July 31, 2025 Kanon Kito Osaka-Kansai Expo, started in April 2025, will focus on big global issues like climate change and aging. Its theme is “Designing a Future Society that Shines with Life.” It sounds exciting and full of hope. Recently, however, the organizers announced that pets would not be allowed inside the Expo site. This leads us to an important question: If animals that live closely with us are left out, can we really call it a society of coexistence? They’re Part

June 31, 2025 Chisato Nakatsugawa What do you think about Osaka Expo’s theme, “Designing Future Society for Our Lives.” In general, EXPO is an opportunity to present and exchange state-of-the-art technology and knowledge among many countries and areas. Although the term “Live” seems far from the latest technology, we can find a good connection between them. Through EXPO, we can find some challenges and problems in Japan related to “Lives”. Japan Is Facing Challenges of “Liv

July 24, 2025 Rino Furuya The Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan aims to create a “super smart venue” incorporating the latest technologies such as AI, automatic translation, and advanced reservation systems for pavilions, with the goal of creating an “Expo without queues.” Has this goal been achieved? 〇Official Charactor “Myaku-Myaku” https://bestcalendar.jp/articles/press/43929　　 Truth Behind the Booking System At the Expo, many major pavilions have adopted an advanced reservat

July 24, 2025 Sora Matsuo At the Osaka Expo in 2025, various companies exhibit products that contribute to society through the “Co-design Challenge program.” Edish, which is Marubeni Corporation’s recyclable tableware focusing on ocean issues. Edish establishes an upcycling process and has the advantage of being ecological. Edish is not the first eco-product, rather similar goods were created back in 1998. The core issue is whether people actually use these products. Environm

July 24, 2025 Sayaka Nakamura When you hear the word “Expo,” what comes to your mind? Cutting-edge technology? Global cuisine? Or perhaps a moment to reflect on the future? For me, it was a powerful moment of connection between the world and myself when I visited the Osaka-Kansai Expo 2025 on May 25th. When the Future Starts with a Queue It took much longer than expected to get inside. The gates were crowded with people. Even before experiencing “the society of the future,” I

July 24, 2025 Saki Wada About three trillion yen. That’s the estimated economic impact of the Osaka-Kansai Expo, according to Japan’s Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry. It sounds like a huge amount of money, and it seems like it will really help Japan’s economy. However, who exactly benefits from this economic effect? Big companies? The tourism industry? Or us, the people living in Japan? It's easy to get excited about big numbers and futuristic ideas. However, when we

October 24, 2024 Rino Furuya and Kanon Kito Silk, once accessible only to the wealthy, is now attracting interest from Generation Z and seniors as an enabler of a more sustainable future. Can silk, which began to be used 5,000 years ago and has been patronized as the “queen of fibers,” become a part of our lives and a means to a sustainable world? Growing Environmental Awareness Across Generations People's concern for environmental issues is gradually increasing, with the mos

November 14, 2024 Saki Wada and Ayaka Tsuchiya ”Build a stone wall with Konnyaku.” This is a Japanese proverb that means doing impossible things. Who could imagine that a stone wall could be built with something as slimy as Konnyaku? Actually, Konnyaku is a Japanese traditional food that is tasteless. Even though there is big potential in Konnyaku. Here is the article about “the possibility of Konnyaku”. What is Konnyaku? Konnyaku is a very famous food in Japan, but it is

July 27, 2023 Haruka Miki Different countries and individuals have different standards of beauty. Some people strive for beauty, while others have an inferiority complex about their appearance. Sometimes beauty can change one's life. It has that much power. What is the standard of beauty for you? Trends in Cosmetic Surgery Today, more and more people are choosing cosmetic surgery as a means to achieve their ideal body. In Japan, according to the "Summary of Static/Dynamic Sur

January 27, 2024 Yuka Tamura Almost 80% of Japanese female university students wear makeup when going to a convenience store, as reported by Mynavi Co., a publishing company. This raises the question: why do they place so much importance on their makeup? Makeup is a Manner in Japan For many Japanese women, makeup is seen as a form of social etiquette. They prefer not to be seen without makeup, especially by people they know. Some even feel obligated to wear makeup because the

August 9, 2019 Haruna Mikami On June 13, a terrible traffic accident happened in Tokyo. A car which operated by an 88 years-old man attacked pedestrians. In total, 8 people were injured, and a mother and daughter were killed. The man claimed that the gas pedal didn’t return, and the brake didn’t work. However, nothing was found to be wrong with the car after it was inspect. The police suspect that the old man mistook the gas pedal for the brake. This accident set off public d

August 9, 2019 YUKA YOSHIZAWA 24-hour convenience stores are very common in Japan. People can buy food, commodities, printing out documents, withdraw cash, send a parcel, and so on at any time of the day, even at midnight. These days, convenience stores play a considerably important role for people. However, the situation of convenience store is about to change. A number of convenience store’s owners are getting to hindered by having to open the store all day. Recently, some

August 9, 2019 Hikaru Abe Do you like to go to university? If so, what is the reason for you to go to university? It is widely said the Japanese university students don't study hard. On the other hand, overseas university students study a lot for four years.These days disadvantages of Japanese university students are gradually becoming apparent. Current Situation in Japan “University is the spring break of life.This is a phrase that I often hear after entering university. As

August 6, 2019 Eriko Hirota Do you know what Dementia is? Dementia is a serious problem in the world. Dementia is a syndrome in which there is deterioration in memory, thinking, behavior and the ability to perform everyday activities (definition by the “World Health Organization”). What Happens in a Japanese Aging Society Currently, Japan has lots of problems caused by an aging society. Dementia is one of the big problems in the aging society. Japanese aging society is stil

August 6, 2019 Karin Nakagawa Have you ever gotten on the Manin-densya, an over-crowded train cart, in rush hours in Japan? Everyone in Manin-densya hates it because they cannot do anything. You would never able to read a book and play online game through smartphones. Tokyo has one of the most extensive and efficient transport networks in the world but still all lines are crowded in rush hours. Many people live in cities in suburb of Tokyo and commute to Tokyo everyday. For e

August 5, 2019 Nanako Komine Do you enjoy a long life? If the answer is yes, maybe you can imitate what Japanese diet. According to a statistics by the World Health Organization, Japanese live the longest in the world (See Figure 1). There are four keys that lead to this result. Figure 1: Ranking of the Average Life Expectancy in the World Source: World Health Organization in 2016 What the Japanese Eat Japanese usually eat many soy food (tofu, natto, miso and shoyu), fermen

February 27, 2019 Yoka Kondo In recent Japan, overtime work normally exists and many people have died from it. People have many opinions about work-life balance and overtime work. Now is a turning point of Japan to change working style. How do you think Japan will deal with this problem? Current Situation of Overtime Japan’s annual total working time has been declining. (see Figure 1) However, the working hours of only full-time workers does not change as before. It is said

February 27, 2019 Naho Bushimata Current problem facing Japan Currently, Japan is facing a declining birth rate and an aging population. It has decreased the number of young workers and affected the Japanese economy. This is why the Japanese government has managed to promote work style reform. Before getting into this issue, take a look at the Japanese employment system. Two types of employment Companies in Japan have two types of employment, full-time and non-regular. Usuall

February 27, 2019 Hinano Ikeda New type of relationship Recentry, it is said that many young women are working on ‘papa-katsu(papa-activity) in Japan. There is no clearly information about when ‘papa-katsu’ became popular. But since last year, ‘papa-katsu’ word has become popular. This means young women who including university students are given financial support from a middle-age man who has a high- income. It doesn’t matter if they have a wife or children. The reason rich

July 20, 2018 Yui Kubota Japan Need Female Workers There are big differences in parenting environments and advantages/disadvantages of child-rearing in each country. In japan, the percentage who do not satisfied with the parenting environments over 60. Japanese society are pushing female to working place because we recognize female has potential for improving our labor shortage. Japan facing with the low birthrate problem and less workers. On the other hand, the non-fulltime