TEDxICU is a student non-profit organization that aims to provide a TED-like experience for people to express their ideas, be inspired, and find a motivation to step out of their comfort zones. Tsubasa will appear at the TEDxICU event scheduled to be held on 30th January from 1-5 pm. The event will be held online with YouTube Premiere and Zoom. Please visit TEDxICU’s official website and Instagram for more information!
———————————————————————————————————————————————-
Tsubasa is a sophomore student at the International Christian University Undergraduate Program. He is enthusiastic with his studies, leads the ICU Baseball as the Captain, and most importantly, serves as the co-president of Voice Up Japan. Tsubasa will talk about when and why he became a feminist and his very interesting take on gender equality!
*K: Kavya Sharma (Editor in Chief HCICU)
A: Anna Haruna Ostrowski (President HCICU)
T: Tsubasa Hattori (Speaker TEDxICU)
K: What did you have in mind when you first entered university?
T: When I entered ICU, I was extremely excited about meeting new people and joining different organizations. My first impression of ICU and why I was so persistent about enrolling at the university is because I sensed that students are given a lot of freedom to choose what they study, I could truly do something I love, and on top of that, I knew that the educational environment at ICU fit me well. And as of now, I am thinking about majoring in sociology and law.
K: Why did you decide to speak at this event?
T: I want to spread the idea of gender equality to my audience. I hope that the experiences and examples that I will be sharing in my speech will allow people to understand the uniqueness of standing up for gender equality, especially men. I have noticed throughout my life that men refrain from voicing their opinions about gender equality as if they do not care, so I want to make them understand that this fight is not a fight for only women to fight but us men too.
K: What do you think that most people think about when they hear “gender inequality”? Why do you think it is important for men to think about this issue as well? Why is important to spread this idea/awareness?
T: It’s important because I think men do not have enough interest in gender-related issues. Most men do not think to participate in this movement enough. With gender inequality issues, you could almost say that half the time it is the man’s fault, かつ男性も苦しんでる and since it’s an issue that men play such a big role in, to continue to be uninterested in the movement is not good not only for them but also not good for people of other genders. The current state of the people who play such a key role in gender inequality ignoring the problem has been continuing for a long time, so I want people to listen to my talk and become more aware of this. Yeah, I think that’s the biggest/most important reason.
A: Is there a specific message or lesson that you especially want your audience to take away from your speech?
T: It would definitely be, “stand up for gender equality!” Let’s take action, let’s stand up for gender equality, is probably the biggest message I want to deliver.
K: It sounds like gender inequality is something you are very passionate about, and judging by your major decisions of sociology and law, is there any specific way you plan on incorporating this passion into your career? Like, would you be willing to or considering doing any activities related to this after you graduate?
T: To be honest, probably not. I truly do want the gender inequality issue to go away/be resolved, but I do not feel as though I want to devote my whole life to this issue. And this is why I didn’t make gender and sexuality my major. After I graduate, I don’t necessarily feel that I want to continue 取り組みing in this issue because one I don’t have the 知識 and メジャーにするほど強い興味感心はない、ただ the problem exists. And I believe you can’t just leave it as it is. As a man, you are in the position to play a key role in this movement so it is crucial that you take advantage of this. Yeah so it might seem a little 意外 but I didn’t make gender inequality my major or the main thing I was studying because I don’t see it being the only thing I focus on in the future/after I graduate.
A: Going off of that, was there a specific event or time that made you interested in gender equality?
T: (laughs) Well, I will be speaking about that at the event so please come listen to the response there/then. But what I can say now is, although the reason I became interested in this issue is something I will discuss at the event, why I decided to take action is because I had access to a platform where I could take action. For me, this was Voice Up ICU Japan. To have people and friends around you/on campus using their voice to discuss different topics is the sort of place ICU is, and so to have the tools to raise/use your voice already right there and choose not to use/take advantage of it is strange. So the reason I initially decided to take action was that I had the means/platform to do so. And to take action, I think that is all the motive necessary. You don’t necessarily have to have deep knowledge or experience with the issue. If you have the opportunity and means to use your voice I think you should be taking advantage of that. So I want more people who have the means/materials/are in a position to use their voice to not be a bystander and take advantage of the opportunity.
Voice Up Japan ICU is a student group that envisions a safe campus where all can voice up on issues or opinions regardless of one’s gender, sexuality, race, nationality, or religion. They value each person being able to stand against the issues they face, and there are various projects and activities led by the student members themselves.
Projects at Voice Up Japan ICU include raising awareness of sexual consent spreading correct knowledge of the HPV vaccine to young people, and raising awareness of male gender issues. Through such projects and other activities, members speak with the school president, create online petitions, join press conferences, and hold open events with specialists; all the voice up on issues they and the society faces. They are one of the most active groups in ICU and they have been recognized for it.
A: Do you have any specific career path set in place?
T: I do not want to make a career out of it. I can not make it something I do every day, because it is not necessarily something that I am super passionate about nor do I have enough amount education about it. But I can not forgive the fact that this is an issue in society. Even though, aggressively advocating for gender equality as a profession for me is not a personal goal, using my platform at Voice Up Japan ICU to motivate more of my peers every day to join this fight is definitely a bigger goal at this moment. You only need one reason to make a difference!
K: Taking a little turn from your speech at TedX and gender inequality, the coronavirus pandemic has been a huge part of everyone’s lives recently. Obviously, the things that you are doing at VoiceUp and how you want to raise society’s awareness of the gender inequality issue require large amounts of people to come together. So how has the pandemic specifically affected what you are doing at Voice Up and your personal life as well?
T: Personally, I have a really positive outlook on the pandemic. Because of COVID, I had a lot more time on my hands. With classes being online and having more free time, I had a lot of time to research different reasons and aspects of gender inequality. The Voice Up Japan ICU team moved to the online platform and that gave us the opportunity to actually talk to and meet people who we could not have met otherwise.
A: How would you describe university life during the pandemic?
T: コロナでよかった！(Corona has been good for me!) I was capable of making friends outside of classes and taking classes online helped me connect a lot more people I would have if the school was offline. And all thanks to COVID, I can tackle classes, club activities, and Voice Up research, all while maintaining a high GPA!
K: Last question before we let you go if you had one sentence to call out your audiences to come to listen to you speak at the event, what would it be?
T: “I invite everyone to come, listen to my speech on the 30th because what I am talking about is what the society will be like in the future”.
———————————————————————————————————————————————-
Every day we spend time listening to our peers, we realize that we only know so little about the world. Tsubasa brings an interesting outlook to gender inequality that truly moves your heart. Come listen to him at the online TEDxICU event on January 30!