Dialogue in the Dark is awarded in Japan

Every difficulty encloses an opportunity. A proof of this is Dialogue in the Dark Japan.

Portrait of Kiyoe and Shinsuke Shimura

With operations drastically reduced in the middle of the pandemic and not being able to use the dark scenario, DiD Japan was selected for the Japan PR Awards.

DiD Japan was awarded Citizen of the Year 2020 by the Japan Public Relations Association. The "Japan PR Award Citizen of the Year" acknowledges a company and organization that has been practicing original public relations and PR activities for many years with the aim of steadily digging up original public relations and PR activities. An individual or group that contributes to the development of the community and has achieved worthy of encouragement as a public interest corporation.

The online awards ceremony took place few days ago. DiD Japan’s representative Director, Kiyoe Shimura, stated during her speech: “The entertainment that the world needs now is not the darkness, but the light of hope that illuminates the difficult world.”

DiD Japan first event was launched in 1999. So far 240,000 visitors have gone through the dark, 30,000 have visited Dialogue in Silence and Dialogue with Time was introduced for the first time in 2019. Against all odds and despite the pandemic, the Dialogue Forrest was opened last August 2020.

According to the Japan Public Relations Association, the reason for this award is for DiD Japan to continue activities that give awareness to a society that recognizes diversity, and to actively promote new initiatives to meet the needs of society even in the wake of the corona.

This award acknowledges DiD Japan long and successful social career and also how the organization adapted to the new normal in the Dialogue Forrest exhibition. According with Kiyoe Shimura, the Dialogue Forest and the way they transformed Dialogue in the Dark into Dialogue in the Light, was the catalyst for the award.

The current restrictions to fight against the pandemic make the operation in the dark very risky. Therefore, the Dialogue in the Light was created. Said by Kiyoe Shimura, the visitors are like pilots of wisdom who can give this wisdom to others, while the blind know the light that the sighted don’t.

The commitment of the DiD Japan is to continue the Dialogue. That each person, who visits the Dialogue becomes a pilot, who will deepen diversity and work for a society, where every person has a role.

The award is not only an inspiration for DiD Japan to continue, but also an inspiration for the whole Dialogue network! We do not have enough words to tell you how proud and happy we are for you.
Congratulations and thanks for inspiring us!