Day 2: Designing Artists Academy-Antony Tan

Today our veteran DAA volunteer artist Antony Tran & his team will travel to Port Kanegaya children's home to teach kids about the art of portrait taking. Last year's session at St. Joseph's was great fun - and we're sure the kids will enjoy today. Thank you Antony and team for sharing your time, passion, your smiles and warmth with the kids! ありがとうございます! — with Antony Tran.

Designing Artists Academy Day 1: Gandhi Gyoza making

Our 9th year of DAA kicked off yesterday with our talented friend Gandhi teaching kids at St. Joseph's children's home how to make GYOZA! Gandhi has been sharing his time and passion with our camp since the very first year.

Ma-chan visits Matsubaen in Itabashi-ku to discuss Excel Art and her new app

We were very fortunate to host Ma-chan (Masako Wakamiya) our 82 year old ICT Evangelist who came to the Digital class of Matsubaen in Itabashi-ku to teach the children about the journey of buying her own computer at 60 and how she has used EXCEL to create and teach art. She also shared with us pictures of meeting Tim Cook, CEO of Apple when she went to the USA earlier this year as the oldest developer of apps.

We are hope project

We are kicking off a project using Night Zookeeper to connect Japanese children with refugee/orphan children from Syria using the language software as a common tool to communicate and collaborate.

Ma-Chan, an incredible 81 year-old who proves it's never too late to start something new will be sharing her experience with one of our children's homes about building her own app.

Ma-Chan, an incredible 81 year-old who proves it's never too late to start something new will be sharing her experience with one of our children's homes about building her own app. Here you can read her interview with CNN Money.

Ma-chan we met at your TedX Tokyo talk in 2014 where she shared with the audience how she, at 60, was taking care of her 90 year old mother and wondered what she would do for the rest of her retired life. After reading an article about how you could buy a computer and talk to people all over the world, she made the impulsive shopping decision to buy a computer.  This changed her life and gave her wings. She used Excel in depth to create design patterns with different colors and functionality.

Recently interviewed as the oldest developer having created her own app:

Masako Wakamiya is a vibrant, self-described chatterbox who just launched her first smartphone app.

Oh, and she's 81 years old. 

She says she felt compelled to do something after noticing a shortage of fun apps aimed at people her age. 

"We easily lose games when playing against young people, since our finger movements can't match their speed," Wakamiya told CNN. 

Related: Women: Japan's hidden asset

The retired banker asked a bunch of people to create games for seniors, but no one was interested. So she took matters into her own hands and achieved something many people half her age haven't done. 

"I wanted to create a fun app to get elderly people interested in smartphones," she said. "It took about half a year to develop." 

Related: NASA's women space pioneers to star in new Lego set

Wakamiya started using computers at age 60 when she was caring for her elderly mother and finding it difficult to get out and socialize with friends. 

Back then, computers weren't so user friendly. Speaking at a TEDx conference in Tokyo in 2014, an energetic Wakamiya recalled how it took her three months to set up her computer and get online. 

"My face was covered in sweat and tears," she said. 

She joined what's known as a "silver club" to learn how to use the internet and connect with other senior citizens online. 

"I talked with a lot of silver guys," she says with a laugh. Wakamiya is single and doesn't have any children. 

Her app, Hinadan, is an iOS game based on Japan's traditional festival Hinamatsuri, or Doll's Day, which is celebrated in early March. 

During Hinamatsuri, ornamental dolls representing the Emperor and his entourage dressed in traditional clothing are displayed in a specific arrangement. In Wakamiya's app, users have to decorate the dolls and get them in the right position for Hinamatsuri. 

She calls herself a technology evangelist and even wrote her own PC textbooks because she found the options available to her were too boring. 

Related: Play this coding game. Score a job in Silicon Valley

"You don't have to be a professional," she said. "If you have creativity, if you have a playful mind, you can create teaching materials." 

Wakamiya now gives computers classes and blogs regularly in Japanese (and English with the help of Google's translation tool). Hinadan was her first app, but it likely won't be her last. 

"I have lots of ideas and want to create new apps, but my programming skills are poor," she said. "I need more time to develop them."

Career Testing at St.Josephs

We had 14 more children take the RCAP career test. Once the results are back, each child will receive a individualized report telling them about 28 different jobs they have an aptitude for.  http://r-cap_teens.riasec.co.jp

GAMING CAN PROVIDE THE INSPIRATION FOR LEARNING

GAMING CAN PROVIDE THE INSPIRATION FOR LEARNING.

Coding for Life is about the positive social impact of gaming.

14TH MAY, 2017
10:00AM TO 17:00PM
UDX_AKIBA SQUARE


Bring your family to experience 7 home made arcade games created by High school and Jr. High school students. All the games are designed using simple materials, beginner electronics modules and coding skills. They demonstrate the creativity and resourcefulness, of young adults in Japan.

Proceeds from the sales of additional game tokens will go towards the further education for less fortunate children.

VIDEO:
CODING FOR LIFE

Night Zookeeper at Matsubaen. www.nightzookeeper.com

One of our continual Communication Development programs, the Night
ZooKeeper program has been going on for the past 12 months at 3 area homes
where the children hone their writing communication skills in creative and
fun ways. Dozens of kids have been participating in the program, once a
week, led by volunteers. And many of the children have already shown improvement
in their written skills at school and interacting with other children in different countries.

Japan All Stars meeting at Meiji University

Presented at Japan All Stars with Yamakawa-sensei of Matsubaen and Ma-chan, with other groups focused on disadvantaged children.

Fukushima – Electronic Arcade Game Workshop

Thanks to the generosity of everyone’s support for the Tokyo Rocks for Tohoku/ Ladies Rock for Tohoku events held by a collective of Tokyo-based indie musicians and local venues keeping Tohoku in their hearts and on their minds. 

We enjoyed running this creativity and technology workshop with a group of underprivileged children in Fukushima last weekend. Their unbridled enthusiasm to take on the challenge and stretch beyond what they thought possible was an eye-opener. What a great chance to spark the idea to leverage physical computing for solving problems while having fun with technology.

The students put the design cycle into action while using easy to understand electronic building blocks by littleBits, some Makedo, cardboard, elastics, marbles, and other construction tools to prototype their team’s Electronic Arcade Game. Next, members from other teams playtested the games and gave feedback on enjoyment and suggested improvements.

東京を拠点とするミュージシャンと東北の方々によるイベント「Tokyo Rocks for Tohoku / Ladies Rock for Tohoku」にて、ご支援をいただいた皆様に感謝いたします。

私共は先週末、福島の児童養護施設にて、創造力とテクノロジーを活用できるワークショップを開催いたしました。

参加した子供達は熱心に取り組み、とても面白いものを作り上げる事ができました。

楽しみながら問題解決のスキルを学ぶために、フィジカルコンピューティングを活用するアイデアを引き出せた、とても良い機会になりました。

エレクトロニクス・アーケードゲーム制作のワークショップでは、設計プロセスを基にゲームをデザインして、製作の途中では、他のチームからフィードバックを得て、更にゲームを改善していきました。

使用した材料は、littleBits、メイクドゥ、ダンボール、ビー玉、工作用品など。

完成後にはお互いのゲームで遊び、楽しみながら学ぶ事ができました。