Creating the scenery for the next generation in Setoda
Yuta Oka, who spearheads SOIL Setoda and co-founded Azumi Setoda, started his career in foreign finance, making transactions that moved trillions of yen.
“Even making deals that hit the news in the Nikkei didn’t move me emotionally,” he says. “It wasn’t my money, and while it was my job, it didn’t feel like it. I wanted to work on a scale that felt personal, so I started my own urban planning business as a ‘soft developer.'”
His first visit to Setoda was five years ago. It was slapped on at the end of a tour with little expectation.
“What first drew me in was the contrast between the blue of the sea and the yellow citrus groves. There was a wealthy merchant’s house, over 140 years old, which would later become Azumi Setoda. The locals in the shopping district were friendly, and I liked that you could walk around the entire place in about 20 minutes. Just the right size. The idea for SOIL’s business emerged through dialogues with locals, kind of like a jazz session. Our new aim is to grow our unique shop houses, which blend retail spaces and guest rooms, to a total of ten within the shopping district. Initially, I felt like a visitor, impeding on life here in Setoda, but now I feel the responsibility to create the town’s next central scenery.”
Yuta Oka
Yuta Oka, born in 1986 in Okayama Prefecture, is the representative of Staple. Based in Setoda and Nihonbashi, he operates SOIL Setoda, MINATOYA, Hi.Fu.Mi, OVERVIEW COFFEE. He is also involved in Azumi Setoda and yubune, as a co-founder of a different company.