Gakumabi 〜 Building Connections Through Creating a Place for Children to Belong, and Putting Them to Use in Disaster Preparedness - Page 2 of 2

Interview with Gakumabi Representative Matsumoto Tatsumi

We spoke with Matsumoto Tatsumi, who has been involved since Gakumabi was launched in 2019.

We want to be a place for communication where everyone respects one another

Seven years have passed since the July 2018 heavy rains. Has your work changed since the organization was launched?

Matsumoto (honorific omitted)

At first, the need was simply for a place, because there was nowhere to go: “We just want a physical place where we can spend time.”

Now that life has settled down, Gakumabi has increasingly become a place where children can naturally learn to communicate by trying out things that seem interesting and interacting with people in the community.

When children gather, some play alone while others spend time in groups. I used to think, “Wouldn’t it be better if they all played together more?” But now I think it’s good to have a place where they can spend time in whatever way feels comfortable to them, while still being aware of one another—and where, if they become interested or need to, they can connect with each other even if they attend different schools or are in different grades.

We don’t force anyone; we create a place where everyone respects one another. That’s Gakumabi’s approach to communication.

We want university students to give things a try without holding back

How is the organization run?

Matsumoto

University students take the lead in planning and running activities.
For university students, Gakumabi isn’t a place for specialized learning like a cram school or regular school. We want it to be a place where they can try a little of many different things and gain experience in finding fun in failure—and letting others find it fun, too.

The experience they gain at Gakumabi becomes “nourishment” for thinking about what they want to do in the future. What I can do is provide opportunities for students to try out projects they want to do and ways of engaging with children.

That’s why I tell the university students, “Try doing what you think is interesting.” They need to notice dangerous situations together with adults, but as long as they take precautions to avoid danger, it’s okay if a project fails. If the elementary school students taking part say, “This is boring,” then it’s good if the response is, “Okay, let’s try changing it.”

Rather than only showing them success, I want this to be a place where they can try things they want to do. I think that’s important for university students, too.

Thoughts on disaster preparedness

I’ve heard that Gakumabi’s activities are also connected to disaster preparedness.

Matsumoto

I don’t intend to talk openly to the elementary school students about it, but I hope they’ll encounter information about disaster preparedness through our activities. That’s because, whether it’s raising children or preparing for disasters, what matters in the end is human connection.

Even adults find it difficult to turn what they learn in theory into action that feels personally relevant.
I’m convinced that by experiencing through our activities how connections can help protect us, they’ll gain the strength to survive when a disaster occurs.

I feel there are few places where parents can connect with one another, or children with one another.
I’d be happy if parents and children could gradually build connections through Gakumabi’s activities.

I heard that Gakumabi went to support the Noto region.

Matsumoto

In August 2025, I went to the Noto region (Suzu City) with a group of university student volunteers.
Based in Suzu City, we worked with a local volunteer organization to create places for children living in Noto to play.

One of the students who came with us asked, “Why go to such lengths?”
Disaster preparedness may not yet feel relevant to them, and that’s okay. It would be good if casual conversations during our activities gave them opportunities to learn about it.

I want to encourage them not to let their experience of a disaster end with simply saying, “That must have been hard,” but to start thinking for themselves: “What can I do now to make sure this doesn’t happen to me?”

Securing members to keep the organization running independently

What challenges do you face in carrying out your activities?

Matsumoto

The biggest challenge to continuing our activities is securing members, including university students, to take on central roles in running the organization. We rely on word of mouth and flyers distributed to a limited number of nearby universities and high schools to recruit members. Every time a leader graduates, finding a successor remains a precarious, year-to-year effort.
We’d also like adults from the community, not just students, to join us.

There was a time when membership declined and we considered ending our activities, but around 2022 we changed our approach. Rather than simply leaving things up to the students’ initiative, we began carefully asking each person, “Is there anything you’d like to do at Gakumabi?” and creating an environment where they could bring their own learning and interests into the activities. As a result, some students have started setting aside time for us.

I tell the students, “If you want to continue, you can; if it’s too much, you can stop.” Volunteering isn’t an obligation. But if we believe activities like these are necessary for children, then I think it’s the adults’ responsibility to create an environment that allows them to continue, whatever form that may take.

We’re exploring ways to create a place that fosters initiative, where students naturally feel, “I need to get involved.”

Building a “cycle of connection” over 10 years

What are your plans for the future?

Matsumoto

It doesn’t have to be under the name “Gakumabi”; I want to pass it on to the next generation so that we can keep creating places for people to gather.

I’d be happy if the elementary school students who take part grew up and became involved with Gakumabi. I think the meaning of Gakumabi’s activities will deepen when that happens, so I’d like to make it a reality over the next 10 years or so.
I hope the connections formed as people actively engage with one another through these gathering places can become a foundation that proves valuable when a disaster strikes.

I also hope that the junior high school students taking part in the Mabi Future Project will learn to come up with ideas and take action on their own. They’ve come together because they want to work for Mabi’s future, so I hope that by developing the ability to think freely and act, they’ll become people who can make a difference both in Mabi and in other communities.

From the Writer

Matsumoto says that what matters most in disaster preparedness is not knowledge or having emergency supplies ready, but human connection.

Once, a student came from far away, driven by a desire to help the children of Mabi.
Matsumoto and the students have taken up that baton together and are working to pass it on to the next generation.

The accumulation of small, everyday interactions can become the ability to help one another in a disaster.
We hope Gakumabi’s activities—spreading connections from child to child and from children to adults—will reach many people.