｜Length : 49min. ｜Year : 2009 ｜

Mizuko Tokunaga, 60 ans, est présidente d'Amis d'Afrique, une organisation non gouvernementale, participant à la prévention du VIH en Afrique Centrale. Elle est également infirmière et professeur de sciences infirmières internationales. À 23 ans, elle quitte le Japon pour s'installer au Zaïre, l'actuel Congo, et débute sa carrière médicale. En 1991, elle fonde l'organisation Amis d'Afrique à la suite de la mort de plusieurs de ses amis africains atteints du SIDA. Le champ d'activité de cette organisation comprend l'aide alimentaire, l'aide médicale, l'aide pédagogique et l'aide au développement autonome, en passant aussi par l'assistance aux enfants souffrant de la malnutrition ou du SIDA. Par ailleurs, Amis d'Afrique conçoit également des projets de formation sur place ayant pour but la prévention du VIH. En 2005, Mme Tokunaga reçoit la Médaille Florence Nightingale à Genève.

｜Length : 20min ｜Year : 2023 ｜

①While the use of environmentally friendly paper straws has increased, the straws produced by UPay Co., Ltd. president, Yui Jokan (41) are made of 70% rice and 30% cornstarch. After use, they can be boiled and eaten like pasta, but they will also break down completely in soil. They are unaffected by long immersion in water and with their smooth texture, they are popular with eateries that serve customers with little children.

A new recycling law amendment aimed at reducing the use of plastics has plastic straws in its sights. Their small size makes them prone to escaping the confines of trash bags or disposal facilities and ending up in the ocean. Ms. Jokan decided to challenge this environmental problem. She uses broken rice grains that would otherwise have no value. Using such rice would lead to more profitability for rice farmers and be a solution for the problem of food loss.

②The go-kart-like riding mower built by OREC CO., LTD. in Fukuoka City was developed by current president Takeji Imamura (70), who came up with the idea 35 years ago to help farmers weed under trees. Although his idea was dismissed by management, his stick-to-itiveness finally bore fruit.

On farms, teens who had been avoiding grass cutting were suddenly volunteering to jump on the fun go-kart mowers. Pres. Imamura is proud of what his customers call a “godsend.” OREC has top share of the self-propelled mower market in Japan, with additional machines designed especially for hilly fields or radio-controlled ones that can maneuver under low solar panels. Tires with special blades keep mowers from sliding down steep slopes. Beyond mowers, OREC has also developed a device that makes it possible to erase smells and bacteria from livestock barns.

By solving difficulties farmers face, OREC is helping to make farm work easier, more fun, and more attractive to young people.

｜Length : 25 ｜Year : 2019 ｜

①Evolving Traditional Japanese Crafts
Mizuhiki are bands of cord used for example to wrap around gifts and envelopes, essential as decorative ties used on celebratory occasions in Japan. Also used on paper fortunes and protective charms sold at shrines, since ancient times mizuhiki have been considered as sacred ties that relay feelings and connect people. These mizuhiki are now acquiring forms that take them beyond their original use and are blending into everyday life. Continuing a challenge to bring these items into every part of our lives, including food, clothing and housing, are a father and daughter who run a long-established mizuhiki shop in Hakata. Father Hiroaki Nagasawa maintains the mizuhiki tradition, while daughter Hiromi works on the design and production of items with new styles for use on apparel or for daily living which respect that tradition. Hiromi says, “By incorporating design into traditional crafts, tradition becomes a much more familiar presence.”

②Tackling Poverty Through Mom’s Herb Tea
There is an organic herb tea in Japan which realizes annual sales of US$8 million. This herb tea is treasured by mothers who are raising their infants on breast milk. It first went on sale 10 years ago, and is now a popular product at 15% of maternity hospitals in Japan, which sell it or give it as a present to mothers when they leave the hospital. However, the story does not end there. Behind these herb tea sales is a substantial project which is resolving the problems of poverty where the herbs are produced in the village of Linlae, Myanmar. For many years the village has been growing tobacco, but this brought the hardships of poverty which resulted from factors such as the harmful effects of agrichemicals and unstable yield. With this, a proposal was made to villagers that they switch from tobacco to herb cultivation. Through guaranteed purchase of herb production, there has been a great improvement in their lives.

｜Length : 82min. ｜Year : 1992 ｜

On September 2, 1945, representatives of the Japanese government signed the terms of surrender on board the battle-ship Missouri. An A.P. reporter witnessed everything happening on that historic day. He was deeply moved to see that Japan seemed so isolated and without a friend anywhere. This documentary looks into the roles of wartime journalism, especially the newspapers in Japan and the United States.

｜Length : 25min. ｜Year : 2009 ｜

Sixty-year old Mizuko Tokunaga from Fukuoka Prefecture is President of Amis d'Afrique, a non-governmental organization (NGO) participating in activities on preventing the spread of HIV in Central Africa. She is also a nurse and a professor of international nursing at a university. At the age of 23, she left Japan to start a career in medical services in former Zaire. In 1991, she established the organization Amis d'Afrique after losing many of her African friends to AIDS. The organization is involved in food aid, medical aid, educational aid and support for self-reliance, as well as support for malnourished children and children suffering from AIDS. Amis d'Afrique also provides on-site educational sessions aiming at preventing the spread of HIV. In 2005, Tokunaga received the Florence Nightingale Medal in Geneva.