What kind of new value will the co-creation between Herald Bonnie and JICA create in the future? Co-CEO and Representative Director of Herald Bonnie, Inc. and Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO) of JICA Katsura Miyazaki will discuss.
Co-CEO and Representative Director of Herald Bonnie Corporation, Takaya Matsuda (left) and JICA Vice President Katsura Miyazaki (right)
Changing the Image of Disability”–Co-creation Born of Resonance
Herald Bonnie’s mission is “Be Different. The company is a leading Japanese art licensing company. Herald Bonnie has concluded art licensing agreements with artists with intellectual disabilities in Japan and abroad, and has developed collaborations with many companies centered on the licensing of artwork data. The mission of the mission is “Disability is not a deficiency but a characteristic,” and “Being out of the ordinary is also a possibility. We want to expand our activities around the world in order to change the image of disability. JICA, sympathizing with Herald Bonney’s ideas, approached her to collaborate in activities in developing countries, and in May 2024, JICA and Herald Bonney began their co-creation efforts.
So far, various initiatives are underway, including visits by government officials from developing countries involved in sports and education for people with disabilities to Herald Bonnie’s headquarters in Morioka City, Iwate Prefecture, and the Rumbini Art Museum in Hanamaki City, where the company’s contracted artists are based, through JICA training, and visits by Herald Bonnie officials and contracted artists to a JICA-supported center for people with disabilities in Thailand. In addition, Herald Bonnie staff and contracted artists have visited a JICA-supported center for people with disabilities in Thailand.
We want to create new values through co-creation toward “realizing a society where diverse people can play an active role in their own way. We had a conversation with Mr. Takaya Matsuda, Herald Bonnie, and Mr. Miyazaki, Vice President of JICA, to discuss these passionate thoughts.
Takaya Matsuda, Representative Director and Co-CEO, Herald Boney Inc.
Born in Iwate Prefecture in 1991. Graduated from Tohoku University of Art & Design.
After working as a planner at Orange and Partners, a planning company led by Kundo Koyama, he founded Herald Bonnie with his twin brother Fumito in 2018.
30 cultural entrepreneurs selected by Forbes JAPAN in 2024 for the “CULTURE-PRENEURS 30” award.
We want to break down the value system that assumes that people will be supported.
Miyazaki:I was really looking forward to speaking with Ms. Matsuda this time. I myself have been promoting gender equality, women’s activities, and diversity, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) in both my business and organization, but I feel frustrated that they have not yet fully penetrated. JICA is a public organization that promotes development cooperation, so we have to consider people in various positions as we carry out our projects, but when I think about whether we are properly dealing with each individual, there are some areas where we are falling short.
Herald Bonnie is a company that is sincerely committed to working with people with disabilities and creating a new culture through art. Where does this energy come from to create new value while making the most of diversity?
Katsura Miyazaki, Vice President and Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO), JICA
He has served as Councilor and Director of the Social Infrastructure and Peacebuilding Department and Head of the Gender Equality and Poverty Reduction Office, Head of the Thailand Office, and Director of the Governance and Peacebuilding Department before being appointed to the Board of Directors in October 2022.
Current position from May 2024
Matsuda: I founded this heralbony with my twin brother, Fumito, because my brother, who is four years older than me, has autism with severe mental retardation. From a very young age, I saw my brother ridiculed by those around him, and was told things like, “You twins should work as hard as your brother. Therefore, I strongly felt that I wanted to change the world in which “people with disabilities are supposed to be supported” and create a context of respect, and to do so, I wanted to start a business.
Then one day, my mother took me to the Rumbini Art Museum (Hanamaki City, Iwate Prefecture), which exhibits art by artists with intellectual disabilities. I was shocked as if I had been struck by lightning. Regardless of disability, there were wonderful works of art there. I founded Herald Bonnie with the idea of creating a system that would allow such excellent works to be presented to the world as they are. At the time, I was involved in the licensing business of Kumamon, the Kumamoto Prefecture character, at a PR company, so I took the plunge with my twin brother, hoping that we could do something like that.
Miyazaki：That’s right, you see disability as a “different color.” Refugees, who are the target of JICA projects, are often seen as people to be supported because they are “pitiful,” but we believe that they are the subjects of the projects. JICA and Herald Bonnie share the same underlying philosophy of respecting each individual’s position and providing support in a personalized manner.
Matsuda: At Herald Bonnie, we value the phrase “writers first. It could be said that we are a company that depends on the creativity of artists, so respect for the artists is the most important thing. We do not like the term “art for the handicapped. We want to be a fair platform where great artists are evaluated according to their abilities.
Herald Bonnie contract artist Sanae Sasaki and her work
I learned a lot in Thailand, where I visited with the artist.
Miyazaki:As part of the co-creation efforts, I understand that Mr. Matsuda and other heralbonists and contract writers visited Thailand together and toured UN agencies and welfare facilities. Among them, when Mr. Matsuda visited the Asia Pacific Center on Disability (APCD), we heard from a staff member that “in Thailand, the mainstream approach is to provide training and training to people with disabilities,” which impressed us.
Matsuda: In Japan, welfare facilities used to be called “rehabilitation facilities” and their purpose was to bring people with disabilities closer to healthy people. I thought that sense still exists in Thailand. It is not that either is good or bad, but at Herald Bonnie and some welfare facilities in Japan, rather than trying to enable people to do what they cannot do, they are trying to highlight what they are already able to do and what is unique about the person. In Thailand, I also had the opportunity to interact with local writers with disabilities, and I learned many things.
Together with the writer, he visited the Asia Pacific Center for the Disabled (APCD) in Bangkok, Thailand. They also had the opportunity to interact with local writers with disabilities at a welfare facility.
Miyazaki: I hope that we can bring this kind of thinking to welfare facilities in Thailand in the future. On the other hand, I have heard that in rural areas of Thailand, the reality is that the way they deal with intellectual disabilities is quite different from urban areas. Herald Bonnie works with people with disabilities who have the characteristic of expressing themselves through art, but do you have any thoughts about people with other disabilities?
Matsuda: Of course there is. Herald Bonnie is now creating a context of “respect” by focusing on the superlatives of people with disabilities. But the reality is that many people with disabilities are in the same situation as my brother, who has a job crushing empty cans for 3,000 yen a month. So we want to be an organizational body that can focus on those areas as well.
My ambition is to grow Herald Bonnie into a global brand. Before that, I would like to create a system to support projects that cannot be economically viable through public foundations or other means. I think this scheme would be quite interesting for a startup that seeks to solve social issues. Herald Bonnie does not want to be an art-only company.
Writers Haruka Asano, Iga Katsuoiru, and Takaya Matsuda speak at a panel discussion organized by the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP).
The scarf in his hand is a scarf designed by Mr. Asano’s artwork.
Toward a society where concepts such as “people with disabilities” and “developing countries” are changed.
Miyazaki: In May 2024, Herald Bonnie was awarded a prize in the “LVMH Innovation Award 2024,” in which LVMH, the world’s largest conglomerate with maisons such as Louis Vuitton and Christian Dior under its umbrella, evaluates start-ups from around the world. I hear that LVMH also established a local subsidiary in Paris in July, and is promoting collaborations with famous European brand companies.
As the world’s challenges become more complex, it is essential for JICA to confront them hand in hand with various people, and we need to promote more co-creation, but it is not easy. It is wonderful that Herald Bonnie has been in business for only six years and has connected with many companies.
Matsuda: It has been a couple of years since our business started to take off. The first step was that people sympathized with Herald Bonnie’s activities and provided funds with the feeling of “I’ll support you. Art may have the advantage that it can be used infinitely, such as scarves and wallpaper, and can collaborate with any company.
I am very grateful to be able to work with JICA on this project. We hope to use this opportunity to create even more opportunities. Although we would like to expand our activities in developing countries, it is difficult to reach heralbonics alone. Working together with JICA, with whom we already have a trusting and respected relationship, is a great advantage for us.
Herald Bonnie has collaborated with many companies, including designing the Herald Bonnie card with Marui Group (left) and JAL’s in-flight amenities (right).
Miyazaki：When we introduced the “HERALBONY Art Prize 2025” to JICA’s overseas offices, more than 10 countries have already expressed an interest in applying. We are looking forward to a new form of cooperation for JICA.
Matsuda: It might be interesting to establish a JICA award for entries from developing countries.
Miyazaki：That is a wonderful idea. And in the future, we need to incorporate the perspectives of people with disabilities more and more, not only in the field of art, but also, for example, in the fields of agriculture and transportation infrastructure. I would be very happy to receive your advice.
Matsuda: In the future, I would like to work with the organizations concerned to create a trend that will change the term “disabled” and I would be happy to work together with JICA. Such examples from Japan will spread overseas and change values. It would be great if we could be connected through the creation of new values.
Miyazaki: Recently, I feel that the term “developing countries” may not be correct either. Perhaps it would be better to call them partner countries. I share your feelings about the term “people with disabilities,” Mr. Matsuda. Let’s learn from each other and approach a new way of thinking together from now on.
© Source JICA
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