Takanori Nakagome at TEDxKyoto
Say what you want to do
0:30
I do connect children in Japan, Africa, and the world through "Dance×the Internet". Until now, I've taught over 15,000 children, gone to 22 countries, and connected more than 3,000 children. I just think that you can’t imagine the situation and l want you to see pictures, first.
0:43
In this photo, l was in Uganda. In the next photo, these children are in Ethiopia. Japan and Uganda and Ethiopia, I connect dancing children of both countries by relay. I connected many children who live in Africa. I did Japan and Vietnam, Cambodia, and other Asian countries also. By dancing together, they can be good friends beyond the different languages and cultures. In the photos, they really look fun, right?
1:15
I, today, want to tell you the message is only one. It’s that “Say what you want to do”. You probably think that you are ashamed to say that, even you can say that, you can’t change anything and you can’t be changed by it. There will be such people. However, when I’ve said what I want to do, my life started changing dramatically. I want to talk about the story, today.
1:36
Those photos are my faces.
(Laughter)
You know, this face is when l was an elementary school student. Next face is when I was a junior high school student and the last one is when I was a college student. It’s changing, isn’t it? Right? Now, I fly around the world thus you think that I'm active, but I didn't take action from the beginning, I was a person who couldn't try challenging what I wanted to do, I didn't have confidence in myself, and I had a complex. In those photos, I had been a bashful boy. When I was a child, I always thought that I compared me with my old breather. My grades were lower than him, l couldn't pass a school where he could go, and I was not good at sports. The reason that I started dancing was that he started. I thought that he was cool when he was dancing thus I thought that I wanted to start it too. When I was in college, I danced too much almost every day.
2:40
However, I didn't have confidence in myself, I had something that I could be obsessed with dancing, though. I couldn't build a good relationship of trust with around me. In my high school, I experienced that I was bullied thus I couldn’t believe people around me at all. I was afraid of contacting with others, bud while l just danced every day at the same place, I became nice with others, and the feeling that I wanted to be nice more if I was deceived was growing. I was able to change little by little. And also, my senior in my university recommended that l taught children dance. It was really fun. Like that, l did nothing but dance in my college life.
3:24
I had a vague dream in my college life. I wanted to travel around the world, see the huge world, and do something that was big. I longed to travel around the world while thinking that, but l couldn't go there when I was in university because l was afraid of going. There were three reasons that I couldn't do. First, l thought that I was not good at speaking English. I was at the bottom at my university but I didn't’ speak it completely. I was afraid of using English. I thought that I couldn't communicate with other people when l go abroad. That’s impossible.
4:04
The second reason was that I get my stomach ache easily.
(Laughter)
It’s really true. I thought that I who get my stomach ache easily couldn't spend in severe environments of overseas. And the third one was that I was afraid of all foreign countries and going there. I thought about that. From the beginning, I who didn't challenge myself to new things. I felt scared about itself. I longed to travel around the world, though, I couldn't do. I longed to study abroad, though, I couldn’t do. Nothing special happened, I graduated from the University, found my work, and started working.
4:40
As a businessman, when I started working, I was asked by my students whom I taught dance in my college life and their parents often. They said, “They wanted me to teach dance again!” They told me like that.
“I wanted to do, though, I was busy thus I couldn't do.”
I refused by answering like that. However, saying that I was busy was just a poor excuse. My real intention was that I was afraid of doing that. I didn't experience that l voluntary did something, gathered people together and held a meeting. I didn’t have confidence and I was afraid of doing that. When four years passed after being a businessman, a turning point arrived in me. It’s an exchange meeting related to education that I unexpectedly took part in. Words unintentionally and carelessly escaped my lips at that time. “ I was thinking that I wanted to teach people dance, though,... I’ve said like that. There, there were many people related to education who have passion. My words had brightened at their eyes.
“You do try it! You can do it!” They said and gave me a push on my back.
“Why can’t you do it? You don’t have reasons that you cannot do, don’t you?” I was asked a lot.
5:41
“You can use some community center to teach dance for children, you must be able to make a little time on a weekend, and then children and their parents who want you to teach them dance must help you.” “Try it only once!” They gave me pushes strongly and powerfully.
5:57
And then, as a businessman, while working, I started to teach dance for children on weekend as a volunteer. Over 20 children gathering, the lesson was successful. I was really happy to have had such a great time.
6:11
Saying what I want to do and there is the help that many people give me can create a space where people can become happy. The thought came to me and it was my first experience. It might be small for others, however, for me, it was the big event. I really knew that something that I wanted to do was that I could do it. Stopping to procrastinate what I want to do. I thought about that. After the lesson, in the train, I felt my heart beating that meant to be really happy. I thought that I could do what I wanted to do. And then, when I arrived at my home, l saw a paper in my room.
“I want to travel around the world”. It’s written when I was a student and it continued putting up on the wall for a long time. It’s from I was a student.
6:48
I thought that someday, it’ll be better to be able to travel around the world, though, I must be able to do it, right now. I hit upon this idea. I will never hesitate again. I quit my job that I worked for four years and I'd taken my departure to travel around the world. I decided to travel around the world while teaching dance. Teaching dance is my favorite thing. There must be many things that l want to do by saying what I want to do before and after my trip. This was my first solo trip of overseas became my first journey around the world.
(Laughter)
7:21
Thus I didn’t know about trips completely. I was reckless. I was said often. Year! I just continued saying to all people who I meat that I wanted to teach dance and to travel around the world. I also wrote it on SNS and my blog. Thereafter, someone introduced me to a traveler and a person who related to education in overseas countries. In fact, I was really afraid of speaking English thus I went to the Philippines to study abroad in the first two months. It’s my language study abroad. What I learned at that time was, of course, words and grammars were important, though, moreover important things were my feelings that were what I wanted to tell and what I wanted to know about. Those feelings are more important was what I learned.
8:02
And also, when I thought that I would delay taking a step for something that I want to do, my Filipino teacher said to me, “All things come to you into appropriate timing, thus for you, now is the best timing”. She told me that. The words became precious to me.
8:25
I finally had my journey around the world and it really showed that. That time had been the best timing because there were many wonderful encounters. When I first went to the Philippines to study abroad, I always said that I wanted to teach dance. And then a staff of a kiosk in my school in the Philippines gathered children in the neighborhood for me. I was able to take a dance lesson with them. It’s really fun. In Malawi, in Africa, I told people that I wanted to teach dance. And then all the people in the village helped me. Amazingly, l was able to hold a big dance festival with 2,000 children. It’s great. It took ten hours by bus to go to the school of the village in the photo. The bus swayed a lot and my stomach hurt to go there.
(Laughter)
9:09
And then all the people in the village welcomed me heartily and everybody helped me. I have a film in Malawi. I want you to watch this.
(Film)
(Applause)
10:04
Thank you. It’s really fun and the children also looked very fun. Various people helped me and I was thanked by them also. This comes from what I wanted to do. Beyond the different countries and cultures, I was able to make friends around the world. I first thought that I was afraid of people, however, I was able to make friends around the world. It made my life really remarkable. My values and my view of the world were widely spread. Through dancing exchanges, I was able to have confidence in myself.
10:46
I became able to think that everyone has each their own values each other. A child of two, a grandpa and grandma danced smartly and sexily. I was able to feel that everyone looked cool, they genuinely recognized me, and they had their own values each other. I’ve come to think about that.
11:05
Like that, I was changing. From the beginning, the start was from saying what I wanted to teach dance. When I finished my travel around the world, I’ve come to think that I wanted various children to experience like my experiences. I want children to expand their world and potential and to be friends with children all over the world. I became to think about that so I opened my dance school after I came back to Japan and I fly around Japan and the world to connect children through “Dance×the internet” by relay. This is now my activity. For the future, I want to create a community where people of all ages can learn together. Dance and the internet are my tools for me. My purposes are expanding the world and potential of children and having confidence in them. Those are my purposes.
12:07
I want to give not only children but also various people a push on their back because they gave me a push on my back many times. By that, my life has dramatically changed. It’ll be better for you to have fear. I think that what you are afraid of something is what you really want to do. You can't escape from what you want to do. You will know how to do it after you start it. In my case, it’s saying what I want to do. And then many people cooperated with me and I was able to create a happy space.
12:41
However, there might be people who are opposed to your opinions, though, you are the only one who can talk responsibility for your life. It isn't like anybody takes it then anyway so you have to make your own decision and go ahead are important. I think about that. In my case, it’s saying what I wanted to do and I was able to take a step.
13:05
If you and everybody want to take a new step, say what you want to do, please. Doing that will lead your life to expanding widely. It must be your first step. I hope that our world will change for a more better place where everyone can do what they really like. I think about that. Thank you.
(Applause)
