Theme: FUSION

Our town Hamamatsu is often called “Manufacturing town”.
The ratio of workers for manufacturing industries (so called “the secondary industry”) is 34.4%, which is highest among the ordinance-designated cities which average ratio is 23.3%. You can see how high this rate is.

Even though Hamamatsu is an ordinance-designated city, it can be called a “corporate town”. There are a lot of small and medium-sized enterprises exerting themselves in the supply chains leaded by large enterprises.

I have been thinking if it can be possible to spread new “worth spreading ideas” of such small and medium-sized enterprises from Hamamatsu city.

To begin with, however, think the followings:
Don’t you make yourself stereotyped because your company is small or medium sized?
Don’t you make yourself stereotyped because they are large enterprises?

Don’t you know something similar cases around you?
Categorized frames may be everywhere, such as blue-collar and white-collar workers, citizens and the administration, customers and shops, subordinates and superiors, students and teachers, wives and husbands, children and parents. We might have communicated with people inside the frames without realizing it.

Why don’t you remove the frames and face each other?
Why don’t you exchange your ideas and deepen them by communicating with people whom you have never met nor faced?

With our ideas, we’ve decided the theme of this year “FUSION”.

The ideas may go different directions and each one may be small and weak… But, what if you change the direction of your idea and close to others’? Ideas which are in different frames or have no chance to meet would. I believe that the “FUSION” makes the ideas stronger, more wonderful and larger.

TEDxHamamatsu 2016 should be the opportunity where you all exchange your ideas.
We’d like to share such excitement with you. We wish your idea becomes new large one.

TEDxHamamatsu Organizer Tetsuya Kawaguchi

SHIZUOKA UNIVERSITY OF ART AND CULTURE
2-1-1 Chuo Naka Ward
Hamamatsu, Sizuoka, 430-0929
Japan

Bret Mayer

Kanji Educationist / Language and Culture Specialist

Born in New Jersey, US in 1982, and living in Hamamatsu city. He is the first person from non-kanji-used country who passed the first-grade certificate in Kanji Kentei (Japan Kanji Aptitude Test). Calling himself “Kanji geek”, he now plays an active part as Kanji educationist certified by Ritsumeikan University after his career as an English teacher and translator. He even knows the origin and meaning of Kanji and also passed the second grade of Kotowaza Kentei (test on proverbs). His affectionate attitude toward Japanese language and friendly character makes him popular and now he is liked by everybody as “Mr. Bu”, and appearing on local television and radio regularly.

Keita Sato

Rio de Janeiro Paralympics Track and Field Japan Representative

He had started to play soccer from 4th grade of elementary school, however, when he was 15 years old, unfortunately he had to cut the right leg below the knee because of Ewing’s　sarcoma. Along with the high schoolenrollment, he entered the track and field club and started the athletics. When he was 17 years old, he met a　Paralympian in the local tournament of disabled people. Then, he knew sports for disabled people and participated in the tournaments. At the age of 18, he updated the Japan national record in the 200-meter sprint and went on to Chukyo University to participate in the Paralympics. He was a captain of the track and field club in his senior year . In 2012 London Paralympics, he won fourth place in the 4*100-meter relay. In September 2016 Rio Paralympics, he won the third prize in the 4*100-meter relay. He was born in Fujieda City, Shizuoka Prefecture in 1991.

Makoto Sato

Social entrepreneurs / Nurse / Representative director of PEER Co., Ltd.

She met a leukemia patient during practical training of nursing school where she had entered after working. And she knew the necessity of wigs for the patients and community care. She visited China when she was a student and established a company “PEER” with only 50,000 yen. Its business aim is to support patients, family, and medical staff by making products such as reasonable human-hair wigs made by its reservation only hair salon. She studied how to commercialize user’s opinion at Shizuoka University, Management of business development. Ms. Sato was born in Hamamatsu city in 1977. Nurse / Representative director of PEER Co., Ltd.

Masahiko Sugiyama

Photographer / Japanimation photographer / Owner of Photo Studio Peace

Born in 1972. Photographer / Owner of Photo Studio Peace He is active as a “Town-renewal photographer” all over Japan with his original style photographs called “Japanimation” which is not only for companies but also for promotion of moving to local areas and takes photos of high schools in islands to cheer up the clients’ home towns. He is also an environmental active person and his typical activity is a long-term workshop on making personal chopsticks. He has a side of “Mr. Sugiyama of personal chopsticks”.

Stela Suzuki

First Principal of Hamamatsu International School / Student of Modern Communication Department at Hamamatsu Gakuin University

Born in 1994, in Philippines. She is trilingual in English, Japanese, and Tagalog. Her aunt used to say to her "knowledge is the only property” again and again. She had never forgotten the words and graduated the elementary school in five years by skipping grades. She came to Japan when she was 13 years old. Second year student at Hamamatsu Gakuin University. Founded Hamamatsu International School in 2015 and was the first Principal of the school.

Takahiko Hariyama

Professor of Medical Faculty at Hamamatsu University School of Medicine

Mr. Hariyama was born in Tokyo in 1952 and currently lives in Hamamatsu city. Professor of Medical Faculty at Hamamatsu University School of Medicine. He is the leading person in biomimetics which is a technology trying to utilize superior function of living things for engineering and medical field. He is also the developer of surface protective coating, NanoSuit®, which makes it possible to observe living biological sample with an electron microscope. He had been an assistant at Applied Information Sciences Center of Tohoku University and then an assistant professor at Hamamatsu University School of Medicine before taking up his present post in 2004.