One Story Award

International, beautiful in body and soul

North American Competition Held

 ONE STORY AWARD Co., LTD(Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture; Kazuma Tsuruta, President) held the ONE STORY AWARD, a new festival to celebrate each person’s experience and life journey, at MIKA in Brooklyn New York on November 8. The event was the second to be held in Japan (Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture) in September 2022 with the aim of connecting “people to people and people to country,” and is scheduled to be held in other locations around the world in the future.  The festival is a celebration of the life stories spun by each individual, providing opportunities to continue learning about beauty and health of mind and body, global languages, and culture.

 At the awards held on November 8, 14 finalists selected through a screening process walked the red carpet in their dresses, and then shared their personal thoughts on beauty and education. The Top of AWARD went to Olivia Kelly, 22, a Boston native and this year’s New York University graduate, who said, “I want to contribute to the community by improving civic services in the parks and thinking about environmental issues. I want to contribute to the local community by considering environmental issues by improving the park’s civic services. I would like to use the $3,000 prize money for environmental improvements in the community, such as tree planting,” she said happily. Ms. Kelly will be invited to the next and subsequent Japanese conventions.

 On the day of the event, special guest Mr. Masayuki Sono, who is jointly developing a human Mars base with NASA, gave a speech about future architecture and the possibilities for the future, and also touched on the future prospects for children to become interested in international exchange and space. Tsutomu Nakai, who bridges New York and Japan as a jazz guitarist, produced the convention, and the USA National Director is Mina Nagakubo. Grammy Award-winning top musicians performed and tap danced. Tsuruta, who came to the U.S. from Japan for the event, said, “November 8 is the day of the One Story Awards NYC. Today is the birthday of One Story Awards NY. Please enjoy the One Story Award as it grows with all of you here in New York for the next year and years to come. I would like to play a role in connecting Japanese culture with the cultures of the world. I am grateful for this day that I was able to meet all of you,” he said. USA Director Nagakubo said, “I was moved by the way you all shined and gave powerful speeches about what you are working on every day. (Ryoichi Miura)

(Photo) After the presentation, the winner, Kelly (center), with USA Director Nagakubo (left) and Representative Tsuruta