We would like to give you a report about a futsal social event “Diversity League” that was held on Saturday February 11th.
This event was organized as a collaboration event between Diversity Soccer Association and Pride Center Osaka. Diversity Soccer Association aims to create a society where people with various backgrounds can be themselves through sports.
We rented a futsal court at Morinomiya Qs Mall. The court was not in the perfect condition because of the rain on the day before, but on the day of the event we had luck with the sun. It was a great weather for playing sports.
The director of Diversity Soccer Association, Takeuchi san gave an explanation of the rules.
We also introduced Pride Center Osaka at the event!
The participants socialized while we jogged on the air track on the roof top of the mall.
The Diversity Soccer Association staff planed a program that both beginners and experienced players can enjoy. After practicing pass and shoot, we played “walking soccer” (it is not allowed to run during the game).
At the end we had a futsal match. We adjusted the rules so that children are also able to participate.
Total of 30 people in various age group and gender identities who support the objectives of our event (an event that diverse people participate and socialize with each other through futsal) participated the Diversity League. The participants were very satisfied, and many told us that they would love to participate again if there are to be more events like this in the future. We will continue collaborating with other organizations, and we are hoping to host more events related to sports again!
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We would like to give you a report about the first Dokodemo (meaning anywhere in Japanese) Pride Caravan event that we held at Osaka University Suita Campus on November 17, 2022!
Dokodemo Pride Caravan is the outreach program of Pride Center Osaka. We aim to bring the services available at our center to everywhere in Japan.Our Dokodemo Pride Caravan that is decorated with 6 rainbow colors will travel across Japan to spread information regarding the social obstacles faced by the LGBTQ community and our Pride Center Osaka.This year, we are going to visit universities in Kansai region, and will spread information to students, faculty and staff.We celebrated the first Dokodemo Pride Caravan event at University of Osaka Suita Campus.
We parked our Dokodemo Pride Caravan at the entrance of Osaka University Convention Center, where we held the event.
We prepared the venue, and started our event for the lunch break.
We brought books and racks that we have at the Pride Center for people to feel like they are visiting our Pride Center.
With the presence of the Pride Center staff, we introduced the Pride Center Osaka at our table. 25 people came by.
During the lunch hours we distributed 80 advocacy materials and promoted our events.
From 4 p.m. we conducted an event in a seminar room. Starting with the greeting from Professor Hidaka at Osaka University, we conducted a lecture on basic LGBTQ knowledge, introduced Price Center Osaka and Dokodemo Pride Caravan. Afterwards, we screened a film Kalanchoe.
After the film screening, participants conducted a group work and the participants shared opinions regarding the film. All groups had lively discussions, and we got a request later that they wanted to continue the group discussion session longer. We also showed a message video that we received from the Walt Disney Japan in support of the Pride Caravan project. 36 people participated this event.
The voices of event participants
“I am grateful that I was able to watch this movie”
“The movie had perspective of people in different living circumstances. It made me think a lot”
“I was able to speak with people from different generations. It made me realize that people feel things differently”
“I was able to learn a lot about LGBTQ”
Even after the seminar event, many people came to our Dokodemo Pride Center!
The next Dokodemo Pride Caravan will be held on December 22 at Kwansei Gakuin University Nishinomiya Uegahara Campus. Students, faculty members, staff and anyone can participate this event. Please feel free to come join us!
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On July 26, 2022, we celebrated the 9 years since the establishment of Nijiiro Diversity!
We were established in 2013 as the first nonprofit organization to counter LGBTQ+ discrimination at workplaces in Japan. We would like to thank all the people who supported us to grow to be able to continuously support the community and impact the society! Thanks to your support, we were able to continue growing within these 9 years, and we will continue growing!
We opened the first permanent LGBTQ+ center in Osaka, Pride Center Osaka in April, and more than 500 people have visited our center already. The center is open to LGBTQ+ people and people around them, and anyone who want to know about LGBTQ+ equality.
We are excited to increase our community reach out through the center and to host more events for LGBTQ+ equlity!
We would like to once again thank your continuous support!
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Celebrating the opening of our Pride Center Osaka, the first permanent LGBTQ+ center in Osaka prefecture, we held "Pride Cruise Osaka 2022" in June.
Pride Center Osaka is located in the city center in Osaka. It is an open space to LGBTQ+ people, people around them, and anyone who wish to know more about gender and sexual diversity. By establishing a permanent LGBTQ+ center, we also aim to let more people know about the presence and experiences of the LGBTQ+ people in our community and across Japan.
We provide in-person and online support, LGBTQ+ library and various events for LGBTQ+ eqality.
We held this event for people in our city to know about our Pride Center Osaka, and to thank all our donors, companies and organizations we work with.
Since June is the rain season in Japan, we were worried about the bad weather but the day of the event was sunny! We also set up a big rainbow arch to also celebrate from the riverside!
On the same day, we had an event to present our Pride Center and to connect our partners.
This river cruise event was supported by the Embassy of the Netherlands. We also received a kind video message from the Dutch ambassador in Japan. The video message can be found here: https://youtu.be/UdZi6yY6SxU
The plaintiffs of Marriage for All Japan also participated and gave speeches at the event.
Our partner QWRC also participated and gave a speech. QWRC runs an open space and in-person and online support at our Pride Center.
We embarked with two boats from Wonder Group. We cruised the river with various pride flags and message boards. People also cheered from the riverside with pride flags.
The cruise started from Hachikenyahama, which is located on the opposite side of the river from the Pride Center, passed through Oebashi Bridge (Midosuji) and Nakanoshima. It took about 1 hour. The breeze on the river was very nice, and we gained energy from many people cheering at us from the shore. We were also able to accomplish the purpose of showing the city about our center and LGBTQ+ equality.
During the event on the shore, our partner corporations presented their efforts for LGBTQ+ inclusion. Duiring the second part of the event, the participants were able to socialize with themselves. People who do not embark on the boat trips were also able to enjoy the events through the activities on the shore.
The passengers of the pride cruise were the staff from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Japan, those who supported us through the establishment of Pride Center, users of Pride Center and the plaintiffs and lawerers of Marriage for All in Osaka. Since many people applied to participate, we had to choose the participants randomely. We would like to once again thank all the people who supported and applied to participate in this event!
Total of 64 people participated, and we are wishing to have this pride cruise event again next year. Thank you for your continuous support!
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