JAPAN HEART

There are many service activities and projects ongoing at SOIS, and the Japan Heart club is one of them that stands out from the others. Kazuma Shinohara, a 12-grade student at OIS, is the head of the club, which advocates raising awareness of poverty in Southeast Asia. The club has been selling snacks weekly for over three and a half years near the cafeteria. Kazuma graduates this year and finishes his role in the club, so I have interviewed him to ask about the club and his experiences. These are the highlights of our conversation. 

What have you been doing at Japan Heart?

I have been selling snacks to the SOIS community near the cafeteria. As part of the advocacy project of the club, we wanted to raise awareness of poverty in southeast Asia and promote the activity of Japan Heart. The revenues from the snack booth were sent to the organization and I have been doing this for about three and a half years now. 

What was your motivation for doing this project?

My motivation for this activity is the communication with many students and faculty members who took notice and have kindly donated and/ or purchased from our snack booth. The fact that I was able to apply some of my knowledge of economics was also something that motivated me to continue. 

How did you discover Japan Heart?

I first took notice of this organization at SOIS during orientation to introduce the activity of Japan Heart. One of the family members of the student at SOIS was the starting member of the organization. When I heard about their project and the things they were doing, I was very interested and went to ask some questions. This was my first time I met with Japan Heart. 

What do you think you have learned or achieved the most from this Project?

I think some achievements from this club include leadership experience. Communicating with various people from different grades and faculty members was a great place to learn about myself. Understanding my own values through this club gave me a chance to demonstrate my skills immediately. The relationships created through this club, and as a leader, are what I most cherish and feel grateful for.

Through this club, we have collected a total of around 70,000 yen. It is not a lot considering the 3 plus years I have committed to this club. However, I believe it is not just the amount of money that counts but the relationships and experiences that I was able to share with the community. For such reasons, I see great importance in passing down this club and supporting Japan Heart as part of SOIS volunteer activities. 

What challenges did you face while doing this Project?

One thing that I took care of was the number of calories in each snack. In selling foods, there were some rules that I had to follow with the school, and one of them was it had to be packaged. So it was easy to get access to the number of calories. My mom works as a nutritionist, and from her, I have learned about the sufficient calories in eating. Assuming people will eat as an afternoon snack, around 200 calories were the best range. Also, the choices of snack came from my policy of providing students snacks that are relatively less junky and not just give trash foods

What have learned through this experience that can be applied to your life at university?

I think it is essential to be proactive and accepting diversity. The mentality of accepting others and actively participating to advocate for anything will have a positive change. For me, it was the careful recognition of others and understanding the internal part of the people that have kindly donated to our booth. Recognizing when and how people of the community will purchase and contribute is a mixed effect of price, atmosphere, and standing. By taking care of these aspects, I believe it positively affects my student life and further when I grow up to work.

If you could go back when you started this club, how would you change or would you do a different project instead?

Things that I would change will be to be more active. When I started this back in 2018, I was not sure what I should and was supposed to do through this club. I had a vague idea of raising donations and funds through selling snacks, like the 11-12 grades for their service trip. Everything came to shape bit by bit through a lot of help from peers, family, and teachers. So I do not believe it is just my own idea that shaped the Japan Heart club.

At the same time, I also believe the club could have had more diversity and voice by introducing people who have different minds. Being more proactive to accept people with varying approaches to raising donations could have improved overall.

When I first heard about this, I felt a little weird because no one really came to me to ask about the details of how and what Japan Heat is. But finishing this off, I do actually feel very thankful and a little bit more proud of myself for introducing this club. Because this club started as a very personal project itself, it feels very unique and grateful at the same time to be interviewed. 

Thank you Kazuma Shinohara