<!-- 916.html -->  <div id="pagebody_outline">    <div id="left_box">      <div id="title_box">      <div id="titie_box_top"><!-- Image --></div>      <div id="midashi">"Maternity" is the key word. There's nothing more important than keeping the "sense of giving spirit" between ourselves.</div>      <div id="title_box_left"> <a href="https://www.yokosojapan.net/mt/BEST.JPG"><img alt="BEST.JPG" src="https://www.yokosojapan.net/mt/BEST-thumb.JPG" width="162" height="156" /></a></div>      <div id="title_box_right">        <div id="title_box_right_top"><!-- Image --></div>        <div id="title_box_right_text">             </div>        <div id="title_box_right_bottom"><!-- Image --></div>      </div>      <div id="titie_box_bottom"><!-- Image --></div>    </div>  <div id="bold_text"></div>      <div id="article">        <div id="article_left">                                  <img src="/english/images/feature/916_feature_06.JPG" width="140" alt="feature_06">                                <div id="article_text"></div>                                  <img src="/english/images/feature/916_feature_08.JPG" width="140" alt="feature_08">                              </div>        <div id="article_right"><font color="#0033cc"><strong>A ordinaly housewife became a movie producer. The first movie she made won the "Nikkei MJ Award" of the Nikkei's Regional Informatization Contest. We interviewed the producer, Keiko Echigo, who has lit people's minds and revitalizing the region through movie-making. </strong></font><br /><br /><br /><font color="#FF3366"><strong>Would you like to tell us how did you became a movie producer?</strong></font><br /><br /><br /><br />As a part of the PTA activity, housewives gathered friends and hosted lectures and events. But first we were housewives who have never ever hosted an event, including myself. We did have various troubles but we, the amateurs, worked together as one and could manage to succeed in hosting the event. We had supports from the people in the region, too. After that, we met some young, energetic people who were engaged in movie-making. We thought it would be great to revitalize the region so I suggested to support the location of the movie in Shirakawa city. The movie-making staff was eager to make a film so it was settled. A movie that was made together with the local residents and the professional movie-makers. This was the start and I then established a film company and began to seriously engage in producing movies.<br />Through movies, everybody was sharing the same theme, which was a very natural thing, and I was so impressed by how the town was changing by being shooting a film. Those things that were never been able to change was possible to change through this. I found out and also felt that the important thing was not only the technology, method, money, but how much you can motivate people.  <br /><br />The origin of myself is maternity . I think this feeling, the sense of giving birth and raising children is also important in making movies and revitalizing organizations. Of course both raising children and producing movies don't go right on schedule, but by sacrificing yourself and flexibly dealing things for your family or for the movie, this can be also be said in maternity, too. Men's society, for what I think, is a society where you scramble. But in women's society, where there's a strong maternity, it is a society where you give each other. To protect important things at places where you need to make decisions, I think this giving spirit that women have, is evitable. <br /><br /><font color="#FF3366"><strong>How do you think Japan will change from now on?</strong></font><br /><br />I think the ethnic movements will become more active, especially I think the connection with Asian people. And I think we need to give them the exchange students an original role. Interpreting, for example, it has a very important role, not just a mechanical one, but communication beyond cultures. It is important to look from the other point of view and give them a role and to be creative. <br /> </div>        <div class="both10"></div>        <div></div>      </div>      <div class="both10"></div>                         </div>  <!-- end of left_box -->  </div><!-- end of pagebody_outline -->