Primrose Inc. (Chuo-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director: Tetsuya Kobayashi) and Makaira KK (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director and CEO: Koichiro Fujii; Representative Director and COO: Akira Takahashi) have won the Public/Private Partnership Award at THE GOLD STANDARD AWARDS 2026, held in Singapore on September 15, 2026.

This marks Makaira’s third consecutive year receiving recognition at the awards, following wins in 2024 and 2025.

About THE GOLD STANDARD AWARDS 2026

THE GOLD STANDARD AWARDS 2026, organized by Public Affairs Asia and the Public Relations and Communications Association Asia Pacific, recognize innovative and impactful initiatives in communications and public affairs across the Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions.

Government agencies, companies, NGOs, and other organizations are nominated across categories including stakeholder engagement, crisis management, media relations, and CSR. The agricultural structural reform project jointly undertaken by Primrose Inc. and Makaira KK had been named a finalist in the Public/Private Partnership category.

THE GOLD STANDARD AWARDS 2026
https://prca-international-awards.org/goldstandard2026/

About the Award-Winning Project

The award-winning initiative is a public-private partnership centered on “Farmland Regeneration and Hybrid Development,” designed to address two challenges simultaneously: Japan’s agricultural challenges caused by a severe shortage of successors and growing amounts of abandoned farmland, and a shortage of logistics infrastructure.

To address complex land ownership structures and land-use challenges that local communities had faced for many years—and which had proven difficult to resolve through conventional frameworks—the project established a new public-private partnership model by making flexible use of existing regulatory systems.

A portion of the target area is converted into commercially viable logistics facilities, with private capital generated through the development used to regenerate the remaining farmland as large-scale smart agriculture sites.

Throughout the process, Primrose and Makaira worked alongside the project, engaging in repeated discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries and members of the National Diet, while maintaining transparent information-sharing and careful dialogue with a wide range of stakeholders, including local governments and landowners. This process enabled consensus to be built around a shared vision for the future of the community.

As a result, this agile approach leveraging private capital has generated a positive cycle for the local economy.

In Shiraoka City, Saitama Prefecture, the Ichigono-Oka Project has transformed approximately 20 hectares of underutilized farmland into a state-of-the-art smart strawberry farm and logistics facilities, creating more than 300 new jobs.

In neighboring Satte City, transparent negotiations have also progressed with approximately 90 landowners, culminating in the signing of a partnership agreement among the local community, government, and private-sector partners in September 2025.

The model is also beginning to generate broader momentum, with landowner councils already being formed in several surrounding municipalities.

The project was recognized for establishing a new model for infrastructure development that revitalizes underutilized local resources while balancing economic value and sustainability, with the potential to be replicated across Japan.

For more information about the project, please visit:
https://www.priminc.jp/achivements/220826.html