Civic Tech Activities (Archive) on Notation LLC

Rethinking the Emotional Value of Cities — Urbanist Camp Tokyo 2024: Emotional City

Sun, 01 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

In autumn 2024, the urban-experience design studio for Cities and YAU held Urbanist Camp Tokyo 2024 across Tokyo’s Otemachi, Marunouchi, and Yurakucho districts. Under the theme “Emotional City,” the program looked beyond economic measures of urban value and reconsidered the relationship between people’s emotions and the city.

Twenty participants explored the emotions of the city through lectures, fieldwork, and discussion. They created original Emotional City Guides and Emotional City Tours, rediscovering the city through smell, sound, and touch and experimenting with ways to visualize feelings of discomfort or incongruity.

I mentored each team as it visualized research data, focusing on emotional-data visualization and the design of visual expression. This helped make the city’s less visible values perceptible and gave participants a deeper perspective on emotional value in urban environments.

The project offered a meaningful expansion of how cities can be evaluated and demonstrated possibilities for urban design grounded in human experience and emotion.

Citizen-Led Smart Cities #013 — Data Visualization Can Change the World!

Fri, 30 Aug 2024 00:00:00 +0000

I appeared in an event series that discusses and celebrates citizen-led smart-city initiatives, affectionately abbreviated as “Sushi” in Japanese.

Event Announcement

“Conversations on Citizen-Led Smart Cities” is a series about initiatives in which residents take the lead in creating better communities by drawing on local people, characteristics, technologies, and materials.

For the thirteenth event, titled “Data Visualization Can Change the World!”, the guest was Yuichi Yazaki, founder of Data Visualization Japan, associate professor at Digital Hollywood University Graduate School, and founder of Code for Tokyo. Guided by the belief that data visualization lies at the intersection of communication and problem-solving, he works as a data visualization practitioner and teaches at Digital Hollywood University Graduate School, Musashino Art University, and Tama Art University.

His book The Complete Guide to the Fundamentals of Data Visualization was published on August 28, 2024. The book distills and shares the data visualization knowledge he has developed over the years. This event offered an opportunity to hear the story behind its publication.

https://www.amazon.co.jp/gp/product/4798183687

Better data visualization may change how you see your community—and perhaps how you see the world. Both in-person spectators and shared-table guests were welcome.

Date and time: Friday, August 30, 2024, from 8:00 p.m.
Format: Hybrid event held in person and streamed online
- (1) In-person participation
  - Venue: A location in Koenji, Suginami-ku, Tokyo (details provided individually)
  - Fee: ¥5,000 including tax
    - Includes sushi and one drink
    - Cashless payment at the venue only
    - Major credit cards and electronic money accepted; cash and PayPay not accepted
  - Schedule
    - 7:30 p.m.: Reception, seating, and drinks
    - 8:00 p.m.: Public recording and sushi service
    - 9:00 p.m.: Social gathering (not streamed)
    - Around 10:30 p.m.: Close
  - Registration: Peatix
- (2) Online participation
  - Format: YouTube Live
  - Fee: Free
  - Participants supplied their own food—preferably sushi
  - Only the public recording from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. was streamed; the in-person social gathering was not available online

Participants

Kazuki Sakai (Code for Japan / snack-bar manager)
Reo Maeda (iHub Base technical manager / aspiring sauna enthusiast)
Namiko Kurono (iHub Base general community manager / aspiring artist)
Toshihiro Tsuchiya (Smart City Social Implementation Consortium / sushi master)
Other members of the community

In-person attendees were asked to avoid last-minute cancellations because seating was limited and to contact the organizer if they could no longer attend.

Organizer: Conversations on Citizen-Led Smart Cities

Citizen-Led Smart Cities #013 — Data Visualization Can Change the World! | Facebook

Okinawa: Data Visualization Workshop — Understanding Data Reveals New Perspectives

Mon, 20 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0000

February 20, 2023, 1:30–4:40 p.m.
Okinawa Karate Kaikan dojo, Tomigusuku, Okinawa

Event Announcement

This was the second of two seminars intended to encourage data use across industries in Okinawa Prefecture.

The second session took the form of a practical workshop. Participants learned foundational data-use knowledge as well as concrete ways to apply data.

Clear explanations and exercises introduced examples suited to different situations, allowing even participants with limited experience to understand basic methods of working with data.

The instructor was data visualization specialist Yuichi Yazaki, author and co-author of books including The RESAS Textbook.

Combining lectures and practical exercises, the seminar introduced different kinds of data—including open data—and methods for using them. Invitations were sent to more than 10,000 people at ISCO member companies and other organizations inside and outside Okinawa. Registration was first come, first served and closed when capacity was reached.

Data Visualization Workshop — Understanding Data Reveals New Perspectives | ResorTech Okinawa

Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Technical Review Committee Member

Tue, 01 Jun 2021 00:00:00 +0000

For several years, I served as a technical review committee member for major data-use outsourcing projects conducted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government’s Bureau of Digital Services.

Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima: Data Visualization Talk at Open Café Aizu

Tue, 06 Mar 2018 00:00:00 +0000

In March 2018, I spoke at Open Café Aizu, an industry–academic event held by Open App Lab, a joint initiative of the University of Aizu and Aizuwakamatsu City.

Under the theme “What Does It Mean to Use Data?”, practitioners and researchers discussed data use with a particular focus on data visualization.

Main Presentation

Title: Data Visualization Connecting Global and Individual Optimization, Objectivity and Subjectivity
Content: For participants working on regional data use and problem-solving, I discussed the practical role of visualization beyond simply turning data into charts: connecting global and individual views and objective and subjective perspectives to support concrete decisions and changes in behavior.

Alongside experts including Fujio Kojima of Pirika Inc. and Professor Yosuke Kira of the University of Aizu, the event presented locally grounded examples such as a POS-data analysis project in Fukushima and public-asset management for municipalities.

The event offered a place to share practical knowledge about data science and community innovation in Aizu.

Event: Open Café Aizu: What Does It Mean to Use Data?
Date: March 6, 2018
Venue: 3D Theater, University-Business Innovation Center, University of Aizu
Organizer: Open App Lab, University of Aizu and Aizuwakamatsu City

Open Café Aizu: What Does It Mean to Use Data? | Facebook

National Diet Library Digital Library Café: Visualizing Bibliographic Data

Wed, 29 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

On November 29, 2017, I taught a session at the NDL Digital Library Café, organized by Japan’s National Diet Library.

The event provided a forum for discussing and practicing ways to use the library’s diverse datasets. My presentation focused on data visualization.

Main Topics

I introduced practical examples of analysis and visualization using National Diet Library data.

Theme: Building on a visualization of the previous year’s Web Archiving Project (WARP), I explained the creation and analysis of a work visualizing recent trends and changes in publishing using National Diet Library bibliographic data such as subject areas and publication years.
Hands-on contribution: Participants explored a prototype that allowed multidimensional browsing of bibliographic data by NDC classification, price, publication location, and other facets.
Role: From the planning stage, I advised on data-extraction requirements and technical implementation and helped share knowledge through visualization.

NDL Digital Library Café | National Diet Library

Reconstruction Agency Event: Co-Creating a Regional Information Platform for Coastal Fukushima

Sat, 18 Nov 2017 00:00:00 +0000

In November 2017, I spoke as an expert at the Reconstruction Agency’s seventh Fw: Tohoku co-creation event in Iwaki. Its theme was “A Regional Information Platform That Creates Livelihoods and Vitality, Considered from Coastal Fukushima.”

In coastal Fukushima, where the earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear accident created overlapping challenges, the event aimed to discuss and co-create a regional information platform that could provide objective, real-time understanding of current conditions and changes in reconstruction.

Main Contribution

Focusing on digitizing and opening regional information, I provided material for discussion among business owners, government staff, support organizations, residents, and other participants.

The project helped identify concrete ways to confront the urgent task of reconstruction through data, technology, and co-creation.

Event: Reconstruction Agency: A Regional Information Platform That Creates Livelihoods and Vitality, Considered from Coastal Fukushima
Dates: November 18–19, 2017
Organizer: Reconstruction Agency
Venue: Iwaki Yuttarikan Health and Welfare Plaza, Iwaki, Fukushima

Nagareyama, Chiba: Open-Data Course for Residents

Sat, 28 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

On Saturday, January 28, 2017, I was invited to teach the “Open-Data Use Course” at Nagareyama Lifelong Learning Center as the representative of Code for Tokyo.

The course aimed to help Nagareyama residents understand how to use open data and deepen their interest in the community.

Main Topics

Theme: Discovering Local Conditions through Open Data
Content: Concrete examples demonstrated a central idea of data visualization: visualization allows people to see the same data from multiple perspectives rather than merely collecting it.
Examples: Engaging visual examples included a chart counting appearances of Kumamon on other prefectural and municipal websites using National Diet Library data.
Tools: I introduced analytical tools such as the Regional Economy and Society Analyzing System (RESAS), along with Code for Tokyo’s activities.

The course helped communicate the value and enjoyment of using data to the general public, not only to technical specialists, as part of a municipal open-data initiative.

Event: Nagareyama Open-Data Use Course
Date: Saturday, January 28, 2017
Organizer: Nagareyama City

Nagareyama Open-Data Use Course | Nagareyama City

Tachikawa, Tokyo: Flat Place Tamaniwa #16 — Tangible Visualization: What Is Data Visualization?

Fri, 13 Jan 2017 00:00:00 +0000

I taught a session for Flat Place Tamaniwa, an independent study group organized by volunteer staff at Tachikawa City Office.

Event Announcement

Terms such as big data and open data are now widely familiar. Public- and private-sector initiatives continue to develop new ways to put data to use.

Big data is already used extensively for recommendations, while government bodies publish many resources as open data. Yet much of this information remains underused. Simply looking at a large or open dataset does not make its characteristics easy to understand, and even people who can analyze data may struggle to communicate their findings effectively.

This is where data visualization comes in. The session welcomed Yuichi Yazaki—representative of Code for Tokyo and founder of Data Visualization Japan and Visualizing.JP—to introduce the field.

Date and time: Friday, January 13, 2017, 6:30–8:30 p.m., followed by an informal gathering at another venue
Venue: Meeting Room 101, Tachikawa City Office
Capacity: 40
Fee: ¥200
Registration: Through the Facebook page or by email with name and affiliation

Flat Place Tamaniwa #16 — Tangible Visualization | Facebook

Aomori: Judge for the Aomori Tourism App Development Contest

Tue, 04 Oct 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Aomori Prefecture held a residential hackathon at Hoshino Resorts Aomoriya. Over three days and two nights, participants developed apps that communicated the appeal of Aomori through the theme of tourism. I spoke at the preliminary event and served as a hackathon judge.

Event Overview

October 4, 2016: Preliminary event
November 18–20, 2016: Hackathon development
November 19, 2016: Presentations and award announcements

Scenes from the Event

Slides

Tourism Data Analysis with RESAS | Speaker Deck

Judges

Award-Winning Teams

Event Operator

Aomori Tourism App Development Contest — H-tus

Participant Reports

Speaking at the Digital Constitution Forum Observer Talk Session

Thu, 21 Jul 2016 00:00:00 +0000

Yuichi Yazaki of Notation LLC spoke at the Digital Constitution Forum, organized by the Youth Democracy Promotion Organization.

Event theme: The Constitution and the Future of Local Communities in the Digital Age, Considered with Digital Natives
Role: Speaker in the observer talk session
Session theme: The Future Society We Imagine
Affiliation used: Representative of Code for Tokyo / co-author of The RESAS Textbook
Overview: Ahead of Constitution Memorial Day, young people, working adults, and invited experts discussed the nature of constitutional governance and the future of local communities in the digital age.
Venue: Surugadai Hall, Digital Hollywood University Graduate School

Digital Constitution Forum official site

U.S. Embassy and Women Who Code Tokyo: Make Your Favorite Music Move with Data Visualization and p5.js

Thu, 17 Dec 2015 00:00:00 +0000

I helped plan and teach a women-only data visualization workshop co-hosted by the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo.

Event Overview

Date and time: Thursday, December 17, 2015, 6:30–9:00 p.m.; doors opened at 6:00 p.m.
Venue: American Center Japan, 8F NOF Tameike Building, 1-1-14 Akasaka, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Capacity: 45
Fee: Free
Instructor: Yuichi Yazaki
Audience: Women interested in learning data visualization. Beginners were welcome, though experience using a text editor and installing a computer application was recommended.
Registration: Through Meetup, with all required details completed for building entry
Technology: p5.js
What to bring: A laptop computer—the exercises did not run on tablets—and a willingness to have fun
Organizer: Women Who Code Tokyo
Co-host: U.S. Embassy Tokyo
Support: Data Visualization Japan and LinkData Association

Civic Tech Activities (Archive) on Notation LLC

Rethinking the Emotional Value of Cities — Urbanist Camp Tokyo 2024: Emotional City

Related Links

Citizen-Led Smart Cities #013 — Data Visualization Can Change the World!

Event Announcement

Participants

Related Links

Okinawa: Data Visualization Workshop — Understanding Data Reveals New Perspectives

Event Announcement

Related Links

Tokyo Metropolitan Government: Technical Review Committee Member

Aizuwakamatsu, Fukushima: Data Visualization Talk at Open Café Aizu

Main Presentation

Related Links

National Diet Library Digital Library Café: Visualizing Bibliographic Data

Main Topics

Related Links

Reconstruction Agency Event: Co-Creating a Regional Information Platform for Coastal Fukushima

Main Contribution

Related Links

Nagareyama, Chiba: Open-Data Course for Residents

Main Topics

Related Links

Tachikawa, Tokyo: Flat Place Tamaniwa #16 — Tangible Visualization: What Is Data Visualization?

Event Announcement

Related Links

Aomori: Judge for the Aomori Tourism App Development Contest

Event Overview

Scenes from the Event

Slides

Judges

Award-Winning Teams

Related Links

Event Operator

Participant Reports

Speaking at the Digital Constitution Forum Observer Talk Session

Related Links

U.S. Embassy and Women Who Code Tokyo: Make Your Favorite Music Move with Data Visualization and p5.js

Event Overview

Related Links