My dream is to create a world where people from all over can come together and learn from each other.
I was born and raised in the Japanese countryside, and ever since I was a child, I would constantly worry myself with questions like “Is there anything I can do for the world?” Once I became a university student, I began to visit other countries, particularly those still developing. When I actually saw those places in person, I was astonished to see scenery completely different from what I had heard about on TV. How could I do anything for the Earth if I knew nothing about it? As these worries deepened, I also realized how important it was to actually visit other countries and see them firsthand to truly understand their situations.
The world looked hazy and out of focus until I attended the One Young World Summit in 2014. Seeing people from over 190 different countries gathered together in an event hall was like a tiny little Earth in itself. It felt as if I had just traveled around the globe, and as such an Earth-sized experience can do, it took me a while to process all that had happened. In particular, the speech from North Korea’s Park Yeonmi left me in shock. Even though her situation was full of hardship, she talked about the happiness and warmth she felt when eating dinner with her family, an emotion we can all relate to.
We are not strangers separated by invisible boundaries like nationality, race, and ethnicity. We are friends who share the same feelings of joy and sadness. And this only grows the more we learn about all the unique stories on this planet. I was able to realize that if we can educate each other by letting our differences fill us with excitement, we’ll be able to share our joy and work toward a future of peace. To that question of what I could do for the Earth, I found the answer: to create peace through mutual learning! This book is my first step in realizing that dream.
In what seemed like an instant, my dream had spread all across the world through the internet. It began with a search among friends then quickly spread thanks to each country’s representative sharing the information on social media. It was even featured in various international news outlets, so I received entries from people I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to meet otherwise. I’ll never forget about all the people who shared the project because they truly connected with it at heart, even if their stories weren’t chosen to be in the book.
While the world was being flooded with terrible news about the COVID-19 pandemic, my laptop filled up with dream after dream. There was a certain phrase at the end of the application: “No matter what happens, never stop dreaming.” It was as if these words, which were just a wish of mine at the time, became their own truth as the dreams from across the world came in. Entries came from people at home under lockdown, some from cities overflowing in violence, and others from so many different walks of life. No matter what may happen, we will always be able to dream. I feel that the pandemic has made such truths more evident than ever before.
Each individual story shares a similar message: no matter what hardship, failure, conflict, or deep worry the authors experienced, they never gave up hope and continued to tackle these problems in ways only they can through different projects, movements, entrepreneur opportunities, and all across their daily lives. To dream is to make life worth living—where we can see the future come into view. Dreamers around the world once again taught me what it meant to have a dream.
After bringing 201 countries together, I have come to view this project as a book of humanity’s hope. The content contains everyone’s dream of turning hopeless situations into something hopeful, as I believe that no one truly wants to fight or hurt each other. Deep at the heart of our dreams, someone is always smiling. This has taught me that being a dreamer means to pass on those hopes to the people around us and future generations.
Although we may be of different nationalities, our passion for our dreams is universal. Think of this book as a tiny little Earth where 201 friends have gathered to share their stories. I envision it evolving into a brand-new textbook to help people learn about the Earth and life itself by reading about dreamers from around the globe—all written in the common language of dreams. I want to expand this circle of mutual learning to even more people so that the Earth can someday become one large school for all to learn!
Photo Credit: Koji Hibi
Japan 