July 26th, 2011 Part2 @Glasgow, Scotland---Osaka, Japan
Coming back to home sweet home after three-and-half month trip.
It will take time to digest all the experiences I went through, but definitely it was worth doing.
Just wanted to show my gratitude to all the staff of street paper I visited and the vendors who shared their wisdom and philosophy from the street.
Since coming back to Japan, I keep facing the reality of 3-11 aftermath, and all the proverbs from the street really encouraged me to go through it.
Dreaming of the day when I can visit African and North & South American street papers too…

Special Thanks to:
Seoul, Korea／”The Big Issue Korea”, Lee Kijin, Sunnie Park
Taipei, Taiwan／”The Big Issue Taiwan”
Manila, Philippines／”Jeepney”, Simon Song
St. Petersburg／”Put Domoi”, Maya&Sasha
Oslo, Norway／”＝Oslo”, Per Kristian
Copenhagen, Denmark／”Hus Forbi”
Neumunster, Germany／”Die Jerusalemmer”, Andreas Family
Utrecht, Netherlands／”Straat Nieuws”
Amsterdam, Netherlands／”Z!”, Tomoko Take（http://www.tomokotake.net/）、Kingalita(http://www.myspace.com/kingalita)
Paris, France／”Macadam”
Salzburg, Austria／”Apropos”、Monica Pink
Munich, Germany／”BISS”
Berlin, Germany／Tomo Miichi（http://www.tram-magazin.de/article/54983473.html）、Manami Miura(http://punktchen-m.blogspot.com/）、Jun Nabara
Poznan, Poland／”Gazeta Uliczna”
Prague, Chez Republic／”Novy Prostor”, Daniella, Yuko
Vienna, Austria／Masayo
Bratislava, Slovakia／”Notabene”
Budapest, Hungary／”Flaszter”
Oradea, Romania／Mihwa & Branc Family, Michiko
Belgrade, Serbia／”LiceUlice”
Ljubljana, Slovenia／”Kralji Ulice”
Bolzano, Italy／Mocchi family
Milan, Italy／"Terre di Mezzo", Hisako
Glasgow, Scotland／INSP(http://www.street-papers.org/)
Edinburgh, Scotland／Homeless World Cup(http://www.homelessworldcup.org/)
Japan／"The Big Issue Japan"（http://www.bigissue.jp/）

July 22nd, 2011 Part2 @Glasgow, Scotland
Tonight is the night! Yes, conference is getting be over with a grand finale, “INSP Award.” The best interview award of this year was “Fighting back” by Philly street paper, “One Step Away.” The article was written by a homeless guy, Jose Espinosa. He interviewed with a former boxing light heavyweight world champion, Matthew Saad Muhammad, while the laureate was staying at a homeless shelter in Philadelphia. (http://www.streetnewsservice.org/news/2011/july/feed-289/fighting-back.aspx)
Applauses from all the delegates to the prize winners were so warm and encouraging.
Eating, laughing, talking, sharing, networking and Scottish dancing! The INSP conference 2011 had finished and all the delegates scattered to the streets of their own countries.

July 22nd, 2011 Part1 @Glasgow, Scotland
Had opportunity to talk with Juan who was the director of Colombian street magazine, “La calle.” He told me that each issue had the voices from the street…with slang! This Bogota-based magazine comes out every three months and is sold by twenty vendors.
“My dream is to make everyone’s lives qualified,” Juan, who has been an activist for sex workers and drug users, said with a gentle smile.

July 21st, 2011 Part2 @Glasgow, Scotland
At BBC Scotland, an exhibition called “Eyes of the street” was held. All the pictures were taken by award-winning photographer, David Burnett, and vendors of The Big Issue in Scotland for ten days. The pictures capture smell and breeze of the street, and viewers seemed to be feeling the temperature and humidity of it too.
　Being asked “Do you think this exhibition will affect how Scotland sees its homeless population?” by INSP, David replied like this; we don’t go out and feel like we’ve totally changed the world, but the littlest changes affecting the fewest number of people will always have the greatest impact in the end….as all the technology has taken over in the last twenty years, a lot of that person-to-person touch has been lost, and I think maybe this will make some tiny little step in bringing back some of that personal contact.”
(http://www.streetnewsservice.org/news/2011/july/feed-290/exclusive-interview-with-david-burnett.aspx)
At the site, there were numbers of circle of viewers to talk each other about the exhibitions.

July 21st, 2011 Part1 @Glasgow, Scotland
Rose is the only vendor who joined the INSP conference this year. She is selling a Canadian street paper “Victoria News” and writing a column for it too.
Living as a first people, she always looks so peaceful. Couldn’t help asking her the secret. “I always think that trials I can’t stand will not be appearing in front of me. I also believe that you can learn something from all experiences you’ve been through.”
“These days, people tend to be dying for immediate results. However, if you receive something today, it took a long journey to get to you. If you do something today, the result will be coming after a long time.”
I was gravitated to this street philosophy class by the river all day long.

July 20th, 2011 @Glasgow, Scotland
The annual conference of International Network of Street Papers(INSP) unfolded with hugs and chats. Eighty people from twenty-nine countries got together into Glasgow this year. We are going to spend three days and nights to share the wisdom and ideas through workshops and networking.
Talked with Samba with The Big Issue Zambia in the midst of conference. She said that forty vendors of 18 through 35 years old were mostly unemployed and didn’t have any means of income and access to education and medical service.
Not only bad news but Samba also shared a bright one too. One of the vendors, 20-year-old Rodgers, became a photographer. “He was so intrigued by pictures of our magazine and finally his dream came true!”
Some people wonder if the scheme of street magazine is working out in Africa, because severe financial situation sometimes forces African papers to be closed. “68 percent of our nation is suffering poverty, though some foreigners and middle-class people buy and read our magazines. My dream is to be a bigger voice of the voiceless people,” Samba said.

July 18th, 2011 @Milan, Italy
Visited Milan-based street magazine, Terre di Mezzo again, and happened to meet Miriam, one of the founders.
When I came here a few days ago, an editor Andrea told me that most of the vendors were from Senegal. Migrants are prone to be a political issue everywhere these days, however, Miriam are expecting that Terre di Mezzo will be a tool for encountering and having a dialogue with a vendor and a reader as human beings.
I popped up the question, “Isn’t it hard to work with somebody with different language and culture?”, but Miriam replied with her proverb she learnt from the street, “Respecting each other is the start of communication.”
Terre di Mezzo began hosting an annual event of Fa’la cosa guista!, where producers of fair trade, alternative energy, and organic vegetables got together with citizens. In 2008, they say 50,000 people visited there. This Milan-based street magazine will be making a bigger circle of community from now on too.

July 15th, 2011 @Milan, Italy
Getting on Metro number 3 to head for the office of Italian street magazine, Terre di Mezzo. Though couldn’t have got an appointment before the trip, I happened to come across an editorial staff, Andrea, in front of the gate.
According to him, Terre di Mezzo got launched in 1994 by four journalists and social workers here in Milan. The eighty current vendors are mostly migrants from Senegal.
The year 2006 was the toughest year for this ltalian magazine, because of the rise of free magazines. The renewal of the design and format in 2008, however, made the sales grow and they are celebrating 17th anniversary this year.

July 7th, 2011 @Ljubljana, Slovenia
Art workshop is held by Slovenian street magazine,“Kralji Ulice” every Tuesday and Thursday. When I sneaked into this class on Tuesday, they asked me to teach how to fold a crane by Origami on Thursday. And today is the day! Nine vendors of the street magazine got together and put a piece of paper in front of them.
“How can I fold here?” “Hold on a sec!” “The wings of my crane don’t spread at all…” The room was filled with heaps of questions and enthusiasm, and 20 minutes later, nine new-born cranes were put on the table. Some were gazing at their “child” and some were trying to make another one as soon as they finished the first one.
Before leaving, everybody was making a wish on this fortunate bird.

July 6th, 2011 @Ljubljana, Slovenia
I had an opportunity to talk with a king of a street, Ales, who used to be working as a “dealer” and has been selling“Kralji Ulice.” He was the cover of December, 2010 issue.
At the back cover, Ales was with his girlfriend and a message, saying “I love art and nature. Though capitalism and monetary system are destroying people, I want to help each other,” depicting inner pureness of him.
He revealed that he was going to be father one month later. Showing ultrasonography of his unborn baby, “Here’s a head and a heart, you know?” he pointed out, with a glow of happiness. “I’m getting be 37 years old this October. Need to be mature,” Ales said. As soon as I added, “And you are becoming a father too,” the father-to-be replied to me with a big smile.

July 5th, 2011 @Ljubljana, Slovenia
A Ljubljana castle reflecting a blazing sunset welcomed me last evening, and here I am at an office of “Kralji Ulice” this morning.
This Slovenian street magazine got birth in December, 2004. On the shivering night, a group of university students decided to spend a night on the street with homeless people. Surprisingly homeless people welcomed the newcomers and taught how to sleep on the street with warmth and more amenity. Their relationship lasted more than one night and after 6 months,“Kralji Ulice” got fruited.
A director of the street magazine, Maja told me that “Kralji Ulice” meant kings of street. “That is the reason why all of the covers are photos of our vendors. On top of that, the vendor appeared at the back cover again with the very important person of his or hers, such as a partner, a volunteer, or a staff .”
All of the covers are on the wall of the office and all the kings of the street just smiled at me.

July 3rd, 2011 Part 2 @Belgrade, Serbia
At the debut event of cultural squatting, vendors of LiceUlice, Dzei and Emir were there for work. Born in Montenegro, however, Dzei moved into Belgrade with his family at the age of six. Since then, he has not been at school. That’s why he really enjoyed the friendship he built through his job, the 16-year-old boy said.
The 15-year-old Emir seems to enjoy reading this street magazine too. “The article of Parkour on the first issue was my favorite,” he said.
Mina Lukic, who is volunteering at the drop-in center for Roma kids said, “Getting to know the boys has made my prejudice toward Roma people less. It always makes my day that those kids remember new words and learn something they never knew before.”
As soon as she finished saying, the two professional street magazine vendors arose for their work.

July 3rd, 2011 Part 1 @Belgrade, Serbia
Nikoleta, a staff of “LiceUlice” took me to ecological event held at a ruined building, which used to be a film company “INEX FILM” at the era of Yugoslavia.
When we arrived there, so many youngsters were already enjoying chatting with a drink.
One of the organizers Radmir Lazovic said, “Cultural squatting is a tradition in western Europe, but it didn’t exist here. Meanwhile, I also heard that former army base in Slovenia transformed into cultural space and thought ‘why not make that kind of space here in Belgrade?’ Isn’t it intriguing that ruined space creates something innovating?”
The brand-new cultural squatting space in the capital of Serbia has hosted an ecological event as a debut one. Marko with an environmental NPO, Ekolog was mapping out where were the places of unlawful dumping of garbage in Belgrade and the audiences were all ears to what he said.

July 1st, 2011 Part2 @Belgrade, Serbia
As soon as we sat down, I asked a director of LiceUlice, Neven, “LiceUlice are trying putting 70 percent of international contents, especially from former Yugoslavian countries,” and his answer was “Yes, we are trying to.”
“People live here, in Belgrade went through political system changes every decades; such as, ruled by Ottoman Empire, king, socialists and so on.”
“Some people of my grandparents’ generation might live four countries, such as Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and Republic of Serbia.”
　Neven told me that his country never experienced continuity. Especially young people around 20 years old, needed to face the civil war and the aftermath since the birth.
That’s also the reason why it really delighted Neven for youngster to buy the street magazine. “As ripples spread across the water, I believe that the message this magazine conveys will be spreading across the city.”