At this forum, under the belief "Peace begins in the heart," Hayashi presented how the value of "memories" supports people's hearts and can lead to solutions for social issues such as war and poverty, addressing challenges of isolation and worsening mental health in modern society. Her speech garnered significant interest and empathy from domestic and international participants.

◆What is the "Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity"?

This is one of Asia's largest international forums, held annually on Jeju Island, South Korea, to discuss peace and cooperation in East Asia. It is an official platform where top-tier experts from around the world, including UN officials, former heads of state, Nobel Peace Prize laureates, and business leaders, gather to discuss solutions for global issues.

◆Approaching "Loneliness" and "Emotional Hunger" and Declining Self-Esteem in Modern Society

It is estimated that one in five young people worldwide experiences loneliness, and over 12.5% of all humanity suffers from mental illness. At the beginning of her speech, Hayashi emphasized, "Only humans, with their wisdom, cause social issues like war, poverty, and environmental destruction. Therefore, by approaching the human heart and filling it with the energy of compassion and love from within, we can bring peace to the world."

Yumefoto aims to be not just a company with large sales, but "the world's number one brand that can deeply connect with people's hearts." At its origin are the important teachings of humanity left by her grandmother, born in the Meiji era: "Gratitude, wastefulness, putting oneself below others, cherishing parents, thankfulness, altruism, humility, filial piety," and the strong desire from the company's founding to "give form to the true treasures within the invisible heart."

◆Preventing Loneliness and Division with the Power of Albums: Yumefoto's Challenge in Solving Social Issues (CSV Management)

In her speech, Yumefoto and the Japan Album Therapy Association introduced specific examples of social business and CSV management practices that leverage the power of memories.

1. Saving Young Lives by Introducing "Photos of Being Loved" into Graduation Albums

Yumefoto delivers graduation albums to 100,000 children annually. Beyond simply recording events, the company promotes an initiative to provide each student with a page of photos that, when they face difficulties or feel lonely in adulthood, can help them reaffirm, "I am not alone" and "I was truly loved." They are currently undertaking the ambitious challenge of reaching 1 million children with such activities.

2. Bringing Light to a Super-Aging Society with the "Children's Essay & Panel Contest" to Connect Families

In Japan, facing a super-aging society, this activity has been conducted for the past five years, where elementary and junior high school students interview the oldest members of their community (great-grandparents) to hear their life stories and create essays and panels. Episodes were presented that resolve loneliness and division by experiencing the connection of life, such as a grandchild reconnecting with their grandfather who had dementia and become estranged, and a truant child who began attending school after learning about the hardships of wartime.

3. Establishing "Album Therapy" to Save Minds and Emotions

They developed the "Album Therapy" course, which utilizes the heart and emotions, not just the head and knowledge. It has been proven that the happiness hormone "oxytocin" increases with just a 3-hour course by looking through photos from one's childhood. Hayashi shared a real-life example of a mother who had struggled for two years, seeking counseling because she "couldn't love her child," but who, through the course, shed tears and regained her gratitude towards her child.

Furthermore, for every album delivered, they donate one school meal in Africa, having provided over 300,000 meals to date. They pursue "CSV (Creating Shared Value) management" where business growth directly leads to solving social issues.

The speech, filled with the "value of memories" and compassion for others, spread throughout the venue, enveloping it in a warm sense of unity.

◆After the Speech: Representative Director Sayuri Hayashi

"The one photograph that special attack corps members carried with them in their final moments was of their mothers or beloved families.

Such priceless treasures of the heart, which cannot be bought with any amount of money, warm people from the inside.

I feel that through my participation in this Jeju Forum, I was able to convey to the world the immense potential of the "value of memories," which we have long engaged with, to provide profound solace against the deep darkness of "loneliness and isolation" and worsening mental health that modern society faces.

I will never forget that moment when the compassion of people for each other spread throughout the venue, enveloping it in a warm sense of unity.

If humans are the ones who create social problems, then when human hearts are filled with compassion, the world can be transformed into peace. The only thing all humanity can take with them in the end are memories. All lives have equal value.

We will continue to fully dedicate ourselves to the challenge of enveloping the Earth in warm energy, starting from the individual in front of us, to the community, and then to the world, using "memories" – a tool like an amulet that everyone on Earth possesses."

◆Event Overview: "21st Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity"

Forum Name: 21st Jeju Forum for Peace and Prosperity 2026

Speaker: Sayuri Hayashi, Representative Director, Yumefoto Inc.

Official Website: https://jejuforum.or.kr/en/

▼You can watch the full lecture from that day on video here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swvrKWs9gdg

【Company Profile】

Yumefoto Inc.

◆Contact Information

TEL: 0120-927-928 (Weekdays 9:00-18:00)

FAX: 0120-967-920

E-mail: [email protected]

Contact Person's Email: [email protected] (Contact: Oda)

*For details about this release or to request an interview, please contact the above inquiry contact.

◆HP

Corporate Site (https://www.yumephoto.co.jp/)

Graduation Album Brand Site (https://www.yumephoto.com/)

Sotsuenalbum.com (https://www.sotsuenalbum.com/)

General Incorporated Association Japan Album Therapy Association (https://album-therapy.or.jp/)

◆Location: 1-2-17 Higashishinsaibashi, Chuo-ku, Osaka-shi, Osaka Prefecture, 7F

◆Established: May 1998

◆Capital: 10 million yen

◆Representative Director: Sayuri Hayashi

◆Business Activities

Over 1 million cumulative graduation and preschool graduation albums produced. Since its founding, the company has specialized in "giving form to memories" and has developed services and software that convey and preserve the "value of memories," centered around the album business.

FACT BOX

  • Source: PR TIMES
  • Category: 登壇レポート