May 7, 2026 MEI NAKAMURA MIYU OKADA In recent years, the premium whisky brands of Suntory Holdings Limited, especially Yamazaki, have achieved remarkable global prestige. While this success brings honor to Japanese whisky culture, it also generates significant social issues. The dramatic price increases, the transformation into speculative assets, and the resulting thefts and black-market trading raise questions about social responsibility of Suntory. Suntory must therefore a

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

January 27, 2024 Fuka Arai Japanese companies tend to ask job seekers to wear “recruit suits” with a black jacket, skirt/trousers, pumps, and white shirt during job hunting while companies also ask them to show their individuality and personality, which is one of the contradictory cultures in Japan. Japanese “Unique” Recruitment System Are you familiar with the Japanese recruitment method called “ikkatsu saiyou”? In the United States, for instance, companies recruit employees

July 27, 2023 Kiwa Tomonari A Japanese cosmetics brand called Canmake Tokyo has changed their jingle from "Girls are very enjoyable!" to “You can meet KAWAII!” And the new jingle was highly praised especially by men who wear makeup. However, as of this writing, their website still carries their slogans "Girly, Pop & Shiny” and many people do not realize it. Japanese Cosmetic Brand Changed Their jingle Canmake Tokyo is a very popular brand among the younger generation in Japa

January 27, 2024 Momo Muraki There is no standard definition of "beauty." If it is truly so, you can define it whatever you like. But have you ever adjusted yourself to other people’s standards of beauty? In recent years, lookism, “prejudice or discrimination based on physical appearance,” has prevailed in Japan due to the spread of social media. Lookism has affected not only young people's appearance but also their minds. Japanese Diversity and Lack of Confidence in Appearan

July 2, 2022 Saki Nakamura Do you like your face? Do you like your shape? In Japan, a lot of young women seem not to be confident in their appearance. It affects their daily life and even harms their health when they conduct the excessive diet or unbalanced diet. It seems to closely related to the spread of “lookism.” What is Lookism? Lookism is to judge a person simply by the appearance or to discriminate on the basis of appearance. For example, it is still common in Japan t

July 3, 2022 Momoho Kumekawa Kim Kardashian, a celebrity and business person in the U.S., has launched a brand Skims, which sells underwear, loungewear, and shapewear for all women. A concept of the brand is “Solution For Every Body.” Its product line can suit changing shapes of women’s bodies. She focuses on a very unique point because such adaptive clothing has not been developed well in the underwear market yet. Although her brand has a good concept for diversity and, in f

July 2, 2022 Kiho Taguchi Motherhouse is a Japanese fashion brand that has strong capacity of product design and planning, manufacturing, and quality guidance in developing countries, as well as selling their products in developed countries. The brand originally started in Bangladesh in 2006, and now expanded in a total of six countries; Myanmar, Indonesia, Nepal, India, and Sri Lanka now. Products made in these countries are marketed in Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapor

July 3, 22 Arisa Yajima On April 4, 2022, a full-page advertisement for the comic Tawawa on Monday ( Getsuyo-bino Tawawa) published in...

July 07, 2022 Hikari Ishikawa Is a spouse’s consent necessary for an abortion? In Japan, the curettage method accounts for 80% of all...

May 30, 2020 Misato Sasaki Johnny & Associates, the top agency of Japanese entertainment, started their social contribution to counter...

August 9, 2019 Misaki Nishi Have you ever witnessed or been bullied by your classmates, friends, or yourself being bullied? Currently,...

August 8, 2019 Aoi Kojima How many hours do you use the smartphone in a day? Can you live without a smartphone? Smartphones are very...

Saori Kikutani February 27, 2019 Do you think how many animals are euthanized per year in Japan? Unfortunately, euthanasia is the only...

Sae Kanazawa February 27, 2019 In Japan, poverty level of single-mother family is one of the serious social problems. There are about 52...