Ai Tokimatsu

Idea generator, Job-seeker, Parent, Social entrepreneur, Writer/Editor

Founder of Japan's first and only running stroller exercise program, Baby Run. My story on the TED blog: http://blog.ted.com/how-translating-ted-talks-helped-me-recover/ Raised by a single father with a heavily disabled brother. As a daughter of an avid Extension Scouting leader, I grew up around children with various disabilties and that experience shaped my definition of what diversity really is. I got a masters degree in TESL at Saint Michael’s College. I became a part-time lecturer in 2000 teaching English at serveral universities in Japan. Then I got sick with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome/Fibromyalgia (CFS/FM), and I became semi bed-ridden for about 7 years. No one knows the cause of this disease yet. Some say it could be stress, genetic, a virus or basicly anything, and no one has yet found the answer. After dealing with CFS/FM for 7 years, I know what it is like to be in pain and fatigued 24/7. I was also without much support from family and friends. During this time, I met my sweet husband Hideo and later I gave birth to my son, and then to my daughter. Now I have my own family and it is the biggest dream come true for me. Right after my son was born in 2007, I miraculously got recovered. One day I opened up the door and stepped out for grocery shopping with my son on a stroller. The breeze. The sunlight. Our precious baby boy. Everything seemed so vivid. Every single step was a sheer joy. A trip to the nearest supermarket ended up as the very beginning of the journey to the outside world again. As I tried to increase my stride, I realized there was no running stroller exercise program in Japan, so my husband I decided to start one in a very Japanese style. As an intercultural studies major, I just knew a direct translation of the Western classes was not good enough. The activities needed to be localized. In the journey of my life, having being abused and abandoned by my mother, doing house chores and studying at the same time as a teenager, volunteering for all of my life, marrying a man who has a quiet yet strong passion to contribute to the society, and mothering are all shaping me now. These are the dots connecting my life. I am an entrepreneur/wife/mother now. It's my mission to think and act how I can give back to the community which supported me through the darkest hours. I am a firm believer that an entrepreneur should volunteer to the fullest giving back to the community that we do business with. By this, I hope I can be a role model for young children who are struggling against great odds. I would like to see myself as a lifelong learner. I am grateful for TED and its community, for helping me go where my curiosity and my heart take me.

Baby Run, translation, special education

To make the ties between TED, TEDx events, Translators, and the Fellow program tighter. English proficiency does not show how an idea holder is great or not. To make every single TED/TEDx talk subtitled so that "the hidden gems" from non-English speakers at local TEDx events all around World can have a chance to go on TED.com.

Baby Run, Disaster Relief, Mother of two, Special Education, TESL

http://blog.ted.com/2014/05/13/how-translating-ted-talks-helped-me-recover/

Getting recovered from Sepsis! I’m a 3 time Sepsis survivor.