank you for your kindness. But, if a small factory like ours disappears, no one will be troubled, right?"
"..........."
On the business advisor's face, there was an indelible regret and a shadow as if he were blaming himself. His lips were slightly pressed together, and deep wrinkles were etched between his brows. It was as if the deep-seated feeling of "could I have done something more" from the bottom of his heart was seeping out into his expression.
——If only someone had reached out a hand sooner back then.
While overlapping his past self with the tears of the boy in front of him, Yuto gently placed his hand on Kota's shoulder.
"It's okay, Kota-kun. I won't let your dad's shop go under."
That was also a promise to his past self.

That night, Yuto was facing Kazuo, the owner of Matsudaya.

"Sales keep falling, and raw material costs are soaring. But... even so, I want my son to be proud of this shop."

At those words from Kazuo Matsuda, Yuto's heart grew warm.

For Kota's sake, he must not let the light of this shop go out.

However, reality does not move by logic alone.

SNS operation support, new product development, poster design, campaign strategy... He thought of many support measures. But one question kept surfacing and disappearing in Yuto's mind.

——Can he really be saved by just that?

That day, while walking through the shopping district, he suddenly noticed the number of vacant shops with their shutters still closed.

"The fishmonger next door closed last week," "Mr. Tanaka the greengrocer seems to have reduced his stock lately"—such rumors reached his ears.

Supporting individual shops alone is like bailing out a corner of a sinking boat with a bucket.

"The problem isn't 'Matsudaya,' it's the 'entire shopping district.'"

Yuto returned to the meeting room alone at night and opened a blank notebook.

"I must support it as a whole, not as individual points"—that led to the concept of the "Sakuragawa Marche."

A mechanism to create vibrancy, once again in this town.

A market event. Involving local restaurants, farmers, artisans, students, neighborhood associations, tourism associations... everyone, to create a place where "people connect with people."

"It's not just a business of lining up products, I'm creating a space where you can feel life."

——Suddenly, Kota's face came to mind.

“The adults are seriously trying to protect this town. I want to show that to him.”

Yuto writes “Sakuragawa Marche Concept” in large letters on an A3 sheet of paper and begins jotting down notes underneath.

・Target number of visitors: 3,000

・Organizer: Sakuragawa Chamber of Commerce and Industry / Group of volunteer shop owners

・Support: Sakuragawa City

・Features: Locally sourced ingredients, craft workshops, children’s festival, student brass band performances

His hand doesn't stop taking notes.

“If we’re going to do this, we’re going to do it for real. We’re going to turn this shopping district into a ‘symbol of hope.’”

Late at night, the lights in the hall remained quietly lit.

And the next morning.

“Morita-kun, aren’t your eyes sparkling more than usual?”

Akiyama called out, half-jokingly.

“Yes. I... I’ve come up with a new project. Something to revitalize the entire shopping district.”

“Oh? That sounds exciting. What kind of project?”

“I’m thinking of calling it the ‘Sakuragawa Marche.’ I want to make it a place where everyone can be the star.”

At those words, Akiyama’s eyes widened slightly, and then he smiled quietly.

With the “Sakuragawa Marche” concept in his heart, Morita began reaching out to the shop owners in the shopping district.

To transform the “point-based support” starting from Matsudaya into “area-wide revitalization,” his steps gradually began to spread across the entire town.

The first person he visited was Shigeru Tanaka, the owner of the greengrocer “Tanaka Seika”.

“A marche? Another event...”

Tanaka said while stacking cardboard boxes.

“No, this time it’s different. It’s not just about setting up stalls; I want to make it an ‘experience-based’ event where the locals are the stars. Things like vegetable stuffing contests or vegetable quizzes for kids—”

“...It does sound interesting, though.”

However, Tanaka’s eyes looked somewhat tired.

“But listen, Morita-kun. We’ve been betrayed so many times already.”

“Betrayed...?”

“How many events do you think there have been in the last ten years? They all started with the promise of ‘revitalizing the town,’ but in the end, people just came temporarily and that was it. Customers just passed through for the event, and our products didn’t sell. All that was left was the fatigue from stocking and preparation.”

Morita was at a loss for words. He certainly knew about past failures, but in Tanaka’s words before him, there was a palpable sense of resignation and pain.

The next place he visited was the general store “Hori Stationery”.

“Participate? No way, we don’t have the energy for that anymore.”

“Energy, you say...”

"Mentally, too. The more you dream, the colder reality feels."

After that, the candy store, the clothing store, the barbershop... most of the reactions were cold.

"...Why do you give up before you even try?"

Returning to the hall, Morita let out a deep sigh.

Just then, Akiyama walked by, carrying a stack of documents.

"Welcome back. How did it go?"

"...A total washout. Everyone was hurt by past events. They all gave me that 'here we go again' look."

Akiyama stopped and said quietly,

"I thought it was impossible at first, too."

"Huh...?"

"But, seeing Kota-kun's smile and your sincerity, I started to want to believe in it a little. So, why don't we try a little harder together?"

At those words, a small light flickered in Morita's heart.

He stood up quietly, picked up the materials on his desk, and headed toward the shopping district once more.

—However, I had no way of knowing yet that that small light would soon be exposed to a cold wind.

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