A talk will be held in a small city in central Japan on Sunday styled after the popular U.S. TED Conferences, which introduce innovative ideas through short lectures and presentations, organizers said Thursday.
"I want many people to know that there are many interesting things going on in our place," said Rui Zakoji, the person responsible for bringing the TED event to her city of Saku in Nagano Prefecture.
She said it is rare for a TED event to be held in a small Japanese city. So far, TEDx events have only been held in major cities, such as Tokyo and Sendai.
The 29-year-old homemaker first learned about the TED talks through a video three years ago and was inspired to open TEDx, an independently organized event under the TED global conferences, in Saku.
For the TEDx Saku event, 11 people were chosen as speakers, including one who looks for herbal plants in the woods, to present their ideas within an 18-minute time frame.
Sunday's event will be broadcast online, the organizers said.
The flagship TED Conference is held yearly in the United States. More than 1,000 videos of talks covering three subject areas — technology, entertainment and design — are so far available.
Past TED speakers have included former U.S. President Bill Clinton, who spoke on health care for Rwanda, and brain scientist Jill Bolte Taylor, who recounted the experience she had in dealing with a stroke.