Even though we set aside time for the kids to reflect during the workshops,
I don’t really reflect that much myself, but
while I was taking a bath just now, I suddenly remembered some events from this year, so here they are in no particular order.

When I think of 2013,
there was the Workshop Collection, which drew 100,000 visitors in just two days,
http://www.wsc.or.jp/
We kicked things off with a joint press conference with Google Chairman Eric Schmidt and launched a programming education project,

Programming for ALL

http://www.canvas.ws/p-ws/
We created a booklet introducing “Digital Kids” making waves around the world;
http://withnet.co/
At the Digital Ehon Museum, we produced the “Fune-kun’s Journey” exhibition with Koji Ishikawa and the “Words and Letters” exhibition with Yoko Imoto;
http://www.dnp.co.jp/dotdnp/floor/digital.html
Participating in the design of family-oriented apartments as the concept designer for Park City Osaki—reportedly one of the largest urban redevelopment projects within the Yamanote Line loop—;
http://www.31sumai.com/oh-gardens-lab/
I helped children create a commercial for the Toyota Estima during a workshop.
http://createthefuture.jp/
I developed educational materials to help children use cell phones safely and securely.
http://www.kddi.com/family/
I was involved in community development projects in Futako-Tamagawa and Sumida Ward.
http://shiasatte.creative-city.jp/
We’ve expanded the number of Kids Creative Institute locations and launched a programming lab;
http://www.canvas.ws/kenkyujo/
Of course, we’ve also hosted the Digital Ehon Awards;
http://www.digitalehonaward.net/
and when we launched the International Digital Ehon Fair, we received submissions from 15 countries;
http://d-childrensbookfair.net/
In addition, we held a workshop festival at Knowledge Capital and were given the opportunity to organize exhibitions at the Genbi Museum and the Shibuya Science Museum;
We’ve been conducting workshops every day with so many children—at children’s centers, after-school programs, daycare centers, kindergartens, schools, museums, cultural facilities, commercial complexes, and corporate locations—that I can’t even list them all here.
In terms of digital textbooks, we created the “Eight Strategies for Educational Informatization,” prepared a “10,000 yen per person per year” program for local governments, and launched the Pioneer Teachers and Pioneer Municipalities Project;
it was a year in which I felt we were making progress, bit by bit.
This year, too, was one in which I continued to work on my “10 Things to Create” initiative.
http://www.canvas.ws/canvas10th.html#topic05

Thanks to your support, I was honored to receive wonderful awards such as the Minister of Internal Affairs and Communications Award and the Good Design Award’s “Best Practices 100.”
I also had the opportunity to participate as a panelist at the APEC Women and the Economy forum held in Indonesia,
and in April, I became a Specially Appointed Associate Professor at Keio University, where I taught classes to international students.
It was also a year in which I struggled with my limited English.
In addition, I was appointed as a member of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications’ Information and Communications Council and a member of the Cabinet Secretariat’s Advisory Panel on the Future of the State and Administration,
took on the challenge of being a commentator on the TV show “Tokudane!,”
published two “Minute Books,” and
ended up giving up on my blog almost entirely.
Although there are still mountains of things I didn’t accomplish and haven’t even started yet,
it was a year full of learning.
I’ll save the rest for next year.

I was blessed with many wonderful encounters again this year and was supported by so many people;
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for being able to spend this past year this way.
Thank you very much.

My days are still filled with trial and error,
but I hope to keep moving forward, one step at a time, next year as well.

May 2014 be a brilliant year for all of you.