LIFE & CULTURE

Left: TICAD VII in Yokohama, Japan in August 2019. There were over 10,000 participants, including 42
heads of state from 53 African countries, those from 52 development partner countries, 108 internationaland regional institutions, and the private sector, and other members of civil society such as those working
at NGOs. Discussions centered on promoting business. AFP/AFLO
Right: MISIA was an honorary ambassador at TICAD VII. The photo shows her inauguration speech.

During MISIA’s 2019 trip to Zambia, she visitedan orphanage where former street children live
and an elementary school in a refugee camp.
GENERAL INCORPORATED FOUNDATION MUDEFTOWARD TICAD Ⅷ:RAISING AWARENESS OF
THE AFRICA-JAPAN LINK
For many years, the singer MISIA has been involved in aid work for Africa. Since 1993, she has twice served as
Honorary Ambassador at the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which isgaining significance as an international conference spearheaded by the Government of Japan to address
Africa’s development issues. What has been inspiring MISIA to visit Africa and provide support all this time?
“What a wonderful place!”
That was the first impression
Japanese singer MISIA had
when she visited Kenya for the
first time, in 2007. It has a pleasantclimate and plenty of nature,
culture, tradition, and music. Assoon as she exited the airport,
she was captivated by the vastadjacent national park, dottedwith giraffes strutting around.
On the other hand, the city was

so developed that her simplistic
image of Africa as a place ofwidespread hunger and disease
was immediately erased.
From a young age, MISIA had
known of Africa’s poverty-related
problems through music. Moreover,because the roots of the soul musicthat influenced her lay in Africa,
she developed a natural interestin the continent. After she joined
the White Band Project—a global

poverty-eradication campaign—
she took the advice of U2 singer
Bono, who was already actively
involved in aid for Africa, to visit
the continent for herself andsee what it had to show to her.
Encouraged by Bono, she decided
to set off, with Kenya as a firstport of call.
In Kenya, she had contact
with many people through hervisit to an elementary school inKibera, which is said to be oneof Africa’s largest slums, andplaces such as Maasai village.
She was surprised to see so many
facets to a single country, and she
wanted to show the world this real
Africa, including its wonderfulattractions.
So, while first learning about
Africa herself, she started tointroduce the continent to thepeople of Japan through hermusic. Simultaneously, she beganproviding educational support tothe children there. Since 2010, she
has been working with the generalincorporated association “mudef,”
whose various support includes
funds for operating schools,scholarships, textbooks and otherschool supplies, sanitary goods
for schoolgirls, school meals, andthe funds necessary to participate
in music competitions. She also
created a picture book, “Leonawith the Heart Mark,” which tells
the story of Leona, a lioness with aheart symbol on her forehead. The
profits from this picture book,which captures the people whom
MISIA met in Africa and thelessons she learned there, are also
used to support the education ofAfrican children.
Due to such activities over theyears, MISIA has twice served
as an Honorary Ambassador atTICAD, which is organized by theGovernment of Japan. In addition
to African countries, TICAD
participants include internationalorganizations involved withdevelopment, partner countries,
Asian countries, and privatecompanies. The conference serves
as a platform to discuss how tomove forward on Africa-leddevelopment. TICAD VIII will
be held in Tunisia this August.
MISIA says, “I believe thatlearning about each other andtaking action together fosters
peace in our hearts. I hope thatjoining forces at TICAD towork on Africa’s development will
also lead to world peace.”
She continues, “Japan and Africa’s
support of each other exists inmany different forms, such as foodand resources. Even if you don’t
go to Africa for yourself, you can
get a lot of information throughthe Internet. When I give talks at
Japanese universities, I sense that
there is an increasing number ofstudents now who are interested

in Africa compared with when I
first became involved in aid work.
By sharing my knowledge andexperience, I want these students
to feel the connection between
Japan, Africa, and the rest of theworld more deeply than everbefore. I want people to maketheir daily choices knowing that
we live in support of each other.
The fastest way to do this would
be to become friends. I dreamof a wonderful future where
everyone has one or more friendor acquaintance from the morethan 50 countries of the Africancontinent. I wish to serve as abridge, using the power of music
to connect people to each other.”
MISIA sang the national anthem of Japan at theOpening Ceremony for the Olympic GamesTokyo 2020, which were held in 2021. Shepursues her career in music based on the saying
she learned in Africa, “where there is music, thereis no fighting.” THE MAINICHI NEWSPAPERS/AFLO