[Media Coverage] Our representative was interviewed by MRI!
reference:
Mitsubishi Research Institute; Future Co-Creation Initiative
https://icf.mri.co.jp/activities/activities-13165/
Our representative Igarashi was featured in the "Impact Entrepreneur Story" of Mitsubishi Research Institute's Future Co-creation Initiative, and talked about the background to starting a business!
What is the Future Co-Creation Initiative?
The Initiative for Co-Creating the Future (ICF) includes local governments addressing local issues, large companies with product and service development and sales infrastructure, startups, universities, and research institutes that are strong in cutting-edge technology, and governments that are responsible for policy and institutional aspects. Organizations that sympathize with the ICF philosophy, such as public offices that are widely used, gather together to solve major social issues with a sense of speed and develop an ecosystem that can exert a collective impact.
In this interview, Igarashi, the representative of our company, took up ICF, which has such a philosophy, and talked about the background to starting the business and the details of our company's business!
What was the background to starting your business?
The background to starting With The World comes from the educational disparity between poor and wealthy countries that our CEO Igarashi experienced while backpacking in the Philippines when he was a student.The following sentences are excerpts from the interview article.
―In the five years since you started your business, you have already connected more than 5 countries around the world online and provided a total of more than 60 students with opportunities for international exchange. Can I have it?
It all started with backpacking trips when I was a student.I traveled to poor areas in the Philippines, Cambodia, and slums to teach tennis.During that time, I often met children who could not receive an education, and I began to feel that conducting field research in such places might be my mission.
―It all started with the children you met on a trip when you were a student.
yes.Actually, I noticed two things while interacting with them. One is their high potential.He has a strong desire to learn, absorbs quickly and grows steadily.If you teach tennis, in about two hours, you can already play a match.Looking at them, I wondered what kind of adults they would become if they received a proper education, and how far they would grow.
Another thing is that I have a sense of crisis that the gap between poor children and wealthy children, poor countries and rich countries, will not be closed in the current situation.
At that time, I was coaching tennis for free in places like the Philippines. Through SNS, I collected tennis rackets that were sleeping in each home and distributed them to children on the ground.Then, not only poor children, but also children who are not well come with interest.
At that time, when I asked the wealthy children about the situation in the local slums and the problems in their area, I was surprised to find no answer.After they grow up, they are in a position to become leaders of the country.But more than I thought, I don't know about the issues in my area.
―We realized that wealthy children who would become leaders of their countries in the future were more indifferent to the poverty and social issues of their own countries and regions than we had imagined.
that's right.That is the origin of the current international exchange project that connects Japan and overseas schools online.Even Japanese people want to know more about Japan and come to like Japanese culture when they study abroad.Rather, it is foreigners who are interested in our culture.Therefore, I wanted to provide opportunities for international exchange to children of all kinds, including those from Japan, and give them the opportunity to think about their own countries and regions on their own initiative.
Please check the details of the story below.
Our Vision
People all over the world, no matter what their position, where they were born, or their backgrounds, make use of the inherent warmth of each person, and create a bright society where people can look forward to tomorrow. ) aims to create
And in order to realize this, we aim to gather people who sympathize with this aspiration from all over the world and work together.
ーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーーー
[Regarding our program contents]
