Hiroto Watanabe, 33, has been the executive director of the youth-led NPO Posse since 2017. The group focuses on youth poverty and labor issues, and Watanabe does double duty as the editor-in-chief of its eponymous magazine. He is currently enrolled at Tokyo University, where he studies social policy and welfare sociology. In 2019, he co-wrote the book “Tatawanakereba Shakai wa Kowareru” (“Society Will Collapse if We Don’t Fight”).
1. How did you get involved with Posse? In 2008, I volunteered to help jobless people at a tent city that sprung up in Hibiya Park following the “Lehman shock.” It was my first experience with activism and I met people from Posse there.
2. What made you volunteer? Poverty in Japan tends to be hidden. I went to a university seminar about it and realized how serious it is. In my search for solutions, I volunteered and found Posse.