TOMODACHI Alumni Regional Framework: Chubu-Hokuriku Region Holds Theme Event in Nagano City

On January 27, 2019, around ten alumni came together for the TOMODACHI Alumni Regional Framework Chubu-Hokuriku Region’s theme event titled “Living by accepting ‘differences,’” held in Nagano City, Nagano Prefecture. Many of today’s youth continue to face the challenge of who they should become, though the topic of diversity is more commonly discussed nowadays. The goal of the event was to help participants learn to accept others and themselves by sharing their life stories, and to gain insights into living well by learning from one another’s differences.

The participants gathered at Zenkoji, a temple, and made their way to a café in a renovated old house, enjoying the traditional scenery of the historic town as they walked. In the cozy and friendly atmosphere, the participants reflected on their lives using a worksheet and then shared their thoughts and ways they felt different from others. Using these insights, they discussed ways to connect despite such differences (“Change My World”), and ways to spread diversity in Japan (“Change The World”).

One of the participants commented, “The attendees’ backgrounds varied from one to another, and it made me realize that there are as many ways of living as there are people in the world. It is rare to hear about other people’s lives, but there are always new discoveries to be made in one another’s stories. I thought it was truly important for each one of us to be exposed to different ideas in order to advance diversity in Japan.”

The event was held as a part of the TOMODACHI Alumni Regional Framework, the TOMODACHI Generation Alumni Leadership Program supported by Prudential