Bringing together Itoman City in Its public market.
Yoshito Kawakado works for Town Creator Corporation, a private co-op, that handles programming at the public market in Itoman City, a suburb of 68,000 on the south end of the island of Okinawa, Japan. The following is an edited version of his conversation with Democracy Local, which took place at his office in the market. This was translated by Miyae Kamioka, with assistance from Otter.ai
“My job is not to support the market. It is to support Itoman citizens, those doing volunteer work and on a not-for-profit basis. I grew up in Itoman—this is my city.
There are four pieces of the public service work we do here.
First, we support public activities by publishing what people are doing so they can find audiences. Our official website is on YouTube, and Instagram. And our work is also included on a paper that Itoman City publishes for all 25,000 households.
We use Instagram to spread the publication and videos.
Second, I organize a chat group, on the Internet, so volunteers meet each other and can be ready for however they are needed—for emergency, for cultural events, to support migrants. I do the chat group because our residents too often can’t give their opinion to the public. We need to hear all the options, and talk through what people are thinking.
Third, I organize lectures, performances, and classes for people—such as learning English, or how to make TikTok video, or how to use AI for different challenges.
Fourth, I have a budget to support the activities of students and young people—about 1 million yen per year, and I can divide that money up among different entities. For a start-up, we might give 100,000 yen in the first year, and then 200,000 yen in the second year.
Of the seven groups we are currently funding, each has a different mission—emergency tsunami response; neighborhood governance; creating a tourist map for visitors; teaching the elderly how to use their smartphones; walking lessons for posture, supporting a local club for double dutch (which is an Olympic sport); improving the mental health of teenagers, especially those who feel isolated or have troubles with gangs or alcohol.
My work is supported by a private coop, Town Creator Corporation. I’ve done this for 8 years—before that I was a break dancer, and worked for a bank.
My dream, my next goal, is to make a school—to teach entertainment and production.
