Ayana Ishiyama always thought she wanted to be a journalist. Two years ago, when she left her hometown in northern Japan to study abroad in the US, she signed up for journalism courses and wrote articles for the school newspaper to sharpen up her English skills. But while she loved interviewing people and sharing their […]
By Lisa Katayama In a developed country where the dialogue around human rights is very charity-minded, it’s rare to find young people with visions of engaging rural farmers in developing countries as equals. That’s why Tokyo native Doga Makiura stands out. When Doga was 13, he left his home in Japan and enrolled himself in […]
Autumn and Yuji are surfers who fell in love on the beach of Motoyoshi, a beautiful spot in Japan above Sendai where northern and southern currents meet. A month after Motoyoshi was hit by a tsunami in 2011, triggering a nuclear disaster at the nearby Fukushima Daiichi power plant, the two made a startling decision […]
Two years ago today, a massive earthquake rocked Japan and sent a tsunami raging over its shores. Nearly 19,000 people were killed; more than 300,000 were displaced. TED Fellow Serge Mouangue was living in Tokyo at the time. A native of Cameroon, he had been exploring the similarities between West African and Japanese cultures in art, […]
The tsunami that struck eastern Japan in 2011 did unthinkable damage, killing more than 15,000 people and leveling more than 129,000 buildings. The damage was so severe that debris from it has been washing up on the West Coast of the United States — more than a thousand miles away — ever since. Japanese officials […]
As the TED team travels around the world hosting salons in 14 cities, we’re collecting great local stories. Here’s a quick report from TED@Tokyo, held May 29, 2012, at Academyhills, and locally hosted by the team at TEDxTokyo. To relive a fraction of the buzzing excitement around the event, check out the Facebook album from Tokyo […]
A collaboration between TED and Japanese public broadcaster NHK is bringing TEDTalks to TV for the first time in Japan — for Super Presentation! It’s a series that harnesses TED speakers’ persuasive ideas to teach English, empower a new generation of independent thinkers, and build hope one year after the Japanese tsunami. Friday night at […]