On my future activities

Hello, this is Ito, a lover of education and robots. I’d been missing the chance to sum up my recent situation and future activities, so I want to do that here.

Running events in July and August

In July and August I organized an event called the Hebocon Workshop. I’m genuinely happy to have hit my goal of running some kind of event at “Iikane Palette.” Huge thanks to everyone who cooperated 🙏

This time, July was a preliminary workshop and August was the main event. I’m satisfied that I got to realize what I was aiming for with both. At the main workshop in August, I gathered 8 members who built their robots on the day and battled it out. With 3 kids and 5 adults locked in fierce combat, I was really glad it ended on such a high note.

For the preliminary workshop in July, I’d set things up around minimal rules that encouraged participants to improvise, so I was nervous about whether people would actually enjoy it — but kids of all different ages ended up having fun in their own ways, which made me really feel glad I’d held it.

7/6 ミニヘボコンワークショップを開催！｜Koki Itoこんにちは！みなさん！ 8/2 のヘボコン開催に向けて走り回ってますイトーです。 View this post on Instagram A post shared by make tagawa (@make_tagawa) 7月からは 8/2の「ヘボコンワークショップ at いいかねPalette」に向けてヘボコンの告知や、開催者側・参加者側のデモンストレーションになるようにミニワークショップを開催しています。 7/6 ミニヘボコンワークショップ 早速ですがnote（ノート）

Reflections

The question behind this workshop attempt was: can I create a co-creation space in Tagawa City, like VIVISTOP where I volunteer, where kids and adults make things together?

It was a challenge to see how much interest kids and adults in Tagawa City would have, how many people I could gather, and how much of an advantage a place like Tagawa City would offer. As it turned out, I was glad to connect with people willing to cooperate, but I also felt the friction of Tagawa City’s transportation infrastructure making it hard for kids to get there on their own.

If possible, I want a co-creation space like VIVISTOP to be a place people choose to gather at of their own will. When adults impose some kind of obligation on kids (say, a parent paying money or providing rides, or an instructor deciding the kids’ participation schedule), adults tend to start expecting a result out of the kids — thinking that since they supported them, the kids ought to produce something worthy of that support.

But for kids, producing a “result” itself isn’t necessarily what leads to enjoyment or growth — there should be value simply in getting your hands moving on something, even without knowing exactly what it’ll become. A place where individuals who want to try making things gather, communicate, and make things either alone or together — I’m convinced there’s value in that in itself.

I also felt keenly that costs — labor, venue, materials — and the challenge of securing people to help out are big issues. This time I covered the costs out of my own pocket, but going forward, it’ll be necessary to get support in money, materials, and people from various organizations — schools, companies, local government, and so on.

Going forward

Now, I realized I need to think about how I’m going to keep operating from here, so I’ve been gradually sorting my thoughts out. After thinking it over from various angles, I landed on the idea that “exploring a new shape for community” is going to be the core of my future activities.

In a Japan facing population decline, the decline is especially stark in rural areas. Rather than measures to grow the population, what really interests me is how to shrink well — how to increase the number of people connected to each other and live richly even as population and capital shrink — a new shape of community.

From the loneliness I felt while living in Tokyo, I suspect there are people in urban areas who struggle to feel like they belong to a community too, and I don’t want to treat this as purely a rural problem — I’d like to think about it in connection with cities as well. I have a feeling that connecting all kinds of diverse people — rural and urban, adults and kids — into community could give rise to new kinds of work and ways of living.

Across all these different relationships, I believe in the power of the experience of “making.” I’ve also tasted the loneliness and isolation that can come with “making,” but there’s a huge amount of communication you can only get through the experience of “making.” Understanding the ideas, era, places, and people that shape us deepens through the experience of “making,” and it clarifies, if only a little, the relationship between yourself and society. It also makes your own position clearer, so I’ve started to feel like I can see how to build up my life, and enjoy living it.

If the number of people I can share the experience of “making” with grows, and we can build a wonderful society together — that would make me really happy. “Let’s all make tomorrow’s fun, together.” That’s my wish for everyone.

Concrete activities

My personal motivation is: “I want to spend my time happily with people who can make things.” In line with this motivation, here’s how I’m thinking of shaping my future work:

• Team development at a company [4–5 days/week]
• Non-profit activities like workshops [2 days/month]
• Content creation [2 days/month]

Team development at a company

Right now, I belong to a company as a web engineer, working in a team to grow a product. My way of working still needs consideration, but I want to keep belonging to and working within a team going forward. I’m also interested in hardware, and I’d like to grow a bit more in that direction. Personally, I’d love to do work that satisfies my interest in how people and AI can collaborate, and how I can have a positive impact on new forms of communication and community. I’d be happy if my “teamwork,” “drive to act,” and “technical skill” get recognized.

Non-profit activities like workshops

Holding “Hebocon” has become something like my calling card. From here, my planned activities are:

• Hold a workshop roughly once a month, centered around Tagawa City
• Develop worksheets and kits usable in workshops
• Work to connect kids with various organizations and adults — companies, local government, schools, and more

I was myself deeply influenced as a kid by meeting adults outside of my family and school. I think it’s really important for kids to meet adults who can show them all kinds of ways of living while they’re still young. In that kind of environment, I’d like to see more co-creation spaces increase, where adults included can playfully prototype things they actually need. Ultimately, I want to build a space where co-creation can happen — and I want to keep thinking about what kind of place that should be.

I think especially interesting things could happen if I focus specifically on Tagawa City. Tagawa City has a population of roughly 40,000. Through a place called “Iikane Palette” there, all kinds of adults gather — artists, teachers, engineers, entrepreneurs, and more. I feel like if I can communicate this kind of potential, it’ll be easier to gather collaborators willing to help out.

Also, my activities with VIVISTOP will include entering the robot contest again this year.

VIVISTOP HAKATA on Instagram: ". 🔥🤖【NEW EVENT】🤖🌋 VIVITA ROBOCON HAKATA 2026 博多では5回目の開催となるロボコン 今年のテーマは…『地獄脱出』🔥🌋 ひょんなことから地獄に落ちてしまった メンバーとクルーたち🌀🧨 2人で協力しながら徳を集めて、 現世へ戻ることができるのか…！🧯 たっくさんのメンバーたちの参加を お待ちしています！一緒に頑張ろう！👺🎖️ (みんなで地獄から帰ってくるぞ 〜⛑️ ) 大会概要やエントリー方法については、 次の投稿をご覧ください✅"55 likes, 2 comments - vivistop_hakata on October 1, 2025: ". 🔥🤖【NEW EVENT】🤖🌋 VIVITA ROBOCON HAKATA 2026 博多では5回目の開催となるロボコン 今年のテーマは…『地獄脱出』🔥🌋 ひょんなことから地獄に落ちてしまった メンバーとクルーたち🌀🧨 2人で協力しながら徳を集めて、 現世へ戻ることができるのか…！🧯 たっくさんのメンバーたちの参加を お待ちしています！一緒に頑張ろう！👺🎖️ (みんなで地獄から帰ってくるぞ 〜⛑️ ) 大会概要やエントリー方法については、 次の投稿をご覧ください✅". Instagram

Content creation

I’ve personally been influenced by all kinds of books, games, movies, and art. I’ve been writing on note and making videos and games, and I want to keep quietly making things going forward too. I’d be happy if what I make gives someone a little bit of “healing,” “relief,” or “excitement.”