Tomomi Shimazu set out to make the world a more just, kinder place by sharing positive children’s stories. In the process, her family became a team, making the world better one YouTube video at a time.
Tomomi Shimazu and her husband live in Japan. One day a TV program sparked an idea.
“It would be great if we could publish a book or something that could have a positive impact on our community,” her husband said.
Because of her husband’s words, Tomomi joined the Havruta Nadeshiko Storytelling Project. Havruta is an inquiry-based approach to character and values development based on Judaic family traditions. She read many exciting stories and was inspired by how much impact the stories could have on her community and the world at large -- if only there was a way to share them.
She took the initiative of discussing the stories she would read with her friends and her idea of sharing them with the world to gain more insights and opinions on how she could best go about it. She learned how to create scripts and videos.
As she dug deeper and deeper into this idea, her strongest supporters was her family. Tomomi’s husband read her scripts and gave her advice. “It would be easier to read if you make it a beginning and end," he would suggest. Or, "If you think about the passage of time, the order is reversed here.” When she was stuck on how to tell the moral of the story for “The Bird’s Choice of King,” her husband sent her a link to the song "The Only Flower in the World," which helped. His little gestures made Tomomi feel loved and supported.
Tomomi’s son also got involved. He talked about how to develop stories and offered ideas of how to include social issues. “I was moved to see how he has such kind words and a strong sense of justice,” Tomomi said about her son.
At one point, the Havruta Nadeshiko Storytelling Project required a website but didn’t have the resources. Tomomi’s husband volunteered to create a website. "For the sake of my wife, I will make a Homepage even in the holidays,” he said.
“Everyone was very happy,” she said.
The Nadeshiko Story Project was born from the Shimazu family’s collective effort and desire to share stories that impact people’s lives.
“It was a joyful process weaving our ideas into stories”.
Such sweet stories of family members helping one another and volunteering together inspire us to cherish our loved ones and support each other’s growth.
At GPW, we applaud Tomomi for being a truly service minded woman and playing the wonderful role of building an ideal family and peaceful community. If you have such stories of family volunteerism, please write to us at younshim@globalpeacewomen.org .