Forum2050 Newsletter, January 2025

Dear Supporters,

Hello.

I’m Takuzo Komabashiri, in charge of public relations at Forum 2050. Happy New Year! We look forward to your continued support this year.

On a personal note, at the end of last year I came back to Japan briefly on leave and was able to welcome the New Year in Japan for the first time in a long while. On my last day there was a severe cold wave, and it even snowed in the southern part of Hyogo Prefecture, where my family home is. My younger child has lived abroad for a long time, so this was only one of a handful of times in their life seeing snow, and they were absolutely thrilled. The Japanese cold went right through me, but it was a heartwarming New Year holiday with the whole family together for the first time in a while.

*Unfortunately, the omikuji I drew on my first shrine visit of the year said “bad luck.” I’ll stay on my toes and do my best.

Topics in this newsletter

• [Activity Report]

• [Message from Forum2050’s Hiroki Watanabe]

• [Message from Forum2050’s Yuika Tsukuba]

• [Activity Report]

Our main activities in January were as follows.

• Jan 16: Talk for 2nd-year students at Oiso Junior High School, Kanagawa Prefecture.

• Jan 26: Online exchange meeting with Georgia, led mainly by our student members.

• Jan 31: Lecture scheduled for 2nd-year students at Hatayama Junior High School, Seto City, Aichi Prefecture.

2. [Message from Forum2050’s Hiroki Watanabe]

To everyone who supports Forum 2050,

Thank you very much for your continued support for Forum 2050. It is thanks to your warm support and cooperation that our activities are possible and that we have been able to carry out many meaningful initiatives. We are truly grateful.

Nice to meet you. My name is Hiroki Watanabe, and I am a member of the organization’s management team. I am currently posted in Bangladesh, working mainly on improving the civil service system and human resource development mechanisms. Like many members of Forum 2050’s management team, I joined the organization after meeting President Toda and Vice Presidents Komabashiri and Shoji in Bangladesh.

Since joining the Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers in 2002, 23 years ago, I have spent exactly half of my life in the world of international cooperation, most of it overseas (in Bangladesh and Kenya). Fortunately, my family has always been with me during my postings abroad. As a result, my son and daughter spent almost all of their compulsory education at local Japanese schools. Specifically, they attended the Japanese School in Dhaka and the Japanese School in Nairobi. Both were small schools, so there were valuable opportunities for children of different grades to interact, and for adults and children to create something together through joint work. Beyond school life, these laid the groundwork in our daily lives for “vertical, horizontal and diagonal” relationships in which people support one another across age and position. Spending time like this not only shaped my children’s character but also broadened my own horizons, and it was a very valuable experience of encountering diverse values.

One of Forum 2050’s distinctive features is that adults and children are involved together in running the organization and have ways to learn from one another. The ideas that come from children of different ages give us insights in many ways. The adults, by sharing their own experience, grow together with them. I am convinced that continuing our activities in such an environment leads directly to our organization’s philosophy of “creating spaces for understanding and empathy toward others,” and is the driving force that produces our goal of “empathy and connection across countries and languages.”

We will keep working so that our activities reach more people and the circle of empathy and connection grows deeper. Thank you very much for your continued support and cooperation.

Hiroki Watanabe

3. [Message from Forum2050’s Yuika Tsukuba]

Nice to meet you! I’m Yuika Tsukuba, a first-year university student currently studying education in the United States. It has been about a year since I became a member of Forum2050. Over this year, I have been greatly inspired by the senior members and other members, and I have been given many opportunities to grow.

I first became interested in Forum2050 when I met our President, Toda, at a talk I attended while in high school. We have all been children, and we have grown up with the support of the people around us. As one of those who received that support, I want to do something for the children of the future.

Going forward, through Forum2050’s activities, I would like to propose events that give children the experience of thinking and acting on their own initiative.

This time, I would like to tell you a little about my life in the United States and what I have been feeling recently.

I have been studying in Washington State since last June, and recently, seeing an American election up close had a very big impact on me. What struck me in particular was Donald Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the United States on January 20. People’s enthusiasm for the election was on a completely different level from Japan. I was surprised that the day after the election, the school sent around information about counseling for emotional support. I felt the reality that election results have a big effect on people’s lives and even affect their mental health.

I was also shocked by the news that in South Korea, President Yoon Suk Yeol was arrested on January 19 and that his supporters staged fierce protests. Seeing people who care about their country raise their voices and take action, I strongly felt that “we also need to express our will more.” I realized how important it is to clearly state our own opinions and thoughts about the future of the country we live in.

I believe that, sharing Forum2050’s convictions and working to make them real, we need to raise our own voices more. Each of our opinions has the power to change society and shape the future. I believe that by properly exercising our right to vote and taking part in politics, we can make our future better.

Yuika Tsukuba