Kanae Yokohama
KANAE YOKOHAMA
Shofukai, Legacy Fellows | First cohort, founding member, 2023 | Tsuda University
It all began in June 2023 with four graduates of a public middle school in Adachi, under the name TEIGEN at Fifteen. Having watched the organization's three years from the founding, she is still alongside the current members through Shofukai.
What was the founding year like?
There really were only four of us. The name was TEIGEN at Fifteen and we had no track record and no money. All we had was a question. Then we won the Policy Championship, held the first Mock Ward Mayoral Election, and before we knew it we were presenting policy at the Prime Minister's Office. Looking back, the density of that year was frankly abnormal.
The hardest stretch?
When it started getting bigger. What ran on four people's energy stops running at twenty, at thirty. The board, the monthly reports, the training, the policies — we all went through the pain of building machinery. But that is why it runs itself now.
Why stay involved after leaving?
Because I think this organization's greatest asset is the connections between people. What I want to chase is people knowing each other across divisions and across cohorts. If the first cohort and the fourth can talk normally, experience passes on by itself. Shofukai is not an alumni club; it is the machinery that keeps that circulating.
All we had was a question. Three years later it moves things.
How has the organization changed in three years?
From a group of students working hard to an institution through which young people put a TEIGEN to society. How we're seen and what we are have both changed. The only constant is Always Be a Questioner.
Anything for current members, and people about to join?
Founding members don't graduate. When you take something on, Shofukai is behind you. Ask the big question.
Kanae Yokohama. First cohort, founding member, 2023. Has supported TEIGEN JP since its founding and now stays alongside the current members through Shofukai, the Legacy Fellows. Tsuda University.
This is a draft awaiting publication. It will be published properly once the interviewee has checked it.