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Documentary 7: Children in Impoverished Regions Experience the "Joy of Self-Expression" Through a Fashion Show! The Stage Moves from the Philippines to Cambodia, and then to Japan...

Published Apr 29, 2026 1:51 AM ・ Updated Jun 2, 2026 1:02 PM ・ 9 min read ・ Source: PR TIMES

TV Osaka's documentary "Documentary 7" will feature Ayumi Nishigawa, representative director of the NPO "DEAR ME," which organizes fashion shows for children in impoverished areas. The 37th episode, titled "BLOOM / Blooming ~A Runway Across Borders~," will showcase the NPO's activities in Cambodia and Japan, following its 11-year history starting from the Philippines. The documentary explores how fashion empowers children to express themselves and build confidence.

"People who contribute to our lives without standing out," "people who stand by and walk with the socially vulnerable." "Documentary 7" is a documentary program that shines a spotlight on such individuals found through daily news coverage. The 37th episode follows Ayumi Nishigawa, the representative director of NPO DEAR ME, which is operated mainly by Japanese students, and who initiated these activities.

The 37th episode: "BLOOM / Blooming ~A Runway Across Borders~"

Cambodia's "Killing Fields." In the 1970s, it was one of the places where massacres occurred under the Pol Pot regime, and the bones of executed people are preserved there.

The targets of the massacre were intellectuals deemed anti-establishment. Many teachers were killed, and the education system collapsed. As a result, schools still face challenges such as teacher shortages and lack of teaching materials, and children are said to be poor at self-assertion and self-expression.

This year, NPO DEAR ME held a fashion show in such a Cambodia. The purpose was to let children experience the "joy of being able to express themselves."

The site is managed by university students from Japan.

The person who started this activity is Ayumi Nishigawa from Kobe, the representative director of "DEAR ME." She loved fashion since childhood, and in college, she traveled alone as a backpacker, photographing fashion around the world. In the process, she witnessed impoverished children who could not wear the clothes they liked, and she began to think about giving them dreams through her beloved fashion. In 2015, she operated it with six university students and held the first fashion show in the Philippines.

The handmade fashion show, where children are the "stars," has now grown into a popular event even in the capital city of Manila. All the models for the show visited by the reporting team this time are children from impoverished areas.

In addition to DEAR ME students, the staff supporting the stage includes students from the Osaka Seikei University Faculty of Arts who are in charge of the models' costumes. The operating funds come from crowdfunding and corporate support. Travel and accommodation expenses are all self-funded. Nishigawa has also started initiatives for continuous support, such as establishing a free fashion school in Manila in 2023.

Amidst this, this year, the 11th year since the start of the activities, with the desire to carry out projects with children around the world, they decided to hold a fashion show in Cambodia for the first time outside the Philippines.

One of the models, Ann, a 4th-grade elementary school student who attends a school that teaches English to poor children, lost her father early and lives with her mother and older brother. Her mother is busy with work and cannot be with her children, so Ann is slightly behind in her studies and has a shy personality.

However, on the day of the fashion show, she wears a self-designed costume and confidently walks the runway. Ann's mother was filled with emotion at the sight.

The program also closely followed the first fashion show in Japan.

Two companies/organizations that operate children's cafeterias in Osaka's Ikuno Ward, a multicultural coexistence town with a high percentage of foreign residents, cooperated as models.

Hung's son, Min, who came to Japan from Vietnam for his father's work and receives Japanese language education support, became a model. What was the unexpected reason he burst into tears during the costume fitting...?

Children from different countries have different appearances, cultures, and personalities, but gaining confidence and expressing themselves through fashion and makeup is universal.

We will deliver exclusive footage of the behind-the-scenes of the fashion show, filled with the thoughts of young entrepreneurs and students, through long-term close coverage.

Program Information

Title: "Documentary 7"

Broadcaster: TV Osaka

Broadcast Date and Time: April 30, 2026 (Thursday) 1:00 AM JST

Program HP: https://www.tv-osaka.co.jp/documentary7/

The program can also be watched on TVer after broadcast: https://tver.jp/series/sr9b4wa97m

Past broadcasts are available on YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXglZY9f1Kw3kt9JiwuO2qcXr4mKDt08P

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Source: PR TIMES
Category: News

Documentary 7: Children in Impoverished Regions Experience the "Joy of Self-Expression" Through a Fashion Show! The Stage Moves from the Philippines to Cambodia, and then to Japan...

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