SAMURAI CUT is a philanthropic fashion brand established in Tokyo. We asked ourselves the question: what if we were as obsessive about how to solve the world's problems as what we choose to wear? At SAMURAI CUT, 10% of all sales will be donated to a humanitarian organization that you CHOOSE at checkout and we custom MARK on your shirt. Together, we can make the world a more peaceful place for all.
We started SAMURAI CUT with the vision that empathy can cross boundaries. Our tagline, “We Cut, We Bleed,” represents the universal nature of our struggles. “Bleed” not only alludes to physical wounds but also the emotional pain that human beings share worldwide.
Our ultimate goal is for our customers to feel closer to the world around them so they too can become active participants toward achieving global peace.
CHARITY
“CHOOSE” A CHARITY
We know there are other ethical fashion brands out there that donate to charity. But we're the only ones where you take charge. We work with several different non-profit organizations so that you get to choose where to make your donation. Just as you are deliberate about your fashion choices, we hope that you will spend a moment to think about the causes that your donation will support. What problem will you tackle today? SAMURAI CUT will tackle global issues by synergy of Fashion and Charity. Global issues, that we need to take hands and unite globally. Especially, we focus on 4 categories, Pollution, Natural Disaster, Education crises, Medical crisis.
“MARK” YOUR PRIDE
We think you should be proud of having made the world a better place. All orders on SAMURAI CUT will be custom embroidered with a world map with two dots: one for where you ordered, and one for the cause you donated to.
We have mission to: Safeguard sea turtle populations, migration routes and habitats, and support activities that increase sea turtle numbers worldwide.
About Turtles
For over 120 million years, sea turtles have survived in the world’s oceans, crossing great distances in an epic journey that starts from birth. Today, human impacts and a changing environment threaten their existence. Can the turtles survive?
Sea turtles are perfectly adapted to their environment. Their unique life cycle, body shape, strength and tenacity have enabled them to adapt to a constantly changing environment for over 120 million years, a period in which many other animals – including the dinosaurs – became extinct.
But now human impacts have seriously depleted sea turtle populations to the point where we are in danger of losing some species forever. Today the long term future of sea turtles is uncertain. Turtles face many threats from changes in climate, loss of nesting habitat, increased ocean pollution, and deliberate and accidental deaths caused by fishing activities around the world. These factors combined are pushing many of the world’s populations of sea turtles toward extinction.
**Warning: This video contains images of animal cruelty which may distress some viewers
Solution & Sea Turtle Foundation
Sea Turtle Foundation is a non-profit, non-government group working to protect sea turtles through research, education and action. Sea Turtle Foundation is working to address these threats through rescuing stranded turtles in North Queensland, training others to respond to strandings, providing educational programs for schools and communities and supporting research into turtle health and ecology throughout the Indo-Pacific region.
It is no coincidence that these beautiful and charismatic animals are the photogenic face of so many tourism brochures and environmental campaigns. Besides being iconic symbols of our ocean environment, sea turtles fulfil vital functions in ocean ecosystems. The time has come for us to protect sea turtles and rebuild their populations to healthy and sustainable levels as a vital step in ensuring healthy and resilient oceans for the future.
To support the local NPO’s capacity building which will be leaders of the reconstruction
Current situation in Tohoku・The activities of Japan Platform
Abruptly six years have passed since The Great East Japan Earthquake. Six years ago, Japan Platform has decided to launch within three hours of the earthquake, right after that they have opened a Tohoku headquarters in Sendai and have allocated three regional managers in the three prefectures of Iwate, Miyagi and Fukushima and have rapidly supported the victims of The Great East Japan Earthquake.
Even now, about 123,000 of the people live in evacuation shelters and more than half of them are from Fukushima. As their lives at evacuation shelters protracts, the evacuation signals at the areas which have been polluted radio actively have been gradually released due to the progress of decontamination work. As we are faced with the truncation of support and the decision of life reconstruction, we are also worried about earthquake related deaths.
JPF (Japan Platform) has listed five priority activities (Support for the Socially Vulnerable, Strengthening regional Safety nets, Sustaining regional culture, Corresponding to the fear of radio activity, Promoting networks of local entities) which have been analyzed by the needs and the situations of the local areas for the people of Fukushima who are dealing with mixed complex questions.
Also we have done such things as monitoring together to finish the transfer in order to move the function cooperation of adjustment which the JPF has played a main role in the "Iwate Fukko Collaboration Center", since last year, to put the reconstruction the local people have consistently embraced on full gear.
Also at Miyagi, we have classified many functions at JPF such as monitoring and cooperation adjustment and moving the two organizations into work, “The Sanaburi Foundation” and “Miyagi Fukko Collaboration Center” by taking advantage of the niches. We have been able to continue support from the rear by outsourcing and thanks to the collaboration each local intermediate organizations have established thus far.
※1: Reconstruction Agency 2017/2/28 announced
JPF「Living together」 Fund
This fund was launched April, 2011 targeted to help the local NPOs and NGOs who are the subjects of the reconstruction the Great East Japan Earthquake in order to work out a fast and smooth support for the leakage of support or the needs of the victims effectively. Not only provisions of funds but also monitoring projects, developing plans for action and advice on business managing operations, and such things as cooperation adjustments for support with the administration and other organizations, which are the key players in widely giving support to the local NGOs to enable their capabilities for reconstruction.
The grantee organizations are autonomous societies of mainly regions, a society where various generations can inhabit together, nonprofit organizations with legal personalities to start up businesses to support reconstruction for the ideals of cherishing the culture and traditions of the region and they do not have to be members of the JPF. We have so far supported 372 businesses (April, 2017) and since the second half of 2016, we have concentrated on the activities regarding helping the victims of Fukushima.
The four supporting areas of the「Living Together」 Fund
【Support for safety nets】
It is a support to give fully support for the subjects and people that administrations cannot cover and to give the victims the ability to live healthy with relief.
【Support for the community】
It is a support to create collaboration between the neighborhoods for reconstruction through providing the local people with gatherings and process of working together.
【Support for occupation】
It is a support to help stabilize the lives of the victims through providing information about jobs with descent salaries, which the victims can live on.
【Coordination Support】
It is a support to give support for collaboration and adjustment and so with NPOs and NGOs and the administration to efficiently work out the support for safety nets, support for the communities and the support for occupation.
An effort to make the children of Syria and Jordan happy through education
Situation in Jordan
Jordan, although based in the Middle East is a country which lacks in natural resources and is impacted by foreign short term investments, capital flows and at the same time affected hugely, socially and economically by the current situation in the region. With a vulnerable economy, the country has accepted many refugees from other countries in the region. Currently, 70 percent of the population is said to be Palestinian and ever since the Syrian civil war, many people have flowed in from the unstable country. Under these circumstances, there is a huge concern that accepting refugees is affecting the country’s inflation of products and housing prices and widening the wealth gap.
The Influx of Syrian Refugees,
The exhaustion of the hosting countries
May 2018, Jordan has about 660,000 refugees registered in the UNHCR (United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees). About 80 percent of them live in areas called “Host Communities” which are based in the cities and suburbs outside the refugee camps. They are concentrated in the Northern part of Jordan called Irbid and Mafraq, which is also located in the border between Syria and cities such as the capital Amman and Zarqa.
The Syrian refugees are affected by a shortage of their means of living and deep isolation, which has them in a critical situation because of the protracting civil war. The children of the Syrian refugees especially are in risks of child labor, early marriage, sexual exploitation and joining armed groups and we have to protect them physically by letting them go to school for a good education. Ever since the schools accepting Syrian refugee students, students in Jordan are affected by the systems of the schools changing and splitting to daytimes and afternoon times which has created less time for studies and this has influenced not only the Syrian students’ who have to come to school from a further distance but also the Jordanian students’ grades in a negative a way.
In order to prevent creating the so called “The Lost Generation” among Syrians who aren’t able to go to school but also for the Jordanians to be able to have a proper education it is our duty to support them through an international framework for a perpetual way of education. It is in fact listed as one of the top priorities in the “Regional Response Plan” for Syrian refugee humanitarian crisis. For the future of both countries it is critical for us to support the education of the children who are expected to lead society.
Education Support for Zaatari Refugee Camp
At a secondary school in the camp, Kokkyo naki Kodomotachi (KnK) have hired Jordanian instructors and Syrian assistants to teach classes for music, theater, story writing, and career education. These classes are giving the children a chance to self-express their stress and trauma. In addition, career education classes offers Syrian refugee children opportunities in the prolonged refugee life to look positively at their futures and at what they can do now for the future.
By having each subject consisting with Arabic as well as English, which is known as a language, Syrian students tend to have difficulty learning, we will also try to improve their academic levels.
Education Support in the host community (outside of the camp)
In the city of Amman where a lot of refugees live, we had provided remedial classes for Syrian and Jordanian children at twenty four public schools in total from 2014 to 2017. At class, students of both countries gather their desks around to study Arabic, Mathematics and English and develop a friendship though joining recreational activities KnK arranged. Since June, 2018, KnK have launched a new project aiming at developing social skills of Syrian and Jordanian children in public schools.
An effort to provide guaranteed medicine to the African people through the provisions of Medicine
Africa is suffering a lack of medicine resources, and of course there is no such thing as universal healthcare that we tend to take it for granted on. It is known to have bad access to hospitals and pharmacies due to the lack of infrastructure, even if you make it to a hospital, you are faced with problems as long waits and expensive costs. As a result, you are not able to get basic health service even if you are sick, the sickness can become more severe and worse case scenario, you could die. To improve this situation, we want to provide Japanese medicine to all of Africa, through this moto we have founded AfriMedco.
“Children could die because of a high fever”
Based on a experience by Representative Director Ms.Machii.
When working in Niger as a Japanese Overseas Cooperation Volunteer,
a mother in a village came up to me and asked with her child in her arms,
“My child will die because of a high fever. I need 200yen to go to the hospital.
Japanese people are rich right?”
What would if you were in my situation?
Me? I couldn't do anything.
When I came to the next village,
The boy was gone.
If I had given the money?? Was that the right thing to do??Ms. Machii has been repeating these words ever since. Ever since this incident, she has decided to establish a continual moving system to fundamentally solve and at the same time prioritize a temporarily support for a resolution of the Medical problems in Africa.
A country which about 150000 people die of diarrhea every year・Tanzania
If only… we could have provided medicine to save these lives.
Tanzania where AfriMedico is working actively, over 150000 children die of diarrheal disease and over 30000 children die of Malaria every year.
Africa is suffering a lack of medicine resources, and of course there is no such thing as universal healthcare that we tend to take it for granted on. It is known to have bad access to hospitals and pharmacies due to the lack of infrastructure, even If you make it to a hospital, you are faced with problems as long waits and expensive costs, especially private ones and no cure medicine. As a result, you are not able to get basic health service even if you are sick, the sickness can become more severe and worse case scenario, you could die.
A system where anyone can have access to health care
African 「household medicine」Project
AfriMedico got a hint from the system of the [The household medicine of Toyama - Japan].We are actively trying to penetrate in modern Africa the household medicine system, which has protected Japanese health about 300 years through the Edo period to.
The Japanese 「household medicine」system has been said to have started in Toyama prefecture 300 years ago in the Edo era. The system allows the customer to keep the household medicine before any purchases then will allow them to use the necessary amount when necessary.
Then the merchant in charge will come to gather payments for the medicine used, and refill the stock again. A deferred payment system.
Bwama, a village which AfriMedico is actively working on a project, there are no hospitals, pharmacies and it is about 14km to the nearest clinic. And of course, you cannot casually call for an ambulance. The cost of calling an ambulance for them is worth their monthly wage. Agriculture being the main subject f their salaries, the system which you are allowed to pay after is ideal for them.
If household medicine were allocated in their homes and they were able to take proportional amount, we can save their lives by supporting and teaching them the self medication understanding for their health. Just putting medicine in each household is not enough. We have to teach them the difference between a disease which they can take care of by a household medicine and one which you will have to go to hospital to get it looked at. That way we can help them learn to take care of themselves and become independent.
For that, AfriMedico has not just provided household medicine, but also have built household medicine stations and consultation rooms.
To achieve the mission based on health and happiness, our journey has just begun. We would love to have your support. Aiming to become an official NPO, and we are recruiting 100 monthly supporters. Would you like to join us?
