NFSJ Cafe no.11 “Sierra Leone: Seeking for Peaceful Diamond”

Have you ever heard about Sierra Leone in West Africa? It is one of the most short-lived countries in the world: the average life expectancy being 49 yrs old for men &51 yrs old for women, due to the fierce decade-long civil war in 1990s and the outbreaks of Ebola* and other infections. The country was democratized 10 years ago and is now in the process of restoration, utilizing its rich mineral resources including diamond. (*WHO declared the end of Ebola transmission in 2016.)

Our guest speaker, Mr. Joseph Smith from Sierra Leone, is a Rotary Peace Fellow now studying in the graduate school at ICU.

As the film “Blood Diamond”, set in the civil war period, depicts, mineral resources can cause furious conflicts, exploitation, and human trafficking. Mr. Smith who has been fighting for the miners’ working conditions and human rights will frankly speak about the current situation of the nation, along with its history and general information.

This is a casual café-style gathering. Let’s enjoy chatting with drinks after the presentation.

Date & Time: Friday, May 18, 2018
19:00～20:30（Doors open:18:45）

Place：Musashino Place 3rd Floor “Space C”
2-3-18, Kyonancho, Musashino, Tokyo
(1 min. walk from JR Musashi-sakai station)

Admission: Free
Max capacity: 20 people (RSVP required)

Reservation: E-mail: japan@notforsalecampaign.org
or Check “Going” on the Facebook Event Page

The event will be conducted in English.
Sponsored by: Not For Sale Japan

(Cover photo: © Freetown, Sierra Leone’s capital city,
West Africa. Chris Jackson/Getty Images)

(The discussion will be conducted in Japanese)

JNATIP, of which NFSJ is an active member, is calling for students’ participation in the meetings to plan an awareness-raising campaign on human trafficking for the 2 years until 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The four meetings will be held every other week in Sophia University, starting Wednesday, May 16, 19:00-20:30, at the room 2-603.  (The other meetings: May 30, June 13, June 27.)

This will be open to university students (both inside and outside Sophia). You don’t have to attend all the four meetings.

Please come and give your ideas!

To participate, please contact Mariko Yamaoka at japan@notforsalecampaign.org

20180516-0627学生ミーティング募集チラシ

Find the human trafficking awareness posters at Tokyo Metro Stations (Fri. March 23-Thur.29) and other  railway stations, and post the photo on your facebook wall, twitter, etc to raise awareness of human trafficking problems in Japan! (Hashtag:＃人身取引ポスター or #Trafficking Awareness Poster）

The poster is written in Japanese, but there is the English version for the smaller sized flyer.

We only know that Tokyo Metro will post the poster 3/23 thru 29 in some of its stations. We know that JR East and other private railway companies (Tobu, Seibu, Keisei, Keio, Odakyu, Tokyu, Keikyu, Sotetsu, Meitetsu, Kintetsu, Nankai, Keihan, and Nishitetsu) are asked to post the poster but don’t know when, where, and how it will be done.

NFSJ, in cooperation with Musashino City, will co-sponsor a seminar event “How can we protect children and youth from sexual exploitation hidden in our daily life?” in Musashino Place on March 24.

Inviting two experts, we will hear what is going on in Japan regarding sexual exploitation of youth and children and what we can learn from other countries.
(This event will be conducted in Japanese.)

Date: Saturday, March 24, 2018
Time: 13:30~16:00 (Doors open: 13:00)
Place: Musashino Place “Forum” (4th floor)2-3-18 Kyonan-cho, Musashino, Tokyo
　1 min. from JR Chuo Line & Seibu Tamagawa Line “Musashi-Sakai” station

Admission Free　　*Recommended for junior high school level and  older.

Presentations:
“Reality of sexual exploitation of children and youth and possible measures to take against it”
Arata Sakamoto, Secretary-General, Lighthouse

“Learn from Europe: social structure that accepts sexuality of youth and gains understanding of adults”
Kazuko Fukuda, Youth Initiative Member, World Association of Sexual Health /
Senior of International Christian University, Public Policy Major  

*If you would like to attend this seminar, please email: japan@notforsalecampaign.org.
Or, see the flyer with Japanese information and contact Musashino Place directly in Japanese.

Download the flyer⇒「みんなの講座(20180324)」チラシ 

ICU Rotary Peace Seminar

The Disturbing Reality of
Human Trafficking in Japan

Did you know that human-trafficking/modern-slavery exists in Japan?   Japan is actually sharply criticized by both the civil sector and the international community that human trafficking is not only widespread here, but also needs much more general/governmental attention and efforts to solve it. Come and find out the issues in this matter and what we can do to eradicate this evil phenomena.

Date & Time: January 16 (Tue.) 2018  14:00〜15:30

Venue:  H-106, the 1st floor of ICU University Hall, International Christian University

Speaker: Mariko Yamaoka Director, Not For Sale Japan

Language: English

Admission: Free

Reservation: Email: japan@notforsalecampaign.org

About Not For Sale Japan (NFSJ)

NFSJ is the Japan chapter of the California-based charity, Not For Sale. It was started in 2011 by Mariko after she translated David Batstone’s Not For Sale into Japanese. NFSJ mainly focuses on awareness raising by giving lecture, film screening, etc. It is a member of, and actively participating in, the two national networks: Japan Network Against Trafficking In Persons (JNATIP) and Citizens’ Network to Build a Sustainable Society through Responsible Consumption (SSRC).

Flyer　⇒　20180116_ICU_Rotary_Lecture

Our last event of the year, the tenth NFSJ Café, will be held on December 19^th.

A senior student Ms. Kiwa Tashiro of Tokyo Women’s Christian University will talk about her research on “Roma (Gypsy) people in Greece”.   Most of Romani people are traditionally stateless and they are assumed to be vulnerable to human trafficking.

Date: Tuesday December 19

Time: 7pm-8:30pm  (doors open 6:45pm)

Place: Musashino Place 3rd floor Space E

Language: Japanese

Talk will be given in Japanese but Ms Tashiro must be fluent in both English and Japanese since she studied in the US and Greece.

If you are interested, please join us!

Since the room can hold only 15-20 people, please Contact us for reservation.

japan@notforsalecampaign.org

NFSJ has a display booth in the exhibit event at Musashino Place Gallery (1^st floor), Friday, Oct.6^th through Thursday, 12^th,  (9:30-22:00. Closed on Wednesday. The last day until 15:00)

http://www.musashino.or.jp/var/rev0/0001/0776/musashino_place_e.pdf.pdf 

This time we made panels on the theme: “Human Trafficking and Modern Slavery –Four reasons why we cannot say they are irrelevant to us–“ and a mini voting board where people can put small stickers to show if they already knew the 8 keywords of human trafficking issue in Japan. In the video projecting booth, NFSJ will run a slide show of our activities (made for our 5^th anniversary). *This exhibit is in Japanese.

Have you ever heard about the country of Gambia? Let’s listen to a friend of the NFSJ Staff discuss his homeland Gambia and the immigration situation there.

Our guest speaker, Mr. Louis Mendy, is a Rotary Peace Fellow now studying in the graduate school at ICU. He originally worked as an immigration officer for the country and also has experiences in international border management across African countries.

Mr. Mendy will talk about:

＊General information of his home land (people, his own family, culture,main industry, etc.)

＊The challenges and possible solutions for the problems regarding immigration from the viewpoint of his own experiences (who are the legal immigrants and who are the illegals?)

＊His experience related to Human Trafficking in Gambia

After Mr. Mendy’s talk, we will have an informal discussion about the problems of human trafficking here in Japan and Gambia covering the commonalities and the differences challenging each country.

【Date】Friday, September 15th

【Time】7pm~8:30pm

【Place】Musashino Place 3rd floor “Space D”

1 minute walk from South exit of Musashisakai Station.(JR Chuo-line)

【Language】English

【Admission】FREE  (Drink and snack will be served. Donations to NFSJ appreciated.)

【Reservation】

To join, please click “Going” on the Facebook event.

or email to: japan@notforsalecampaign.org.

*Max Capacity: 12 people

We are hoping to see you there!  Thank you.

©Encyclopedia Britannica