This section introduces the purposes and background of the activities of Craft Team STARSS!
Purposes
the purposes of the activites
At STARSS, our mission is to share the joy of craftsmanship with as many people as possible. By bringing people closer to the concept of “making things,” we aim to increase the number of fans of craftsmanship while nurturing children’s creativity and their ability to independently find solutions to open-ended problems. Furthermore, we believe that our activities contribute to creating new value aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Our ultimate goal is to realize entertainment centered on craftsmanship through the design and creation of roller coasters, which is currently the main focus of our activities. By sharing the design and manufacturing process through social media and organizing events in communities and schools, we aim to showcase the appeal of craftsmanship, lower the barriers to entry, and convey its enjoyment to a broader audience.
Through these efforts, we help children develop the ability to bring their ideas to life, collaborate with others, and persevere through challenges to achieve success. Additionally, by inspiring not only children but also a wider audience to take an interest in craftsmanship, we strive to revitalize Japan’s industrial sector. By leveraging a student perspective to promote the appeal of craftsmanship, we aim to reach more people and create new value.
Our activities also contribute to the SDGs, particularly “Quality Education for All” and “Building Infrastructure and Promoting Sustainable Industrialization and Innovation.”*1 Through these efforts, we seek to achieve both technological innovation and human resource development for a sustainable future.
Background
the background of the activites
The activities of STARSS began with a simple desire: “We want to do something fun at our school festival.” As a volunteer group, we started creating roller coasters at school, and through that process, we discovered the joy and learning that come from craftsmanship. We gained creativity to turn our ideas into reality, problem-solving skills to identify and resolve issues that arose, teamwork through collaborative creation, and initiative to actively engage in production activities. These are the lessons we learned from craftsmanship.
Through these experiences, we developed a desire to share the joy of craftsmanship with more people, to let them experience what we learned, and to create more opportunities for people to engage with craftsmanship. These aspirations form the foundation of our activities.
In recent years, the term "the 100-year life" has become common. With the prospect of extended working years due to later retirement ages and continuous employment, individuals will need to plan their lives with the assumption of living to 100 years. Professors Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott of London Business School argue that this new era will demand innovative and problem-solving human resources.*2
What will be essential in this context is “fundamental competencies for working persons”, as defined by Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry (METI) in 2006. These competencies are foundational skills necessary for sustained contributions in workplaces and local communities. Designed to facilitate a smooth transition from education (particularly university) to industry, these competencies consist of three key abilities:
1. The ability to step forward
2. The ability to think thoroughly
3. The ability to work in teams
Each of these is further broken down into 12 skill elements.*3
We believe these three abilities align perfectly with the skills we developed through craftsmanship. In other words, by tackling open-ended challenges through craftsmanship, individuals can enjoyably cultivate these competencies regardless of age. Importantly, developing these competencies should not be delayed until adulthood but should begin during student years or even earlier.
As such, "craftsmanship," which transcends age, is an extremely effective means of fostering fundamental competencies for working persons. We believe that the societal backdrop of the 100-year life aligns with the social value that our activities at STARSS can provide, which is why we continue to pursue our mission today.
STARSS