ONE STORY AWARD – From New York to Dubai | Women who overcame numerous challenges and obstacles to take on the world stage

ONE STORY AWARD – From New York to Dubai | Women overcome numerous challenges and obstacles to take on the world stage ​
ONE STORY AWARD Inc. Press Release: August 28, 2025 ONE STORY AWARD – From New York to Dubai | Women overcome numerous challenges and obstacles to take on the world stage The One Story Awards, which began in 2022, have been scheduled to be held in Dubai in September of this year, following the JAPAN Awards held at the Palace Hotel Tokyo and the NY Awards held during New York Fashion Week.
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The “ONE STORY AWARD JAPAN” was held at the Palace Hotel Tokyo on February 17, 2025. Last year’s NY Awards International Ambassadors were invited as guests. ■ “Overcoming Difficulties and Obstacles” – A conversation with two contestants released This time, two contestants competing in both the New York and Dubai awards (Maki Suetomo and Elena Saionji) spoke with Kazuma Tsuruta, representative of ONE STORY AWARD. Here are some excerpts from the conversation. The thought I arrived at after overcoming numerous difficulties: “We must not change.” Maki Suetomo, who will be competing in both awards as an international ambassador, says that a turning point came when she became ill at age 17 and underwent major surgery at age 18, which gave her a strong sense of purpose and a strong desire to change. Believing that “tough times are the times for great change,” she overcame numerous obstacles and continues to work as both a welfare business owner and the organizer of the Tokai Awards. Regarding her
participation in the Dubai Awards, she said, “I want to learn about the cultures of each country, share Japanese culture, and build relationships where I can invite people to my home base in Nagoya and offer them hospitality.” Creating a stage where people with
disabilities can appear in fashion collections around the world The other is Saionji Elena, who will compete in both awards as a collection model selected by designer Shun Koyama, who presented his collection at New York Fashion Week. Saionji was born without a nose or mouth, and was repeatedly hospitalized until she was around 20 years old. She also lost hearing in her left ear due to an illness at the age of four. Thinking, “I’ll try to challenge myself to do what I think is the most difficult thing to challenge myself,” she has appeared on stage as a model and has also created fashion shows for people with disabilities. She has stated her ambition to “create a stage where people with disabilities can appear in fashion collections around the world, and in order to do that, I first need to gain experience and establish a track record on the international stage.” You can read the conversation between Kazuma Tsuruta and the two contestants on the ONE STORY AWARD official website. Conversation article: https://onestoryaward.com/interview-2508/
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/164409/3/164409-3-293ef78e6e1398ff13b5763456a48b22-1920×800.png From left: OSA Representative Kazuma Tsuruta, Maki Suetomo, and Elena Saionji ■ “Connecting People” through International Exchange – Dubai Awards The ONE STORY AWARD creates new insights and learning by connecting people across cultural and value systems. The Dubai Awards, held for the first time, will be held with the philosophy of “learning from each other” as a forum for international exchange, providing participants with opportunities for new value and challenges. The awards will be held as part of the Mrs. Tourism Beauty pageant 2025, and the dates and locations are as follows: • Date and time: September 24th to October 2nd, 2025 • Venue: The Bristol HOTEL Dubai For more information about the “ONE STORY AWARD 2025 New York,” which will be held in conjunction with New York Fashion Week on September 20th, please see this press release.