MIRAXMA: Taking Hold of The Future Today One Step at a Time

Do you still remember the viral Japanese tourist who was helping out the homeless in Cebu last May of 2017?

If not, then meet Takashi Castillo (Shiki). Last year, in an article that went viral in June 2017, he was featured because he was helping out homeless people amidst the beautiful scenery of Cebu.

Mr. Takashi Castillo (credit: Takashi Castillo)

Mr. Castillo is a Japanese national who came to the Philippines in November of 2014 to overcome his biggest weakness - the English language. He stayed for three months in order to gain experience and converse with the locals in English fluently. 

While in the Philippines, he was impressed with the culture and the warmth of the people.

Meeting the Locals

Mr. Castillo, whose real name is Takashi Shiki, felt overwhelmed by the scenery outside of his home country and was shocked by the difference in culture. According to him, the Philippine infrastructures were underdeveloped when compared to Japan.

There, in Cebu, he met an adorable little boy named Xander Castillo. Upon meeting this little boy, he felt healed because of the affection Xander gave him. Because of this, little Xander has been like a real brother to him.

Little Xander Castillo (credit: MIRAXMA)

Mr. Castillo said that Xander had brought out the human side of him. "If I had not met him then, I probably wouldn’t have been interested in people and would not have enjoyed my student life in the Philippines. Clearly, this baby made me the person that I am now." added Mr. Castillo.


His encounter with Xander sparked his interest for the Filipino people.

In 2016, he planned to go back to visit his newly-found brother Xander. He sold his old camera and bought a new, more expensive camera, and prepared to go to the Philippines, stopping at Manila first before proceeding to Cebu.

While he was in Manila, a suspicious male took him to a nice restaurant with alcohol and music. After excusing himself, he came back from the washroom to find his belongings had been stolen, including his new camera and wallet.

Luckily, a stranger who sat near them asked him what had happened when he noticed Mr. Castillo panicking. At first, Mr. Castillo was a little uncomfortable because of the person's sexual orientation but like they say, 'Don't judge a book by its cover'.

The stranger introduced himself as Joemel Buendia. As soon as Mr. Castillo explained the situation, he immediately informed the security guards, prompting an investigation to take place. He stayed until morning with Mr. Castillo at the police station.

Joemel Buendia (credit: MIRAXMA)

"I have never met anyone nicer than him. I do not want to justify the robbery, but at the same time I am glad that this horrible incident brought Joemel into my life." Mr. Castillo stated.

Mr. Castillo added: "Me supporting street children in Philippines was motived by the 'essence of human,' which Xander and Joemel made me realize. Human nature is based on diversity and it can be either good or bad. I was supporting children not only because of the injustice of the world, but because I do not want to ignore challenges facing us in life. That made me brave enough to stand up against wrong situations since no one is there to do it."

Selfless Acts of Good Will

Ever since meeting Joemel and Xander, Takashi has since been doing a lot of selfless acts that will help you restore your faith in humanity and make you believe that there is still a lot of goodness in this world.

On May 4, 2017, he helped feed homeless people in Cebu.

Mr. Takashi said, "Please be [patient] until [I] succeed.Whatever happens, I want to help Homeless [people] and I want to change the Philippines."

On May 27, 2017, he went to a police station in Japan to return some lost items he found in different occassions. Namely, these items were: a Samsung Smartphone, a Card case, an iPhone7, a Louis Vuitton Wallet, a Coach keycase, and other items.

As gratitude, the owner of the iPhone7, the Louis Vuitton wallet and the Coach keycase sent him a letter with a gift attached.

"I didn't do this for any return. I rather felt sorry for her." Mr. Castillo said.

On January 27, 2018, he went to Duterte's Kitchen where he offered gifts, gave Japanese snacks and donated his clothes to the children.

He said," I may not be that smart, but I’m smart enough to know that, in normal circumstances, most people don’t take me seriously. But if you put in more work and take more action than you would in normal circumstances, then miracles can happen."

Earlier this May, he interacted with the Badjao tribe and met with one of their chieftains as he carried out helping in support activities during his visit to Davao City.

Travelling the World

In order to learn more about the world, he traveled to different countries. His adventure was fueled by his curiosity to understand more about certain things in certain countries. 

He traveled to Spain in May of 2016 in order to learn more about the history of Spain and its relationship with the Philippines during the colonization period.

In June of  2016, he went to New York to know more about the U.S. Presidential Election.

Then, on September 2017, he  traveled to North Korea in order to answer two questions in his mind: (1) "Is North Korea really a dangerous country?"; and (2) "Can I really do anything to seriously save the Japanese abduction victims without knowing the country?"

MIRAXMA - MIRAIIMA

MIRAXMA (read as me-lie-ma) is a play on the Japanese words "mirai" (future) and "ima" (now). The idea behind this name, according to Mr. Castillo, is that "The future is now...What we define as 'now', is the starting point; the moment where the future gives birth to the past."

The idea behind MIRAXMA started when Mr. Castillo first expressed his intent to create a small town reminiscent of  Cebu in Tokyo on May 21, 2017. In his post, he also said he would like to meet with President Duterte to ask for his support in his plan. 

MIRAXMA's aim is the creation and flourish of a "Philippine Town"  in Japan, called Tokyo Tsukiji Cebu. Through the establishment of a Tokyo-based resort space and a cafe that provides service in Philippine English, MIRAXMA intends to convey the attractiveness  of the Philippines through the charm of the people and the cuisine. 

Tokyo Tsukiji Cebu

Mr. Castillo's idea is to create a Philippine Town in the old Tsukiji marketplace and , hopefully, to propose his idea to the Japanese government.

Unfortunately, the current Governor of Tokyo has some concerns, and is,therefore, against the Tsukiji market relocation plan. Her concern, however, is that there might be some unexpected risks while relocating to Toyosu.

Because of this, Mr. Castillo would like to propose the plan for Tokyo Tsukiji Cebu Town before anyone else would be able to.

How could this project benefit the Philippines and Japan? Mr. Castillo says there are three benefits to this project:

• To foster the economic growth of the Philippines and Japan
  "Japan and the Philippines share an interdependent relationship. The Japanese government announced that they will support a 1 trillion yen project for comprehensive economic cooperation and official development assistance (ODA), as well as private investments over the next five years. However, we [MIRAXMA] cannot really trace the massive foreign investments. But if people from the Philippines can easily come over to Japan to do joint activities, then I [Mr. Castillo] believe it will lead to not only financial assistance, but also the improvement of civilization and economic growth for both countries.
• Improve English proficiency in Japan"Currently, English proficiency in Japan is the lowest in Asia. The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology is trying to add a new “foreign language activity" starting from the fifth grade in elementary school by 2020 in hopes to advance the children's educational progress. If there is an English speaking environment like a Philippine Town, people can easily stop by any time of the day and enjoy the town while practicing speaking English. Then, they get an opportunity to speak English daily as well."
• To build a town that makes use of old buildings in Tsukiji."After making sure of the safety and security of the area, we can gather language schools and global companies. Since it is near the port, we can build a resort-like space, multinational restaurants and cafes with beautiful patios and running an eco-friendly Philippine Jeepney on the premises and so on.. We can make it "a place of recreation" that has never existed in this world's busiest city, Tokyo."

Currently, Mr. Castillo is trying to promote the Philippines' economic growth by communicating the charm of the Philippines, where his little brother [Xander] lives.

"Thank you for your continued support of MIRAXMA, and I hope you will support us in the future as well." Mr. Castillo ended.

To know more about MIRAXMA, you can check out their website or their Facebook page.

You can also follow Mr. Takashi Castillo's Facebook  account to see more of his deeds and progress with MIRAXMA.