5th Island Meeting Held on Hahajima

Maehama, a playing ground for kids

In the Tokyo Treasure Islands project, residents of the island hold meetings and take initiative to discuss and polish what the island has to offer in an effort to brand the islands. This report covers the fifth Hahajima island meeting held on December 10.

>> Click here for more information on Hahajima

The challenges of the island are also its treasures. What are action plans that will improve the environment for interactions within the island?

This is the final island meeting for this fiscal year. First there was a report by the participants who participated in the fourth general Tokyo Treasure Islands meeting in Tokyo on November 25.
They played a video made by the children of Hahajima as an introduction and presented on the brand value where people surrounded by beautiful nature can live like humans. They reported that there was a great response from the participants from other islands.

Concepts such a motherly island where people can live as they like, targets like people who are searching for the essence of a human-like lifestyles, and even challenges such as having no place where people can gather and talk were listed as Hahajima's treasures as the participants once again shared their understanding of an action plan of creating an environment where islanders can talk amongst one another.

Experiencing "Bakatsu" to make communication smoother

All of the participants tried a portion of Bakatsu, which was learned at the study tour, in order to obtain hints on executing Hahajima's action plan.
*Bakatsu is a training method coined by Bakatsudo, Inc. with the purpose of vitalizing spaces.

First, the participants made pairs. If they found two common things between them, they high-fived each other and parted ways to make pairs with the next person. As the work was repeated, the atmosphere of the venue became harmonious.

A study-tour participant Masashi Miyagi explained the purpose of work and said, "If these methods are used, a space where people can say their opinions frankly and constructively in a fun manner can be created."

Discussions based on the three-year plan of the Well-side Dialogue (tentative)

After the venue warmed up, Mr. Miyagi proposed the roadmap for a well-side dialogue (tentative) as one of the ideas for Hahajima's action plans.

The plan is to get as many people involved in the first year and to periodically make presentations in the second. The image of the third year was shared as a well-side dialogue being held naturally. The facilitator proposed the idea of getting other islands involved from Hahajima. Discussions will continue while keeping in mind connections not only within Hahajima, but with other islands as well.

In order to deepen their thoughts, a matrix with importance on the vertical axis and difficulty on the horizontal axis was used to organize ideas on four points: items that should be executed immediately, items that should be executed over time, items that should be done to the possible extent, and items whose possibility of execution should be considered.

While various ideas such as using social networking services to involve people who were raised on the island and are currently living abroad and increasing the number of leaders in the island were raised, one participant asked, "Shouldn't it be Bukatsu* instead of Bakatsu?" Other participants agreed, and the action plan was decided as "Hahajima Bukatsudo."
*Bukatsu is the Japanese word for club activities.

Lastly, island meeting schedules were adjusted for the business matching event that will be held on February 18 in Tokyo. More detailed plans will emerge ahead of the realization of Hahajima Bukatsudo.