Creating an awareness of refugees through personal understanding | Katsuya Soda | TEDxKyoto

Katsuya Soda, founder of the Kyoto community FM radio program, “Nanmin Now!” advocates for otherwise voiceless refugees and interviews the supporters of refugees, encouraging his listeners to consider how we are all “living in an age when everyone faces the possibility of becoming a refugee.”

A former professional comedian, Katsuya Soda is currently a university lecturer of media theory and multicultural symbiosis. As a member of the Japan Forum for UNHCR, he created the community FM radio program,“Nanmin Now!” in order to increase public awareness of refugee issues. He has dedicated himself to eroding public biases against refugees living in Japan as well as reporting on various supporting activities. Katsuya’s deep empathy for refugees is rooted in a desire to bring understanding and help to refugee families that are often pulled apart by persecution and conflict. Katsuya encourages his listeners to consider how we are all “living in an age when everyone faces the possibility of becoming a refugee.” In order to reach out to refugees in Japan and the world, he created the project P782, named after the number of Japanese universities participating, connecting university students around Japan in taking initiative in supporting refugees and developing a better society.

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