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A blueprint for the twists and turns that lie ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n TBWA\\HAKUHODO, the leading Disruption creative agency based in Tokyo, has today released the free Japanese-language version of EDGES 2024, a deep-dive into global cultural shifts with scale that help brands develop strategies to capture the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Published annually by Backslash, the TBWA\\Worldwide cultural intelligence unit, EDGES 2024 is so much more than a trend report, offering intelligence on more than 41 unique cultural shifts, or \u2018edges\u2019. The pages of deep analyses reflecting both global and domestic culture is now made publicly available for free, offering insights for future-focused Japanese businesses and marketers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n About \u2018Edges\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Edges\u2019 are not trends, hot new styles, the \u2018latest thing\u2019 or buzz-today-gone-tomorrow fads. The EDGES reports are compiled yearly and made available to the public free of charge.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Five new \u2018edges\u2019 added this year: <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n EDGES 2024 contains 41 \u2018edges\u2019 of which five are entirely new for this year, offering a vastly comprehensive look at emerging solutions and cultural adaptations to some of the trickiest realities facing our world: <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf\u3000Demise Duality (Turning extinction scenarios and questions of humankind\u2019s continuation to optimism, reigniting a collective and individual sense of purpose by interpreting the diversifying views of \u2018the end\u2019)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf\u3000Inclement Armor (Extreme weather becoming the new normal, this will reshape everything from how we dress, how we holiday, how we work and much more)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf\u3000Intimate AI (Normalizing AI as a \u2018sidekick\u2019 in our daily lives as an assistant, companion or teacher, freeing us from time-intensive tasks) <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf\u3000Rerouted (The transition to greener, smaller-scale mobility and the incentives and infrastructure overhauls required)<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u25cf\u3000Untourism (Overtourism and questionable tourist behavior are giving rise to the need for more regulations and mindful models of travel and tourism, shifting from high volume to high value travel) <\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Masakazu Tagai, the Japan Backslash Unit Leader at TBWA\\HAKUHODO offers his take on the one of newly added edges and how we can use the intelligence to open our perception: <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2018Demise Duality\u2019 (which is an evolution of \u2018Death Undone\u2019, an edge from 2023 indicating the deteriorating taboos around \u2018death\u2019) tells us people are now increasingly talking about the end of humanity, and the world as we know it. Particularly poignant for Japan and its rapidly declining birthrate. Our country will soon have to face many \u2018endings\u2019 as rate of death will overtake rate of birth. We want EDGES 2024 to raise new questions for you, and prompt you to open minded discourse on these topics with those around you\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Masakazu invited comments from experts in the area:<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hinata Maeda, CEO, Mujo Co., Ltd.<\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Driven by a belief that society needs more diverse services that help people navigate the emotional impact of death and loss, Hinata established Mujo Inc. specializing in home funerals, bespoke designed \u2018memorial websites\u2019 and exhibitions which attempt to re-design how we face death. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIn Japan, where villages are dying out due to depopulation, the edge of\u202f\u2018Demise Duality\u2019 really resonates. Convention dictates that these dying villages and localities must be kept alive through government revitalization programs. However, this insistence that \u2018staying alive\/repopulation at all costs\u2019 is the only right thing to do, often leaves the \u2018last generation\u2019 of residents feeling a great deal of guilt, as if they had \u2018failed\u2019 their community and home. Rather than viewing\u202fthis demise as a negative thing,\u202fa diverse perspective to \u2018the end\u2019 is much needed here. Let\u2019s accept certain realities with no sense of taboo or emotional reactionism, and this may lead to more pragmatic solutions that place the\u202fhappiness and peace of the\u202fcurrent\u202fresident\u2019s center stage.\u202f A \u2018protopia\u2019, if you like, where we aren\u2019t stuck in old ways, dooming ourselves to echo the past, but opening our minds to accepting new realities, and seeking solutions from there.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Masafumi Kawachi, Representative Director of Deep Care Lab and Co-representative of Public and Design of General Incorporated Association.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n After studying government collaboration and social innovation in Finland, he is now exploring areas of ecology, anthropology and future ethics for imaginative innovations. Currently Program Director at the Outen-In temple in Osaka, he has put together \u201cMunu Fest<\/a>\u201d a 10 day event starting in May 2024 which focuses on all aspects of life, including death of course. <\/p>\n\n\n\n “This Edge was about the diversifying perceptions of \u2018the end\u2019, offering insights into the many varying anxieties we feel towards it, and changes in how we are starting to address it. This report was a profound reminder that across cultures, our perceptions of death and disappearance, (be it as individuals or as the human race) are intertwined and universal. A very illuminating read that offers hope and direction in light of the climate crisis and geopolitical tensions, that offers some hints on what a \u2018beautiful ending\u2019 might be for us.”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n Download EDGES 2024 Japanese version here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n https:\/\/www.tbwahakuhodo.co.jp\/uploads\/2024\/04\/Backslash_Edges-2024_JP.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n English version is also available from here:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u2018Edges\u2019 are signals in culture that indicate emerging phenomena in society, nuanced illuminations of what future culture may look like. This proprietary approach by TBWA offers clients and businesses an advantage to see what\u2019s around the corner of culture before mainstream-ification, giving them a head start in capturing emerging markets.
TBWA\u2019s \u2018Edges\u2019 are selected based on strict criteria by more than 300 \u2018culture spotters\u2019 located in 70 offices around the world in the agencies global network. To become an edge, a trend or \u2018trigger\u2019 (a consumer behavior with potential business impact) must remain relevant for more than a year and show potential for further growth into the future. Furthermore, its correlation must be seen on a global scale.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Edges are the interpretation and collation of cultural signals we call \u2018triggers\u2019 collected from all corners of the globe. Illuminating changes on the horizon, \u2018edges\u2019 differ from mere trend predictions because they help us ask questions.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
So how will companies, individuals, towns, villages and cities respond to this trend?<\/p>\n\n\n\n