Asia Leadership Fellow Program
2015 PROGRAM REPORT

Seeking Our Commons in Asia:
How Can We Create Visions for the Future?

International House of Japan
Japan Foundation

Seeking Our Commons in Asia: How Can We Create Visions for the Future?
Published byInternational House of Japan and Japan Foundation
Copyright © 2016
International House of Japan
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Tokyo 106-0032, Japan
Telephone: +81-3-3470-3211
Fax: +81-3-3470-3170
Email: alfp_info@i-house.or.jp
URL: alfpnetwork.net/en/

Contents

ALFP 2015 Fellows ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4
ALFP 2015 Schedule -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 7
ALFP 2015 Program Overview ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 93

ALFP 2015 Fellows

Arulanantham Sarveswaran (Sri Lanka)
Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of Colombo
Mr. Sarveswaran has an M. Phil in Labour Law from the University of Colombo and an M.A. inInternational Peace Studies from University for Peace (UPEACE), a United Nations mandated
University in Costa Rica. Previously serving as a senior consultant to the Law Review Projectof the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, he teaches labor law and environmental law
and serves as the Coordinator and Senior Lecturer for postgraduate programs in Conflict andPeace Studies. He is a resource person in human rights, environmental rights, workers’ rights,and peace-building, working with the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN),
the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, and the National Peace Council. He often visits
Jaffna and other places in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, where Tamil and Muslim
minority communities live and internally displaced people during the civil war have come back,to conduct programs in environmental conservation, human rights, reconciliation, andpeace-building. He also writes in newspapers and participates in television programs on current
affairs in the country.

Jaideep Hardikar (India)
Special Correspondent, The Telegraph, India / Core group member, People’s Archive of Rural India (PARI)
Mr. Hardikar currently reports on a wide range of issues in central India for Kolkata-based theTelegraph. He has for over a decade reported from India’s heartland on issues ranging frommassive human displacement to agrarian distress; from the emergence of dubious water markets
to people’s struggles over forest rights; from politics to central India’s armed conflicts and fromglobal farm subsidies to market volatilities. Remaining, by choice, outside of the major cities,
he looks at processes rather than events. Among his focus areas in reporting is rural India, oneof the most complex areas on the planet: its many conflicts and crises, community-driven
solutions, people’s governance models, astonishing stories of change and hope. His first book, AVillage Awaits Doomsday (2013), tells the stories of millions pauperized by so-calleddevelopment. In addition, he is a core-group member and volunteer for the People’s Archive of
Rural India (PARI), a new online archive and journal that seeks to document Indian villages. He
also teaches International Communications at Nagpur University. He is part of the world cinema
movement and honorary president of a film society in his home town, Nagpur.

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Saranarat Kanjanavanit (Thailand)
Chairperson, Green World Foundation
Dr. Kanjanavanit is Chairperson of the Green World Foundation (GWF), a nonprofit
environmental NGO based in Bangkok. She is an ecologist and a writer, with a passion for
creating meaningful connections between Nature and human beings. She initiated theEnvironmental Detectives education program 18 years ago, which empowers children and local
citizens with tools to “read” the local environment through observation of biodiversity, and to
take creative action based on knowledge. The work extended from stream headwaters to the sea
and from natural habitats to urban settings. Her recent focus with the Foundation is on
promoting urban resilience and a livable city that is generous to both human beings and otherspecies in co-existence. This includes pioneering an agenda for a bicycle-friendly Bangkok,
equipped with crowd-sourcing tools that support citizen action. Current personal interests arebio-mimicry learning and design, and the art of inter-species communication.

Karen Lai Yu Lee (Malaysia)
Programme Manager, Penang Women’s Development CorporationMs. Lai is the Programme Manager for Women’s Empowerment and Leadership at the Penang
Women’s Development Corporation, the first state government agency of its kind in the country,
set up in 2011 with the aim of mainstreaming gender equality and promoting social justice inPenang, Malaysia. Prior to that, she practiced law, developing a broad range of experience inlitigation and conveyancing. Ms. Lai has been active within the Malaysian and regional
women’s human rights movement for almost a decade, which includes advocating on sexualassault laws and procedures, holding watching briefs for victims and their families in sexualassault trials, and pro bono representation for social and political activists caught in urgent arrest
situations. Ms. Lai is a resource person affiliated with the International Women’s Rights Action
Watch Asia-Pacific (IWRAW Asia-Pacific), for which she has served as a rapporteur, and a
trainer on the content and application of the United Nations Convention on the Elimination ofAll Forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW). Ms. Lai is also a jazz vocalist and has
performed at various public events in her spare time.

Nomura Mai (Japan)
Global Strategic Partnerships Manager, Central European University Business School, HungaryMs. Nomura has experience in purpose-oriented projects for over forty countries. After working
at the Asia Foundation Japan office, the Japan Society of Boston, and the Edwin O. Reischauer
Institute of Japanese Studies and in mutual funds for institutional investors globally, she servedin partnership projects in the area of international cooperation, corporate social responsibility,and communications in accordance with millennium development goals at Sony and Ericsson.
With the purpose of enhancing social mission dialogue among multi-stakeholders, she foundeda social salon, Knot Work Café. She also served as a curator at IMPACT Foundation Japan.
Currently, Ms. Nomura works as manager for global strategic partnerships at Central European
University Business School in Hungary. She is also a lecturer at the Nihon University Graduate
School of Social and Cultural Studies and a researcher at the Graduate School of System DesignManagement at Keio University.

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Dinah Roma (Philippines)
Poet / Professor, Department of Literature, De La Salle University, Manila
Professor Roma teaches literature and creative writing at De La Salle University, Manila. She
has also been active as a poet. Her works explore the liminal spaces between place and language,
where possibilities of journeys are manifold. They draw inspiration from the rich traditions ofAsia to chart the traveler’s passage across landscapes and terrains, peoples and cultures, throughtime and memory. This aspect of her creative work also is a crucial part of her scholarly workon literature and travel theory for which she has been awarded grants and fellowships fromvarious institutions. She is the author of three books of poetry: A Feast of Origins (2004), which
won the 2004 Philippine National Book Award for Poetry in English and two other major
awards; Geographies of Light (2011), whose core collection won third prize in the Carlos
Palanca Award for Poetry in English in 2007; and her most recent collection Naming the Ruins(2014), launched in Sydney, Singapore, and Manila.

Harry Surjadi (Indonesia)
Executive Director, Society of Indonesian Science Journalists
Mr. Surjadi began his journalism career at Trubus, an agriculture magazine. He then worked for
the Kompas Daily for nearly 10 years. In 2000, Mr. Surjadi helped to develop Astaga.com, anInternet news portal. He founded and became the first Executive Director of the Society ofIndonesian Environmental Journalists in 2006 and the Society of Indonesian Science Journalists
in 2014. He was a former Knight International Journalism Fellow of the International Center forJournalists, at which he helped to launch weekly sections and programs dedicated to theenvironment at regional newspapers and radio stations. And in 2011–2012, he launched amobile environmental news service for rural Indonesians with little access to information. Hewas granted the Communication for Social Change Award from the University of Queensland,Australia. He has worked as a freelance reporter and media trainer in Indonesia and elsewherein the region. A graduate of Bogor Agricultural University in West Java, Indonesia, he received
a master’s degree in January 2010 from the University of Indonesia Faculty of Social andPolitical Sciences.

Yin Shuxi (China)
Professor, Hefei University of Technology
Dr. Yin is Professor and also Director of the Center for Inter-Faith Dialogue at Hefei University
in China, where he teaches and does research as well as consulting independently in cooperation
with other scholars and practitioners. He received his bachelor’s degree from Peking University,
master’s degree from Harvard University, and Ph.D. from the University of Tubingen. After
growing up in a rapidly changing China and studying and working on three continents, he isfully aware of the importance of spirituality. After living in the West for years, he feels the needto reflect on Asia’s spiritual heritage as well as having a commitment to inter-faith dialogue. He
holds that spirituality can play a great role in promoting Asian unity. Dr. Yin has helped hisuniversity organize a summer training program on religion and rule of law, the first of its kind inChina, taught by faculty from more than 10 countries, whose graduates have become pioneering
advocates of religious freedom in China. His major academic interests are religion and society
in a broad sense, and he has published widely on this topic.
*Affiliation and titles are those at the time of participation in the program.

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ALFP 2015 Schedule

Sep 7

Orientation/Welcoming Reception

Sep 8

Introduction Session
Country Reports 1: Arulanantham Sarveswaran and Dinah Roma

Sep 9

Country Reports 2: Harry Surjadi and Saranarat Kanjanavanit
Country Reports 3: Karen Lai Yu Lee and Jaideep Hardikar

Sep 10Country Reports 4: Yin Shuxi and Nomura Mai
Seminar on memory, war and art by Ishiuchi Miyako (Photographer) and Wakamatsu Eisuke(Literary Critic)

Sep 11

Seminar on commons and “share hub” by Horiuchi Masahiro (Professor, Tama Art University)and visit to SHARE Okusawa

Sep 13–14

Retreat Session in Hakone

Sep 15

Core Seminar on South Asia “Structural Transformation in Globalizing South Asia: An
Agenda for Sustainable, Inclusive and Peaceful Development” by Tanabe Akio (Professor,Kyoto University)
Visit to Miki Tatz’s indigo dyeing studio

Sep 16

Core Seminar on Southeast Asia “The End of ‘Developmentalism’ and Problems of Terrorism”
by Suzuki Yuji (Deputy Director General, National Federation of UNESCO Associations inJapan)
Core Seminar on Northeast Asia “Chinese Politics and Japan-China Relations” by Takahara
Akio (Professor, University of Tokyo)

Sep 18Film screening of The Animal Communicator and workshop by Saranarat Kanjanavanit

Sep 22–25

Field Trip to Tokushima and Okayama

Sep 28

Seminar on the Japanese garden and aesthetics by Uchiyama Sadafumi (Garden Curator,Portland Japanese Garden)

Sep 29Seminar “Space Applications for Innovation” by Kohtake Naohiko (Associate Professor, KeioUniversity)

Oct 1

Film screening of Nero’s Guests and workshop by Jaideep Hardikar

Oct 2Visit to the headquarters of the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC) andCSO Network Japan, and briefing on NPOs and NGOs in Japan by Ohashi Masaaki(Chairperson, JANIC) and Kuroda Kaori (Executive Director, CSO Network Japan)

7Oct 5

Seminar “‘Gender Equality’ in the Neoliberalist Reform under Globalization: What Have
Japanese Women Lost and Gained?” by Ueno Chizuko (Professor Emeritus, University ofTokyo)
Seminar “What is Washoku?” by Elizabeth Andoh (Director, A Taste of Culture / Writer oncomparative culture & cuisine)

Oct 6

Visit to NHK World

Oct 8

Visit to Asahi Shimbun and meeting with editorial writers

Oct 9Seminar “Nuclear Energy Policy Issues in the Post-Fukushima Era” by Suzuki Tatsujiro(Professor, Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Nagasaki University)

Oct 10–18

Individual Activities Period

Oct 17

Discussion with Nitobe Kokusai Juku Participants and Fellows of the Mike Mansfield
Fellowship Program and Brazil Science Without Borders

Oct 19Seminar “Islam and the World Today” by Kato Hiroshi (Professor, Hitotsubashi University)

Oct 21

Visit to CSR Department of Sony Corporation

Oct 22Visit to CSO Peace Seed in Narita

Oct 28Public SeminarOct 30Evaluation Session

82015 Program Overview

Discussion-Paper Presentations
A weekend retreat was organized at the beginning of the program in Hakone, Kanagawa, where theFellows shared their expertise, areas of interest and regional and global concerns with several intellectuals
based in Japan and also engaged in dialogue under this year’s ALFP theme “Seeking Our Commons inAsia: How Can We Create Visions for the Future?”

Commentators:
 Ashiwa Yoshiko (Professor, Graduate School of Social Sciences, Hitotsubashi University) Mizuno Takaaki (Professor, Kanda University of International Studies) Ogawa Reiko (Associate Professor, Faculty of Social and Cultural Studies, Kyushu University)
 Takahara Akio (Professor, Graduate School of Law and Politics, University of Tokyo) Tezuka Yoshiharu (Professor, Faculty of Global Media Studies, Komazawa University)

9Core Seminars
Three core seminars were conducted on Northeast, Southeast, and South Asia, respectively, in the second
week of the Program, for the Fellows to look at each region as well as the issues shared within and/or
across the region from a broader perspective while sharing visions for the future of Asia.
− Core Seminar on South Asia “Structural Transformation in Globalizing South Asia: An Agenda for
Sustainable, Inclusive and Peaceful Development” by Tanabe Akio (Professor, Kyoto University) on
September 15− Core Seminar on Southeast Asia “The End of ‘Developmentalism’ and Problems of Terrorism” by
Suzuki Yuji (Deputy Director General, National Federation of UNESCO Associations in Japan) on
September 16− Core Seminar on Northeast Asia “Chinese Politics and Japan-China Relations” by Takahara Akio
(Professor, University of Tokyo) on September 1610Seminars
In addition to core seminars, the Fellows met a number of Japan-based resource persons, including
intellectuals and leading figures from academia, NGOs and NPOs, in the formal setting of seminars (listedbelow in chronological order).
− Seminar on memory, war and art by Ishiuchi Miyako (Photographer) and Wakamatsu Eisuke (LiteraryCritic)—moderated by Ashiwa Yoshiko (Professor, Hitotsubashi University) on September 1011

− Seminar on commons and “share hub” by Horiuchi Masahiro (Professor, Tama Art University) andvisit to SHARE Okusawa on September 11− Seminar on the Japanese garden and aesthetics by Uchiyama Sadafumi (Garden Curator, PortlandJapanese Garden) on September 28− Seminar “Space Applications for Innovation” by Kohtake Naohiko (Associate Professor, KeioUniversity) on September 2912− Seminar “‘Gender Equality’ in the Neoliberalist Reform under Globalization: What Have Japanese
Women Lost and Gained?” by Ueno Chizuko (Professor Emeritus, University of Tokyo) on October 5− Seminar “What Is Washoku?” by Elizabeth Andoh (Director, A Taste of Culture / Writer oncomparative culture & cuisine) on October 5− Seminar “Nuclear Energy Policy Issues in the Post-Fukushima Era” by Suzuki Tatsujiro (Professor,Research Center for Nuclear Weapons Abolition, Nagasaki University) on October 913

− Discussion with Nitobe Kokusai Juku Participants and Fellows of the Mike Mansfield Fellowship
Program and Brazil Science Without Borders on October 17− Seminar “Islam and the World Today” by Kato Hiroshi (Professor, Hitotsubashi University) onOctober 19

Other Visits & Sessions− Visit to the indigo dyeing studio of Miki Tatz (artist) in Daikanyama, Tokyo, on September 1514

− Visit to the headquarters of the Japan NGO Center for International Cooperation (JANIC) and CSO
Network Japan on October 2
The Fellows met with Ohashi Masaaki (Chairperson, JANIC / ALFP 1999 Fellow) and Kuroda Kaori(Executive Director, CSO Network Japan / ALFP 2009 Fellow) and had a briefing on NPOs and NGOsin Japan− Visit to NHK World on October 6
The Fellows took a guided-tour of the facility, including studios, and also met with executive officers− Visit to Asahi Shimbun on October 8
The Fellows met with editorial writers and engaged in dialogue15

− Visit to CSR Department of Sony Corporation on October 21− Visit to CSO Peace Seed in Narita on October 22

Field Trip to Tokushima and Okayama (September 22–25)
The Fellows went as a group on a field trip organized around their suggestions and common interests. The
sites visited as well as the topics covered on the trip were:
Kamiyama Town in Tokushima
Seminar “Thinking about the Future of a Region from the Viewpoint of Creative Depopulation” by
Ominami Shinya (Chairman, NPO Green Valley, Inc.) followed by a discussion on the challenges
facing rural areas on Septmeber 2216Seminar on the history of Shosanji Temple and ohenro (pilgrimage) by the chief priest at ShosanjiTemple on September 22



Visit to Engawa Office and Seminar “Thinking about Working Styles through the Kamiyama SatelliteOffice” by Sumita Tetsu (President, Kamiyama Jinryou Corp.) on Septmeber 23

Seminar on the Kamiyama Artist in Residence (KAIR) program by Mori Masaki (Vice Chairman, NPOGreen Valley, Inc.) on Septmeber 23

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Kamikatsu Town in TokushimaVisit to Hibigaya Waste Station and briefing on the “Zero Waste” project by Wakita Masayuki (Director,Kamikatsu Ikkyu Corporation) on September 24

Seminar on the “leaf business” of the elderly by Yokoishi Tomoji (President, Irodori Co., Ltd.) andmeeting with the farmers engaged in the leaf business on September 24

Okayama Prefecture

Visit to National Sanatorium Nagashima-Aiseien and seminar on the history of leprosy in Japan byFujita Kunio (Director, Nagashima-Aiseien) on September 25

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

Visit to the head office of Japan Blue Co., Ltd. and seminar on Japan Blue’s efforts in selling jeansfrom Kojima, Kurashiki, to the world by Manabe Hisao (President, Japan Blue Co., Ltd.) on September25

Public Seminar (October 28)
At the end of the two-month program, a public seminar was held at the International House of Japan on
October 28. At the seminar, the Fellows presented their thoughts on the current situation of their countries
and the issues they have been working on, along with what they have learned from their exchanges anddialogues in Japan. The first session was moderated by Professor Takenaka Chiharu (Professor, Rikkyo
University) and the second session was moderated by Professor Ashiwa Yoshiko (Professor, Hitotsubashi
University), and each session was followed by a lively Q&A/discussion session with the audience.

The titles of the Fellows’ presentations delivered at the Public Seminar are as follows:

Session 1
Arulanantham Sarveswaran (Sri Lanka)“Role of Japan in Peacebuilding in Asia”

Saranarat Kanjanavanit (Thailand)“Connecting to Nature for Resilient Urban Society”

19

Yin Shuxi (China)“Spiritual Linkage in Asia”

Karen Lai Yu Lee (Malaysia)“Seeking Our Commons in Asia: How Can We Create Visions for the Future?”

Session 2
Dinah Roma (Philippines)“Narrating Our Cultural Commons”

Nomura Mai (Japan)“Seeking Our Commons in Asia: How Can We Create Visions for the Future?”Harry Surjadi (Indonesia)“Japan and Indonesia—Connecting the Communities”

Jaideep Hardikar (India)“Big Problems, Small Ideas: Discovering the Many Working Worlds Within”

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