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JCIAwards Entry

2014 Jci World Congress
OH! MY TOWN ACADEMYJCI JAPAN
Best Local Personal Skill Development Program

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Entry InformationAward
2014 JCI World Congress
Program:Category: Best Local Personal Skill Development Program

NOM Information
National Organization: JCI JAPAN

National President:

Kazuya Suzuki
E-mail: japan@jci.cc

LOM Information
Local Organization: JCI Yamagata
President: Hideaki Saito
President Email: yfc-saito3900@rhythm.ocn.ne.jp

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Basic Information
Duration : From April 26, 2013 to December 7, 2013
Staff : 47 people
Sponsors : Yamagata Prefecture; Yamagata City
Budget : $7571 SEVEN THOUSAND
Profit / Loss : 0
In which UN MDG bestfit (if apply): ?:All the citizens of Yamagata City and Yamagata Prefecture (in a broad
sense—they benefit by the development of leaders). 1,160,000 citizens of
Who is benefited ?:Yamagata Prefecture and 254,000 citizens of Yamagata City—especially,
those who care about Yamagata and wan
Objective : To connect potential community leaders who live in Yamagata and create
positive change in them to become citizens who will transform their city.
TO DEVELOP LOCAL LEADERS IN YAMAGATA WHO EAGER TO
CHANGE OUR COMMUNITY INTO A BETTER PLACE AND TO LET
THEM CREATE POSITIVE CHANGES.
To develop local leaders in Yamagata who want to make their community
a better place, and who will bring positive changes in their community.
To develop local leaders in Yamagata who want to make their community
a better place through projects that broadly target private citizens.
For such leaders to bring positive change in their community.
Overview : Opening of “Oh! My Town Academy”
Opened “Oh! My Town Academy” and invited participants for the purposeof developing leaders through a course of seven classes.
1. In order to invite participants, we widely advertised the project andheld an explanation meeting for those interested in participating.
147 people participated.
2. Of the seven classes, the first three were lectures by invited
experts. Since this was a valuable opportunity for participants tolearn the foundations of community vitalization, we selected
experts who are famous in Japan for their work in community
vitalization and community formation. We were able to offer
participants valuable lectures, which are seldom given in regional
cities such as Yamagata.
3. In the remaining 4 classes, the participants identified issues intheir own communities and worked to find solutions.
■ Overview of classes
1st class: Lecture
Basic concepts of community development and successful casestudies were introduced. The lecturer was a famous landscapedesigner, community designer and university lecturer.
2nd class: Lecture
Lecturer introduced case studies of community vitalization.
Although a public servant, the lecturer has achieved numerous
successes in vitalizing his community and has been featured innumerous media.
3rd class: Lecture
Lecturer was a professor at the Tohoku University of Art and
Design. Orientation for the subsequent classes was given.
4th class: Participants brainstormed to find issues in their
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community. Participants divided into groups of a few members
each and brainstormed issues in their community. The issues
identified by the groups were categorized into six categories.
○Six categories that emerged
1. Issues in agriculture, industry and commerce.
2. Issues in connecting people in Yamagata
3. Cultural issues in Yamagata
4. Career/educational issues
5. Tourism issues
6: International issues
5th class: Dig deeper into the six categories
Each group was assigned an issue in the community, which was
discussed. The discussion covered why the issue emerged andhow to solve it.
6th class: Participants divided into six groups and consideredsolutions. Like the 5th class, solutions to the issues werediscussed.
7th class: Preparation for public presentation. Solutions werediscussed and preparations were made for the public presentation.
4. A public presentation, called “Meeting of One Hundred,” was held
as the forum for the six groups to give their presentations.
Presentations were given on the issues in the community, which
the participants had been working on in class, and solutions there
too. Each graduate of the Academy was given a diploma.
5. After completion of the course, each team launched an
independent project.
Results : Citizens who want community vitalization assembled from the prefecture
and city.
・Potential community leaders were assembled.
・People working in their communities were connected.
Many of the participants where highly driven to think about the community
and what can be done for the community. The classes enabled thesepeople to gain a common understanding by sharing the same issue. As aresult, their vectors, which were scattered at the beginning, began to pointin the same direction. The attendance rate of each class was very high, at
90% or more. The passion of the participants created positive energy, anda desire grew in them to take action with a project to resolve the issue.
Thus, each participant was positively changed.
・Something happened that even we, who started the project, couldn’t
predict.
The participants announced that some of the groups were independently
launching and operating a project for the community after finishing “Oh!
My Town Academy”. This is evidence that the participants became selfaware as community leaders through the Academy.
The following are the projects they launched.
■ Activities of the teams after completion of the course.
Three of the six teams are undertaking independent activities.
The work at “Oh! My Town Academy” was recognized by theadministration of Yamagata Prefecture. The Career Development team
implemented an event called “Story Forum” in January 2014 at a camp for
new high school student-leaders (students who will be the next student
council presidents etc.) from all over Yamagata Prefecture, which issponsored by Yamagata Prefecture every year. 100 high school students
residing in the prefecture heard stories from their seniors who are working
in Yamagata about how wonderful it is to work in Yamagata. Based on thesurvey result, 80 % of the high school students who participated wanted
to work in Yamagata. This very high result shows the positive change that
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occurred.

The People of Yamagata team held an event in January 2014 called“Room for Discussion.
“Room for Discussion” was an event for cross-generational discussion on
feelings and ideas about the community with an invited guest. “Oh! My
Town Academy” membership increased. The feeling of wanting more
people to join “Oh! My Town Academy” led to this voluntary membership
expansion effort. 42 people attended. 10 of the 42 expressed a desire to
become new members and work with the existing members to create avital city. Thus, the participants from the team were able to meet new,potential community leaders who want to take action for community
vitalization.

Plans to implement “Certify Master of Yamagata” in May.
“Certify Master of Yamagata” Certify Yamagata took place on May 11,
2014. The objective is to have the people of Yamagata deepen their own
understanding of Yamagata so they can properly communicate thehistory, industry, culture, tourism sites, cuisine, etc. to tourists. Sponsors
include JCI Yamagata, Yamagata Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
Yamagata City and Yamagata City Tourism Association.350 people
participated this event and 5 newspapers took up this event on the paper.
That means many citizens had a chance to know this new event.
There has never been an event like this. The fact that participants of thecourse conceived and will produce such an event on their own means that
community leaders, indeed, are being developed.
・Foundations of community vitalization were learned from lecturers,
heightening self-awareness as a community leader.
・Conducted survey; about 90% of enrollees answered it was good to meet
people with heightened awareness.
・Conducted survey; about 77% of enrollees answered they were very
happy they participated.
・Conducted survey; about 83% of enrollees answered their awareness forvitalizing the city was heightened.

Some of the people from Town Academy were really eager to join 2014
JCI ASPAC Yamagata as a volunteer but we JCI Yamagata wanted themto do a program in the outside event during ASPAC Yamagata fordelegates and Yamagata citizens.
Because we believed this opportunity would make them to be a young
active citizens who can create positive change to our community.
They created their own program and they took part in the event so much.
Their program is to make a flower hat which is used for Yamagata
traditional dancing and they showed that traditional dancing to delegates
and Yamagata citizens.
Delegates seemed having so much fun during the event and we believethat program showed our Yamagata hospitality to the delegates.
To take part in this event gave the people from Town Academy the great
opportunity to make positive change.
That positive change is to think by themselves that how they can promote
Yamagata’s charm to delegates especially from overseas.
Not only promote but also this positive change is to plan and take action
together in the team.
As part of the news, 2014 JCI ASPAC Yamagata is taken up by 4 local
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TV stations and 5 local and national newspapers.
One of the local TV station, they made JCI ASPAC Yamagata
documentary TV program and broadcasted for one hour after ASPAC.
Actions Taken : April 26, 2013 (Fri): Explanation meeting to solicit participants. 105 people
attended.
Presented an overview of “Oh! My Town Academy”, which will be offered.
May 25, 2013 (Sat): 1st class. 207 people participated (open to the public;
included 52 enrollees).
Lecture given by guest speaker; learned foundations of community
development.
May 31, 2013 (Fri): 2nd class. 102 people participated (open to the public;
included 59 enrollees).
Lecture given by guest speaker; studied past cases of successfulcommunity vitalization efforts.
July 5, 2013 (Fri): 3rd class. 49 people participated (all enrollees).
Lecture given by guest speaker; orientation for subsequent classes.
August 30, 2013 (Fri): 4th class. 36 people participated (all enrollees).
With the lecturer as leader, all participants brainstormed issues in thecommunity.
September 13, 2013 (Fri): 5th class. 30 people participated (all enrollees).
With the lecturer as leader, six issues were investigated further.
October 11, 2013 (Fri): 6th class. 29 people participated (all enrollees).
With the lecturer as leader, solutions to the issue were considered.
・Divided into six groups, created teams and a project was launched byeach team.
1. Agriculture/Industry/Commerce team
Realized there is an issue of insufficient successors, advertising andproduction in agriculture, industry and commerce in the area. As asolution, proposed proactively creating opportunities for public relations
through various events, based on the thinking that the first step is to build
connections.
2. People of Yamagata team
Realized there was no “place of connection”—an “open forum” whereanyone can participate anytime—for people who can make Yamagata an
interesting place. The team presented ways for people to connect, suchas setting up a monthly meeting which anyone can attend, creating an
exchange program with “experts” identified by the team, and creating avisual database of talent, etc.
3. Culture team
Realized Yamagata is not an attractive town to young people.
Data shows the probability of a high school student remaining in
Yamagata upon graduation ranks 38th among the 47 prefectures. Thus,
stopping the outflow of the young population was considered the top
priority. The team proposed creating a positive community that is
specialized for youth.
4. International Exchange team
Data shows that only 0.5% of the population are foreign residents, whichis 32nd among the 47 prefectures. The number of foreign tourists isapproximately 48,000 in a year—half of what it was before the Great
Earthquake of ’11. The team realized from this data that there is the issueof sparse foreign residents and overseas tourists in Yamagata.
Presented countermeasures, such as increasing the number of people
who want to participate in international exchanges, creating professionals
who communicate the attractiveness of Yamagata to foreign visitors intheir respective language, and hosting periodic socials with foreign
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residents to learn the perspectives from abroad.
5. Career/Education team
The team realized there is the issue wherein the number of young people
taking jobs in Yamagata is low.
Proposed a project targeting high school students who are about to searchfor jobs. Attractive leaders who work in Yamagata will talk about theirexperience and benefits of working locally. Thus, an opportunity isprovided for the students to think about their own future.
6. Tourism team
Beginning in May 2014, “Tohoku Rokkonsai”, which is an earthquake
recovery memorial event, JCI ASPCAC Yamagata, and Yamagata
Destination Campaign, which is a tourism campaign to attract large
numbers of tourists to Yamagata Prefecture, will all be happening in
Yamagata. The team realized this is a unique opportunity in which crowds
will gather—it is a significant tourism opportunity for Yamagata. Thus, it is
the best chance to create fans of Yamagata.
To take advantage of this opportunity, a project was started for Yamagata
residents to learn about Yamagata in order to promote the attractivenessof their community.
October 11, 2013 (Fri): 7th class. 30 people participated (all enrollees).
With the lecturer as leader, solutions were reviewed andpreparations were made for the presentations at the publicpresentation.

December 7, 2013 (Sat): Public presentation (Meeting of One Hundred).
103 people participated (open to the public; included 34 enrollees).
The public presentation was named “Meeting of One
Hundred.”

Six teams presented projects addressing their respective issues.
Recommendations : Potential community leaders were able to connect with each other. As aresult, we developed leaders who will lead the way to solving the issues of
the community and make the community a better place. Furthermore, acommunity was created in which such people can work.
・A positive community was established where anybody who wants tovitalize the community can easily participate. Thus, the hurdle of thepeople in the community toward taking the first step was lowered.
・As discussed in the “Results” box, projects started by the Academy
enrollees themselves have already begun, leading to community
vitalization from a different perspective than in the past.

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Award Category criteria

1

Objectives, Planning, Finance and Execution

What were the To develop local leaders in Yamagata who want toobjectives of this make their community a better place throughprogram? projects that broadly target private citizens.

For those leaders to bring about positive changes intheir community.
How does this This project focuses on the individual social
program align to responsibility of private citizens in a community.
the JCI Plan of Furthermore, this program has created many solution
Action? providers.

This program provided the opportunity for private
citizens to enhance their personal growth.
Private citizens of the community learned to thinkon their own and act for a positive change in thecommunity by going through this training program.
This program expanded the individual social
responsibility of empowered citizens, which
contributes to the growth of community.
Was the budget an The breakdown of the budget for this program is aseffective guide for follows.
the financial Lecturer fee (three people): 74%
management of the Venue cost: 14%
project? Other: 12%

The expenditure to implement this program followed
the budget.
We used public facilities, offered to citizens for free
or at a very low cost, as venues for the program.
How does this ＜The JCI Mission＞
project advance This program promoted the JCI mission in thethe JCI Mission following ways.
and Vision? 1. To provide an attractive introduction that enables

citizens interested in the program to make thedecision to enroll.
2. To empower participants through team activities.
Through the above, our program empowered private
citizens of the community to create positive change.
＜The JCI Vision＞
This program promoted the JCI vision in thefollowing ways.
1. Bring participants to a realization that they cancreate their own story/future for the community
after the completion of the program by using theskills learned in the program.
2. Throughout the duration of the program,participants learn about the skills that can beacquired in the program.
Through the above, our program turned the private
citizens of the community into active citizens.
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Award Category criteria

2

Membership Participation

By number, howmany members
were involved inthis program? ９MEMBERS
By percentage,
how manymembers of the
Local Organization
were involved inthis program? 25%
Describe the main Decide on program content (5 members)roles of the Select lecturers (3 members)
participating Set the issues for each session (3 members)
members in this Measure progress and results for each session (2program. members)

Select session venue (2 members)
Manage the budget (1 member)

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Award Category criteria

3

Skills Developed

What skills were 1. Skill to analyze issues in the community anddeveloped in this specify the task.
program? 2. Skill to build and manage a team.

3. Skill to create specific solutions as a solution
provider.
4. Skill to give presentations to private citizens on
the issue in the community and the solution.
5. Skill to involve private citizens of the community
to solve the issue.

How were these 46 people in the community became active citizens
skills developed? through this project.
Describe the The actions of the active citizens produced themethods and following impact on the community after the project
activities used. finished.

＜Career/Education team>
The work at “Oh! My Town Academy” wasrecognized by the administration of Yamagata
Prefecture.
The active citizens brought about positive change in
100 high school students.
The active citizens implemented a program forcommunicating the joy of work in a new-leader
meeting of high school students, sponsored by
Yamagata Prefecture.
100 new high school student-leaders attended.
Based on the survey result, 80 % of the high school
students who participated wanted to work in
Yamagata, which is a very high number.
＜Tourism team＞
The active citizens developed a project sponsoredby Yamagata City, Yamagata Chamber of Commerceand Industry and Yamagata City Tourism
Association.
A program to get the people of Yamagata to deepen
their own understanding of Yamagata in order toproperly communicate the history, industry, culture,
tourism sites, cuisine, etc. to tourists is scheduled
for May 11, 2014.

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Award Category criteria

4Impact on Participants

What was the This program was intended to impact participants in
intended impact on the following ways.
the participants? 1. Teach participants the skill to positively change

the community.
2. Cause the participants to become leaders and toinitiate action for their own communities.
Describe the actual Participants took initiative on the following projects
impact on the after the program was finished so as to bring about
participants. positive change to the community and its citizens.

1. The Career Development team implemented a
project called “Story Forum” in January 2014 at acamp for new high school student-leaders from allover Yamagata Prefecture, which is sponsored by
Yamagata Prefecture every year.
2. To positively change the community, a meeting
was held for cross-generational discussion with aninvited guest. 42 new members were added byvoluntary membership expansion activities intended
to increase partners with whom to change thecommunity.
3. A project sponsored by Yamagata City, Yamagata
Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Yamagata
City Tourism Association was developed.
A program to get 300 people of Yamagata to acquire
correct information about their community and skills
to communicate the same is scheduled for May 11,
2014.
From the above results, this program produced theimpact of developing community leaders andequipping them with skills to take action.

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Award Category criteria

5Long-term Impact of the Program

What is the In the long term, our program is expected to
expected long-term continue to increase the number of active citizens,
impact of this and many people in the community will continue toproject? act toward positive changes in the community.

This is because:
1. Participants of the program will develop skills ascitizens who can take initiative for the community.
2. People who become active citizens will takeaction for the community.
3. Other private citizens will be impacted by theactions in No. 2.
4. Private citizens impacted in No. 3 will become
active citizens.
What changes “JCI members must create A) a way for sharing
would you make to many social issues, and B) a way to create programs
improve the results to develop skills to solve those issues.”of this project?

There is the possibility that issues in the community
can be solved by acting in partnership with otherareas.

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