Earth Stage (Chikyu no Stage) has its origin in the overseas volunteer work that its representative, a physician, began after a chance encounter with a nameless girl in the Philippines. Founded in 2002, it carries out two kinds of work: support projects that respond to local needs, and performance projects that share those scenes in Japan. Its vision is that "everyone can live as the hero of their own life," and its mission is "to be involved with the person in front of us and support them."
In its support projects, it runs long-term projects from the perspectives of medical care, mental health care, education and disaster recovery in places such as Timor-Leste, Palestine and Myanmar. It also puts effort into training people so that activities can continue, centered on local staff, even after the organization steps back. Overseas it works under the name Frontline, and it also provides humanitarian aid in emergencies such as disasters and conflicts in Japan and abroad.
Its performance project, "Earth Stage," is a concert stage that began on January 15, 1996, combining live music, large-screen video and slides, and storytelling. Performed mainly at schools across the country, it passed a total of 4,000 performances in November 2022. The performances let audiences think of themes such as international understanding, peace education and human rights education as their own concerns.
Key points
- Founded in 2002 with two pillars: support projects that respond to local needs and performances that share them in Japan
- Its concerts of live music, video and storytelling passed a total of 4,000 performances in November 2022
- "Supporting each other" rather than "helping"; it also invests in training local staff
Why this organization deserves attention
A distinctive feature is that it conveys "the wonder of human strength" it has felt in the field through both support and performance. Its attitude of engaging with individual people whose faces and names it knows runs through all of its work.
Through school performances, it creates chances for children to think of international understanding, peace and human rights as their own concerns. In its activity reports you can read about conditions in Timor-Leste and other places, and about performances around Japan.
Editor's comment
The phrase "supporting each other" rather than "helping" seems to express this organization's outlook well. Even the people who receive support have something to give. Thinking this way makes international cooperation feel much closer.
The official website shows performance schedules and activity reports. Why not check whether there is a performance near you?