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Venue collaboration
Butsugenji Temple (佛現寺)

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
Continuous use since April 2024
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 primary records confirm

The main hall of Butsugenji Temple has been used continuously since April 2024 as a venue for Miyako de IT co-working sessions, year-end parties, and international exchange events. Miyako de IT handles event planning, promotion, and on-site operations, and coordinates between the temple and participants.

Related first-party record

This page is the canonical account of the venue relationship since April 2024. Individual sessions remain separate first-party event records.

Read the July 25, 2026 Mokumoku Meetup #59 record

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

Ongoing
Main-hall use since April 2024
Co-working sessions, year-end parties, and international exchange events
Confirmed event formats

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
  • Participants have told the organizers they would like to come again. We have not taken a survey, so we do not treat this as a return rate or a satisfaction score

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

Not yet confirmed

  • Acceptance conditions, facilities, and the breakdown of who bears which costs have not been confirmed with the venue
  • We do not present venue use as a digital-transformation outcome for a public institution

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

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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