Since March 8 was "International Women's Day" and March was "International Women's Day Month" for one month, various efforts and messages to celebrate the affluent life of women are also from here in Shibuya. It was sent.
Here, Makoto Ozawa of New Balance Japan, who participates in the "Shibuya Omotesando Women's Run" held on March 20, and the executive committee chairman of the organization "Women's Wellness Action from Shibuya" launched in March of the same year. We would like to present a dialogue with Shinko Osada, the secretary general of Future Design Shibuya.
——First of all, please tell us about the newly established “Women's Wellness Action from Shibuya”.
Osada Starting with the session "Thinking about the sex of Gen Z's heart and body" held at Social Innovation Week in November last year, he said that he would like to take concrete actions rather than just talking. Volunteer members gathered and started.
Many companies and organizations including New Balance and influencers also support us.
People from various scenes such as Shibuya, femtech, sports, street culture, etc. are connected, and with the keyword "# Women's health changes the world", awareness and solution to women's unique health issues The purpose is to promote actions for the sake of.
——Please tell us about Mr. Ozawa's work.
Ozawa I joined New Balance Japan shortly after graduating from university, and have been here for over 20 years. While involved in public relations and marketing, I took maternity leave twice in the meantime, and now I have children in junior high school and high school.
At New Balance, we consider women to be a very important target. In addition, running has been a central category since the brand was founded, so activities to propose running to women are a very important point for the brand.
Among them, the major initiatives are the "Nagoya Women's Marathon" and the "Shibuya / Omotesando Women's Run".
"Sneakers that can be worn neatly" support working women
Osada By the way, how has the brand changed from the perspective of women compared to when Mr. Ozawa entered New Balance 20 years ago?
Ozawa: At first, there were fewer women wearing sneakers.
Even if I looked at women's magazines, it was normal for sneakers to never appear. I think that has changed within the last 10 years. For the past few years, it has become commonplace for sneakers to be featured as one of the wardrobes in fashion magazines like those read by office ladies, and I have the impression that the situation has changed considerably.
As with me, I think that the style of wearing jackets, jeans, sneakers, and even women wearing sneakers has become popular in the business scene.
Osada: In terms of women's wellness and success, the lifestyle of actively working and raising children is probably much more accepted now than it was 20 years ago. While I'm busy every day, I wear heels all the time and move around ...
Ozawa It's hard, isn't it?
There is a part where it is becoming more and more widespread due to this corona sickness, for example, there are many people who are no longer in the work style of wearing suits and leather shoes and going to work every day, so it is a little more casual, but as a chitin I think that the number of people who choose clothes is increasing. That would make it easier to incorporate sneakers.
I want to create a culture where the whole city celebrates runners
Osada "Shibuya Omotesando Women's Run" was not held last year due to the influence of Corona, so this is the first time for New Balance to participate, right?
Ozawa: It was my first time to do it, and after all I wanted to run. I think it's a very valuable experience to have thousands of female runners get together and run in the city of Shibuya and the Meiji Jingu, and everyone who finished running was really looking forward to it. I am very happy to be able to support it as a brand that proposes running.
In addition, this time, we also made an effort to distribute "Celebration Gift Cards" so that you can enjoy yourself in the city of Shibuya even after running. If you take it to a cooperating store in the city of Shibuya, you can use it as a ticket for 1,000 yen, and it is a measure that the people of the city and New Balance will celebrate the runners together.
Osada: I hope that the whole city will become more supportive of female runners in the future.
Ozawa: I've been to the New York City Marathon, but it's really a festival all over the city. When I walked back to the hotel with a finisher medal, many people who didn't know "Congratulations! Congratulations!" Called out to me. The city is full of atmosphere that celebrates people who really worked hard. I hope it will be like that in Japan as well.
Perhaps some people think that running 10km will do that kind of thing, but more people know that when they actually try it, they are really happy and have a sense of accomplishment. I think it would be great if we could work with Shibuya Ward to create a culture in which various people can be celebrated with runners.
Osada I hope that the mood of running women will be born from the city today. I think that it is certainly a part of deepening efforts together with the city that communication is born by calling out to people who have marks such as bibs and medals with "Otsukare-sama" or "Congratulations". ..
——What else do you expect in the future in terms of working with the city?
Ozawa: Having a running event is a special thing, but I don't think it's good if you just enjoy the day. I think it would be even better if we could create something exciting not only on the day of the tournament, but also from before, including the entire city that will be accepted and the people who live there. ..
Osada What are you doing in Nagoya?
Ozawa: The Nagoya Women's Marathon has been with us since the 2018 Games, but many people come from regions other than Nagoya, so we are proposing measures for those people to stay overnight and enjoy the city of Nagoya. ..
Osada It would be great if you could create a feeling of excitement at the shops in the city before you run, and after you finish running, you can relax and enjoy the city with a completely different feeling. So, for example, it seems that the city has been booming for a month.
Women's Wellness Action originating from Shibuya
/ Necessity of dialogue to understand the difficulty of living
——What kind of actions and messages do you think the city of Shibuya should send from the perspective of women's wellness? I hope Mr. Ozawa's personal thoughts.
Ozawa: I think it would be great if you could give a welcome feeling to the lifestyle of working women. It seems that you can send it out as a whole city.
Of course, I don't think it's kind to women only.
Osada Certainly, I don't think it's necessary to think only about women, but if you dare to be aware of it from the perspective of women, for example, if there is a sidewalk that a mother pushing a stroller cannot pass through, there is that. I think there is an aspect that it is easy to find a clue to find various problems in life, such as not being able to go through a wheelchair.
After all, there are quite a few things that are peculiar to women, such as menstruation and menopause, which are invisible, so it is difficult for men to understand. I feel that it is important to convey that. I don't think there was an atmosphere where I could talk about that kind of thing openly.
Recently, I've been often told that "Uncle is hard to live". Just as women have difficulty living, men can find it difficult to live in society. I took it for granted. Therefore, I think there is a lot of need for more dialogue and understanding.
I think it would be easier to do that in Shibuya. Because there are people who have diverse lifestyles in terms of land. I hope that it will spread throughout Japan by communicating more and more.
—— (Interviewer: As a man, if you put your mouth in the mouth ...) I think you're really right. Looking at the actions that support the wellness of these women, I think that I must change as a man. However, I don't really understand what needs to change. I think there are many men who have a desire to do something but do not know what action to take. It's very difficult for men to hear about things that are unique to women.
But if we have the opportunity to know it in a natural way, or if that kind of atmosphere is created in the city, I think we can do more.
Ozawa: I think there are times when I didn't think that men didn't know that much, or conversely, I didn't think that women had to say that. The current state has become too commonplace. I think it would be nice to have a more open dialogue with such things.
Osada For example, it's good that communication spreads as a result of running events, and I think it's important for various things to happen from Shibuya to foster a rich culture in that sense.
And I also want to remember that the beginning of such a thing is a small action that anyone can do.
A new type of running event that runs in Yoyogi Park and competes online
——Finally, what are your plans for the future?
Ozawa In June last year, we created a 1-mile (1.6 km) course on the riverbed of the Tama River and held an online micro race called "TAMAGAWA FKT".
(* FKT = Fastest Known Time. A race method in which GPS data that ran a specific course is uploaded to compete for time. Participants do not have to run at the same time, so they can participate in the competition at the timing they want to run. can)
It's a virtual race, so I run alone or with two friends, but I'm pretty excited. The fun is really interesting. At that time, more than 900 people participated, and there were people who ran dozens of times during the period, and full-fledged athletes ran, and it was very exciting.
In November of last year, we held an event called "YOYOGI PARK FKT TEST RUN" at Yoyogi Park as part of Social Innovation Week, asking if we could do it more in the city.
And this spring, although the announcement of the specific date is yet to come, we are preparing for the FKT running event again at Yoyogi Park.
Osada I'm really looking forward to it!
