On Monday, August 17th, Kyushu Sangyo University, in collaboration with Takahashi Co., Ltd. (Kurume City, Fukuoka Prefecture), which operates Gardens Chihaya, and NEXCO West Japan Kyushu Branch (Hakata Ward, Fukuoka City), launched the first phase of "Chihaya Service Area *", a limited-time antenna shop showcasing the attractions of various parts of Kyushu, at Chihaya Park (Higashi Ward, Fukuoka City).
For the first phase of this year's third year, we opened the "Oita-Saiki Service Area" in collaboration with the Saiki Tourism and Community Development Foundation (Saiki City, Oita Prefecture).
<Oita/Saiki Service Area>
Period: August 17, 2026 (Monday) - September 8, 2026 (Tuesday) 11:00-19:00
Location: Gardens Chihaya Chihaya Park (3-6-37 Chihaya, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture)
Product: "A non-melting ice bar made by a Japanese confectionery shop" using fruits from Saiki.
Saiki's local specialty: "Gomadashi"
Shaved ice made with Marine Lemons from Saiki.
Oita Prefecture boasts one of the highest catches of seafood, etc.
In this project, under the guidance of Professor Toru Kurita of the Faculty of Art and Design Department of Living Environment Design and Lecturer Yuichiro Ishibashi Department of Visual Design, students from the same department worked on the interior design of the store and the creation of logos and posters. The logo is based on a houndstooth pattern, with the "woven" motif of the "Woven Tree," a symbolic tree in Gardens Chihaya park. The store fixtures aim to express the pattern in three dimensions, using cube shapes as the basic form that can be combined with the houndstooth pattern, and are designed to be stacked.
Furthermore, under the guidance of Professor Yuko Ogata of Department of Tourism, Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development, students from the department are primarily responsible for operating the physical store. They play a role in deepening the ties between various regions and cities in Kyushu. This time, in order to promote the charms of Saiki City, students conducted fieldwork on-site for two days, June 20th (Sat) and June 21st (Sun), and are now sharing the unique charms of the city, such as its nature, food, and people, that they experienced, within the service area.
Please stop by if you are in the area!
*A local antenna shop, modeled after a service area on a highway, planned and run by students. It will be opened for a limited time at Gardens Chihaya as a base for promoting the charms of the region, with the aim of acting as a bridge connecting each region of Kyushu with the Fukuoka metropolitan area. (Inspired by the functions of a service area, such as information dissemination, sales, rest, and gathering.)
[Faculty of Collaborative Regional Development / Faculty of Art and Design / Industry-Academia Co-innovation and Research Promotion Headquarters]
