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UNESCO World Terakoya Movement Report [2]Could "Unused Treasures" Save World Heritage Sites!? Effective Ways to Utilize Unused Stamps, Prepaid Cards, and Scratched-Out Postcards
The " Wasted Postcard Project " is part of UNESCO's World Terakoya Movement, a social contribution initiative the Dentsu Group has supported for 12 years. Each discarded postcard becomes a 47-yen donation, helping expand "learning spaces = terakoya" worldwide for the 58 million children lacking educational opportunities and the estimated one in six people aged 15 and older who are illiterate.
This project actually accepts not only postcards, but also unused stamps, gift certificates, and unused prepaid cards. Collectively, the project calls these items, which often lie forgotten in the back of drawers, "Drawer Heritage."
Today, we gather with Junko Kubo, the project's public relations ambassador "Manabi Gater"; the supporting characters, the Tansu Heritage Trio: "Kakison Jiro," "Hashison Jiro," and "Tsukaison Jiro"; and Akiko Nomura from Dentsu Inc. Social Contribution Department to share stories, including how Tansu Heritage helped build a temple school in the World Heritage site of Angkor.
March 22, 2016: The 15th temple school in the Angkor region was completed!
The Three Chests of Inheritance and Children in the Angkor Region
Kubo: For example, in Cambodia, 11 discarded postcards, unused stamps, or 500 yen worth of prepaid cards can fund one person's attendance at the temple school for a month.
Nomura: That's right. Over the 25 years since the project began, we've educated approximately 1.3 million children across 43 countries and one region.
Kubo: Thanks to everyone's support, about 520 Terakoya schools have been built worldwide, and their operations are gradually becoming self-sustaining.
On March 22nd, the 15th Terakoya school under this project was completed in Siem Reap Province, Cambodia, home to Angkor Wat.
Nomura: So 75,000 discarded postcards became a wonderful Terakoya school.
Kubo: I also visited the site with the Tansu Heritage Trio. Until now, the children didn't even know the word "dream." By attending the terakoya, they've gained dreams for the future and are enjoying their studies with such vitality. Everyone had such wonderful smiles.
Having experienced the importance of education through raising my own children, I strongly empathized with the idea that learning means being able to have dreams.
We Want to Save World Heritage Sites with Tansu Heritage
The Three Brothers of the Dresser Legacy: We met someone who made dreams come true at the temple school! Mr. Roy, who works on restoring sculptures at the Bayon Temple, a World Heritage site in Angkor, learned to do calculations through the temple school's literacy class. This skill allows him to measure stone lengths and contributes to the restoration project (*).
*The Bayon Temple sculpture restoration project is a joint initiative between JST (a Cambodian NGO) and JASA, which provides technical support. It is funded by World Heritage donations, not donations to the Terakoya.
This is Roy.
Are your heirlooms gathering dust?
Nomura: Last year saw remarkable growth in the recovery of hidden treasures. Stamps and prepaid cards increased 54 times over the previous year! A wide circle of support is expanding.
This year's interim results show 290,000 partially written postcards and approximately ¥1 million worth of unused stamps and prepaid cards collected.
We created the "Chest-of-Drawers Treasures Trio" movie to show that items other than postcards can also help!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmEPvjTnJf4&feature=youtu.be
Kubo: Spring is the season for moving and new beginnings, so it seems like the treasures sleeping in everyone's closets might be unearthed.
Tansu Heritage 3 Brothers: If you do unearth any, please place them in an envelope, write your address, name, and the number of postcards, and send them to the address below.
150-0013 1-3-1 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo Asahi Seimei Ebisu Building 12F
Japan UNESCO Association Federation, Unused Postcard Section
※Only unused, unmailed postcards are eligible. Postcards returned due to an unknown address are not accepted.
※Gift certificates, beer vouchers, and other monetary vouchers are also acceptable.
※We collect year-round, but January to March is our intensified collection period for miswritten New Year's postcards.
Japan UNESCO Association
"Since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defenses of peace must be constructed" (from the Preamble to the UNESCO Constitution). Based on this principle from the UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) Constitution, this NGO (non-governmental organization) was founded in 1948 as a federation of private UNESCO associations. The Japan UNESCO Association Federation carries out its activities together with 280 UNESCO associations nationwide.
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Author
Junko Kubo
Freelance announcer
In 2009, she was appointed as a UNESCO World Terakoya Movement Public Relations Ambassador, known as a "Learning Navigator." As a navigator learning about the Terakoya Movement, she visited terakoya in Cambodia and Nepal. While experiencing the importance of education through raising her own children, she learned that many people worldwide lack access to learning. Feeling compelled to "do something about it!" and resonating with the Terakoya Movement's philosophy, she served as a volunteer Public Relations Ambassador. She also obtained a Montessori education qualification.
The Three Brothers of the Dresser Legacy
The campaign characters for UNESCO's World Terakoya Movement "Wakisonji Postcard Project." The three brothers: "Hashisonjiro," unused stamps often hidden in home dressers; "Wakisonjiro," unused postcards; and "Tsukaisonjiro," unused prepaid cards. When gathered, they transform into donations, bringing learning and dreams to terakoya schools worldwide.
Akiko Nomura
Dentsu Inc.
Public Account Center
Senior Consultant
Diversity Attendant Qualification / Event Operations Manager. Long-time practitioner in corporate and product communication planning. Transitioned from Planning Director to Dentsu Inc.'s internal CSR operations, supporting communication efforts for numerous NGOs and NPOs addressing social issues. Subsequently joined a division supporting "Parasports Organizations." Engaged in Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games projects. Currently involved in Public Account business and organizational DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) promotion.As part of this role, she is involved in developing the "Everyone's Event Guidelines" and working towards their social implementation. She also produced the social project "041FASHION" (https://store.united-arrows.co.jp/brand/ua/data/catalog/041/) for the former Dentsu Inc. Diversity Lab.
