My first networking interview was with my managers at 椎の実ハウス (Shiinomi House), the local community center I volunteer at for my Ted Wang internship. Due to the fact that most of the time I spend at the center is spent with children, I was interested to learn more about my lovely managers, Masako and Naho, and to hear why they chose to pivot their careers from teaching to working in an out-of-school community setting.

Both Naho (mid 20s) and Masako (mid 50s) graduated university with a degree in education, which in Japan is synonymous with wanting to become a teacher. In fact, Masako spent the first 20 years of her career teaching preschool. However, over time, she decided that the expectations put on teachers in Japan are not fair to the teachers or their students, and also felt there was something lacking in her community. In terms of Naho, she left college knowing that she did not want to go into teaching, and felt overqualified for childcare, so she sought out a career that would let her do a bit of both. Hence, Masako and Naho found themselves at Shiinomi House, a community center in Mitaka, Tokyo, which is funded by the Nippon foundation. They both agreed that there couldn’t be a better fit for either of them, considering their interest in spending time with children and families while also having skills and educational theory under their belts from studying at university.

Shiinomi House is a space for intergenerational community building, as it has “cafe” hours in the morning for adults, and “after school” hours for children in the afternoon, with volunteers ranging in age from college students to local おばあさん (grandmothers). And according to the Nippon foundation, the community center is part of the non-profit’s goal to create more “3rd places” in Japanese communities. “3rd places” are places for people to gather that are not at home (the 1st place) or at school (the 2nd place). It is an effort also especially significant as Japan transitions out of two years of severe interpersonal isolation as a result of Covid-19.

As you might be able to tell from the picture above, the community center is a bit small, but very full of life! Students come every day after school, in addition to many new mothers who sit and feed their children after they get out of preschool next door before bringing them home for the night. Most days, there are between 5-25 visitors to the center, and on top of running daily activities, Shiinomi also organizes a few special events every month, based on holidays or seasonal activities that are popular in Japan. It is an incredible place, and I am so grateful to be able to spend time there as a Ted Wang Fellow. I have learned so much about out-of-school community spaces, connecting intergenerational actors, and the passion my managers have for their work! I really admire them both <3