Connecting with Future SFC Students Through the "Tarayo Tree"

Risa Kitamura

Faculty: 3rd-year student, Faculty of Policy Management

High School: Tokyo Metropolitan Kokusai High School (Tokyo)  

Miki Nozue

Faculty: 2nd-year student, Faculty of Policy Management

High School: Aichi Shukutoku High School (Aichi)  

Mio Hirose

Faculty: 2nd-year student, Faculty of Policy Management

High School: Gakushuin Girls' Senior High School (Tokyo)  

Yuri Murakami

Faculty: 2nd-year student, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies

High School: Senzoku Gakuen High School (Tokyo)  

"Tarayo Tree" project member (absent at the time of the interview)

Manaho Omura

Faculty: 1st-year student, Faculty of Environment and Information Studies

High School: Tokyo Metropolitan Mitaka Secondary School (Tokyo)

On a corner of the SFC campus, there is a residential educational and research facility called "Beta Village." Students were involved in the design and construction of the "Beta Village," and it serves as a hub for "SBC (Student-Build Campus)" activities, where students and faculty collaborate to create a new campus and learning environment. We spoke with the members of the "Tarayo Tree Project," which emerged from these activities, starting with its leader, Risa Kitamura.

The "Tarayo Tree Project" originated from an assignment in Professor Hajime Ishikawa's "Introduction to SBC" class, which was "Beta Test: Use Beta Village Creatively."

"Beta Village" is a place where you can reflect on yourself and feel connected to others. We engaged in group work, aiming for a project that would leverage this atmosphere to expand and deepen connections.

During that process, a member knowledgeable about plants (Manaho Omura, a 1st-year student in the Faculty of Environment and Information Studies) told us about the "Tarayo" tree. "Tarayo" is written as "多羅葉" in kanji. It's a tree whose leaves you can write on with a needle, and it's the origin of the character "葉" (leaf) in the word "葉書" (postcard). We wanted to plant a Tarayo tree in Beta Village to create a symbol for SBC and make it a spiritual anchor for everyone involved. We thought of using the leaves like letters to express our thoughts.

First, it was difficult to get our hands on "Tarayo" leaves. We searched but couldn't find any, so for experimental purposes, we first bought some from a flea market app and sent them to our professor and friends in the class after writing on them. Later, we were able to get in touch with a landscaper near SFC, who gave us branches and leaves when they were thinning the Tarayo trees.

When sending them, we put the leaves in a package to meet the post office's specified size. At first, we just put a stamp on a small leaf and sent it as is, but I'm grateful for the post office's kindness in delivering it.

We've also been contacted by people who saw the project's homepage. We heard from a nursing home that wanted to do a leaf-related event, and we supported its realization by introducing them to the landscaper. It seems the elderly residents sent leaf letters to their grandchildren and old friends, creating new connections.  

Many people in the "Introduction to SBC" class were also looking forward to it. The professors also praised the idea of not just making the tree a symbol, but also using the leaves to communicate thoughts.

When you actually handwrite and send it, you realize that the level of heartfelt emotion is different from email or social media. The recipients, like my grandparents, displayed the leaf in their living room, and I thought it was wonderful that it could be perceived as a piece of art.

We haven't been able to plant the tree yet, but we are thinking about a project called "Future Mail." It's a service where we store leaf letters written to the future and deliver them when that time comes. For example, future SFC students could read the letters we wrote before graduating, creating a connection that transcends time. Something new takes shape. We want to grow this into a project where such things can happen.

We also hope that the Tarayo tree will become like an entrance to the local community, so that people from outside the university can feel free to visit.

SBC has the philosophy of an "unfinished campus." Our professors also say that there is meaning in it not being complete, and that the potential for creative use expands depending on the members and the people who gather.

It takes time to grow a tree, so it might be difficult to achieve while we are still students. That's why I hope this project will be passed on to our juniors, and that the management, as friends who nurture the Tarayo tree, can also be passed on to the future.

I believe the reason the project didn't end at the conceptual stage is that SFC values deepening learning through practice by creating one's own environment. Once you decide on a theme, you first try it out. If it's different from what you expected, you correct it. You can advance your learning in a better direction while exploring.

The reason I applied to SFC was because I was drawn to its style of practical thinking through fieldwork and other activities. This project is an example of that, and I think it's unique to SFC that we can come up with ideas ourselves and be evaluated for their realization.

The relationship between faculty and students is also unique, and that's another charm of SFC. There's a mindset of creating things together, rather than a "teacher-student" dynamic. The theme of "Using Beta Village Creatively" wasn't something the professor had an answer for; it was interesting how it was decided through a process of pooling wisdom with the students.

SFC truly brings together people with a wide variety of backgrounds. Each person values their own ideas and is engaged in their own passionate activities. Just listening to them is fun and stimulating. And because there are so many people like that, when you decide to do something yourself, someone will always be there to support you.

I was anxious when I first enrolled because I hadn't decided what I wanted to do. But now, I think that's okay at SFC. You can join research groups early, you can belong to multiple ones, and you can switch, so you might discover what you want to do there. I believe it's because I came to SFC that I was able to encounter research on "Pattern Language" and participate in the "Tarayo Tree Project."

I think some people applying to SFC have focused intensely on something up to now. For such people, they might worry about the saying "the nail that sticks out gets hammered down," but I believe SFC is a place that lets the tall poppies grow. I want them to make the most of what they've worked hard on.

SFC has an environment where you can fully do what you want to do and be the person you want to be. If you are someone who actively seeks out what you want to do, someone with a forward-thinking attitude to pave your own path to be who you want to be, then I'm sure you can have a fulfilling university life.