Uniting
the Generations: Japan Conference to Promote Intergenerational
Programs and Practices |
 Matthew
S. Kaplan, Associate Professor
of Intergenerational Programs and Aging in the Department
of Agricultural and Extension Education at The Pennsylvania
State University, provides statewide leadership in the
development and evaluation of intergenerational programs.
Dr. Kaplan has published several books including one
for teachers and community educators, and two books that
explore the international dimension of intergenerational
work: “The Role of Intergenerational Programs for
Supporting Children, Youth and Elders in Japan” (with
A. Kusano, I. Tsuji, and S. Hisamichi, published by SUNY
Press in 1998) and “Linking Lifetimes: A Global
View of Intergenerational Exchange” (with N. Henkin
and A. Kusano, published by University Press of America,
2002). He received a Fulbright Scholarship (1994-95)
to study intergenerational programs and practices in
Japan, and was co-founder of organizations in Hawaii
and in New York aimed at supporting intergenerational
programs and policies on a statewide level. His Ph.D.
is in Environmental Psychology from the City University
of New York Graduate Center (1991). |
 Atsuko
Kusano,
Chair of the Japan Intergenerational Unity Association,
has a Ph.D. in Medicine from the Tohoku University School
of Medicine in 1993. Since 1985 she has held several academic
appointments including as Professor in the Department of
Education at Shinshu University. Dr. Kusano has lectured
at numerous conferences and published articles on issues
concerning aging population trends, family structural changes,
and women’s issues in Japan, China, and Sweden. She
is a member of the International Federation for Home Economics
and the Association of Family and Consumer Sciences in
the U.S. She is co-author of “The Role of Intergenerational
Programs for Supporting Children, Youth and Elders in Japan” (SUNY
Press, 1998) and co-editor of “Linking Lifetimes:
A Global View of Intergenerational Exchange” (University
Press of America, 2002). |
 Donna
Butts is the Executive Director
of USA-based Generations United, that country's only
national membership organization focused solely on improving
the lives of children, youth and older people through
intergenerational collaboration, public policies, and
programs. Ms. Butts has over 30 years of experience working
with non-governmental non-profit organizations. In 1999
she was invited by the United Nations to participate
in the Inter-Regional Expert Group Meeting on Developing
a Framework for Policies for a Society for All Ages in
Seoul, Korea. She is a respected author and speaker who
serves on several boards, including the International
Consortium for Intergenerational Programmes. She is a
graduate of Stanford University's Executive Program for
Non-Profit Leaders. |
 Terrence
Seedsman (Ph.D. from the University
of Oregon, U.S.) is a Senior Policy Advisor in the Office
of the Vice-Chancellor at Victoria University in Melbourne,
Australia. Throughout his professional career, Dr. Seedsman
has been an active committee member for many professional
and community organizations including several ministerial
committees. He is actively involved in research, published
numerous papers and presented a variety of workshop themes
relating to recreation, social gerontology, loss and
grief and community health and fitness. In 1994 he published
the book, "Ageing is Negotiable: A Prospectus for
Vital Living in the Third Age." During his academic
career at Victoria University he has assumed key leadership
roles ranging from Head of School, Deputy Dean, and Interim
Executive Dean. |
 Maeona
Sachie Mendelson (Ph.D.
in the Philosophy of Social Welfare from the University
of Hawaii) is Executive Director of the Hawaii Intergenerational
Network, elected member of the National Board of AARP and
former State President of AARP Hawaii, an organization
of seniors aged 50 and above with a membership of 140,000
individuals in Hawaii and 35 million members in the United
States. She is an adjunct professor at Hawaii Pacific University
and the University of Hawaii, Manoa, where she teaches
program design for the human services, intergenerational
studies and social policy. Her interest in lifelong learning
opportunities with a global dimension led her to the creation
of the Millennium Young People's Congress held in Hawaii
in October 1999. |
 Nancy
Henkin (Ph.D. in Psychoeducational
Processes at Temple University) is the Executive Director
of the Center for Intergenerational Learning at Temple
University. Dr. Henkin has over 25 years of leadership
experience in the intergenerational studies arena, and
has contributed extensively in the spheres of policy,
research, and practice. She has developed a variety of
model intergenerational programs and provides technical
assistance to organizations throughout the U.S. and in
other countries. Through an array of outreach education
materials and workshops, she has trained thousands of
educators, human service practitioners, and health personnel
in implementing intergenerational programs. She serves
as a member of the Mayor's Commission on Aging Board
of Directors and the Verizon National Consumer Advisory
Board. |
|
|
 Keiko
Higuchi is a critic, Professor Emerita
at Tokyo Kasei University, and the Representative Secretary
General of the Women’s Association for the Better
Aging Society (WABAS). She has been an advisor for the
Japan Intergenerational Unity Association (JIUA) since
2005. She graduated from the University of Tokyo (Art and
Art History Course, Faculty of Literature) in 1956, where
she also took courses at the Institute of Journalism. With
her experiences as an editor at the mass media and at corporations,
she started her career as a critic. She was the first Director
at the Center for Advancement of Working Women (CAWW),
and also served as a member of the Council for Gender Equality,
Prime Minister’s Office, and as the Chairperson of
the Research Committee to Support Women Balancing Career
and Family. Ms. Higuchi has been one of Japan’s leaders
in advocating welfare services for the elderly, gender
equity, and productivity of older adults. |
 Leng
Leng Thang (Ph.D. in Anthropology
from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign)
is Associate Professor of Japanese Studies at the National
University of Singapore. Her research interests include:
intergenerational relations, grandparent-grandchildren
relations, active aging and intergenerational programming,
particularly in the Asian countries. She is the author
of "Generations in Touch: Linking the Old and Young
in a Tokyo Neighborhood" (published by Cornell University
Press, 2001). Dr. Thang organized the first international
conference in Asia on intergenerational programming.
This conference, which took place in Singapore in March,
2002, attracted participation from both government and
non-governmental agencies in Japan, China, Phillipines,
Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, as well as Singapore. |
 Susan
Feldman is the Director of The
Alma Unit for Research on Ageing, a research and teaching
unit of the Victoria University Faculty of Arts, Education,
and Human Development (Melbourne, Australia). She has
special interests in older women, their place in the
family, their health and wellbeing, and how their contribution
across the generations enables family and community to
build capacity in a range of areas. She has 20 years
experience working in direct service delivery in the
community, and 10 years working in Government undertaking
program management and policy development in the health
and welfare fields. She has written several books including,
A Certain Age: Women Growing Older (Allen & Unwin,
1999). |
 Alan
Hatton-Yeo is Chief Executive
Officer of the Beth Johnson Foundation, one of the leading
UK organizations pioneering new approaches to ageing
through action research. In recent years, his roles have
included: Director of the UK Center for Intergenerational
Practice, Secretary of the United Kingdom Older People's
Advocacy Alliance, Member of the UK Mentoring Strategy
Group, and Secretary of the Management Committee of the
International Consortium for Intergenerational Programmes.
Originally educated as a chemist, he was retrained as
a special education teacher, and worked in the field
of education for seventeen years with roles including
Head Teacher, College Principal, and Principal Education
Officer of the Spastics Society for England and Wales. |
 Susan
Perlstein is the founder and
Executive Director of the National Center for Creative
Aging / Elders Share The Arts (ESTA). She is also an
educator, social worker, administrator and an artist
and has written extensively on creativity, arts-in-education
and aging. She has written on creativity and aging in
numerous professional journals including Arts in the
Public Interest and Gerontology and in ASA's Aging Today,
The Older LEARNer and Dimensions. Ms. Perlstein is the
author or co-author of several books: Alert and Alive,
Generating Community: Intergenerational Programs through
the Expressive Arts and Legacy Works: Transforming Memory
Into Visual Art. |
 Elizabeth
Larkin (Ed.D. from the Harvard
University Graduate School of Education) is Associate
Professor in the College of Education at the University
of South Florida Sarasota/Manatee. She teaches courses
in early childhood and elementary teacher certification
programs. Her graduate degrees are from the Harvard University
Graduate School of Education and Bank Street College
of Education. Prior to coming to USF in August of 1998,
Dr. Larkin taught at Wheelock College in Boston for 12
years where she developed the first Master's degree program
in Intergenerational Studies and worked as a liaison
in a Professional Development School collaboration with
local schools. Her research interests include looking
at the professional development of educators, as well
as studying intergenerational initiatives in a variety
of settings. |
 Sally
Newman is Professor emerita at the University
of Pittsburgh and founder and former executive director of
Generations Together. She is founding chair of the International
Consortium for Intergenerational Programs (ICIP) and founding
editor of the Journal of Intergenerational Relationships
(JIR), a quarterly journal of Haworth Press, Inc. Dr Newman
has edited 2 books on intergenerational studies and has been
a lecturer and researcher in the Intergenerational field
in the US and abroad since the 1970's. |
 Kimiko
Kozawa, as a professor at Tokyo Gakugei University
and a Doctor of Engineering, focuses her research on topics
such as “creation of a healthy living environment for
children,” “residents’ participation in
community development,” and “environmental education
for a sustainable society.” Through analysis on methodologies
and practice, particularly on new curriculum and practices
adopted in England, Germany and the United States, on environmental
education, she has proposed and promoted teaching strategies
and curriculum by working cooperatively with teachers, governments,
communities, and experts. Her research also includes environmental
education between Japan, China, and South Korea and East
Asia. She did collaborative research with Beijing Normal
University on the topic “environmental education for
a sustainable society in Japan and China.” In 2004,
she became the chair for formulating basic policies of the
Environmental Education Promotion Law. She became the chair
of Japan Environmental Education Forum in May, 2005, and
received an award from the Ministry of the Environment for
her contribution in environment conservation. Her primary
work includes “Machi-Work: Education for Participation” (Fudosha). |
 Hiroshi
Shibata is the founder and a professor
of the Gerontology Program at Obirin University Graduate
School and Director of the Obirin Human Development and
Aging Research Institute. He also serves as an Honorary
Member of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology,
a Member of the Policy Research Council on Aging Society
of Prime Minister’s Office, and as board member of
the Japan Gerontological Society, Japan Socio-Gerontological
Society, and the International Longevity Center of Japan.
Dr. Shibata has professional experiences as a geriatric
doctor with the Faculty of Medicine at the University of
Tokyo, Tokyo Metropolitan Geriatric Hospital, and other
geriatric institutions. At the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute
of Gerontology, he conducted interdisciplinary longitudinal
studies including Japan-US cross-cultural studies. Currently
he is taking the leadership in establishing the Japan Society
of Applied Gerontology. |
 Tadaharu
Gotoh is the Executive Director of the Foundation
of Social Development for Senior Citizens, an organization
that aims to improve intergenerational relationships as well
as the quality of later life in Japan. The Foundation supports
research and initiatives for older adults and their social
participation and intergenerational involvement, and holds
an annual event that celebrates longevity and an aged society.
He started his career at the Ministry of Welfare (currently,
Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare) in 1973, and had
served at numerous important positions while at the Ministry,
including the Bureau Chief of Equal Employment, Children
and Families Bureau. |
 Yoshikazu
Takano is a founding member and the Secretary
Director of the Japan NGO Council on Aging, and a Board Member
of the Wonderful Aging Club (WAC). He also serves as the
Controller at the Japan Association for Ageless Society (JAAS),
the NPO Magokoro Service Tokyo Yamanote, and other organizations.
Mr. Takano graduated from the department of Political Science
and Economics, Waseda University in 1961. Mr. Takano started
his career at The Dai-Tokyo Fire & Marine Insurance Co.,
Ltd., and also served as Secretary-General at WAC until 1998
when he retired from the corporation. In conjunction with
the International Year of Older Persons of 1999, he networked
the major organizations that share an interest in aging society
in Japan, and established the Japan NGO Council on Aging
in 1998. |
 Yuji
Kishii, is the President of Pangaea, an
advertising design corporation in Tokyo. He has been devoted
to lifelong learning and community development uniquely
based on public elementary schools. He is a founding member
and the Advisor to Akitsu Community, a model initiative
in lifelong learning promotion in Narashino City, Chiba
Pref.; Vice Chairman of the Association for Fusion of School
and Community, Yugo Ken; and a council member for Lifelong
Learning, Chiba Prefecture. He lectures at many conferences
and has published numerous books. |
|
 Eiichiro
Tokuyoshi graduated from Tokyo University
of Foreign Studies, and later worked with Phase Four Co.
Ltd., Earth Planning & Work Co. Ltd., and then with Annex
Co. Ltd., all of which were devoted to research and projects
for community planning. After moving to Tohno City, Iwate
Prefecture in 1996, he devoted himself to the inauguration
of the community-revitalizing project, Tohno Furusato Mura
and Michi no Eki Tohno Kaze no Oka, as well as to tourism-related
services. Mr. Tokuyoshi has been the Director of NPO Tohno
Yama Sato Kurashi Network since 2003. He has co-authored
many books on community development. |
Yoko
Kato graduated in 2000 from Waseda University's
Department of Human Health within the Faculty of Human Sciences.
In 2005, she received Ph.D. from the University's Graduate
School of Human Sciences. Since April of the same year, she
has worked as an assistant within the University's Institute
of Human Sciences. Her research focuses on modern youth theory
and popular youth culture. Dr. Kato has focused on schools
as an important element in understanding contemporary youth
culture. She is interested in relationships of youth with
other generations, and is now studying intergenerational
relationships, in particular.
|
 Kayoko
Soman, born in Kurobe City in Toyama
Prefecture, started integrated care programs at the day
service, “Konoyubi to-mare,” that offers care
to people with or without handicaps regardless of age in
2003. Currently, Ms. Soman operates several welfare services
including “Konoyubi to-mare Chaya;” that combines
day, group home, and short stay services. This style, called “Toyama
Style,” has been recognized as a model initiative
and has been replicated in other prefectures in Japan.
Ms. Soman received numerous awards for her practices, including
the “Toyama TOYP Award” (Creating Attractive
Toyama Section) in 1993, the first NHK Furusato Toyama
Award in 1994, and the “Chuunichi Shakai Kouroushou
Award” in 2001. She also serves as a lecturer at
Toyama University. |
 Chihiro
Tada is Chair of the Art Education Institute
and Director of NPO Nippon Good Toys. Mr. Tada graduated
from the Faculty of Law at Meiji University. Later he studied
at Pushkin University (affiliated with Moscow University),
Science Academy Preschool Education Center, and at National
Toy Museum in Moscow about early childhood education, children’s
culture, and toys. He has been devoted to welfare and culture
for children, intergenerational activities, and more recently
issues related to environment and welfare. Mr. Tada’s
leadership in intergenerational work in Japan includes the
training of 1,500 “Toy Consultants” to work at
welfare institutions, and with art education programs at
kindergartens, nursery schools, and nursing homes. He is
the author of “Asobi ga Sodateru Sedaikan Koryu: Kodomo
to Otoshiyori wo Tsunagu (Intergenerational Engagement through
Toys: Connecting Children and the Elderly, 2002, Reimei Shobo). |
 Masako
Yoshizu graduated from the Musashino Academy
of Music in 1993, receiving a master’s degree in music.
She later worked as a music therapist in a variety of welfare
centers for the elderly and as a music teacher in junior
and senior high schools. Beginning in 1999, she worked for
Yamaha Music Foundation as a researcher. From 2002, she began
working as a part-time lecturer at Kamakura Women’s
University and from 2004 as a children’s psychologist.
Since 2006, she has been a lecturer with the Faculty of Social
Welfare at Kumamoto Gakuen University. Her current interests
are in utilizing music therapy for improving communication
between children and the elderly. |
 Tamako
Koizumi has been a municipal assembly member
of Setagaya Ward, Tokyo since 1995. She is a strong advocate
for multi-generational child-rearing support and for implementing
age-integrated welfare facilities in Setagaya Ward. With
her support, the Ward developed the first multi-generational
childcare support agenda in 2004. She also presides over
the Tokyo Beanbag (Otedama) Association and was the first
beanbag champion at an Otedama contest held in Ehime Prefecture.
By using Otedama, she aims to promote intergenerational and
international understanding and exchange. |
 Minoru
Miyazaki, now the principal of Saginuma Elementary
School in Chiba Prefecture, has extensive experience in implementing
community-school collaboration through his career as an elementary
school principal. The Akitsu Community and Akitsu Elementary
School initiative in Chiba Prefecture is recognized as an
exemplified model. In 1997, his work titled “Cheerful
Partnership between School and Community (Gakko to Chiiki
no Karoyakana Renkei)” won the award in the Community
Education Section of the Yomiuri Education Awards. He is
the Founding Director of the Association for Fusion of Schools
and Communities, has lectured at many conferences, and has
served as an advisor and committee member for private sector
groups and the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science,
and Technology. |
 Shigeru
Tanaka, starting his career at Setagaya City
Office in 1979, served at various departments related to
youth development, NGO promotion, and education. Mr. Tanaka
was appointed as the first Director of the Children’s
Division in April 2004 to develop the first multi-generational
child-rearing agenda in the Ward. He played a key role at
the first intergenerational symposium in Setagaya Ward co-sponsored
by the Ward and the Japan Intergenerational Unity Association
in 2005. |
 Yoshie
Yonemitsu became the Director of special
nursing home Tenjuen in 1990, and has served as a committee
member of various welfare-related organizations in Kumamoto
Prefecture, and as a board member of the Japanese Council
of Senior Citizens Welfare Services. Her local initiative
aims to promote intergenerational exchange in a nursing home
co-located with Toy Library, and to open the nursing home
environment to the community. She will present about the
exchange programs based on Toy Library Tenjuen that include
elderly residents, nursery school children, elementary school
students, and pre-nursery school children and their mothers. |
 Yasuo
Shiozaki, born in Kiryu, a city famous for
traditional textile manufacture in Gunma Prefecture, is a
dentist and has been the founding director of the NPO Kiryu
Community Information Network since 2001. The NPO’s
mission includes helping to promote community and human development
through information technology and to preserve Kiryu’s
culture and community life. At the conference, Mr. Shiozaki
will present the NPO’s initiative to network local
organizations and local university students to revitalize
Kiryu’s traditional textile industry and its culture. |
 Hiroyuki
Akiyama is a member of the Faculty of Human
Life Sciences, Jissen Women's University and the vice-chair
of Japan Intergenerational Unity Association. Professor Akiyama
also serves as the director of the International Association
of Early Childhood and the Japan Association of Mental Health
Sociology. His research areas include clinical sociology,
social welfare studies, and counseling. He has conducted
numerous conference presentations and published articles
focused on issues related to intergenerational engagement
in Japan and its implications for social welfare and community
development policies. He is the co-editor and the author
of Esprit Today, Volume 428 (2003) featuring Suzuki Method,
Volume 432 (2003) featuring Multi-Culturalism, Volume 444
(2004) for Intergenerational Initiatives in Japan, and Volume
452 (2005) for Integration of Clinical Psychology and Welfare. |
 Ikuma
Saga is the Director of “Earthdaymoney
Association,” an NPO that has established a community
currency system, using “Earth Day Money” and “Earth
Day Money Cards,” for revitalizing urban communities
and involving younger generations in community projects.
Mr. Saga is also the founder of “Service Grant” which
supports those who found and operate non-profit organizations.
One of his major publications is Chiiki Tsuka (Community
Currency) published by NHK Seikatsujin-Shinsho. |
 Makoto
Oshima is Vice Director of the Japan Intergenerational
Unity Association and is Professor Emeritus of Tsuru University.
He graduated from Tokyo University of Education (now Tsukuba
University) with a Master of Arts degree in English linguistics
in 1972. Before retirement in 2005, he served on the faculty
at National University of Shinshu and Jissen Women’s
College, and served as a Board member for the Japan Association
of Systemic Functional Linguistics, the Japanese Association
for Asian English Studies, and the Japan Association of College
English Teachers. He also served as an adviser to the Department
of Research for English Teaching at the Institute for Research
in Language Teaching, Inc. He published a book, entitled
A Study of Discourse Grammar, and Bilingualism and English
Teaching for Elementary School Students. |
 Katsuko
Satoh After
graduating from the University of Tokyo Graduate School of
Education, Professor Satoh served on the faculty at Saitama
University, and, subsequently, in 1993, joined the faculty
of University of Tokyo Graduate School of Education. She also
serves as: Chairperson of the Japan Society for the Study of
Adult and Community Education, member of the Adult and Community
Education Committee, Yokohama City, and steering committee
member for the Edo-Tokyo Museum. Her research interests include
adult and community education, community culture, and children’s
participation. She has authored and edited numerous books on
these topics, including “Shougaigakushu ga Tsukuru Kokyo
Kukan” (“Participatory Social Networks through
Lifelong Learning,” Kashiwa Shobo Publishing Co. Ltd.,
2003.), and “NPO no Kyouiku-ryoku” (“The
Educational Power of the NPOs: Civic Activism and Lifelong
Learning,” University of Tokyo Press, 2004.) |
 Shih-Tsen
(Nike) Liu is
Assistant Professor at the National Taichung University (Taiwan),
Graduate Institute for Environmental Education. She has a Ph.D.
from Penn State University in Agricultural and Extension Education.
Her dissertation research, completed in 2004, was entitled “Effectiveness
of an Intergenerational Approach for Enhancing Knowledge and
Improving Attitudes toward the Environment.” Her research
interests include: adult and intergenerational environmental
education, ecological and environmental communities, and GIS
applications in environmental education. She has co-authored
several outreach education publications describing various
ways to integrate environmental education activities into intergenerational
program practices. |
 Yoshinori
Fujiwara is the chief researcher of Social
Participation and Health Promotion Team at the Tokyo Metropolitan
Institute of Gerontology. After graduating from Hokkaido
University, he obtained an M.D. from the Graduate School
of Medicine at Kyoto University. While working at the Aging
and Health Research Institute of Johns Hopkins University
as a visiting researcher, Dr. Fujiwara participated in the
evaluation project of Experience Corp in 2003. After coming
back to Japan, he has taken the leadership in implementing
the REPRINT project, where senior volunteers are trained
to serve as story tellers at three public schools. |
 Tetsuya
Murakami has
served as a researcher with a focus on volunteer learning and
international programs at the Japan Youth Volunteer Association
since 1989. After serving at the Bureau of the International
Year of Volunteer Promotion Council from 1999 to 2002, Mr.
Murakami received a fellowship from the Japan Foundation to
work with the Points of Light Foundation to learn about service
learning in the U.S. Currently, he is devoted to the promotion
of service learning and its implementation into educational
settings, while working as an independent civic consultant
and advisory group member for several government committees.
He presents and facilitates workshops at numerous conferences. |
 Yoshikazu
Wakui is
a board member and in charge of public relations at Sawayaka
Welfare Foundation. He has served on numerous committees, including
Designing Senior Citizen’s Life in Tokyo, Aichi Prefecture’s
Community Design Committee, and the Committee to Promote Civic
Ventures at the Ministry of Trade and Industry. He is the founding
member of the Japan NGO Council on Aging that was started for
the International Year of Older Persons in 1999, and took the
lead in international networking. He was one of the organizers
of the international symposium on intergenerational programs
of the U.K. and the U.S. at the Aichi World Expo in 2005. He
is also an active advocate for conservatorship for older persons,
support for rearing younger generations, and NPO initiatives
for child rearing support. |
 Masafumi
Tanaka,
a professor at Japan Women’s University, is a committee
member of the Central Council for Education for Lifelong
Learning and also of the Tokyo Metropolitan Lifelong Learning
Council. His specialty includes lifelong learning and social
technology, and his recent research focuses on non-profit
organizations, volunteerism, and issues of community design.
He obtained his Master’s degree in Social Engineering
from the Tokyo Institute of Technology Graduate school of
Engineering and has worked with Mitsui Knowledge Industry,
National Institute for Educational Research. His publications
include the translation of “Adult Education for Community
Development” by Edwin Hamilton. |
 Shoji
Shinkai is
the Department Director of the Social Participation and Health
Promotion Team at the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Gerontology.
Before joining the Institute in 1998, he served as a researcher
at Toronto University in Canada and as an assistant professor
at Ehime University in Japan. He obtained his doctorial degree
in Medicine from Ehime University. His research interests
include social participation and productivity of older adults,
and preventive medicine. Dr. Shinkai has numerous publications
in the fields of gerontology, geriatrics, and public health. |
 Harumi
Yoshimura is
Manager of the Children and Family Division, and Department
Counselor specializing in countermeasures to the falling birthrate
at Shinjuku Ward Office. Ms. Yoshimura has been involved in
numerous child-related policies and initiatives in the Ward
since 1979, and now takes a leadership role in the intergenerational
childrearing support initiative. |
 Toshiko
Kaneda is Professor at Shiraume Gakuen University
School for Children. She lectures on basis of early childhood
education and care. Her main research interest is “the
effect of early experience on lifelong development” in
early childhood education and human development. She has
researched and advanced knowledge of historical as well as
personal development from the viewpoint of the relevance
of age, generation and individual. She was born in 1938 and
brought up through the second world war. She has pursued
a gender equal lifestyle. |
 Hiroyasu
Kato, after graduating from the Faculty of
Law at Hitotsubashi University, engaged in the translation
of over 500 American TV films. One of his representative
translation works is “Rawhide.” He was assigned
as the CEO of a dubbing company for foreign films affiliated
with CBS films in 1961 and is in charge of marketing for
Labo Party, a pioneer in English education for young children.
He jointly established International Kids Club and Camp Lincoln
with Ms. Setsuko Kato in 1982. He is currently serving as
an instructor for a seminar to give American-style child-care
training based on the creative curriculum of Teaching Strategies,
Inc. and as an instructor of humane education at a professional
training college. Assigned as a member of the advisory committee
of Ohana English Preschool. He is also in charge of Study
Tours to Japan organized by the Hawaii Intergenerational
Network. |
 Shigeki
Matsubara Graduated from Graduate School
of Engineering, Osaka University, majored in global architecture.
Assistant of field theory of architecture and town planning
in Architectural Planning, Philosophy of Architecture, Town-Planning,
Exercise on Architectural Design. I study the creation of
life environments for senior citizens and view salons and
community cafés as comfortable places in public for
people to drop in. These settings are expected to become
widespread in towns and to be a base for intergenerational
interaction because they are open in the daytime and provide
a space for information exchanging and interchange among
people. |
 Tsuneo
Usui is
a professor at the School of Human Science at Waseda University.
His specialties are sociology, urban sociology and sociology
of aging. He is now studying resident status of aged people
and intergenerational relations comparatively with Southeast
Asian countries. His interest is on the effects of modernization,
industrialization and urbanization on aged people. His resent
research, in collaboration with co-researchers from other Asian
countries, is a comparative study of relationships between
grandparents and grandchildren. |
 Yukie
Ikushige is a school education coordinator
of Suginami Ward, a committee member of the Council on Lifelong
Learning, and a coordinator of the “Creation of a Healthy
Living Environment for Children” initiative in Tokyo.
From her extended years of experience in PTA activities,
Yukie Ikushige felt that there was a need for better coordination
between schools and local communities. She had served as
a bridge between schools and local communities on behalf
of busy teachers. Since 2002, she has started working officially
as a first-generation coordinator for the “school education
coordinator system,” the system that Suginami Ward
was the first to implement in Japan. In addition, she has
established an NPO called “School Advice Network” and
is currently engaged in the coordination of school education
and the planning of human resource development and programs. |
 Keiko
Sugi was president of Kotoen Home-Care Service
Center for the Elderly from 1987 and is currently a secretary
general of Kotoen. In 2006, she established a new day-care
rehabilitation facility for people with intellectual disabilities
and is serving as its president. Additionally, she also serves
as chairperson of the Edogawa Senior Citizens’ Welfare
Facilities Committee, vice-chairperson of the Tokyo Social
Welfare Council Center Division, and as administrative counselor
for the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications.
Since 1987, she has promoted intergenerational interaction
between children of the nursery school and the elderly of
the elder care facility in Kotoen. In so doing, she has devised
and implemented various interaction methods and verified
their effectiveness. She is currently making presentations
on the “care of the elderly” and “relations
between children and the elderly” for NGO and NPO of
Japan and in Singapore, China, and the United States. |
Koichi
Yoshida of Totsuka Bayashi Group (traditional
Japanese festival music) was born in the late Edo period
(19th century) in the place now called Asagaya. Among many
other existing groups of festival music, Totsuka Bayashi
alone has preserved its original form. Hence, in 1990, it
became the only festival music in Shinjuku to be designated
as an intangible cultural heritage. For over thirty years,
Mr. Yoshida has been passing on the tradition of Totsuka
Bayashi to the younger generations in the community. Today,
sponsored by the Agency for Cultural Affairs, he is giving
lessons to children every week at Mizuinari Shrine.
|
 Merry
White, Professor of Anthropology and Sociology
at Boston University and Research Affiliate at Reischauer
Institute of Japanese Studies at Harvard University, is a
leading American anthropologist of Japanese education and
popular culture. She has published widely on Japanese social
and educational problems, including gender issues, youth
culture and the plight of Japanese returnees. Some of her
well-known books include: Perfectly Japanese: Making Families
in an Era of Upheaval (2002), The Material Child: Coming
of Age in Japan and America (1993), Challenging Tradition:
Women in Japan (1991), The Japanese Overseas: Can They Come
Home Again? (1988), and The Japanese Educational Challenge:
A Commitment to Children (1987). These books have each had
a profound impact on popular views of Japan in the U.S. |
 Keiko
Enda is the host of the NHK radio program “Asa
Ichiban.” She also served as an announcer for Aomori
Television Broadcasting Co., Ltd., as a Japanese language
instructor for Japanese students abroad at a supplementary
school in Tennessee, USA, and as an announcer for Radio Pacific
Japan in California, before becoming a freelance announcer
in 1997. Chairperson for the Society of Japanese Women in
Radio and Television in 2003. She completed her master’s
degree in gerontology at Obirin University Graduate School
and is now a researcher at the Obirin University Institute
of Aging and Human Development. |
 Takumi
Hamaguchi, Director, Office for the Promotion
of Community Activities for Children's Education, Lifelong
Learning Policy Bureau, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports,
Science and Technology (MEXT). Born in 1967, graduated from
Faculty of Law, the University of Tokyo and joined MEXT in
1992. Served as Director of Lifelong Learning Division, Wakayama
Prefectural Board of Education in 2000 and International
Coordinator, International Affairs Division of Minister's
Secretariat in 2002. Assigned as Senior Specialist for Evaluation,
Scientific Research Aid Division, Research Promotion Bureau,
MEXT in 2005. Appointed to the current position in April,
2006. |
 Tsuyoshi
Fukudome had
served as the head of the Training Management Division in the
National Social Education Institute and the supervisor for
social education in the Ministry of Education. He became a
professor at Kyushu Women’s University in April of 1993
and in 1994 the president of the Inter-University Lifelong
Learning Research Institute, which was jointly established
by Kyushu Kyoritsu University, Kyushu Women’s University
and Kyushu Women’s Junior College. He has been serving
in his current position since October 1998. He has proposed
to local governments, throughout the country, systems for community
animators and community development coordinators for volunteers
in community development. In 2000, he established the “NPO
Japan Association for Lifelong Learning and Community Development” and
became president. He is also a representative of the All Japan
Social Education Association. His publications include “Community
Development Volunteers: Community Animators of Lifelong Learning
Society” (Book House Japan), “Attractive Community
Development: Changing Communities with Lifelong Learning” (All
Japan Social Education Association), “Now’s the
Time for Human Reform: Living in the Lifelong Learning Society” (Bungeisha), “Cultivation
of Mind of Children” (Nichijou-shupan), and “Community
Development with Citizens as Major Players” (All Japan
Social Education Association) among many others. His influence
has been felt nationwide through promotion for lifelong learning
in local governments and measures for reenergizing local communities. |
 Atsuko
Nitta is a Registered Occupational Therapist
(OTR), a care-designer and the chief researcher for the On-The-Top
Ltd. Ms. Nitta works as the occupational therapist for the
Daini-yurin nursing home in Tokyo. After graduating from
Tokyo National Hospital, School of Rehabilitation with a
major in Occupational Therapy in 1996, Ms. Nitta earned a
Masters Degree from University of Tokyo Graduate Program
with major in Health Economics and Health Promotion (MS).
Ms. Nitta’s current research interest includes shared-site
programs for the elderly and children. |
 Isami
Kinoshita is a Professor at Chiba University.
He finished the doctoral course at Tokyo Institute of Technology
and studied children’s play. He has presided over the
Workshop of Children’s Play and Community to make play
maps in the Taishido district of Setagaya-ward in Tokyo and
expanded workshop methods for citizen participation in community
development. He once practiced local community development
when he was a researcher at Rural Life Research Institute.
He is engaged in the establishment of city planning and research
for open space and environmental management, and his recent
interests are how participation of citizens and children
can be made to lead to changing the system. He translated “Children’s
Participation” (Roger A. Hart) and has published numerous
books. |
 Ikuko
Koyabe, a Doctor of Engineering and a first-class
architect, is currently a professor at Japan Women’s
University. Born in Tokyo, she graduated from the Faculty
of Home Economics, Department of Housing and Architecture
at Japan Women’s University, and worked for a first-class
architecture office called Daiichi-Kobo doing architectural
design and supervising. While at Daiichi-Kobo, she went abroad
to study and completed her master’s degree at Cornell
University graduate school in 1982. In 1985, she became a
full-time instructor at Japan Women’s University, first
as an associate professor, then later as a professor in 1997.
In 1992, she was invited as a visiting researcher to the
Loyal Institute of Technology in Sweden. Now she is engaged
in researching, proposing, and promoting activities on collective
housing that aim for the active coexistence between people
of different generations and between people and nature. She
is the author of “Collective Housing no Susume (Recommendation
for the Collective Housing)” and “Collective
Housing de Kurasou (Let’s Live in the Collective Housing)” (written
and edited) published by Maruzen, and “Tomo ni Sumu
Katachi (Ways of Living Together)” (co-written) published
by Kenchiku Shiryo Kenkyusha. |
 Hiroshi
Takahashi is the director of Shiseikai Dai-ni
Nursery School of Shisei-gakusha Tachikawa, and a Director
of Social Welfare Institutions. After graduating from the
Department of Social Welfare at Toyo University, he served
as a counselor at Shiseikai Orphanage until 1968. While serving
as the director there, he graduated from the Faculty of Literature
at Toyo University Graduate School, majoring in education
(specialized in lifelong learning). Now he serves as a lecturer
at Showa Women’s University and Hosei University, the
chair of the Tokyo Metropolitan Association of Directors
of Social Welfare Institutions and the vice chair of the
Japan Association of Directors of Social Welfare Institutions.
He also conducts a course for child-care advisers at the
Lifelong Learning Center at Jissen Women’s University. |
 Keiichi
Takahata was born in Toyama prefecture. After
his retirement from Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.,
Keiichi Takahata took active roles in various social action
programs, including chairman for the Kansai regional association
of International Metalworkers Federation-Japan Council (IMF-JC),
a member of the Social Policy Council, and a standing director
for Kansai University. In 1999, he established an NPO Nippon
Active Life Club for seniors who wish to make social contributions
as volunteers and in doing so gain health and purpose in
life. He became chairman. Today, the NPO has 25,000 senior
members and 116 centers nationwide, where social action programs
including support activities for younger generations are
being promoted. |
 Chizuko
Okuyama is the director of the incorporated
nonprofit organization Bi-no Bi-no, which was originally
started by her in 2000 as “a space for children and
parents” by using a vacant store in a local shopping
area. In 2005, she opened “Drop,” a center for
child-care support in a community as a project commissioned
by Yokohama city. “Drop” now operates a website
to support childrearing, produces a guide for local kindergartens
and daycares with cooperation from parents and fosterers
who take care of children, and widely provides community-based
activities supported by volunteers from students to senior
citizens. Served as a Committee member of the Promotion of
Measures for Society with Fewer Children in Cabinet Office
in FY 2006 and as a member of the Conference for the Promotion
of Action Plan to Assist the Development of Future Generations
in Yokohama city. Her main book is “NPO Established
by Parents to Provide Childcare Assistance, A Space for Parents
and Children, Bi-no Bi-no” (MINERVA Publishing Co.,
Ltd, 2003). |
 Mieko
Watanabe is the Founding Director of NPO,
Fureai no Ie “Obachan-Chi,” a child care site
that also trains older adults as caregivers for children.
She also serves as a Board Member on the NPO Child Line,
and Japan Children’s NPO Center that is devoted to
the improvement of children’s environments and to supporting
and networking youth-oriented NPOs and civic activism. Ms.
Watanabe has 30 years of experience working at numerous community
centers and children’s centers. She is also a Japan
Family Counseling Association certified family counselor
and a trainer and facilitator for “Nobody’s Perfect – No
Parents are Perfect,” a parent support and education
program developed in Canada. |
 Tomonori
Okazaki completed his education at the Graduate
School of Education, The University of Tokyo. He currently
serves as an assistant professor for the University of the
Air: Faculty of Liberal Arts, after being the chief researcher
for the Institute for Social Engineering, Inc. and a research
assistant and lecturer for Tokyo Gakugei University, with
his expertise in Sociology of Regional Education. He has
written and published numerous books and academic papers
and is involved in several organizations as either a board
member or a chairperson. |
 Yuka
Saito, after graduating from Yokohama National
University Graduate School in 1999 (with a Master’s
degree in education) and serving as an assistant professor
at Showa Women's University, obtained her Ph.D. in 2004.
Her specialty is the study of volunteer and NPO activities
and home management. She is actively engaged in the management
and operations of the NPO Japan Association for Lifelong
Learning and Community Development. She is the author of “Voluntary
Activities and Productive Aging: MINERVA Social Welfare Library” (Minerva
Publishing, 2006). |
 Akiko
Kuriyama is a professor at Ashiya University.
After graduating from the University of Sacred Heart, Department
of English Language and Literature, she worked for the Belgium
pavilion at the EXPO before completing a doctoral course
at Ashiya University Graduate School, Department of Education.
Her doctoral thesis was “Simultaneous Pursuit of Child-raising
and Work for Married Female Part-time Workers”, with
a focus on child welfare and intergenerational interaction
to support child-raising. She has served as a council member
for the Kansai Counseling Association, a steering committee
member for Fremira (Place for intergenerational interaction),
a large, integrated children’s center in Takarazuka
city, and as representative for the NPO Kansai Association
of Intergenerational Studies. She has been awarded the Chairman’s
Award of National Association for Development of Nursery
Teachers in 2004. She is the author of several publications
on intergenerational interaction and childcare. |
 Hiroyuki
Akiyama is a member of the Faculty of Human
Life Sciences at Jissen Women’s University and the
vice chair of the Japan Intergenerational Unity Association.
Professor Akiyama also serves as the director of the International
Association of Early Childhood and the Japan Association
of Mental Health Sociology. His research areas include clinical
sociology, social welfare studies, and counseling. He has
given numerous conference presentations and published articles
focused on issues related to intergenerational engagement
in Japan and its implications for social welfare and community
development policies. |
 Yuri
Inada graduated from Tokyo Gakugei University
(Faculty of Education), later served as a teacher in Minato
ward, Kokubunji city and Kodaira city, Tokyo, and retired
as the principal of Kodaira Dairoku Elementary School in
2005. At this elementary school, she promoted education in
cooperation with the school and the local community under
the slogan, “The school in which the winds of community
blow in and out”. She received the award “Developing
open school to communities” from the Tokyo Metropolitan
Government Board of Education. Recently she serves as the
community partnership advisor in collaboration with the guidance
division and the lifelong learning division of the education
board in Kodaira. |
Akiko
Kato (Ph.D. in Human Science) is an Adjunct
to the Faculty of Human Sciences, Waseda University. She
finished her doctoral course at the Graduate School of Human
Sciences, Waseda University in 2005 and has served at her
current position since April 2005. Her main research interest
is today’s youth, their lifestyles, and ‘school’ as
important factors in talking about youth. More recently she
has become interested in intergenerational work and is conducting
a research project.
|
Mitsumune
Tago is a graduate of the faculty of medicine
of Tokyo Medical and Dental University in 1981, Dr. Tago
opened an “At Home” style wellness medical clinic
in Kuwana-city in Mie prefecture in 1993. Aiming to provide
total family support, he later added in 1995 a day-care center
for the elderly, a children’s ward, an infant and toddlers
ward, and an after-school children’s program. Moreover,
with the goal to provide residential care for all ages, from
early children to senior citizens, he has built a network
of in-home care givers. In 2001, he opened the group home,
Jiritsu Kyosei Hikari no Sato, which also has a facility
providing after school care. In 2003, he renovated an old
merchant’s house and established a home for the elderly
called, The Inn of Kuwana. In 2004, he received an award
of encouragement at the 20th annual international conference
of Alzheimer’s Disease Association (in Kyoto). 