Spotlight on Japan
Back in January of this year, the Japan Times reported on a housing estate in Gifu prefecture, which is pretty much in the centre of Japan, west of Tokyo, where local residents have come together to support each other with small, everyday problems. Operating from a ‘House of Mutual Support’, and run by a local social welfare council, residents will find a hub for mutual support activities, coordinated by a local volunteer and resident Takako Shimizu.
A former teacher, Shimizu first moved to the estate 20 years ago in her early 60s and she launched the mutual support project in 2014, motivated in part by comments from a neighbour suggesting that as she got older, she might find getting around the local area more of a challenge. Shimizu thought that if life’s smaller problems could be somehow overcome, continuing to live on the estate wouldn’t be too challenging.
And so now residents who need help can contact the House of Mutual Support and Shimizu and other coordinators will arrange for other local volunteers to help out. Requests can be anything from helping with shopping, to practical household tasks, even for a boardgame partner!
Those of you familiar with Bay Volunteers might recognise some parallels, though I doubt Matt and the team have ever had a request for someone to play Monopoly! Befriending is, of course, a big part of what Bay Volunteers does however. One major difference is that the Japanese service charges a small fee, to help with costs, whereas Bay Volunteers does not. Here we expect most, if not all, services offered by charities and volunteer organisations to be free – although that doesn’t mean that they cost nothing to operate!
What struck me about this story was how well it demonstrates that a great project can come from a need, an idea, and a single motivated person. Shimizu recognised a problem and resolved to tackle it and now a well-used and well-loved local service thrives, all the while making life just that little bit better for others around them. The article makes a point of saying that many of the activities offered through the hub fall outside of the remit of statutory services and that’s also often how things happen here. Sometimes, if you find yourself thinking “someone should do something”, remember that YOU are someone!
The full article is quite long and has a lot more detail, it really is a fascinating read, and I encourage you to check it out!
