"No way" changed: Six years in Northern Iwate. SET Northern Iwate Team disbands, activities succeeded by NPO miraito
Certified NPO SET's Northern Iwate team concludes its six-year activities, disbanding at the end of March 2026. Its youth support projects and youth center operations will be transferred to NPO miraito, ensuring continued youth support in the region. This succession represents a rooted and evolving transition of activities.
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- 📰 Published: May 12, 2026 at 19:00
- 🔍 Collected: May 12, 2026 at 10:31
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A child who once thought, "No way, I can't do it," starts to move forward with "Let's just try it." The record of these moments, accumulated over six years and across three municipalities with junior and senior high school students in northern Iwate, reached a milestone in March 2026.
Certified NPO SET (hereinafter, SET)'s Northern Iwate team began its involvement in Iwate Town in April 2020, subsequently building up youth support programs in Ichinohe Town and Kuzumaki Town. Over six years, more than 60 student-led projects were created, and the related population of youth from outside the towns exceeded 100. This Northern Iwate team will disband as of March 2026 and start with a new structure.
■ From a single scene
There was a moment when a junior high school student from Iwate Town, standing on stage for her first project presentation, murmured before presenting, "Maybe I really can't do it." Yet, after finishing her presentation, she started talking on her own, saying, "Next, I want to try this." This is one of the very ordinary changes fostered not by one-off events, but by a relationship built through repeated visits to the same area and calling each other by name. To accumulate such moments, the "Iwate Town and Our Future Development Project" has been implemented in Iwate Town since fiscal year 2020, and the "Ichinohe Town and Our Future Development Project" in Ichinohe Town since fiscal year 2023. In Kuzumaki Town, SET was entrusted with the youth related population creation project from fiscal year 2021, and also developed the inquiry-based learning support program "Buzz Club" from fiscal years 2023-2024. Approximately 15 junior and senior high school students participate annually in each municipality, and about 60 university students are involved as companions, supporting the change from "I have nothing" to "I have something I want to try."
In 2022, the permanent base "Iwate Youth Center Miraito" was opened in Iwate Town, continuing after-school hours 3-4 times a week. It grew into a hub visited by approximately 600 junior and senior high school students, 350 university students, and 250 local adults annually. From fiscal year 2024, they also started the "Talk Fork Dance Project," where youth and local adults engage in cross-generational dialogue, further expanding the scope of youth support.
For details, please see the note article.
■ The choice of succession
Upon its disbandment in March 2026, the human resource development projects, youth center operations, and dialogue projects in Iwate Town, Ichinohe Town, and Kuzumaki Town will be transferred to NPO miraito and will continue (Iwate Youth Center Miraito has already been transferred as of April 2025).
SET will continue to implement the youth related population creation project in Kuzumaki Town, and moving forward, SET and miraito will collaborate as partners, continuing youth support in northern Iwate under their respective visions. Disbandment is not an end, but a succession to new local stakeholders.
The relationships built over six years with municipalities, schools, university students, local adults, and the youth who took on challenges, remain firmly in this region, changing places and people. If there are young people in your community who can move forward with "Let's just try it," who will nurture that environment? We would be delighted if we could work together to create such an environment.
■ About Certified NPO SET
SET's mission is to "transform individual aspirations into achievements, creating positive change for Japan's future." Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, they have created mechanisms for youth and residents to learn together, primarily in Iwate Prefecture. Through homestays for school trips, programs for university students and adults, and community building, they foster "continuous relationships" where youth are involved in daily life in the region and learn together with residents. In fiscal year 2024, over 5,000 people participated. Currently, they are expanding activities not only in Iwate Prefecture but also in multiple regions. While simultaneously generating youth growth and regional vitality, they are engaged in sustainable regional development based on the relationship between people and the region itself. They have received the Prime Minister's Award twice in the past, and many other awards.
[Organization Overview]
Certified Specified Non-profit Organization SET
Location: 52-6 Yamada, Hirota-cho, Rikuzentakata-shi, Iwate
President: Shunsuke Mitsui
Established: March 12, 2011 (Incorporated: June 18, 2013, Certified: October 16, 2025)
Official website: https://www.nposet.org
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_nposet/?hl=ja
Official Podcast Spotify: https://x.gd/wh4Lo Amazon Music: https://x.gd/TjRP0
[Inquiries regarding interviews]
Public Relations: set.forjapan@nposet.com
Phone: 0192-47-5747
Certified NPO SET (hereinafter, SET)'s Northern Iwate team began its involvement in Iwate Town in April 2020, subsequently building up youth support programs in Ichinohe Town and Kuzumaki Town. Over six years, more than 60 student-led projects were created, and the related population of youth from outside the towns exceeded 100. This Northern Iwate team will disband as of March 2026 and start with a new structure.
■ From a single scene
There was a moment when a junior high school student from Iwate Town, standing on stage for her first project presentation, murmured before presenting, "Maybe I really can't do it." Yet, after finishing her presentation, she started talking on her own, saying, "Next, I want to try this." This is one of the very ordinary changes fostered not by one-off events, but by a relationship built through repeated visits to the same area and calling each other by name. To accumulate such moments, the "Iwate Town and Our Future Development Project" has been implemented in Iwate Town since fiscal year 2020, and the "Ichinohe Town and Our Future Development Project" in Ichinohe Town since fiscal year 2023. In Kuzumaki Town, SET was entrusted with the youth related population creation project from fiscal year 2021, and also developed the inquiry-based learning support program "Buzz Club" from fiscal years 2023-2024. Approximately 15 junior and senior high school students participate annually in each municipality, and about 60 university students are involved as companions, supporting the change from "I have nothing" to "I have something I want to try."
In 2022, the permanent base "Iwate Youth Center Miraito" was opened in Iwate Town, continuing after-school hours 3-4 times a week. It grew into a hub visited by approximately 600 junior and senior high school students, 350 university students, and 250 local adults annually. From fiscal year 2024, they also started the "Talk Fork Dance Project," where youth and local adults engage in cross-generational dialogue, further expanding the scope of youth support.
For details, please see the note article.
■ The choice of succession
Upon its disbandment in March 2026, the human resource development projects, youth center operations, and dialogue projects in Iwate Town, Ichinohe Town, and Kuzumaki Town will be transferred to NPO miraito and will continue (Iwate Youth Center Miraito has already been transferred as of April 2025).
SET will continue to implement the youth related population creation project in Kuzumaki Town, and moving forward, SET and miraito will collaborate as partners, continuing youth support in northern Iwate under their respective visions. Disbandment is not an end, but a succession to new local stakeholders.
The relationships built over six years with municipalities, schools, university students, local adults, and the youth who took on challenges, remain firmly in this region, changing places and people. If there are young people in your community who can move forward with "Let's just try it," who will nurture that environment? We would be delighted if we could work together to create such an environment.
■ About Certified NPO SET
SET's mission is to "transform individual aspirations into achievements, creating positive change for Japan's future." Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in 2011, they have created mechanisms for youth and residents to learn together, primarily in Iwate Prefecture. Through homestays for school trips, programs for university students and adults, and community building, they foster "continuous relationships" where youth are involved in daily life in the region and learn together with residents. In fiscal year 2024, over 5,000 people participated. Currently, they are expanding activities not only in Iwate Prefecture but also in multiple regions. While simultaneously generating youth growth and regional vitality, they are engaged in sustainable regional development based on the relationship between people and the region itself. They have received the Prime Minister's Award twice in the past, and many other awards.
[Organization Overview]
Certified Specified Non-profit Organization SET
Location: 52-6 Yamada, Hirota-cho, Rikuzentakata-shi, Iwate
President: Shunsuke Mitsui
Established: March 12, 2011 (Incorporated: June 18, 2013, Certified: October 16, 2025)
Official website: https://www.nposet.org
Official Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_nposet/?hl=ja
Official Podcast Spotify: https://x.gd/wh4Lo Amazon Music: https://x.gd/TjRP0
[Inquiries regarding interviews]
Public Relations: set.forjapan@nposet.com
Phone: 0192-47-5747