By Nanami Nakagawa | Youth Venture Program Manager
Hello from Japan!
We hope you are doing well in these hot summer months. The ASHOKA Japan office is bustling as we prepare for our upcoming 11th We Are The Change event on September 16th. In the past few weeks, we have held exciting events such as the 34th Youth Venture Panel Screening in Tokyo. In addition, in this report, we will introduce you to two amazing Youth Venturers: Nanami and Tsubasa.
34th Youth Venture Panel Screening
ASHOKA Japan hosted our 34th Youth Venture Panel Screening on June 3 in Tokyo. Four candidates presented to become Youth Venturers, and 3 were selected to become Youth Venturers. We now have recognized a total of 92 YV groups since 2012.
Our panelists for this event were Mr. Handa (corporate sector), Ms. Murata (education sector), Mr. Miyamoto (media sector), and Mr. Hirota (former Ashoka Youth Venturer), who listened carefully to all of the candidates and discussed their thoughts.
Tatsuwaki (18) became frustrated at the prevalence of smartphones daily lives, and is creating a phone app that empowers teenagers and inspires them to become active members of society.
Yoko (18) is offering affordable makeup therapy to citizens in elderly homes so they can become stronger both physically and mentally.
Takumi (21) is creating a phone app that will create a new system that will allow people who are contributing social value in society to receive greater recognition, funding, and support.
Through the next year and beyond, we hope that these Changemakers will take risks, practice empathy, and grow to become innovators that will affect change in the world!
Nanami
Nanami is a 17 year old student attending high school. She does storytelling to teach others about her experience during the Great East Japan Earthquake that hit her hometown Natori City, and what she has learned from it. Her activities exist not only in the Yuriage district, but has spread its wings to all over Japan. In order for participants to remember what they have learned and to invite them to further think about disasters, she has created and distributed booklets called “Yuriage Story Guide”--this also aims to attract more interest in the activities of her storytelling.
When two years passed since the Great East Japan Earthquake, Nanami was a middle school student. She heard from a friend that he was engaged in a student volunteer group that does recovery activities in the Yuriage district. In 2014, when she was a 3rd grader in middle school, she learned more about the student organization and met one of the university students. She was requested by a member to talk to students who were visiting from Tokyo about her experience of the earthquake. This was the beginning of her project. She still remembers how disappointed she was when she did storytelling for the first time. Back then, was was far from a good storyteller--the order of her stories were a mess, and she cried a lot recalling painful memories. From that experience, she found motivation to storytell about earthquake disasters more effectively through her own unique voice as a high school student living in the affected area.
Tsubasa
21-year-old Tsubasa who attends university is originally from Tokyo, but his activities in his “Move Forward to the Future” Project are based in the town of Hirota in Iwate Prefecture. In December of 2015, he participated in an event in Hirota that inspired him to take action. 3 months later, he started his own project.
Tsubasa heard from locals that the population of Hirota is ageing rapidly and there are few young people. Many of the locals mentioned that “they have to think more about their health but most of them do not know what to do about it”. Tsubasa felt that he wanted to do what he can to help them solve their problems. His activities consist of sharing self-care methods and original stretch exercises through events that involve the local people.
Tsubasa wants to inspire more people to think together about what health means for each individual and take action. In the near future, he hope to focus not only on improving physical health but also on mental well-being, and bring smiles to many people in the community.
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