Kotoko Kimura

Kotoko Kimura featured image

About

Prior to studying at the RCA, I had been working in the consumer business field at Mitsui and Co., one of the biggest business conglomerates in Japan and listed Fortune Global 500, for 13 years. I dealt mainly with the four industrial fields of home electronics, food retail, medical healthcare, and real estate, from launching projects to management. My bachelor degree is in Journalism.


Award

-Silver Linings Competition 2021 Shortlisted (UK)

-HCD-Net AWARD 2020 Finalist (Japan)


Contact

Degree Details

Menopeer -wellbeing for women in midlife

menopeer
menopeer — In 2020, one in two women in Japan became over the age of 50. More than half of women between the ages of 36 and 55 have some form of menopausal symptoms. However, despite this fact, more than half of them do not talk to anyone or do anything about it. As a buddy during the menopause, menopeer helps women to get on the right track by relieving their fears and confusion and offering them a personalised approach to coping without necessarily resorting to medication. We also help women to connect with peer.
Talk
Talk — menopeer has 3 missions, 1st is "We listen to her story, accompany her on menopausal journey to guide her in the right direction". As for this, the focus is first and foremost on listening, and you can meet with a Menopause counsellor or mentor online. Users can choose a mentor not only by the symptoms they experience, but also by the challenges they experience, such as balancing work and caregiving, or communication breakdowns between couples.
Programme
Programme — 2nd is "We Provide non-medical approaches and lower the barriers to starting self-care". To lower the barriers to self-care, non-medical approaches such as exercise, mindfulness and diet are included in the programme to make it easier for people to participate. The programme is online and short, so you can access it in your spare time, lowering the barriers to getting started.
Community
Community — The last mission is "We connect her with peer to have emotional support, and inspire each other". I believe that community is the most important feature of this service: finding a peer prevents loneliness and allows you to gain inspiration from the experiences of others.There are rooms for each symptom and coping mechanism, where users can share their experiences and answer questions. I hope that people will use the site as a place to complain and let out their feelings from time to time.