I received some photos from the press conference (*^^*)
First, I explained the purpose of the Workshop Collection and this year’s eight key features, followed by an introduction to iU—the venue for the event—by iU President Nakamura.

Next, we talked about the workshops we’ll be doing with the comedians. Just listening to these comedians’ banter—where it’s hard to tell if they really know what they’re talking about or not—is so much fun!

“Cutting-Edge Digital Technology! Experience the Future of Learning”
Try your hand at programming and STEAM. The highlight is an early preview of “Rough & Peace Mother,” an online platform that blends play and learning!
You can also try new kinds of digital sports, like digital hockey using projection mapping, as well as a “toio” experience featuring Kajisaku!
Ganbare Ruya, who will be hosting a workshop to build a giant piano using science toys for girls that are currently gaining attention, says,
“We want to overturn preconceived notions about the piano!” Professor Kuro-Labu will host a comedy STEM experiment show!
“Let’s Create Together! with Yoshimoto Comedians”
will teach you the “tricks” of creativity packed into comedy.
Masashi Kumada will lead a session on making original sunglasses!Apparently, he’ll spend an hour making sunglasses that could be made in just one minute (*^^*)
Saito from Trendy Angel, who’s leading the manzai workshop, says, “Surprisingly, little kids can pull off manzai quite easily, and sometimes they’re 100 times funnier than Yoshimoto comedians.”

In “Sports and Art! Get Moving and Have Fun!,” everyone takes on a new sport conceived by comedians: “Laughing Sports”!
Obata’s Older Brother teamed up with Hyokkori-han to host a “Let’s Play with Drones!” workshop. Apparently, a segment on a show featuring Obata’s Older Brother—where children were chased by drones—was a big hit, so they decided to replicate it by playing a game of tag with drones. Hyokkori-han’s comment, “From a child’s perspective,” was wonderful.
Finally, Professor Kuro-Labu led a pre-workshop session on building vegetable rockets. These rockets are launched using the power of oxygen generated when mashed vegetables are mixed with hydrogen peroxide. The venue erupted in excitement as the vegetable rockets shot off with great force.
The Workshop Collection features many workshops like this where participants can learn while having fun.

The Workshop Collection also features a special stage based on NHK’s wildly popular show “Chico-chan Will Scold You!,” as well as a special workshop corner where many Yoshimoto comedians—including Karateka Yabe, Robert, andKajisaku, among others, serving as special instructors. You can also experience “Digital Ehon” from approximately 800 entries gathered from 49 countries around the world, as well as a wide variety of workshops on themes such as science, programming, sports, and music. We’ve prepared a rich, full-day program that everyone—from preschoolers to elementary school students to adults—can enjoy.

The venue was decorated by Captain Zakko, the Japan champion of balloon art competitions, who has always been so kind to us.
And serving as our PR ambassador this time is Shakariki.

Two days dedicated to supporting children’s “play and learning.”
We look forward to seeing you there!