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#24 |
Spreading
Social Act - People behind the movement |
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Recently,
social acts, such the "UCHIMIZU Project," which aims
to promote watering as one of the countermeasure to the
heat-island effect, the "green bird," which aims to keep
the city clean in order to decrease littering," or "Candle
Night," which calls for the turning off of all lights
for 2 hours on the summer and winter solstice, are receiving
increasing attention. The objectives and methods are
multifarious, however, each one of these social acts
that everyone can take part in freely aims to communicate
a positive message (and they are adept at doing so) and
calls for active participation, and most importantly
they are fun. Hence, these social acts spread widely.
It turns out that many people who have or who have had
careers in the advertisement industry are behind such
activities, so we asked them how they came about launching
such activities and what cognition and dogma are behind
them. |
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From
indifference to interest. Pick up trash and turn on the switch
within us |
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Ken
Hasebe
Born 1972. After a career at an advertisement agency, Hakuhodo
Inc., he established "green bird" in
2003. In April the same year, he runs as a candidate for the Shibuya
Ward Assembly and comes in top-running. Representing "green bird" with
the theme "beautifying the city" and "creating a new regional community" he
is active also as the Ward Assembly member of his home ward. Publications
include "Shibuya Mirai Techou (Shibuya Future
Notebook) (Kirakusha)". |
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+ Morals
rather than regulations. Creating that atmosphere |
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"green
bird" carries
out its activities mainly in the Harajuku and Omotesando areas
of Shibuya. You could say they are the city's janitors. Twice
a week they meet with other volunteers for "morning cleaning
sessions" along 2 km of the Omotesando streets. Their activities
aim to de-promote littering. |
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"It all
started when I participated in a campaign to pick up litter the
shopping arcade in Omotesando. It was quite interesting and not
only is voluntarily cleaning a public place fun, but you also
get a sense of fulfillment. Sadly, there was litter on the streets
by the time we were done cleaning. So that's when I thought that
what was needed was to decrease the littering population; to
solve this problem it had to be eradicated from the root" says
Mr. Hasebe. |
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Thereafter,
Mr. Hasebe fully utilized his problem-solving mind cultured at
the advertisement agency: How can you decrease littering? A regulation
to prohibit it >> No, I don't want subjugation by regulations.
There has to be another solution >> Could
we not resolve it by exercising our morals? Could we not create
an ambience where littering becomes crass and not littering becomes
cool. The problem is how we communicate this >> What if
we took the same approach as the love & peace movement in the
70s, which spread widely because of the smiley face >> Let's
create a symbolic mark that only people who don't litter can
have, and use it as the cleaning team logo >> First the name
= green bird >> The logo will be an image of a duck walking around
picking up insect pests. It has a kick to it and is impressionable;
something simple even a child can draw... and so forth. |
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Then
website was created and fliers and postcards, and images for
the big screen in the city centers were created.
"Because my skills involved creating ads, I thought of creating a large umbrella
for the message, and increasing the number of volunteer cleaners. If
someone participates once in cleaning the streets, they will never litter again. Since
Harajuku and Omotesando is where trends are set and information is transmitted,
I thought that if it became popular here, it will spread throughout Japan."
The promotional activities in Harajuku and Omotesando gradually
gained attention, and as the cleaning activities continued with
Mr. Hasebe leading the crew, the activities continue to steadily
spread. |
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cleaning sessions take place in Omotesando twice a week.
Mr. Hasebe also goes every time. "Continuity is what's
important" he says. |
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Number
of volunteers vary depending on the day; some days there
are even 30. The green uniforms are provided by Nike, one
of green bird's sponsors. |
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| Children
of Jingumae Elementary School, Mr. Hasebe's alma mater
are familiar faces at the cleaning sessions. Tin badges
given only to non-litterers are also popular among the
children. |
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Postcards
and portable ashtrays distributed in the cities are effective
promotional tools. Even the copy which translates to "People
who often pick up trash also often pick up something wonderful" is
classy. Mr. Bunpei Yorifuji does their illustrations. |
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+ 2:2:6.
Key words are "as much as you can" |
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This year
is green bird's third year. Now, it has branches in Shimokitazawa,
Komazawa, Kichijoji, Kamakura and Fukuoka. From spring 2004 to
spring 2005, 6,000 volunteers have participated in its cleaning
activities. |
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"Only
20% of the people in Japan have
done volunteer work. And 20% of the people are indifferent. The
remaining 60% would like to if given the opportunity. How can 60%
of the people in Japan who have an interest in volunteering,
but believe they don't have the opportunity participate
in volunteer activities? I think it's important to lower the
hurdle so to speak. When people think of volunteering, they often
believe that it has to be a noble thing, but that's not necessarily
true; we want it to be something intrinsically simple to begin.
green bird doesn't require people to come every single time;
if they come 2 or 3 times and stop littering, that's great. There
aren't any rules to cleaning. We want people to talk to each
other and have fun while cleaning.
We even want it to be a morning social
gathering where people can meet others. The fundamentals
to volunteering are as much as you can. If it surpasses
that, it becomes trying and it won't be sustainable. We
think positively about creating a positive relaxed ambience. |
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Also,
volunteering to clean is said to be a switch changing from indifference
to interest.
"If you participate in cleaning the city, not only do you think about the littering
issue, but you also begin to think about the city's environment, and then perhaps
various other issues. You begin to do many things you might not have done before. It's
like turning on the switch within you. That's quite important to society,
and we hope that green bird provides a gateway for
becoming active and thinking about the environment and the society." |
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Companies,
governments, citizens - overcoming barriers, joining forces |
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Mr. Hasebe
is the representative of "green bird" and the member of the Shibuya
Ward Assembly; yet the fundamentals of both is the same, and
if he was to give both a single label, it may be "city producer" or "social
producer." What he has experienced from activities as a member
of the Ward Assembly is that there are strange barriers between
the 3 entities: the companies, government, and the citizens.
He senses a large gap that needs to be bridged especially between
companies and the government. That is why he wants to establish
a successful case example where companies and government cooperate
with one another. |
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"We hope
to transcend barriers between companies, governments and citizens,
and bring together the positive aspects
in all. If we succeed in combining great ideas and
people well, we will have something great. That is a job
for a producer. I'm very adept at that and execution is my specialty" says
Mr. Hasebe. When asked "Do you enjoy being the producer of the
Shibuya Ward?" he immediately responded, "Of course." His scope
of activities is expanding rapidly as he becomes involved in
launching "gentle
one," which aims for urban development enjoyable for both
humans and pets, as well as the in the plan to launch Shibuya
University in the Shibuya Ward. |
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"The world
is moving in a good direction. Nothing
comes from having a negative outlook on the future. I
believe that we should proceed as we continue to communicate
information." |
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# A
social experiment becomes a social movement |
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Masaaki
Ikeda
Born 1961. After working as a copywriter at the advertisement agency
Hakuhodo Inc. he becomes the editor in chief of the magazine "Advertising" published
by Hakuhodo Inc. At the same time, he began other activities such
as the community currency known as "earthday money" and "adohashi" which
aims to promote chopsticks produced from domestic thinned wood,
and "Haruno
Ogawa" (spring stream) regeneration project. 2002 saw the launch
of "earth
day money association (edma)"; thereafter he established 5
more NPOs. Moreover, he launched the "UCHIMIZU Project Head Quarters" which
is a syndicate of these NPOs. |
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+ Creating
an air of anticipation by involving the media |
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On a certain
day and time, everyone waters the ground (this is called "uchimizu" in
Japanese), thereby lowering the temperatures of Tokyo in the
hot summer heat. Leftover bathwater, rainwater, or treated sewer
water is used for uchimizu. The "UCHIMIZU
Project" is
a large-scale social experiment that began in 2003 to mitigate
the heat-island
phenomenon. What triggered this big project was a simulation
calculated by the Public Works Research Institute of the Land,
Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
<If 1 liter of water is sprayed onto 1 square meter of the 280 square meter
waterable surface within the city of Tokyo, the temperature will decrease by
2 degrees Celsius.>
If this could be proven, it would be interesting, so offered Mr.
Hideaki Oda from the Third World Water Forum and Mr. Kazuo Okayama
of the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry who Mr. Ikeda
knew from before, to which Mr. Ikeda thought "why
not try it as a social experiment." |
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Only 2
months passed from that day until the day of the experiment.
The public relations tools included a website, posters, fliers
the size of business cards, 30 second commercials on big screens
in the streets and towels. 2003 marked 400 years since the beginning
of the Edo Period, thus with the clear concept of learning from
Edo, Mr. Ikeda recruited participants with the idea, " what
can be connected should be connected. " As a result, approximately
340,000 people participated and the temperature actually went
down 1-2 degrees at the 4 locations where uchimizu was synchronically
carried out in the city. |
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"I didn't
know what would happen as there wasn't much time" said Mr. Ikeda.
But the key to his successful first year was the full-page advertisement
in the morning paper with the cooperation of Mainichi Shimbun
as well as deftly involving the media. The interesting
focus on the uchimizu, the fun in
actually doing it, the entertaining characteristics of
the naming "Project" (The Japanese project
name may also be translated to mean “Mission UCHIMISU) and
the anticipation - all contributed
to the broadcast of this project by newspapers, television, radio
stations and approximately 40 other media; it rapidly became
spread. |
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| Uchimizu
conducted in various areas of Tokyo in 2005. The photograph
was taken at the Civic Square in front of the Tokyo Metropolitan
Building. There are people in yukata (summer
kimonos) amidst business men and women in suits; people
also seem to have felt spiritually refreshed. |
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In
Ginza, uchimizu was conducted using the leftover water
from a public bath house called Konparu. Student volunteers
referred to as the "Uchimizu Youth Troop" has contributed
greatly to adding excitement to this movement. |
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photograph form Fukuoka. A local sweet manufacturer became
the sponsor and distributed original fans and uchimizu
notebooks for children; regional activities are becoming
widespread. |
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All
full-page advertisements on newspapers, from the first
year onwards have had very strong copies. You can sense
that this is an earnest project and it wholly creates the
desire to participate. |
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+ A
campaign rather than a movement |
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With a
year of success, the "UCHIMIZU Project" continues to expand its
sphere of influence each year. This year is its third year; approximately
1,340,000 people have participated in Tokyo. It has also been
conducted in Fukuoka, Nagano, Kagoshima and even in Paris, France.
It is certainly a success no matter how you look at it, yet Mr.
Ikeda does not see this as a bona fide victory. |
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"I didn't
think that this would develop to this scale. It continues to
grow; we may be able to have a venue for 10,000 people next year.
It's important to gather steam, and it's a fun summer festival,
but the true intention of this movement isn't that you have to
go to a venue we provide; rather it is that everyone can individually,
voluntarily do uchimizu - others out there is doing it at the
same moment; we want people to enjoy the gratification of synchronization. What
is important is the spirit of uchimizu, and the spread of such
spirit as if it were a ripple in the water. Individual
events that proceed as planned don't unite to form a continuous
line. One-off events are closer to being a campaign. A
campaign is different from a movement. Uchimizu wants
to create a movement rather than a campaign
that will spread through the society." |
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A movement
is where all involved become privy and consciously
act; and communication spreads based on such action. What
is great about a movement is that it accidentally develops in
unperceived directions, something that has the potential for
the unknown. If we become too much like event operators, what
is important becomes too diluted. If it becomes engulfed in political
purposes or if it shares the same vector
as desires, people lose
sight of the essence. |
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"You
could say that we are trying to educe something that transcends
our individual desires, or that we are trying to change the flow
of our desires. We are supposed to be trying to evoke something
different in the environment field from the marketing-like trends
that appeals to people's desires. If we
don't vividly recognize the plight of our desires, the movement
will end as an one-off campaign." |
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From
water to forests. Attempt to create a sustainable society that
spreads from necessity |
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Despite
Mr. Ikeda's concerns, the "UCHIMIZU Project" continues steadily
to spread throughout the nation and to truly produce a movement-like
unforeseen challenges. Mr. Ikeda has begun creating pails
used for uchimizu from thinned Japanese cypress from Kiso with
the people of Kisofukushima, a town in Nakasendo, who participated
in the "UCHIMIZU Project." |
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"In the
beginning, we purchased pails from 100-yen shops probably mass
manufactured in China. But we wanted to do something about that,
and then this idea came up. In the end, it contributed to the development of
Kisofukushima as well. The techniques used in making wooden pails
are become a thing of the past year by year, so this lead to
regaining those skills as well as the promotion of the lumber
industry. We then decided to contact dealers of wood materials
all over Japan, and that lead to pails produced from thinned
cedar in the Kyushu Prefecture. This will continue to expand
in the future; we have also started discussions with the Forestry
Agency. The vision is to use the pails
for uchimizu produced from the trees from your own region." |
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Japan
must aim to reduce 6% of its greenhouse gas (such as CO2) emissions;
this was set forth by the Kyoto Protocol. According to the government's
plans, 3.9% must be absorbed by forests. Mr. Ikeda hopes that "the
mindset and network created by the UCHIMIZU Project will provide
the foundations for developing a varying sustainable challenge." I
have great expectations for what "UCHIMIZU Project" will do in
the future. |
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Original
Pails were used in the various venues in Japan. You can use anything
for uchimizu, but the basic tools are pails and ladles. The photographs
are from Asakusa. |
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# Designs
that induce action |
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Takashi
Fukui
Born 1967, he has a career as an art director at the advertisement
agency. He has been awarded various design awards in
Japan and overseas such as the New York ADC Award, London International
Advertisement Award and the Mainichi Advertising Design Award.
In 1999 he took part in visual communication activities conducted
in classrooms as part of an educational project, which propelled
him to take part in the promotion of community activities and social
movements. Environmental issues and social contribution have been
many themes he has employed for his projects at the agency. His
publications include "Kankyo Players' Handbook (Eco-Players' Handbook)" (Diamond,
Inc.). |
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Create
a participatory advertisement - taking part in communication |
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Mr. Fukui
has been involved with the art direction of projects organized
by various NPOs/NGOs such as the "Candle
Night" that began in
2003, or the "IWC -Whale Conference Project" by Green Peace Japan.
One of the projects he has been involved in, the World
Vision Japan's refugee aid project "famine" not only called
for donations and assistance, but it called for people's active
participation,
and the advertisement method used for this
purpose attracted much attention. |
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"famine" was
organized for 3 years from 2002; it is a project that delivers
second-hand clothing to refugee camps facing grave shortages,
such as those in Tanzania and Kenya. The first poster for this
project said within the outline of the T-shirt illustrated on
the poster, "Please place your T-shirt
here to complete this 3-D poster." So, the poster itself
is incomplete; it only becomes complete when
someone who sees the poster takes action and
places his or her own T-shirt there.
When clothes were placed (donated) on the poster, the staff collected
the completed poster.
"The first year we didn't have a large budget, and we could only print the poster
in single color. We also could only place it in areas where organizers knew people.
But this wouldn't enable us to communicate the message to the broader general
public, and that's when I thought of making the execution
unique, so that it would spread virally" says Mr. Fukui. |
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FYI, the
first year he did not receive any payment - the fees only involved
the production costs of the poster; he was volunteering his skills,
although perhaps not as a trade off, the secretariat paid half
the travel expenses for him to deliver approximately 100,000
items of second-hand clothes to the refugee camp. That is when
he saw how the refugees lived with his own eyes. 1800 meters
above sea level, the nights in Tanzania are cold and many children
catch colds or malaria and die. He says that the thought that
such children may be spared their lives just by having warm clothes
has kept him motivated since. |
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Poster
from 2002. The poster had double-sided tape so that T-shirts
may be placed there. Moreover, other ways of participating
in the project was introduced in easy to understand language.
It was a very important message to send not outworn clothes,
but clean clothes you no longer wear or clothes you can't
wear anymore. |
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At the
Nyarugusu Refugee Camp in Tanzania. Taken in 2002, Tanzania had
received over 58,000 refugees from its neighboring country, the
Democratic Republic of Congo. Joy in having delivered the clothes
increased twofold when the staff saw refugees dressed in clean
clothes. |
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+ Clear
themes and simple communication. |
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The second
year of promotional activities of "famine" used the poster itself
as an application form that people who have interest can cut
out, take home, and use as is. In addition to the "application
form posters," "clothing posters" were
created from T-shirts, sweaters, jeans and skirts bearing the
same copy, "let's send clean clothes to the refugee camps in
Tanzania." When they asked people all over the country to provide
them with advertisement space (advertisements were created by
students from Mr. Fukui’s alma mater, Kanazawa College of Art)
where they could place these unique "clothing posters," which
are the embodiment of the intent and the
objective of the activity, the newspapers wrote about
their story and many people offered them space. |
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"It was
part of our strategy from the very beginning involve the media
because when your budget is limited, they play a key role in
communicating to a large group of people. So "clothing poster" was
able to reach out to the press" says
Mr. Fukui. About 400,000 items of clothing were delivered the
second year. The "clothing poster" was used the third year as
well and some 520,000 items were delivered. Not only was it a
hot topic, but what perhaps made this project very successful
was that all the students who helped to make the poster and people
who provided the ad space became a part of the project; so this
had a grass-roots dispersion effect. |
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And the
largest reason why "famine" was successful was that "the theme
was clear, and the objective was easy to understand" says Mr.
Fukui. Sending second-hand clothes to refugee camps - he focused
on how to reflect this single point in
the program's design.
"If the theme is clear, then the output will naturally follow. How many clothes
and how much money is needed; who to send the clothes to; and what kind of message
is necessary to do so? It is essential to have a clear
objective and a simple message for any project. |
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Colorful
and dimensional "clothing poster" designed liberally by the students
using silk printing, embroidery, etc. After they were collected,
these clothes were sent to refugees in Tanzania. |
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In Kanazawa,
the hometown of the students from Kanazawa College of Art who
participated in creating the "clothing poster," the posters were
exhibited in various places such as the shopping arcades with
the assistance of the city. |
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The
poster from 2003 where each area within the blue lines
was an application form (left). After the application forms
were removed (middle). Second-hand clothes flying through
the air like birds - 2004 poster (right). |
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+ Reality
and communication |
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One of
the most impressionable works undertaken by Mr. Fukui as a promotion
of social acts is the "NO WAR" full-page advertisement by Green
Peace Japan printed in the Asahi Shimbun morning edition. It
was in March 2003, right before the war in Iraq began, where
the wave of anti-war emotion spread throughout the world. Many
of you may remember the "Color-in Peace Sign," a design where
the words "NO WAR" seem to hover in a flower garden. It called
for people to join the peace parade in the Tokyo Hibiya Park;
the message said, "Bring this with you and why not join the peace
parade?" |
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Like a
fun picture book, it explained how to make a placard with illustrations,
or listed what to bring as though it was a list you received
from your teachers before your field trips. The peaceful
atmosphere which ran throughout the ad was most impressive.
It made you want to color it in and join the parade, convincing
even those who felt tentative about being part of a demonstration;
it was so convincing that a peace parade larger in scale than
any before came to life in Japan. |
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"You will
fail if you appeal to fear in regards to a movement like NO WAR.
You have to send out a happy message where people can participate
and have fun. And visuals and design controls this. Design
is something that communicates, that provides the opportunity
to think about a certain issue. It is important that
those trying to communicate create an output where people can
sense that it is real by seeing eye to eye with people
who will be on the receiving end of the communication." |
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"NO
WAR" full-page ad printed in the Asahi Shimbun on March
3, 2003. WAR" |
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Peace
parade at the Tokyo Hibiya Park on March 8, 2003. Over 50,000
people, many with their originally colored "Color-in Peace Sign," participated
in the parade. |
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# Sowing
the seeds of social acts before us |
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The three
individuals I have interviewed were social producers, environmental
planners, and art directors. Their roles may differ, but they
all made use of their skill to communicate and they are trying
to change society by taking action. "Changing society" may seem
a little over the top, but what triggered them to do so was a
simple question, slight feeling that something is amiss, or a
positive curiosity, or perhaps it was the desire to cheer someone
on, or a simple wish for things to be a certain way. We should
first act, and then think while we are running, never failing
to open the door before us. And the sensation of accomplishment
from your actions draws people to your activities, becoming the
driving power behind the social act that spreads as an undulating
wave. What are your simple questions or what do you feel that
is odd about today's society? The seeds of social acts are right
before you. And the key to spreading your movement is in the
words of those who continue to make progress. |
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Report
/ Portrait Photographs: Tami Okano, Think the Earth project
Photographs: green bird, UCHIMIZU Project Head Quarters, Takashi
Fukui |
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