Yoko Hayashi, director of the Japanese organization Arts Alive, will be a guest speaker at ARMAS Festival in Finland, held from March 17–31, 2026. ARMAS is a nationwide event that brings together artists, cultural institutions, municipalities, and elderly care professionals to make the arts more accessible to older adults across the country.
Since 2023, Arts Alive, founded by Hayashi, has been leading national pilot projects in Japan based on partnerships between the government, the private sector, and civil society organizations. These projects focus on developing interactive arts programs especially for older adults living at home with limited mobility – people for whom participation in cultural activities is often difficult.
In Japan, loneliness has become a significant social challenge. In response, a law was enacted in 2024 aiming at preventing loneliness and social isolation. At the ARMAS Festival on March 30, Hayashi will present models of Japanese practices, where the arts are seen as a central form of social infrastructure supporting the well-being of older adults.
“By showcasing Japanese initiatives, I want to emphasize that creative participation is not a luxury—it is an effective form of social support. The arts can quickly restore connection and dignity in our rapidly aging societies,” Hayashi says.
ARMAS Festival director Raisa Karttunen looks forward to Hayashi’s talks on Japanese approaches. “We are very excited about Yoko Hayashi’s visit. Finland and Japan are both rapidly aging societies. Thus, exchanging experiences and best practices is extremely important,” says Karttunen.
During her visit, Hayashi hopes to learn more about Finland’s advanced practices in accessibility and inclusivity. She is particularly interested in how the most hard-to-reach older adults are reached in Finland. This includes reaching for example people living with dementia through free tickets, community-based participation models, and low-threshold opportunities.
“When developing our own models for culture and well-being in Japan, it is extremely valuable to understand how the arts have been successfully integrated into Finland’s public health and social services system,” Hayashi notes. “I hope to bring these insights back to Tokyo and use them to make our own festival even more sustainable and accessible for all older adults.”
Hayashi’s visit to Finland is made possible by the Finnish Institute in Japan. “Creative aging is one of the central themes of our program work. Hayashi’s participation at the ARMAS Festival deepens the dialogue between Finland and Japan on this topic. Last year, we also facilitated a presentation of the ARMAS Festival model at the Osaka World Expo, which attracted significant interest,” says Jaakko Nousiainen, director of the Finnish Institute in Japan.
