2023.09.15
TED x Kyotoに参加しました｜英語英文学科｜Fastゼミ
英語英文学科
授業・研究室
去る2023年3月12日、京都国際会館でTEDxKyotoが開催されました。以下は本学からイベントに参加したFast先生と学生のレポート記事です。
Hey everyone,
Sorry for posting this entry so late! Back in March, I took several students to a very special event: TEDxKyoto. This was its first face-to-face event since the COVID-19 Pandemic. TEDxKyoto has been recognized by the TED organization as one of the best organized bilingual TEDx events in the world! Hosted at the Kyoto International Center (Kokusaikaikan) by Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, all Talks were given in either English or Japanese with simultaneous translations available. The reason it took so long to post this blog entry is because I was waiting for the TEDxKyoto talks to be posted online. Now you can see them too by clicking on the links below. In addition, there were also musical and dance performances by Kyoto-based artists, and between the talks, we were able to walk around, sample local foods, talk to other audience members and even the TED Speakers themselves. Below are what five of the Seishin students had to say about the experience:
Hey everyone,
Sorry for posting this entry so late! Back in March, I took several students to a very special event: TEDxKyoto. This was its first face-to-face event since the COVID-19 Pandemic. TEDxKyoto has been recognized by the TED organization as one of the best organized bilingual TEDx events in the world! Hosted at the Kyoto International Center (Kokusaikaikan) by Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, all Talks were given in either English or Japanese with simultaneous translations available. The reason it took so long to post this blog entry is because I was waiting for the TEDxKyoto talks to be posted online. Now you can see them too by clicking on the links below. In addition, there were also musical and dance performances by Kyoto-based artists, and between the talks, we were able to walk around, sample local foods, talk to other audience members and even the TED Speakers themselves. Below are what five of the Seishin students had to say about the experience:
Photo: TEDxKyoto, CC BY-NC-ND 2023
Yukina Namba: I was really pleased that I could meet various people by participating in this incredible event. I’ve never gone through anything like this before. Everything was new in my life. All the Speakers were incredible. I can’t decide which one is the best. But I especially like Ms. Chizuru Azuma, because her speech sounded like a familiar thing in my life. She focuses on people who feel it is hard to live in society. To be honest, I didn’t know her before joining this event. But I heard her speech and my perspective and mind changed to be more concerned about reality. I was sad to hear the fact that disabled and old people are not a priority when natural disasters happen. I’d like everyone to know about her “Mazekozeno Society” project.
Mizuki Takahashi: The reason why I joined this event is that I have learned TED talks since I was a high school student. I was very impressed by speakers who have something to say in order to improve our society for the future. For example, Mr. Oussouby Sacko, who is an educator, said that most Japanese people have the stereotype that people from America, Australia, China etc. are all the same foreigners when we see them in Japan. I strongly agree with his opinion. I think this situation is a kind of discrimination because we do not have enough knowledge of the globalized world, so we can only see them as foreigners. To improve our society, we should know various realities of people in bad situations.
This time, participating in TEDxKyoto gave me an amazing experience during spring vacation in order to broaden my thoughts. From now on, I would like to think a lot, considering various perspectives. Moreover, I want to be able to discuss my ideas in English with people who try to build our sustainable society.
Mizuki Takahashi: The reason why I joined this event is that I have learned TED talks since I was a high school student. I was very impressed by speakers who have something to say in order to improve our society for the future. For example, Mr. Oussouby Sacko, who is an educator, said that most Japanese people have the stereotype that people from America, Australia, China etc. are all the same foreigners when we see them in Japan. I strongly agree with his opinion. I think this situation is a kind of discrimination because we do not have enough knowledge of the globalized world, so we can only see them as foreigners. To improve our society, we should know various realities of people in bad situations.
This time, participating in TEDxKyoto gave me an amazing experience during spring vacation in order to broaden my thoughts. From now on, I would like to think a lot, considering various perspectives. Moreover, I want to be able to discuss my ideas in English with people who try to build our sustainable society.
Photo: TEDxKyoto, CC BY-NC-ND 2023
Yoko Ishii: I had listened to some speeches at TEDxKyoto and learned many valuable things.The most memorable speaker was Naomi Koshi. She is a lawyer and former Otsu Mayor. In her speech, she said that “You can’t see outside if you stay at the same place.” Then I realized that broadening horizons is very important, and I can’t get new thinking if I don’t try and act on new things. Also, I could talk with many kinds of people in English and Japanese there. For example, professors, students and people from abroad, so it was a very good experience for me. If TED Talks are held again, I want to join.
Mayumi Endo: I got two things from participating in TEDxKyoto. First, this event made me realize that taking action is important. I heard wonderful stories from many speakers. They have one thing in common that they have all acted with purpose. For example, I have two of my favorite talks: Naomi Koshi and Chizuru Azuma. Naomi Koshi recognized the problem of many children on waiting lists and set up nursery schools. Chizuru Azuma established “Get in touch,” an NPO that works through entertainment to create a “Mazekoze Society.” In this way, I was impressed by those people that take action. Second, participating in this event was a great opportunity to dive into international space. It was the first time I had ever experienced such a space, particularly because I had been in a pandemic situation since my first year as a university student. People of different nationalities and identities talked happily together. They approached me when I was in trouble so I felt everyone there was very kind. I got many people’s ideas and gained valuable experience through this event.
Sayaka Katayama: Participating in a TED conference has been one of my dreams for a long time, so I felt so happy to be involved in such a wonderful session. All talks were attractive, but what impressed me the most was the second talk by an Educator, Oussouby Sacko, who advocates for a symbolic society, in other words, kyosei society. His research is really similar to mine, and I got countless ideas from him through this event. What I remembered the most was the importance of making kyousei society not by assimilation but coexistence of different cultures. As a premise, we need not have frameworks for ‘foreigners’ which will easily connect to stereotypes. The most significant thing to accept otherness is to have enough knowledge as we can learn from his saying, “Lack of confidence makes people exclude others.” I hope we can have a more co-existing society in the near future by accepting ourselves first and others.
Mayumi Endo: I got two things from participating in TEDxKyoto. First, this event made me realize that taking action is important. I heard wonderful stories from many speakers. They have one thing in common that they have all acted with purpose. For example, I have two of my favorite talks: Naomi Koshi and Chizuru Azuma. Naomi Koshi recognized the problem of many children on waiting lists and set up nursery schools. Chizuru Azuma established “Get in touch,” an NPO that works through entertainment to create a “Mazekoze Society.” In this way, I was impressed by those people that take action. Second, participating in this event was a great opportunity to dive into international space. It was the first time I had ever experienced such a space, particularly because I had been in a pandemic situation since my first year as a university student. People of different nationalities and identities talked happily together. They approached me when I was in trouble so I felt everyone there was very kind. I got many people’s ideas and gained valuable experience through this event.
Sayaka Katayama: Participating in a TED conference has been one of my dreams for a long time, so I felt so happy to be involved in such a wonderful session. All talks were attractive, but what impressed me the most was the second talk by an Educator, Oussouby Sacko, who advocates for a symbolic society, in other words, kyosei society. His research is really similar to mine, and I got countless ideas from him through this event. What I remembered the most was the importance of making kyousei society not by assimilation but coexistence of different cultures. As a premise, we need not have frameworks for ‘foreigners’ which will easily connect to stereotypes. The most significant thing to accept otherness is to have enough knowledge as we can learn from his saying, “Lack of confidence makes people exclude others.” I hope we can have a more co-existing society in the near future by accepting ourselves first and others.
As you can see, we heard a lot of great ideas, met a lot of interesting and international people, ate some good food and had a great time at TEDxKyoto. FYI, all the talks are available at YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=tedxkyoto+2023.
I hope to see you on our next trip to TEDxKyoto!
I hope to see you on our next trip to TEDxKyoto!
