The Grassroots Academy in Iwate 2016
International Grassroots Women’s Academy in Tohoku 2016-2019
The International Grassroots Women’s Academy in Tohoku serves as the meeting ground forthe next generation of female leaders from three Tohoku prefectures (Miyagi, Iwate,Fukushima). It offers opportunities for participants to learn from each other and share different
experiences that can inspire and empower them. The Academy started in March 2015 whenthe “International Grassroots Women’s Academy in Tohoku” planning committee (Secretariat:NPO Women’s Eye) and the Huairou Comission, an internationally-renowned NGO based inNew York, collaborated to host a training workshop just prior to the UNISDR-led Third World
Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai. This pre-Conference event welcomed
15 grassroots women leaders from ten different countries in Asia and the Latin Americas forworkshops and discussions with 40 young women leaders from disaster-affected Tohoku.

19 Participants (12 from Iwate, 3 fromMiyagi,4 from Fukushima) with 2children,
11 Lecturers and staffs

Objectives of the AcademyØVisit the sites of grassroots activities led by Tohoku-based participantsØShare experiences to deepen mutual understanding of the grassroots activitiesØCreate opportunities for the younger generation of women to hear the insights and to learn from thevaluable experiences of pioneer female leaders

Day 1 -- February 12, Friday
Sumita Town, Iwate Prefecture
After the initial self-introductions and informal
meet-and-greet over lunch, the official program,featuring the activities of three young women fromIwate, was held at the new municipal hall building of
Sumita Town.
uWelcome and overview explanation of the 2-Day
Program by Ms. Ishimoto, Executive-Director of
Women’s EyeuSpeech and explanation of corporate contributions
to the Academy by Ms. Nakahara, PR Planner,
Marketing Division, L’Occitane Japon.
uFeatured Activities in Iwate, presented by threeparticipants from Iwate Prefecture. Animateddiscussion with comments and questions.
Ms. Noriko Yokozawa, Assit.Manager, Priorities
and Planning Division, Sumita Town Office
Presentation on the events of March 11, 2011, theimpact upon Sumita Town, and how the Town
administration dealt with the aftermath, and notably,
how they developed collaborative relationships withNPOs. The participants were impressed by Sumita’s
approach to reconstruction through communityengagement, which has been recognized as one of
the most progressive examples from thedisaster-affected Tohoku region.
Questions from the Floor
・ Why is there such a relaxed atmosphere within
the municipal government of Sumita, such thatthey invited cooperation from outside town hallstaff and sought to use the power ofcommunity-based NPOs?

・ What were the methods to involve people withdiverse backgrounds, for example, throughcross-sectorial exchange programs within thecommunity?
Answers
・ There has been a tradition in Sumita for
spontaneous social movements
・ The municipal town government is aware of theneed to involve the private sector
・ Being a woman can sometimes be an advantage
because we freely move in many sectors and are
comfortable in diverse situations.
・ Women’s experiences give us the ability toquickly understand the concrete realities early on,
and to therefore see the larger picture ofcommunity reconstruction. Women appreciate
the different skills that others offer and so help tosee them invested to the advantage of thecommunity.
・ It is important to find a happy middle groundbetween the new vision you wish to realize andthe views of the senior generations.
Ms. Atsuyo Sasaki
Community Support Coordinator, Sumita Town
With “Connecting Sumita” as our slogan, with four ofmy peers, we established a company named
SUMICA that aims to re-vitalize thetown with businesses related to thewellbeing, activities, and future ofchildren.
Byplanningandmanaging various events thatconnect young people and families,
SUMICA creates opportunities forthe children in the town toexperience the authentic local“culture” and to become proud ofbeing from Sumita. SUMICA has been appointed asthe manager and caretaker of a newly renovated‘community house.’ Made from the five storehouses
and main manor owned by a prominent family, thesebuildings have been renovated into a community café,
arestaurant
managedbywomen,lodging/accommodations, and a family-friendly playspace for children. We will be welcoming yoursuggestion and opinion.
Feedback from the audience
・ We need to make this facility attractive to 20 and30-year old women so that they will want tocontinue living in Sumita.
・ We are looking for further suggestion to makethese facilities a place where mothers andfamilies may wish to take their children.
Question from the Floor
・ How
doyou
cultivateempathy
andunderstanding of your activities in such a
traditionally conservative area?
Answers
・ There is no easy solution. We have to keep
creating opportunities to appeal to the oldergenerations to foster understanding of the needsof the younger generation. In difficult times, I
would use social media to contact Academy
participants for support or ideas, and I am
grateful to be connected with everyone. It has
been very helpful.
Ms. Rina Sasaki, NPO wiz (Iwate Youth)
Members of the organization are all U-turners, which
is used to describe people who left their hometowns
for a time to go to school or work in another area ofJapan, and then havereturned home. We
decided to comeback and live in ourhometowns after theEarthquake
andTsunami. We choseto promote Iwate
through various networks developed by our(younger) generation. Adding to the on-going U-turn
promotion projects, we would like to organize suchprojects as “Yome-turn” and “Muko-turn” in support ofwives and husbands from elsewhere who marry into
Iwate families and take up long-term residency inIwate.
How and with whom we interact?
・ We say “NO” to projects with the word “marriage”
and that take getting married to be the primaryobjective.
・ We know the community and the context of ouractivities is important.
・ We want to create a better atmosphere fordivorced people to also attend.
・ We try to create events that are accessible forpeople who are not as good at one-on-one
communication.

They say some U-turners are experiencing difficultyin finding a place in the community. How about thetwo of you?
Rina Within the reconstruction community, there
is an openness to people from the outside and wefind that it is easier to do thing when there is energy
outside the community as well.
Atsuyo I am trying to create a work environment
and atmosphere where all U-turners can genuinely
feel that it was a good decision to move back home.
Comments from the Lecturers
Professor Jackie Steele
It is important toimagine spaces of solidarity where you cancollaborate with others who may have different
values and perspectives.
Mr. Makoto Tajima Social capital is important. It
is not just about providing a space for people. The
space is just the site of the creative activities you
expect to realize for your futures.
Dr. Lucy Jones I am so impressed to be given
this opportunity to listen to the many positive
approaches you have taken even after such adreadful disaster. I can feel the strong ties andconnections between people and therein lies the real
strength for reconstruction.
Day 2 -- Feb.13, Saturday
Hakoneyama Terrace, RikuzentakataMorning Program
Concurrent Stations for Self-Introduction andTeach-in Activities
We set up 5 different stations or booths whereparticipants could introduce their activities andprojects to others. Participants rotated to learn about
the activities of interest, and all had the opportunity topresent their grassroots projects. Following the thirdround of stations, we gathered for discussion,exchange and collective idea sharing.

Feedback・ We need projects to attract real people.
・ Challenges of discussing heavy topics with young
women from Fukushima.
・ Are we doing community development or humanresource development?
・ How to create practical connections for thecommunity?
・ Gender awareness in different generations has asignificant impact.

・ What is needed to have children, to raisechildren?
・ Emergency medical system right after thedisaster?
Wasitenough?
Lunch Time
Surprise birthday cake for
Dr. Lucy Jones whosebirthday was March 13!
Afternoon Program 1
The State of Disaster Prevention around theWorld
Lecture by Mr. Makoto Tajima on Japanese andglobal movements for disaster risk reduction.
Presenting an overview ofdevelopments since thelast 2015 UN World
Conference on Disaster
Risk Reduction and theadoption of the Sendai
Framework for Disaster
Risk Reduction 2015-2030, this lecture allowed us toverify the meaning and become more confident inusing terms likes “resilience” and “build back better”
that are often used by specialists.
Afternoon Program 2Discussion with Dr. Lucy Jones
Dr.Jones is a known US seismologist and currently
the Science Advisor for Risk Reduction in the Natural
Hazards Mission of the US Geological Survey.
Despite mathematics not being seen as a suitablecareer for girls when she was young, Dr. Jones
talked about her life as a pioneer female scientist andthe importance of having a supportive father,encouraging teachers in Taiwan. She met andmarried her husband, a man with very progressive
values on gender equality and family roles. In 1992,
right after the earthquake in Los Angeles, Dr. Jones
conducted post-quake interviews on TV, holding her
sleeping child. Both her and husband were working
and there are few baby-sitters for this kind ofemergency. This interview scene made her famous
nation-wide. She has eventually shifted more of her
work towards civic education to promote disaster risk
reduction, which is often disregarded as relevant in
the scientific community. She has given lectures andexplained unpredictable earthquakes, and helped totranslate scientific jargon into plain language to makethe information accessible to fellow citizens. She
talked about the importance of really knowing
yourself and what you want to do, and the need to beconfident and live your life according to your own
beliefs and values. Making good friends are also
important, and identifying the peer group you canrespect is a way to find support when things aredifficult. She shared some family photo and admitted

that it was the first she had talked about her private
life in public.
The participants from Fukushima shared their anxiety
resulting from conflicts among scientists. Dr. Jones
commented that people in Fukushima are now
coping with the most difficult facet of that nuclear
disaster: the uncertainty. The participants exchanged
ideas on how to utilize scientific data, and how tofurther promote risk reduction education programs.
They discussed the importance of promoting
scientific literacy and education. Dr. Jones shared
her next plans to promote community resilience inSouthern California following her retirement fromUSGS.
The program ended with mutual promises andcommitments to further strengthen exchanges andsharing in the lead up to the International Academy tobe held in Los Angeles. The next domestic Academy
will be scheduled in Fukushima in August 2016 andthen a leadership training course will be held in
Seattle in February 2017, followed by Academies inMiyagi, Iwate, and the International Academy in Los
Angeles in 2018.

The Grassroots Academy in Iwate 2016
Organizer: NPO Women’s Eye
Granting Agency: Fish Family Foundation; Miyagi Prefecture
Subsidy for Support to Local Reconstruction
Collaboration: United States Geological Survey; L’Occitane Japon;
Dr. Jackie F. Steele (Associate Professor, Institute of Social Science,
University of Tokyo); Iwate Cooperation Centre for Reconstruction;
Sosha Mitsunaga (Interpreter)