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Hello everyone.
My name is Tomohiro Takei.
Let me start with this.
“1.5 times”
What do you think this number stands for?
Can you guess?
I’m not talking about horse racing odds
or a size of an instant noodle soup.
I’m not talking about my hair loss either.
This is the business startup rate in Miyagi prefecture.
After the Great East Japan Earthquake,
the business startup rate in Miyagi was 1.5 times higher than the national average.
This is not a comparison between before and after the earthquake.
This is in comparison with the entire Japan.
In other words, this disaster-affected region
has the highest business startup rate in the country
In fact, I know many people
who started their own businesses.
Before the March 11 disaster,
I organized workshops
with 50 participants.
After the earthquake, 7 out of these 50 people
quit their job and started their own businesses.
7 out of 50.
That’s a lot.
Why did they quit their job?
There are several reasons.
After March 11,
they realized that there were huge social issues.
they realized that there were huge social issues.
They felt that what they were doing at their job
was totally irrelevant to those issues.
They also felt their actions were restricted
by their bosses, employers and clients.
They all thought they didn’t have time for this.
They all thought they didn’t have time for this.
So they took a risk and quit.
Here’s another reason.
The March 11 disaster made us realize
that life is limited.
We all die and life can end at any time.
So more and more people started thinking
about how to live a meaningful life
and that they could not stay at their job just because
that’s what they had been doing.
So they decided to take a different path
Those are the reasons they quit their job.
Actually, that’s also why
I left my previous company.
I used to work for a venture capital firm.
After March 11,
I started my own organization
called “MAKOTO”. We assist entrepreneurs
in the disaster-affected areas.
We support many entrepreneurs.
We support many entrepreneurs.
Mr. Iwasa, who gave a talk earlier, is one of them.
They come from a wide variety of industries
including IT, hospitality, agriculture, and traditional crafts.
including IT, hospitality, agriculture, and traditional crafts.
Many of them are young and enthusiastic.
What they have in common is a vision.
What they have in common is a vision.
Vision, or "KOKOROZASHI" in Japanese
In my own definition, it’s an aspiration to work for others
not for self-interest , but with a
self-sacrificing spirit.
For the interest of business,
entrepreneurs could go anywhere.
They could go somewhere more business-friendly.
However, they say
they want to do business here.
This is because they are determined
to solve the great issues in front of us.
That’s what spurred them
to take a risk and to make a difference.
We have many people like that
in Tohoku.
And more and more like-minded people are coming
to Tohoku from all over Japan.
Let me give you a few examples.
The first one is “Rapport Hair”,
a hair salon in Ishinomaki.
Here, they provide work opportunities for hairdressers
who were affected by the March 11 disaster.
They are also trying
to create a great workplace.
Mr. Hayase started this project.
He used to be a director
at Mod’s Hair Japan in Tokyo.
After March 11, he left his stable position as a director
and came to Ishinomaki, where he knew nobody
to start the project
for a cause.
He wanted to give back to the beauty industry.
He wanted to make a difference
using his skill sets and know-how.
Let me give you another example.
This is a rice burger
from Iwaki, Fukushima.
It looks like a hamburger but has rice instead of buns.
This is made with ingredients from Fukushima.
All ingredients are 100 percent inspected for radiation
and only those that are proven safe
will be sold in Japan and abroad.
This is the founder of the project, Mr. Kenji Suzuki.
Since this business involved a delicate issue of food safety,
he was slandered
and called names by many.
Originally from Iwaki,
he had his own business in Tokyo.
Although he was determined
to start a business in his hometown
to revitalize Fukushima,
some people there were against his plan.
some people there were against his plan.
However, he overcame the challenges.
Even though he spoke very little English,
he took a risk and went to the U.S. alone
to enter a business plan competition.
He ended up winning the second prize.
There are more people like them, who are taking a risk for a cause.
Now,
let me talk about why I started my project to support others.
This story is about 6 years ago.
I have siblings:
a younger brother and a younger sister.
Six years ago, my sister killed herself.
She was a very hard-working person, wanting to contribute to the society.
But she faced many hurdles.
She tried out many jobs
and worked so hard.
and worked so hard.
But she could not succeed.
Even after she became depressed,
to become stronger physically,
she still pushed herself to jog everyday.
However, in the end,
she could no longer get out of bed.
She felt useless.
She was frustrated with herself,
and eventually committed suicide.
I think many of you lost loved ones in the March 11 disaster.
It’s so tragic.
After my sister died,
my family and I were in extreme grief.
Her death
made me reflect on many things.
Particularly,
I realized that the world was becoming
a more difficult place to live.
Especially in Japan, as many as 30 thousand people
commit suicide every year.
They are like canaries in a coal mine, so to speak.
They are like canaries in a coal mine, so to speak.
Aren’t they raising an alarm?
When I realized this,
I knew I had to do something
to make the world a better place.
to make the world a better place.
That’s when the March 11 disaster happened.
The coastal areas were devastated.
A lot of people were economically suffering.
It was obvious that
we were facing a tragic spiral.
I knew
that it was time to take action.
If it's not now, when?
That’s how I started the MAKOTO project.
I don’t think this is just an issue of the region affected by the disaster.
Around the world today, especially in the developed countries,
unemployment rates keep rising, and people are suffering from mental illness.
It’s getting harder for people to feel happy in today’s world.
This is a very serious social issue.
At the same time, more and more people,
both from NPOs and from big corporations,
are taking actions to solve this problem.
I believe we can make the world a better place, full of happiness.
When that time comes, where will Tohoku be?
I think Tohoku
will be the leader of such movement.
will be the leader of such movement.
What is happiness?
I think the people who took this issue most seriously
I think the people who took this issue most seriously
are people of Tohoku.
Those who experienced deep sorrow
also have a keen awareness.
Tohoku will be at the forefront of changing the world into a better place.
And I am convinced
Tohoku will produce leaders of the next generation.
Tohoku will produce leaders of the next generation.
After the World War II,
there were SONY and HONDA.
After the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995,
many leaders emerged.
Namely, Mr. Mikitani of Rakuten.
He lost many friends in the earthquake, which led him to start his own business.
He lost many friends in the earthquake, which led him to start his own business.
I’m sure there will be many more like him.
In addition, I think Tohoku today
is a great place to do something new and different.
In other words, it is Japan’s frontier.
We would like to make a difference in the society and change Japan.
We must bring changes to Japan.
We must bring changes to Japan.
I want to empower and support
those who want to make a difference.
To support people who want to make the world a better place,
I want to make the most effective system for helping them succeed.
That way, many people can work together
to create a better world from different aspects.
If we can work together,
we can break the negative spiral
and create a better place for everyone.
That is what we must do now.
That is what we must do now.
With this vision, I am deeply committed
to work towards this goal.
Thank you.