Theme: see•saw

The title for TEDxUTokyo 2017 is “see・saw”. As you all know, seesaw could not be played alone. Once there are people other than you, that is when the seesaw can first do its role. You rise up, then fall down on the seesaw, and every time the scenery changes.
Our mission is to make TEDxUTokyo 2017 become the seesaw on which people share their ideas.
We hope you would enjoy the new ideas which might be born after meeting with people who hold different views.
Moreover, obviously, the title “see・saw” includes two words: see and saw. They represent the time scale of present (what you “see” now) and future (what you “saw”, looking back from the future). That would remind you that this one-day special event has actually never ended.
TEDxUTokyo will change your lives and, hopefully, communities from the very next day after the event.

Hongo 7-3-1, Bunkyo-ku
Tokyo, Tôkyô, 113-8654
Japan

Takarabune

dance peformers

An entertainment group challenging the possibilities of Japanese performing arts, with Awa Odori as their main axis. They are now recognized as the only professional Awa Odori Group in Japan after becoming a corporation in 2012. Ever since their first world tour in 2014, they have expanded their activities to 250 stages a year, 18 cities worldwide. They also actively collaborate with other fields such as forming a unit with DJs.

Akira Kobayashi

Type Director of Monotype Imaging Inc.

He won two grand prizes at international typeface design competitions and currently resides in Germany. He developed typefaces in collaboration with the renowned font designers Prof. H. Zapf and Mr. A. Frutiger. He has many publications on typefaces and also serves as a jury member in prestigious international typeface design competitions.

Jun Asakawa

Ph.D. candidate, Micro-satellite engineer

Jun Asakawa is Ph.D candidate of the department of aeronautics and astronautics of the University of Tokyo. His main interest is propulsion systems for micro-satellites. He has experiences of developing two propulsion systems. Now he is a project investigator (PI) of the water micro-propulsion system to be equipped with deep space exploration satellite “EQUULEUS” launched in 2019.

Jun Murai

Ph.D. in Engineering (Keio University)

Established Japan’s first network-to-network connectivity “JUNET” in 1984 and launched the WIDE Project in 1984. He has devoted himself to developing and disseminating the Internet network, leading to multilingual support including Japanese. He serves as a member of IT general strategy headquarters and other ministries and agency committee chief investigators as well as participating in international conferences. Awarded with ISOC’s “Internet Hall of Fame” in 2013. He is well known as "Father of the Internet of Japan".

Mizuki Tanaka

Sento Mural Painter

A craftsman who creates mural paintings such as Mt. Fuji in the bathroom of Sento (Japanese communal bath house). She was once a journal editor and an art critic’s website writer and editor in chief. However, she has chosen to follow the path of Sento mural painter while collaborating in paintings for corporate advertising and doing a workshop.

Ryuzo Nakazato

Director／Cinematographer

Graduate of Tokyo Zokei University, Faculty of Zokei, Department of Design, Film Major. Launched “To Explore the the Viewpoint of Unwinding Reality” Creative Collectives DAYDREAM THEATER as a student, in 2013. Currently working on a film production project in East Hokkaido with the same team.

TACHI Tomohiro

Researcher

Tomohiro Tachi is an assistant professor in Graphic and Computer Sciences at the University of Tokyo. He studied architecture and received his Ph.D. degree in Engineering from the University of Tokyo. He has been designing origami from 2002 and keeps exploring three-dimensional and kinematic origami through computation. He developed origami software tools including "rigid origami simulator", "origamizer", and "freeform origami", which are available from his website. His research interests include origami, structural morphology, computational design, and fabrication.

Yoichi Okabe

Student

Currently studying in the the College of Liberal Arts at the Open University of Japan, he was once the president of the same university calling for open learning. He is well-known to both inside and outside students due to his friendly personality on social network. He earned a PhD in Engineering from the University of Tokyo and was also a professor emeritus of the University of Tokyo.