Profile Information

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Tomoyuki Takahashi

  • Organizer of SP Social Support Planning
  • Social Activist: ​Support the social reintegration of patients with depression
  • Nationality: Japanese
  • Born in 1977, live in Hnamaki City, Iwate Prefecture
  • Language: Japanese (native), English (upper intermediate)

Education and Career

Apr. 1996 - Mar. 2000
The University of Tokyo
Majored in cognitive psychology. Also learned acoustic psychology.
Apr. 2001 - Mar. 2003
Studied architectural design and interior design at a vocational school.
Mar. 2003 - Nov. 2004
Worked at a residential design office: Sekkeidoujin Shirai Architect Office.
Mar. 2006 - Jun. 2009
Worked as a freelance English-Japanese translator.
Nov. 2008 - Dec. 2012
Opened Residential Design Laboratory based on physiological psychology.
I acted as an architecture writer. The design of room comfort, such as thermal environment and room acoustics, was the topic. I studied under many leading experts: design technology critics Mr. Yuzo Minami and Mr. Tetsuro Kai, and the renowned audio critic Mr. Shinichiro Ishii.
Oct. 2020 - Present
Operate SP Social Support planning
Publish the English version of the site (my first Japanese - English translation)

Turning Point in My Life

In Apr. 2010, Depression has developed.
I was made to realize how hard it is for a depressed patient to return to work and reintegrate into society in Japan.

The difficulty forced me to move from job to job. Eventually, I fell into “relative poverty.”

In Sept. 2016, “The New Grade Determination Guidelines for Mental Disorders” came into effect.
​Since then, we can no longer receive disability pensions as long as we live alone.

We have been forced to live hand-to-mouth.

On April 17, 2020
In Japan, as a countermeasure against the economic impact of COVID-19, 100,000 yen (about $960) was distributed equally to the needy and those who were not in need.
But originally, 300,000 Japanese yen (about $2,900) was planned to be distributed “only to the needy.”
This series of unreasonable actions has convinced me that “the Japanese government will never save the socially disadvantaged and minorities.”

I've given up on the public support system. Instead, I began to think of establishing a private support system, or a private disability pension system. This wish is the cause for the establishment of SP Social Support Planning.

Qualification

  • TOEIC 885 (1999)
  • Second-class architect (2006)

Interests / Hobbies

Running, photography, PENTAX fan, listening to music (mainly Jazz), and an audiophile.