Kazuma Saito: Changing Yourself, Changing the Community

After finishing graduate school, I took a position as a member of the Local Revitalization Cooperator in Fujiyoshida City, which has a partnership agreement with Keio University. It was a challenge recommended by my mentor, but I remember dancing with joy, thinking, "Shimura-kun's town!" In high school, my anthem was the band "Fujifabric" from Fujiyoshida. Just because it was the hometown of the late vocalist Masahiko Shimura, I immediately replied "Awesome!" and moved there without a second thought. Before I knew it, I was living at the foot of Mt. Fuji. A mysterious connection. Mt. Fuji power.

When I first arrived, I didn't know left from right, up from down. I spent my days giving my all to what I could do, desperately honing the skills I lacked, and facing the community with reckless abandon. Of course, I couldn't do anything alone, and I was raised by many seniors in the community. My weight has increased by 20 kg since I moved. I am grateful to be surrounded by warm people and good food.

More and more people started greeting me with "Welcome back" like family, and before I knew it, Fujiyoshida had become a precious "hometown" to me. That's why I want to pass on the charm of the region and the wonderful daily life to the next generation, and connect what I received in this town to the next future. That's why I started "Kaeru-sha."

The name carries the meaning of "change"—"knowing the charm of the region and changing yourself" and "acting for the region and changing the region"—as well as the wish to create a flow where people eventually "return" (kaeru) to their hometown.

It's been 10 years since we started our activities. Now, we deliver projects that connect schools and the community to all elementary, junior high, and high schools in the city. In classes, they challenge regional issues, and a group of about 70 high school students is working on community activities. In every generation, everyone is "dance, dance, dance" in the community.

The reason everyone working together gets involved in the community is because "it's fun" and "there are friends." I feel that such motivations will gradually brighten the future of the region.

Recently, former high school students have become "those who convey the region," and local people are looking forward to our activities. I have been working with the desire to make the region even a little better than when I first came here. I wonder if I'm gradually being able to "give back to Fujiyoshida." Maybe not yet. Continuing from here on will surely be my own answer.