A must-see for anyone interested in community building! On Friday, December 9, 2022, a talk event titled "Making Friends is a Dirty Job" will be held at the NHK Sapporo Broadcasting Station. Applications for participants are now open.

The speakers include Takuro Nakanishi, Kashiko Sudo, and Arisa Kudo from Dot Doto, the general incorporated association behind the unofficial guidebook for Eastern Hokkaido, ".doto," as well as Ryo Osumi, director of the "Local Friends' Stay Journal" segment on NHK's "Hot News Hokkaido." Ryota Hattori, editor-in-chief of Domingo, will serve as the moderator.

The Initiatives of Dot Doto and Local Friends' Stay Journal

With the vision "to make Eastern Hokkaido a place where ideals can be realized," Dot Doto focuses on regional branding and project production, with members mainly in their 20s and 30s. Dot Doto is involved in various initiatives across Eastern Hokkaido, such as producing the website and catchphrases for the "Hokkaido Space Summit" held recently in Tokachi, and the "Miru Shiru Shihoro" project to enhance the appeal of the Shihoro Town shopping district.

A scene from the "Hokkaido Space Summit 2022" held in September 2022. Dot Doto also handled the direction and design of the event space.

The "Miru Shiru Shihoro Book" distributed within Shihoro Town. Five interns were also involved in its production.

Meanwhile, NHK's "Local Friends' Stay Journal" is a segment broadcast every Thursday on the evening news program "Hot News Hokkaido." In the segment, a director stays for a month with a "Local Friend" who has deep connections in the community to discover the area's treasures. This approach of discovering a region's charm through its people has been gaining attention.

The people and initiatives featured in the program are conceived by the Local Friends, and the program's direction is decided through discussions between the Local Friends and NHK.

Local Friends are selected through a public application process. Over 20 diverse groups have participated, including monks, fishermen, housewives, and office workers.

Both Projects are Gaining Prominence. What Future Lies Beyond Making Friends?

The presence of both initiatives is growing daily. Dot Doto's ".doto" publishing project won the Japan Local Contents Award in 2020, and in 2022, their branding project "Shizen no Sato Monogatari" for residents around Akan-Mashu National Park won the Good Design Award. "Local Friends' Stay Journal" was also selected for the Good Design Best 100 in 2022. The common theme connecting these two acclaimed projects is "making friends" or building a community.

How will we live in the society of the future with our friends? What kind of future awaits us beyond making these connections? Why not think about it together? The deadline for advance registration is November 23 (Wed, holiday).

Talk Event: Making Friends is a Dirty Job ~Dot Doto and Local Friends: The Evolving Regional Network

■Date: Friday, December 9, 2022
■Time: Doors open 18:00, Starts 18:30, Scheduled to end 20:00
■Venue: NHK Sapporo Broadcasting Station 8K Public Studio (Kita 1-jo Nishi 9-chome 105, Chuo-ku, Sapporo)
See details for "Talk Event: Making Friends is a Dirty Job ~Dot Doto and Local Friends: The Evolving Regional Network" on Domingo