SEEDCap Japan
The Social Entrepreneur Enhanced Development Capital Program (SEEDCap Japan), supports nonprofit organizations in Japan carrying out innovative projects that can serve as models for broader application.
2005 Grantees
OurPlanet-TV (Tokyo, Japan)
OurPlanet-TV was established in 2001 by two former television producers, women who felt it is critically important to cover issues that are being overlooked by the mainstream media. It was also intended to provide a venue for independent media from Japan to distribute their work. The organization maintains a website with web broadcasting capability, conducts workshops on media skills (video production, media relations, webcasting, etc.), and offers consulting on image editing, streaming technology, and other relevant issues. Their work focuses on encouraging nonprofit and social responsibility initiatives.
A SEEDCap grant of several million yen was made to support the “Torch Project,” a nationwide competition to select and produce films that shed light on new issues, that would have a clear focus, that are ideologically balanced, and that would not otherwise be made. Eight projects were selected out of 62 entries. Beginning in August 2005, the staff of OurPlanet-TV and other volunteers from the TV and film industry worked with the finalists—all of whom were new to film production—to develop their projects into documentaries running between 5 and 30 minutes in length.
The Torch Project was perhaps the first opportunity for average people in Japan to have public access to a media outlet, enabling them to tell their own stories, and giving them the tools to do it in a compelling and clear way. “Three Years After the Nagoya Prison Incident—Have Japanese Prisons Changed?” was broadcast on May 16, 2006, on the TBS network’s “News 23,” one of the country’s most-watched news programs, and it won an award at the 2007 Tokyo Video Festival, the world’s largest international video festival. Several other documentaries were also broadcast on commercial television, and the documentary study of the denture production system, a heretofore unexamined topic, has drawn a great deal of industry attention, helping to build internal momentum for dental industry reform.
Documentaries Supported by the Torch Project
The Leprosy that Japan Wants to Forget—The stories of elderly patients in the leper colonies that Japan set up in Taiwan during the wartime occupation who are still feeling the effects of Japanese policy on leprosy.
New Test for Cancer Support Group Trying to Help Children Return to School—Exploration of the issues facing children who leave school for cancer treatment and how they can be reintegrated into the school system.
The Werewolf Returns to Tokyo—The Werewolf, a B-29 bomber, was downed in 1945 in Fujinomiya City during a bombing raid on Tokyo, and the three surviving American aviators were imprisoned and perished four months later in the firebombing of Tokyo. The daughter of the co-pilot visits Japan 60 years after the war to trace her father’s last steps and speak with the citizens of Fujinomiya.
Osaka Puppet Theater for the Homeless—Formerly homeless volunteer workers, with an average age of 72 years old, try to stage a traditional puppet theater performance in Tokyo.
Three Years After the Nagoya Prison Incident—Have Japanese Prisons Changed?—Update on the status of abused prisoners and prison reform in the aftermath of the Nagoya prison abuse scandal.
Haraken—The mother of a son who refused to attend school since he was in second grade deals with the epidemic of children dropping out of school for psychological reasons by opening a “play space” for dropout, bullied, and handicapped children.
Noriko’s Flamenco—A look at the growing popularity of flamenco in Japan and the culture that surrounds it through the eyes of Noriko, a devoted flamenco dancer.
Alarm Bells from the Denture Factory—An investigative report of the economics and self-dealing involved in the production and distribution of dentures and false teeth in an aging nation.