2019.01.08
Ms. Mamasa Mishina, a fourth-year student in the Faculty of Policy Management, won the Grand Prize at the "Fujisawa City 'Kyun-to-suru' (Heart-throbbing) Video Contest" hosted by Fujisawa City. This contest was a project designed to promote the charms of Fujisawa City by leveraging the talents of young people, soliciting videos that inspire viewers to "want to visit Fujisawa!" and utilizing them for the Fujisawa City Promotion. There were 17 entries in total.
Ms. Mishina's work, "Haikei" (Dear,), is a piece that strikingly portrays a protagonist who grew up in Fujisawa and the city's everyday scenery. The works selected in the second round of judging will be used as promotional videos for the Fujisawa City Promotion. Furthermore, the grand prize-winning work will be certified as the "Fujisawa City 'Kyun-to-suru' (Heart-throbbing) Video Grand Prize" and will be distributed in the in-stream advertising slots on video-sharing sites.
Comment from Ms. Mamasa Mishina
I have been creating works with the aspiration of becoming a director who brings out the charm of Japan, my home country, through expressive methods like video and musical theater. I entered this contest hoping it would be an opportunity to engage with Fujisawa City, where I have spent the last four years.
When I consciously looked at Fujisawa again, what I saw was a "gentle, soft, 'ordinary' daily life." I valued capturing the feeling of being unconsciously supported by the atmosphere of Fujisawa while living here, and the ordinary scenery that I had been passing by without a second thought. When do we feel that these things are special?
Drawing on one of the concepts of the Fujisawa City Promotion, "a town that you fall in love with the longer you live here," I intentionally made the protagonist a boy who is leaving Fujisawa. There are things you only notice when you are about to leave. That's why you want to come back someday. I titled it "Haikei" (Dear,) with the affection one would put into sending a letter, to express my feelings for Fujisawa.
For those who already have a connection with Fujisawa, I hope it provides a moment to pause and reconsider its charms. For those who don't know the city of Fujisawa, I hope it becomes a catalyst for them to connect with it. I hope this video can serve as a bridge connecting people to Fujisawa. I want it to reach as many people as possible.