Sales from the original T-shirts will be used for the club's travel expenses.

Okushiri High School has five clubs: baseball, table tennis, volleyball, brass band, and volunteer bureau. However, for example, in the case of the baseball club, just going outside the island for a practice match costs about 20,000 yen more in expenses than high schools in cities or suburbs. In 2017, three students heard that the club's travel expenses were rising and difficult to cover, and decided to solve this problem. With the cooperation of Ikushunsiri Design, a general incorporated association working to create a better future for Okushiri Town, they raised funds for travel expenses through crowdfunding. In return, they received an original T-shirt designed by the students. As a result, they raised more than 1.5 million yen in support, exceeding their goal. This was the origin of OID.

Crowdfunding

The following year, in 2018, OID was officially launched as a club. In its first year, it made profits by selling original T-shirts at town events, designed a label to commemorate the fifth anniversary of the town's specialty sake "Okushiri," and created wall art on construction fences in the town. It also focused on activities to raise awareness of OID's efforts in collaboration with businesses.

While earning money for the expedition, they also widely disseminate OID's activities.

The club currently has seven members, four second-year students and three first-year students. It is made up of three sections: the Design Section, which comes up with designs for T-shirts and tote bags, the Presentation Section, which disseminates OID's activities, and the Document Section, which handles accounting for events.

Original tote bags with the symbols of baseball, table tennis, brass band, and other clubs, as well as the Okushiri Sea design

Koharu Takesako, a second-year student in the design department, shared her own ideas, saying, "OID's purpose is to support club activities, so we come up with a variety of ideas, such as incorporating the symbols of each club and the nature of Okushiri into the designs of T-shirts, tote bags, etc." Yoshida Rino, head of the Presentation Department, said, "In 2021, we presented OID's activities at the Rural Power Koshien, an event that solicits ideas for regional revitalization from high school students across the country, and won an award for excellence. We also recently gave a presentation at the "Our Village is Beautiful - Hokkaido" campaign, which promotes activities to enhance the appeal of rural and fishing villages. Participating in these types of competitions allows us to learn about initiatives that make use of the unique characteristics of various regions other than Okushiri, which is very inspiring."

The two giving a presentation at the online "Inaka Riki Koshien" event

In addition to this, the presentation department is also responsible for explaining OID's activities to visitors to Okushiri High School. Most of the members are nervous at first, but gradually they become able to speak with confidence, and everyone seems to grow a lot over the three years. "Until I was in junior high school, I wasn't good at speaking in front of people, I would get nervous, and my voice would be quiet. But after giving presentations many times, I was able to speak with the feeling that I have to properly convey my message to the person in front of me, and people around me started saying that I seem more confident than before," says Yoshida, who seems to be fully aware of her own growth.

Presenting OID activities to visitors

The first-year students are slowly learning about the activities under the guidance of the kind seniors. Nanami Sakagami of the Document Division said with a bright smile, "I applied to be the moderator for the upcoming symposium. It's been a short time since I joined OID, but I can see that I'm gradually gaining confidence by interacting with many people. I'm glad that I feel like I've been able to overcome some of the things I wasn't good at."

High school students can gain experience that will be useful in the future.

By the way, why did you all decide to join OID? "I knew about OID before I enrolled, and I was interested in it because it's a club that only Okushiri High School has. Since we handle money, I thought it would be an experience I could gain from my high school days that would be useful in the future," says second-year student Hoshi Chinatsu. Also, first-year student Fujikawa Nene heard about OID after enrolling, and like Hoshi, she said, "It's not available at other high schools, and I'll be able to experience sales and presentations, and maybe even learn to use computers, which I'm not very good at. I joined the club because I thought it would be useful in the future." The fact that it's fun while also leading to practical benefits is certainly appealing. It has been five years since the crowdfunding campaign in 2017. OID is now well known not only in Okushiri town, but also throughout Hokkaido and the whole country, and the number of supporters continues to grow. "This winter, Okushiri Winery, which grows grapes and makes wine, asked me to create a logo for their company, so I designed four different logos. They will be using the four logos for the rest of the year, and will finally decide on the official logo. This made me very happy," says Hoshi, who was in charge of the design. His work is just like that of a professional designer.

Four types of logo marks for "Okushiri Winery" designed by Hoshi

In addition, with the cooperation of Ryohin Keikaku Co., Ltd., which has been paying attention to OID's activities since the club was founded, the Okushiri Marche has been held every year since 2019 at the MUJI Siesta Hakodate store. It has been featured in many media outlets and attracts many customers. "Last year, many customers came because they had seen the advertisements beforehand, and I was glad that the Okushiri Marche had attracted attention. I was also really touched by the warm words of encouragement, such as "Please do your best to support the travel expenses" and "Thank you for coming to Hakodate." (Takesako) On the day, in addition to OID's original goods, products made with Okushiri sea urchins, sweets and bread made by the island's only cafe, etc. were on sale. The event lasted for two days, but many items were sold out before the end of the event.

Serving customers at Okushiri Marche

Through our activities, we hope to let people know about the charms of Okushiri.

The club's advisor is teacher Hiroshi Ogasawara, who is in his third year at Okushiri High School. "Usually the club members work individually, but they are all united in their goal of creating something great. We teachers want to work behind the scenes to support the students and create something interesting together," he says. On Okushiri Island, there is an atmosphere where the teachers and the entire island warmly watch over the students' activities and everyday lives. "The uncle and aunt where Takesako and I are staying are really kind. The food is delicious, and when it's in season, they even give us sea urchin rice bowls," Hoshi says. Yoshida continues, "That's right! When we're walking in the rain, some people offer us a ride in their car or give us sweets. I feel the strength of the bonds that are so typical of remote islands." Fujikawa says he still wears clothes that were given to him by a townsman who said to him on his way home from school, "I'll give this to you." Not only the people, but also the nature of Okushiri is attractive. Since all the members of OID are exchange students from the island, they seem to be even more impressed by this rich environment.

Hoshi-san says that sometimes she throws her bag away on her way home from school and runs to the sea to watch the sunset. Sakagami-san also commented that the morning sun rising from across the sea and the starry sky visible in the middle of the night are "so beautiful. It's a special view that can only be seen in Okushiri." The more they love the island, the more they want to let everyone know about its great points. While continuing their activities as a "club for the sake of club activities," OID members also promote their beloved Okushiri Island nationwide as poster boys for the town.