Youka Watanabe is an artist, organizer, educator, and the Director of FabLab Kamakura. She co-founded FabLab Kamakura in 2012, as one of the first FabLabs in East Asia. Since then, she has led FabLab Kamakura as a cross-generational learning and creation space, deeply connected to the local community. In 2023, she opened up an alternative school at FabLab Kamakura for children who were refusing to attend their local school. Realizing that all the children in this program were neurodivergent, Watanabe has increasingly focused her attention on supporting the individual needs of these children, and deepening her understanding of effective approaches. While encountering many challenges along the way, she has seen the children in her program thriving with the support of community mentors who support them in pursuing their interests through hands-on creation.
