50 Years of Continuity Requires 50 Years of Planning

The continuation of something for a year can be attributed to enthusiasm. If it lasts five years, it may be considered a habit; ten years might be called a culture. However, when it comes to fifty or eighty years, it can no longer be sustained solely by individual passion. There must be a system in place that someone has organized. Behind the scenes, there are arrangements that go unnoticed, procedures for handovers, flows of funding, and methods for record-keeping. The structures that support continuity operate quietly behind the scenes.

In Iwakuni City, the free distribution of crickets has been ongoing for over fifty years. The 71st Air Squadron of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The Hiroshima Prefectural Kunitachi High School is holding its 80th memorial service for the victims of the atomic bomb. Meanwhile, the Onomichi Hibaku (Atomic Bomb Victim) Association faces challenges of aging and succession. While these activities differ greatly in scale and nature, they share a common question: What does it mean to “continue”—who takes on what responsibilities?

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Cricket Distribution—The Design Behind 52 Years of “Delivery”

The free distribution of crickets in Iwakuni City began in the 1970s and has now entered its 52nd year. Every summer, around 1,000 crickets are distributed to citizens. Lines form at the venue from early morning, and families carrying small cases filled with crickets have become a part of the summer landscape in the community.

However, the 1,000 crickets do not simply appear by themselves. Rearing them requires careful management of temperature and humidity, selecting and frequently changing their food, and preparing soil for laying eggs—these are tedious and labor-intensive tasks that continue throughout the year. Local volunteers take on these responsibilities. The know-how for rearing crickets is passed down through word of mouth and notes, creating a system that ensures “even if one person leaves, it can still operate.”

Financially, the initiative is sustained not only through government subsidies but also by combining sponsorship from local businesses and small donations from residents. There is no flashy publicity. However, the fact that the distribution occurs at the same time and place every year serves as the strongest announcement. “I got some last year, so I’ll go again this year”—this repetition builds trust, and trust attracts people. This is what a system of quiet circulation looks like.

The weight of the number 52 lies in the fact that someone has prepared for 52 summers. From the initial few crickets to the current scale of 1,000, how many hands have been involved? The names of each individual may not be recorded. Yet, at the moment when crickets land in the hands of children waiting in line—therein lies the culmination of 52 years of planning.

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The 71st Air Squadron of the Maritime Self-Defense Force—Sustainability of the Organization and Its Design to “Open Up to the Community”

The 71st Air Squadron of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force celebrated its 50th anniversary with a commemorative ceremony. The mere fact that a Self-Defense Force unit has persisted for 50 years is supported by national systems and budgets, which is fundamentally different from local volunteer activities. However, what is noteworthy is how this air squadron has bridged the gap between “continuing as an organization” and “rooting itself in the community.”

Squadron members are transferred every few years. This means that personal relationships alone cannot maintain connections with the community. Nevertheless, the 71st Air Squadron has been recognized and accepted by the local community due to the institutionalization of community contribution activities. Outreach classes at local elementary schools, open base events, and collaborative training during disasters—these activities are not merely the goodwill of individual members but are incorporated into the squadron’s operational plans as a system.

Even as personnel change, activities do not cease because the “necessary tasks” are documented in the organization’s procedure manuals rather than relying on individual memory. This eliminates personal dependency and embeds tasks into the system. This is a characteristic of the Self-Defense Forces as an organization, but it also serves as a reference point for considering the sustainability of community activities.

Over the past 50 years, the squadron’s missions have evolved. The emphasis on disaster relief has increased, and opportunities for international cooperation have expanded. Yet, the sight of local children visiting the base and gazing in awe at the aircraft remains unchanged. Distinguishing between what changes and what remains constant, and protecting the unchanging aspects as a system—this is how an organization continues to convey its significance to the community over 50 years.

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Kunitachi High School’s Memorial Service—80 Years of Changing Students

The Hiroshima Prefectural Kunitachi High School’s memorial service for the atomic bomb victims marks its 80th year this year. The event, which mourns the students and staff who perished in the bombing of 1945, began shortly after the war and has continued without interruption.

Eighty years carries a special significance for a high school. Students graduate in three years, meaning that any given student can participate in the memorial service at most three times. Over the course of 80 years, at least 26 generations of students have cycled through. Yet, the event has maintained its form because the “handover” is embedded as a system within the school.

Student councils and organizing committees are formed each year, and preparations are based on records from the previous year. The content of speeches, procedures for laying flowers, and guidance for attendees—detailed arrangements are documented and passed on to new generations. Importantly, the goal is not merely to adhere to the form. During each memorial service, students research the history of the bombing and deliver speeches in their own words. While the form is preserved, the content is renewed each year. This structure of “the vessel remains the same, but the contents are updated” enables the continuity of the event for 80 years.

Now that the generation that directly experienced the bombing has nearly vanished, the memorial service serves as a “device of memory.” While individual memories may fade, the system carries those memories to the next generation. This is structurally similar to the procedure manuals of the cricket distribution volunteers and the operational plans of the air squadron.

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Onomichi Hibaku Association—What Happens When There Is No System

In contrast to these examples is the current situation of the Onomichi Hibaku Association. The average age of atomic bomb survivors exceeds 85, and the number of members continues to decline. The generation that has been the backbone of activities is aging, and there is a shortage of successors.

The activities of the association—recording testimonies, cooperating in peace education, and making requests to the government—have long been supported by the presence and will of the survivors themselves. In other words, the very existence of “stakeholders” has served as a substitute for a system. However, when those stakeholders are no longer present, if the structure supporting the activities is not sufficiently established, the endeavors will cease.

The reason Kunitachi High School’s memorial service has continued for 80 years is that it built a system anticipating an era without stakeholders relatively early on. In contrast, the activities of the Hibaku Association relied heavily on the voices of stakeholders, which has delayed the transition to a structured system. This is not a criticism; there is inherently nothing that can replace the voices of the stakeholders.

However, the day will inevitably come when those voices can no longer be heard. At that time, what will remain as a vessel? Archiving testimonial videos, cultivating young “transmitters,” and establishing collaborative programs with local schools—some initiatives have already begun. The question now is whether a system based on the premise of “absence of stakeholders” can be created while stakeholders are still present.

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Common Structures Behind Continuity

When we line up these four cases, several common elements that support sustainability emerge.

First, the elimination of personal dependency. Sharing know-how for rearing crickets, operational plans of the air squadron, and handover documents for the memorial service—all are designed to avoid a situation where “it cannot operate without that person.”

Second, the design of entry points for participation. Families coming to receive crickets, elementary school students visiting the base, and high school students giving speeches at the memorial service—all these activities provide natural touchpoints for potential future caretakers.

Third, distinguishing between what changes and what remains constant. The form of the memorial service is preserved while the words are updated. The squadron’s missions evolve while maintaining connections to the community. If everything is fixed, it becomes rigid; if everything changes, the meaning of continuity is lost. Where to draw the line in between is the essence of designing a system.

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Continuing Means Delivering

The numbers 50 and 80 are not goals in themselves. The system exists for the moments when crickets reach the hands of children, when elementary school students gaze in wonder at aircraft, and when 17-year-old high school students speak in their own words about the deaths of their peers from 80 years ago—those moments of “delivery” are what the system is for.

While glamorous beginnings are often newsworthy, it is the quiet continuation of endeavors that reflects the accumulation of someone’s arrangements and judgments. This is work that rarely receives recognition or leaves names behind.

The question faced by the Onomichi Hibaku Association is one that all community activities will eventually confront. After the stakeholders are gone, what will remain? In what vessel will we place what should be preserved?

Behind the fact that something is “continuing” lies the effort of those who sought to keep it going. Within the systems they have created, the seeds for the next 50 years are sown.