Interview with Kumi Imamura of the “Hatachi Fund” and Takuya Kajikawa of JustGiving Japan

This week, we spoke with representatives from the NPO “Hatachi Fund,” a beneficiary of the charity project “Run for Children Tohoku” through a challenge for the upcoming “Tokyo Marathon 2012,” and “JustGiving Japan,” an online donation platform that acts as an intermediary, to learn about their respective activities.

Supporting the growth of children in disaster-affected areas, from age 0 to 20

The “Hatachi Fund” was established by a group of small organizations to provide long-term educational support for children in disaster-affected areas following the earthquake. By collaborating in various regions, these organizations aim to protect children from infancy to age 20 comprehensively. One of their initiatives is “Collabo School,” an after-school program that offers tutoring to children whose learning environments have been compromised due to the destruction of their homes and cram schools by the tsunami.


Buses pick up children who wish to participate in “Collabo School” from their regular schools, providing supplementary lessons to catch up on their studies and offering a space for them to gather. This program is currently active in two towns: Onagawa Town in Miyagi Prefecture, where the rate of housing collapse is over 82%, and Otsuchi Town in Iwate Prefecture, with a rate of around 70%. Kumi Imamura, Executive Director of the “Hatachi Fund,” who we interviewed, also teaches a class herself.

A New Form of Charity, Closer Than Ever

We want to support the children in disaster-affected areas through initiatives like these.—“JustGiving,” a fundraising tool, transforms these individual desires into a tangible form of charity, delivering them to the organizations that are making a difference.



“To put it simply, a fundraising tool is like conducting street donations via the internet. People who were already involved in charity or volunteer work decided to bring in organizations that have achieved success globally to expand the ‘donation’ market in Japan. That’s how the UK’s JustGiving came to Japan,” explains Takuya Kajikawa, Executive Director of JustGiving Japan.

“There are three steps to making a donation through JustGiving. First, the person collecting donations, known as a ‘Challenger,’ selects a beneficiary organization from the currently registered 589 organizations. In Matsuura-san’s case, it’s the ‘Hatachi Fund.’ Next, they decide on the nature of their challenge. Whether it’s a marathon, quitting smoking, or dieting, the goal can be anything, though naturally, many are chosen for their potential to inspire support. Finally, they create a challenge page and promote it to others. Since the basic principle is to collect donations from people within one’s social circle—friends, family, colleagues—we encourage all Challengers to actively promote their efforts.”

It goes without saying that JustGiving's activities gained significant traction due to the impact of theGreat East Japan Earthquake. Perhaps this event prompted a shift in the Japanese consciousness towards charity, making it feel more accessible. In response to these changes, JustGiving Japan is embarking on new ‘challenges.’



“The earthquake last year was an opportunity for many people to engage with the act of ‘donating,’ but I feel that the concept of ‘collecting donations’ itself hasn’t been fully communicated. Spreading this concept is our current challenge. JustGiving’s UK headquarters currently handles approximately 30 billion yen in donations annually. In Japan, the cumulative total is around 840 million yen, so we are striving to catch up with the UK.”

—Thank you.


What is JustGiving?
http://openers.jp/culture/cspecial/toshiomatsuura_charityrun.html