Message from Kimi Hasebe

Towards a 21st century renaissance: from art - a new vision of society

 
The reason I am here today is because of a life-changing encounter with the book, 'The Turning Point: Science, Society, and the Rising Culture’ published in 1982 by Fritjof Capra.
 
As someone who spent my high school years in Japan in the 1980s, I was deeply pained by the news about school violence and horrifying domestic violence involving children of my age. “Why do we keep fighting one other?” “Surely human beings are born to pursue our own happiness, so why do we make choices that make us unhappy?” - these were the kinds of questions that were constantly on my mind.
 
Reading Capra’s book in my twenties was a revelation, shedding a ray of light on these questions that had troubled from my teenage years. In this volume, Capra writes about issues related to medicine, the limits of economic models, environmental pollution and the causes of social unrest from his standpoint as a physicist. Across 700 pages he lays out problematic psychological approaches which neglect the true possibilities of the human spirit and predicts that we are headed for a paradigm shift – a dramatic shift in values and worldview.
 
I have to confess I no longer remember all the details, however, when I saw a chart showing the process of social transformation – of the old social values gradually decaying, and a new worldview and mindset taking its place - I was stunned by the realization that this turning point was indeed imminent. In that moment I decided that I would be part of this social transformation, that I would work towards this new vision of reality - embracing this new worldview and living these values.
 
In the 15 years that followed, driven by a desire to understand the world from a systems perspective I sought to understand the external system, the world around me by voraciously reading books on psychology, sociology, religion, economics. I also sought to gain a deeper understanding of my own inner system, and over the years I synthesized what I learned, refining and testing my ideas through my work and research. However, far from finding signs of this social transformation, amidst the turbulent events of the time - the Gulf War, the collapse of Japan’s economic bubble, the Tokyo subway sarin attack – I began to feel a deep sense of despair as I struggled to see a way out of the status quo. The paradigm shift I had eagerly anticipated in the 21st century seemed no where in sight.
 
In the midst of all this, I started painting. You could say I was saved by painting. Of course I didn’t think that painting pictures would solve the complex challenges of our time, however, looking back on this time in my life I realize that it was something I needed to do for myself. It was a way of tuning into my bliss. My paintings caught the eye of a friend, one thing led to another and I ended up showing my works at a small exhibition - and this is how I met the co-founder of White Ship, Kunihiko Yazawa.
 
When I met Yazawa I was immediately struck by his ability to transform a concept into an idea and then to give shape to his idea as a tangible output at breathtaking speed. “Making ideas reality” - I felt that this gesture, the creative act, could be the key to solving the big problems of our time I had been thinking about all these years. Even after White Ship’s founding, I have never ceased to be surprised by his boundless stream of ideas and creativity, his ability to bring his ideas to life as well as the philosophy underlying his art practice and the sheer breadth and richness of his creative expression. As our enterprise has continued to grow, my initial intuition that his immense talent and ideas as an artist could contribute to the transition to a sustainable world became a firm conviction. This is my founder’s story.
 
Today, our programs based on the art-based learning method, EGAKU® which lies at the heart of our work, have reached over 26,000 participants from corporates to schools. Our work with corporates provides impactful solutions to help organizations reskill their workforce - updating employees’ mental operating systems and equipping them with the mindsets and skills increasingly required to thrive in an uncertain and changing world. Meanwhile, our non-profit arm, ELAB has been working to update education for the 21st century by bringing creative learning to classrooms across Japan. ELAB continues to expand its impact as it works with education researchers and teachers to bring creative learning into classrooms by delivering programs for students based on the EGAKU method for learners at different stages of development from children to young adults, as well as creative learning programs for teachers.
 
Over 20 years has passed since we founded White Ship in 2001, and we are proud of the progress we have made in our mission to solve the challenges of our time through the power of art – a mission many would doubtless call crazy. This would not have been possible without all the passionate friends, supporters, partners we have been blessed with along the way. My heartfelt gratitude to everyone who has been part of this journey.
 
As we look towards the world in 2050, our challenge over the next 10 years will be to harness the power of cutting-edge technologies to scale our work globally, towards a sustainable world of human flourishing. We hope you will join us as we embark on this new chapter at White Ship.
 

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