Butsugenji Temple × Miyako de IT

Turning a temple into a place for technical focus and exchange through a distinctly Kyoto venue partnership

Overview

Category: Venue collaboration
Period: April 2024–present (third year)
Venue: Butsugenji Temple (Rokkaku Aburanokoji / Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji-ha)
Audience: Kyoto IT engineers, overseas digital nomads, and local people interested in technology
Format: Co-working study sessions, year-end parties, and international exchange events

Challenge before the collaboration

Rental spaces and meeting rooms in central Kyoto are functional but can feel interchangeable. Temples, meanwhile, have a long history as places for gathering and conversation, yet had become distant from today’s IT professionals.

What we did

1Continuously used the main hall as a principal venue for co-working sessions and year-end parties since April 2024
2Established working on laptops on tatami as a distinctly Kyoto event experience
3Also used the temple for events co-hosted with Digital Nomad Kyoto
4Repeatedly communicated the temple-and-IT combination through participant photos and reports

Miyako de IT’s role

Event planning, promotion, and operations

Bridging the temple and event participants

Designing events around the venue’s characteristics

Maintaining a long-term relationship of trust

Outcomes

Quantitative outcomes

3 years

Continuous venue use

Co-working, year-end, international exchange, and more

Event formats at Butsugenji Temple

Participants consistently say they want to come again

Intent to return

Qualitative outcomes

• The idea of an IT study session in a temple became a defining element of the Miyako de IT brand
• The temple developed a new connection with IT professionals
• Overseas participants responded especially positively to a setting that conveys a strong sense of Kyoto

What comes next

• Continue co-working sessions, year-end parties, and international exchange events
• Extend the venue-collaboration model to other temples, including Daikoji Temple

Organizations this model suits

Temples and traditional venue operators seeking new connections with local and younger communities

Organizations that want to hold events in a place with context rather than a generic venue

Partners looking for a setting that offers an experience specific to Kyoto

Related collaboration options

Venue provision Locally themed networking programs Event co-hosting

Discuss a similar collaboration

This case also began with one conversation. We design collaboration around each organization’s themes and challenges. You can also join an event first to experience the community.

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