About Us
Cultivate a vacant lot, and people gather. When people gather, the city changes. For 14 years, Good Luck has kept building that small chain reaction in Kitakagaya. We are a nonprofit general incorporated association.
Encounters have the power to change a life.
We want to cherish the chemistry that happens when people meet and their lives and values blend together. An encounter shows us a world we could not see before. It makes possible what we could not do.
We don't want to leave such encounters to chance. We want to draw them in with our own hands. We believe one answer lies in the power of community: the power to overcome anxiety, loneliness, and indifference, and the power of people who bring their knowledge and skills together and grow together.
The name "Good Luck" carries a blessing for every meeting and parting, and a pledge to nurture community. With this spirit, we work to foster diverse communities, with a mission to "increase the number of people who cultivate the city."
Urban farms as
city infrastructure.
An urban farm is more than a place to grow and enjoy vegetables.
Welfare, education, health care, disaster preparedness, community building, real estate.
Through both soft and hard sides, it can become a hub that connects society.
What We Value
- 01
Start by cultivating.
Before talking about plans, we get our hands moving first. Pull the weeds, make the soil, sow the seeds. We believe that only an accumulation of small acts can truly change the landscape of a city.
- 02
Make the most of what is already here.
Before making something new, we look for the people, places, and culture already in the city. We hold dear the spirit of bricolage: combining whatever is at hand to create new value.
- 03
Bless every meeting and parting.
The name "Good Luck" carries our wish to bless every meeting and parting. Those who visit, those who leave, and those who return: as long as we share an experience, we can start moving again whenever we meet.
Message from the Representative Director
Organization Overview
| Name | Good Luck (General Incorporated Association) (GOOD LUCK) |
|---|---|
| Legal form | Non-profit general incorporated association (a corporation that does not distribute surplus funds) |
| Established | December 7, 2018 |
| Corporate number | 1200-05-020580 |
| Address | 5-2-29 Kitakagaya, Suminoe-ku, Osaka City 559-0011 (inside Minna no Uen Kitakagaya) About a 6-minute walk from Exit 4 of Kitakagaya Station on the Osaka Metro Yotsubashi Line |
| Contact | info@goodluck.or.jp / 06-7708-2789 |
| Officers | Representative Director Yasutaka Kaneda / Director Yu Nakagawa / Director Yurino Koyama / Auditor Hiroyuki Kato |
| Fiscal year | October 1 to September 30 of the following year |
| Purpose (Article 3 of the Articles of Incorporation) | To realize a society where, through exchanging knowledge and sharing experiences, people can belong to communities built on trust, and support one another in carrying out the activities each person wants to pursue. |
| What We Do | Guided by three pillars (Nurture the city: redefine and maximize the value of the city's existing assets / Nurture making: help more people believe in their own creativity and enjoy it / Nurture nurturing: share encounters and wisdom to spark an "emergent cycle"), we carry out community building through urban farms and public-benefit activities using farms (places for children, places for older adults, and employment support for people with disabilities) / Kodomo Publica, our creative hub for children / food and learning programs / redefining and sharing the city's assets / projects in partnership with government and public bodies / research, recommendations, and operation of the Urban Farm DB / lectures, writing, and university teaching |
| Related organizations and sites | Minna no UenPlot use and operation at each site of the community farm "Minna no Uen" (Minna no Uen Co., Ltd.) Kodomo PublicaA creative hub for children (operated by our organization) |
Our History
- 2009The Kitakagaya Creative Village concept begins (Chishima Tochi Co., Ltd.)
- 2011Through collaboration among Chishima Tochi, studio-L, and the nonprofit Co.to.hana, the idea of a community farm in Kitakagaya begins
- 2012The first farm of "Minna no Uen Kitakagaya" opens on about 150 m² of former housing land (July, about 15 members). The "Kids' cooking class that starts from seeds" begins
- 2013The second farm opens on about 500 m² of a former public bathhouse site (July)
- 2014Shifts to a self-run structure operated by participants
- 2015Receives the Ministry of the Environment's Good Life Award, Environment and Food and Agriculture Special Award (Executive Committee Special Award)
- 2016Begins making homemade soy sauce. Starts the children's cafeteria "Niko Niko Shokudo." Receives the CSO Award 2016 20th Anniversary Special Award and the Osaka Junior Chamber Award. Commissioned by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism to conduct a survey on community building where the city, greenery, and agriculture coexist (through fiscal 2018)
- 2018Receives the Osaka Landscape Award 2018, Award of the Chairman of the Commemorative Association for the Japan International Flower and Greenery Exposition. On December 7, Yasutaka Kaneda leaves Co.to.hana and establishes Good Luck (General Incorporated Association)
- 2019Takes over the "Minna no Uen" program and rebrands it. Becomes part-time lecturer at the Faculty of Architecture, Kindai University (to present)
- 2021Member, Osaka Prefecture Committee for Promoting Agricultural Space Creation (to present)
- 2022Starts the "Minna no Midoricho Children's Cafeteria." Starts "Kagaya Bricola" under commission from Osaka Metro (autumn; now ended)
- 2025Opens the shared kitchen & market "Publica" (June). Launches Kodomo Publica, a creative hub for children (Osaka Prefecture Welfare Fund, Community Welfare Promotion Grant)
- 2026"Minna no Uen Higashisumiyoshi" (about 3,000 m²) opens (July). Shifts its focus to nonprofit work centered on donations and redesigns its website
For those who resonate with our work
Good Luck's work is supported by people who believe in it. Donations, volunteering, our newsletter. Would you like to join us in cultivating the city, in the way that suits you best?