The Rita Citizens’ Asset Foundation’s Forum Commemorating Public Interest Certification
Buddhist (Bukkyo) Times, August 20 & 27, 2026
The Rita Civic Asset Foundation was established by a group of temples, NPOs, and civic groups as a public interest corporation in January of this year. To commemorate this event, a forum entitled “The Future Sprouting from an Eclectic Commons” was held on July 26 at Tower Hall Funabori in the Edogawa Ward of East Tokyo, with a hybrid online format. The event explored the potential of a model that shifts from a social system of “ownership” to one of “sharing” through practical applications of the commons.
The Rita Foundation was first developed in 2024 with the aim of creating a “commons” as a sustainable and innovative social model. The foundation is based on a network that has expanded through the provision of assets (such as land and buildings) from the Juko-in Temple in Edogawa Ward and the Kenju-in Temple in central Bunkyo Ward, both presided over by Hidehito Okochi, a priest of the Jodo Pure Land denomination. These assets have been bequeathed to NPOs and other organizations for use in welfare, environmental, and peace initiatives.
The network’s shift to a public interest corporation, Rita Foundation, has allowed the management of land and buildings to serve the public interest. It has also allowed tax benefits to those who donate such assets to the foundation as “donation deductions” and, under certain conditions, “inheritance tax exemptions.” In the first half of the forum, various organizations reported on their activities, such as Hotto Community Edogawa, which operates a senior housing service that actively utilizes these assets. There was also a presentation of the history of the network leading up to the establishment of the Rita Foundation.
The second half of the forum, entitled “Practical Knowledge of the Commons,” featured presentations by practitioners and researchers in the field of the commons. Ms. Shoko Takenouchi renovated her home to open a membership-based kitchen, shared space, and shared housing unit called Okatte Nishioji in the Suginami Ward of western Tokyo. She said the concept is based on “a communal kitchen where everyone cooks and eats together. New value is being created not through monetary transactions, but by pooling resources. I realized that doing things with others starts out as a hassle, but gradually becomes fun.”
Mr. Takuya Matsumura, who has been supporting entrepreneurial activities, introduced himself as “a nation-building activist.” He identified the key points of the commons as “sharing” or “belonging” to spaces and resources rather than “owning” them. He drew parallels between “nation-building” and the importance of “self-governance” and “diplomacy”. “Self-governance” involves members jointly managing resources, while “diplomacy” which involves building relationships with neighbors.
Prof. Noboru Niwa, who specializes in urban planning at Tokyo Metropolitan University, made a number of observations about Edogawa Ward, where the Rita Foundation is based. He pointed out that as population grows, the density of privately owned homes increases, leading to a shortage of public space and a lack of “breathing room.” While explaining the importance of “third places”, that is, spaces that are neither home, school, nor workplace, he expressed the hope that the Rita Foundation could provide such places.
Rev. Okochi stated his reflections as, “Temples are not owned by the government, the state, or individuals. They are ‘commons’ in the sense that they are built collectively by like-minded families and the entire community.” He finds hope in the concept of the commons, noting, “Commons connect people who share a vision that extends beyond the here and now, beyond this place, and beyond themselves.”
translated by Jonathan S. Watts
