Voices of the Supporters Behind TBJ

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I had the chance to hear about Wako's new venture. Wako, who has been through a wide range of experiences, told me she was starting work that would become a foundation for younger generations to thrive and live rich, fulfilling lives. As I listened, one keyword stood out: "crossing borders." Whenever I hear the stories of people who set out to make something happen and see it through, I so often sense a shared thread: an experience of crossing a border. Often it is time spent abroad, but it can also be hardship or difficult circumstances in life, or a shift in one's thinking or heart. Those experiences seem to become the wellspring of a person's life questions, their way of living and their refusal to give up — the very things that win others' empathy and support for their work. Drawn by the word "crossing borders" in Wako's story, and believing that something good would surely come of it, I decided to invest and lend my support.

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I support Kudeken-san's work. We live in an age of diversity. Diversity is not something you work out in your head; it begins with meeting people from many different places and backgrounds and feeling things openly, with a generous heart. I think it is wonderful for young people to build up such experiences with their fresh sensibilities. I hope Kudeken-san's new initiative becomes a place of new experiences for the young people who will support Japan's future.

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I have been involved with Smoooth for some time as an advisor, and I decided to invest because I deeply share — and see real significance in — the following: (1) The three issues Wako is concerned about are precisely the obstacles to the development of individual minds and, collectively, of society, and I see great meaning in removing them. (I believe it leads to a society in which as many people as possible fully realize their unique potential and give it back to society, so that someone else can shine in turn.) (2) For human beings as social creatures, rich social capital is essential to a truly abundant and happy life, and I see great meaning in creating community as a new form of social capital. (3) I see meaning and value in the exchange and synergy between the community I currently run and the new community that will emerge through my work with Wako. Because I found social meaning and value in this initiative that go beyond the returns on offer, I have joined as an investor. I hope many people will resonate with Wako's work and join us!

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Connecting the world's new experiments in creating society — that is what lies ahead. It starts in Auroville in South India, an experimental township that aims for human unity. Having learned and lived there, one young Japanese woman is now trying to create a new kind of society: "a society rich in human connection, where everyone feels safe and happy." To create the society of the future, we need to draw on the experiments in new ways of living taking place around the world, connecting them and learning from one another, and so embody a more diverse range of ways for the world to be. If young people could link these experimental towns and communities globally and stay connected for years to come — if they could accept their differences as opportunities to learn from one another and lift each other up — wouldn't that already mark the start of a new society? I want to support Wako Kudeken, CEO of Smoooth, as she takes on that challenge.

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I have known Wako-chan since she was a university student. Life abroad, student internships, a major consulting firm, starting a company, capitalism and embodiment — the state of heart she has arrived at through all these experiences is here. These days, diversity and crossing borders are loudly championed, but how many people have actually crossed into worlds with different values, or truly lived alongside diverse values? Wako is a practitioner who has actually lived with diverse people and immersed herself in diverse worlds. The space she is creating is full of genuine diversity and border-crossing. And it carries her wish for a better world.

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When I encountered Kudeken-san's work, what resonated with me most deeply was her understanding that the potential each person holds can either open up or close off depending on the relationships they find themselves in. Each of us lives the inochi — the life — we have been given. Even if we cannot know where it ultimately comes from, perhaps the meaning of living lies in trying to live that life with care. And I believe it is in forming relationships in which we face and respond to lives that are vulnerable, lives that need help, that each person's true potential begins to unfold. Inochi Forum has stood on that way of seeing life, continually asking what a society of mutual support should look like. The society of the future must shift away from being built around efficiency and competition, and toward one that places lives in need of help at its center, with many diverse lives engaging with and supporting one another around them. Such a shift cannot be achieved simply by proclaiming it as an ideal; it is nurtured through crossing borders and dialogue — through experiences that shake up how we ourselves live. Smoooth's initiative is a practice that is bringing the beginnings of such change into reality, and I see great possibility in its path. As an ambassador, I hope to connect this work with the ideals of Inochi Forum and keep exploring new forms of society together.

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When I heard Wako talk about her stay with the Achuar, an Indigenous people of the Amazon, I knew I wanted to support her work. I was inspired by the way she surrenders herself to an unfamiliar culture and opens her heart. I thought that perhaps, by pausing and opening our hearts to many different cultures, we might find a new future for the modern civilization of Japan and the West — a civilization that has kept expanding endlessly for its own sake. And when Wako said that, moved to tears by the position of the local women, she thought of the Japanese women who have struggled and persevered until now, I found myself reflecting on many things about myself I had never really considered: how much I did not know, my wish to stay unknowing, and my own rebellion against and denial of the position of women I had lived through. I felt I wanted Wako to lead the way forward.

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The world is so vast and social media so developed, yet the communities we have had so far all seem to gather people from the same layer or background. I had a vague sense that this was actually making the world smaller. What Wako is trying to build is a community where truly diverse people connect and pursue happiness together — something obvious that never existed, old and yet radically new. I'm excited to join this social experiment, and I look forward to the day you become fellow learners with us!

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I resonate with what Smoooth World is doing, and I'm glad to be part of it as a supporter. Through my many years working in community development, I have come to feel strongly that what ultimately shapes the future is "human connection" and "the state of our hearts." No matter how much a city develops, without an environment where people can be themselves and respect one another, the future will not be truly rich. I felt this even more deeply through something my daughter experienced in high school. She took part in a volunteer program abroad, encountered different cultures and values, and came home as if carrying a whole new perspective. Those few weeks moved the course of her life forward dramatically, and taught me the power that encounters with other people hold. That is why Smoooth World's vision — "a place where diverse people meet, learn from one another and can safely be themselves" — resonates so deeply with me. Every insight and connection born here will surely become a force that moves the future. I have high hopes for Wako's sincere commitment and warm vision. I'm cheering on this challenge too!

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The novelist Ryu Murakami once said something wonderful. It was about a grove of trees near his home where he walks every morning. Toward the end of the rainy season, he noticed he hadn't heard any cicadas yet that year — and then, about a week late, one day it suddenly began. The sound didn't build gradually; in an instant the whole grove was filled with nothing but the song of cicadas. That, he said, is how change happens. This is exactly what I feel when I see the shifts in society in recent years and the dizzying evolution of AI technology. Change is right before our eyes, at a speed beyond imagination. We are living in such an era. Wako's vision may still be hard for many people to grasp. But I am convinced that one day, suddenly and in an instant — like the cicadas' song filling the grove — it will reach the people living today. It is a great joy for me to have played even a small part in this pioneering endeavor.

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I deeply share Wako's concerns and vision. When I worked as a leader in a company, the various roles and values within me clashed, and I struggled with that conflict for a long time. In the midst of it, I chose to leave the organization and find my way back to my own core. Looking back, at the root of that suffering was "not knowing." I didn't know myself, and I didn't understand the structures of society — and that is why the suffering ran so deep. When I came across Wako's words, "freedom from ignorance," they overlapped with the path I had walked, and my heart was quietly moved. Today I feel a sense of mission in receiving insights from overseas, such as from ATD, firsthand and sharing them in Japanese, in Japanese workplaces. That naturally resonates with Wako's vision of "becoming free through knowing." In my early forties I was diagnosed with cancer, and I spent time reflecting deeply on what it means to live. Facing the reality that life is finite made me conscious of why I have been given this life. I want to fulfill, in my own way, what I can do now. One part of that is choosing to support Wako. I see the community Wako wants to build as a place where people can learn from and inspire one another in safety, and together create futures they never imagined. I sincerely hope many of you will join this rich experiment.

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In my thirties, not wanting to settle for being the head of a small local company, I connected with many business leaders across Japan and around the world. I thought about society broadly and about the far-off future. Then, at the end of my thirties, I lost one of my beloved sons. What I realized was that no one lives alone. If the person in front of me isn't happy, I can't be happy by myself. My happiness and everyone's happiness are connected. With that, fulfilling the role I've been given, here and now in the community where I live, made complete sense to me — and I came to feel that this, too, is connected to society and the future. Wako belongs to the generation that bridges mine and my children's. With her fresh sensibility and light-footed drive, what kind of world will open up as she acts with society and the future in mind? I support her in the hope of witnessing that a little more closely, from my life in the countryside.

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I got to know Wako through business, and I have always been energized by her energy and her seriousness of purpose. The phrase "crossing borders" is everywhere these days, but few people are actually able to take that step. Wako has taken those steps herself, again and again, which is why her words carry real conviction. What I especially look forward to is this initiative becoming a turning point that greatly expands young people's sense of what's possible in life. Encountering a diverse world and going beyond your own limits lays the foundation for the rest of your life. I wholeheartedly support Wako's challenge to create such opportunities for the next generation.

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I deeply resonate with Wako Kudeken's philosophy of "living like a turtle," and I want to give this community-building initiative my full support. The philosophy of "living like a turtle" echoes beautifully with the European way of working I experienced during my posting in Switzerland. In the Netherlands and Switzerland, where four-day work weeks are practiced, the idea of "moving forward steadily at a sustainable pace rather than running fast" is deeply rooted. They understand that real innovation is born from having room in your time. The core of the Management 3.0 I promote is the same: "busyness" is not a value — if anything, it is the enemy of creativity. My efforts to spread, through play, a way of working where "you accidentally master the four-day week," and Wako's philosophy of "living like a turtle," both aim at the "time revolution" Japanese society needs. What I have become convinced of over a career of more than 30 years is that true abundance lies not in "time spent consuming" but in "time spent creating." Wako's vision for this community will be exactly that kind of place, one that treasures creative time. People from different backgrounds sharing "growth through laughter" in a psychologically safe environment, recognizing one another's values — this is the ideal of the agile organization I strive for. I have kept sowing seeds as a "modern-day farmer of the digital age" and a "tour conductor of growth as a leader," but it is next-generation seed-sowers like Wako who are the light of hope that will bring new values and new ways of working to Japan. I hope this investment will be a sure step toward a sustainable, happy society. It's not that "the turtle takes the long way round" — it's that "precisely because it is a turtle, it never loses sight of what truly matters."

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When I encountered Smoooth World, I felt a strong sense of resonance, because there is something there that has not yet been put into words but is essentially important. People reconnect with their roots and regain their true strength, then take on challenges in their own fields, in their own way. To create this flow, Smoooth World is building a community that starts not from titles or roles, but from "ways of being" and "connection." Its full shape is not yet clear. But precisely because of that, I want to be part of the process of taking time with Wako to carefully unearth its core and turn it into words and structures. This is not simply about cheering from the sidelines; it is a challenge we build together. I see great hope in the potential of this community, which faces the roots of people and organizations.

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Wako's work — where the classical meets the innovative AI is quietly yet surely blending into our daily lives. Knowledge now transcends time, crosses boundaries and flows as an entirely new river. The chains of ownership are beginning to loosen. The question "Whose is this?" hangs in the air, awaiting a new answer. Am I the one deciding, or am I being made to decide? The very nature of creation is questioning us. In the midst of this, what Wako practices is "sharing experience" — walking a path that is both old and new. Here there is experience, not explanation. Living practice, not theory. I want to share this rare practice — utterly classical and utterly new — with many people. Wako's work shows a sure step toward the future of creation that lies ahead of us.

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I want to keep doing whatever I can that might lead to the happiness of the children of the Earth in the future. And while learning, worrying and struggling together, I decided to invest because I want to entrust that future to Wako Kudeken and her generation. When I was Wako's age, I had been in my beloved company and dream job for over ten years and had just been through a divorce. I was desperate to become independent and self-reliant, and my greatest goal was to become a professional in my field. I worked abroad, did training, went to school to deepen my expertise, and whenever I saw an opportunity, I would fly abroad and back on my days off to learn. In other words, it was the peak of my drive for self-actualization. Though the times are completely different, Wako's vision can be called self-actualization, yet it reaches the realm of self-transcendence. It is also a grand vision. It is only natural to hesitate before turning such ideas into action — people would say all sorts of things. But she believes in herself, and through her experiences she knows the limits of trying to do everything alone. I feel she has the intellect to make it happen (which she will keep building), the physical stamina, and — most importantly — a rich sensibility and the capacity for empathy. And resolve and courage, too. The Japan that Wako sees and feels within today's world may still be only its negative side. But I believe she will come to notice that in Japanese culture, which she has yet to discover, the essential human compassion, altruistic spirit and hospitality — close to the community she is aiming for — have been passed down unbroken. And precisely because that lies deep within her too, perhaps she is beginning to sense that this is her mission — perhaps even her calling. I support her with all my heart.

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I first met Wako when I heard her seeking business advice at eumo SALON. I met Kazuhiro Arai of eumo about ten years ago, agreed with the philosophy of Kamakura Investment Management, which invests in good companies, and began supporting Sasaki Farm in Toya, which practices natural farming. Since Arai-san launched eumo, I have enjoyed being involved with the many people who take part in it. Over the past ten years, movements that increase happiness and creativity through dialogue rather than money or material things have been emerging here and there. I have met people who share my passion for exploring the relationship between people and nature, and people's inner and outer lives. The vision Wako is drawing as Smoooth Inc. has much in common with my own aspirations, and I can't wait to see how we will work together. I want to move forward together.

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Behind our material abundance, haven't we lost sight of our "humanity" and our "connections"? Bound by the "correctness" and "shoulds" that fill modern society, we have drifted away from our fundamental strength and sensibility. I have carried that sense of crisis myself. Taking early retirement after more than 30 years at my company was a decision I was naturally led to as I kept honestly facing my own questions. As social systems grow ever more complex and the transformation of individual consciousness becomes ever more important, I believe what we need for the times ahead is "the ability to think and choose autonomously." Above all, for young people to live true to their aspirations, they need theories and methods that support their thinking and action, and encounters with communities that raise their perspective through dialogue. I feel Smoooth World is a place of connection where questioning, learning and mutual support come naturally. By encountering wisdom from Japan and around the world, deepening their learning through meaningful dialogue and putting it into practice, I believe each participant can reclaim their fundamental strength and open up their potential. As someone who resonates deeply with this vision, I wholeheartedly support Smoooth World.