Sport & Design Blog: live from Tokyo, Japan!
Dreaming big @ Beijing 2008
Artwork by DUZZ: original project poster, featuring Yuki and Ume (Hope 81’s first Youth Sports Ambassadors)
Two years ago, we had a big dream of going to Beijing to see the Gold Medal Mens Basketball Game live. And we wanted to build some new friendship through streetball along the way. So with zero financial support and no tickets, we took a chance and went for it! The project was led by our two Youth Sports Ambassadors from Tokyo (Yuki and Ume). We worked with the Ribbon Magnet Group/MsDS, which helped out with our HIV Awareness campaign, plus a bunch of great local supporters in Beijing (Mark, More Free & CL Smooth Crew, all the ballers from Dong Dan, Di Tan Gun, and Chao Yang Park) and so many more people who stepped up and supported us behind the scenes. Here’s a look back at an incredible journey:
Our first trip to Beijing turned out to be a key starting point for our Sport for P.E.A.C.E. initiative, and set the stage for our other grassroots campaigns. A nice reminder that anything’s possible. Let’s keep dreaming big, Japan!
What's my motivation?
Hope 81 Founder Jason Hutson, rising for a dunk in a new web campaign for UNIQLO sportswear
Some basketball treasures to keep the dream alive...
When you were a kid, did you dream of becoming a professional athlete? Now do you play NBA Live and imagine that’s you on the screen-- dunking from the free throw line? We get so much hope from watching pro players, and that was my inspiration during a recent shooting of a new web campaign for the Japanese apparel brand UNIQLO... Think “Lost in Translation” mixed with that old Sprite basketball commercial “What’s my motivation??”.
This one was easy for me. When the director was asking me to do something, I just tried to imagine all the old “come fly with me” Jordan moments, or Kobe’s signature attack. And looking at my picture above, with the Jordan basketball card (bottom left), I think I nailed it. The UNIQLO campaign uses twitter feeds from users to interact with athletes from various sports (tennis, karate, soccer, basketball, etc.). So if you land on the basketball clip, your tweets will turn into my spin-move, crossover, step-back jumper, or the ultimate=freethrow-line dunk ala MJ... give it a try!
By the way, this is just for fun and is not meant to try and sell you anything. That being said, the money we got for working on this CM went directly into funding our Rising Suns trip to Paris. So in a way, doing the spot helped our team get there. Thanks for supporting us, and helping Japanese basketball rise. And thanks Kobe, MJ, for all the years of inspiration. From childhood dreams, to video games, to twitter campaigns... I love this game!
Hope 81
Jason Hutson
Life, Basketball and Japan
When I speak about Hope 81, people often ask me why Japan? To me, its sort of a no-brainer. I love my life here! But I guess the idea of a guy from California launching a nonprofit organization in Japan might seem a bit out-of-the-ordinary (or intriguing) to some, so the question deserves a better answer than that. Sometimes my answer turns into a long story of academic discourse, overlapping with personal anecdotes and so many twists and turns. I wish I had a 30-second version. Trust me -- I’m working on it. For now, here’s a special blog entry to give you a better idea.
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81 things to know
Well, not that many! Here’s five things you should know about the number 81...
#5. The name of a famous Japanese fable = 'The 81 Brothers'
#4. The month, day and year MTV launched its first programming (08.01.1981)
#3. Legendary singer and revolutionary hero Bob Marley passed away in 1981
#2. NBA All-Star & 2008 Olympic Gold Medalist Kobe Bryant scored 81 points in a single NBA game
#1. The international calling code for our organization’s home base (+81) = Japan!
If you can think of any more, post it in the comments below!