Hitoshi Shimamura: Mapping Childhood Play and Harnessing our Collective Wisdom

Wednesday, June 25, 2025
8:50 AM - 9:30 AM

Speaker

Agenda Item Image
Hitoshi Shimamura
Director And Founder
Tokyo Play

Play Provocateur

Biography

Born in Tokyo in 1968. Having playful childhood, he was resisting strongly against the emerging academically competitive trend. After volunteering in Hanegi Play Park (the first permanent adventure playground in Japan opened in 1979), he read playwork in Leeds Metropolitan University (UK). His playwork career developed as a playworker on several adventure playground since 1996. Since becoming an independent playworker in 2001, he has worked on play development work and playwork training both domestically and internationally. He set up Tokyo Play as the founding director to create a regional play organisation in 2010 working for realising ‘Play Friendly Tokyo’. Its projects cover such as street play, Playday campaign, child consultation, study tours, publications, policy recommendation, etc. As a council member of representing Japan Branch of IPA (International Play Association promoting child’s right to play), he builds a global network of ‘play people’.
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