Due to the spread of COVID-19, many university students have become dissatisfied with two issues: The prohibition of face-to-face classes and the continued payment of high tuition fees despite the lack of in-person classes. Dissatisfaction with Online Classes Since April, most Japanese universities have conducted classes online in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Initially, while the prospect of attending classes from the comfort of one’s home may seem like a good ide

October , 2020 Nao Kazuma The spread of COVID-19 has had a major impact on the demand for tourism worldwide. On July 22nd, the Japanese government began its “Go To Campaign,” targeting the industries of tourism and transportation, which have been greatly affected as a result of the spread of the coronavirus. The campaign is a public-private integrated demand-boosting effort, available for a limited period. The government has budgeted 1,679.4 billion yen ($15.8 billion) for th

“The world is full of suffering. It is also full of overcoming.” Helen Keller wrote it on her book published in 1902. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Japanese agriculture got damaged seriously. If Keller is trueーwhen are Japanese farmers full of overcoming? This Is The Hardest Ever According to Tokyo Meat Market Co., the price of meat fell down by 700 yen from April 2019 (see Figure 1). That was because of the decrease of going-outs and of inbound tourists. “This is the

Naito, an amusement machine company, has begun to manufacture and sell the face guards for newborn babies to prevent the spread of COVID-19 infections since late April. Naito is located in Aichi prefecture and develops pachinko, a Japanese gambling game of pinball. That is one of the few companies which supports the Japanese entertainment industry. In late April, the pachinko manufacturer began producing and selling face guards to support medical institutions as a social cont

August 1, 2020 Akari Odagiri What do you select as a gift for Mother’s Day? According to a survey conducted in 2019 by Rakuten Insight, approximately half of those respondents who replied they gave a present to their mothers gave flowers to their mother. Especially, young people tend to choose flowers as gifts. In a language of flowers, red carnation means “love for mother” or “true love.” That seems to be a reason why it became a well-known gift of Mother’s Day in Japan.

August 1, 2020 Ayano Hata With the spread of new coronavirus, the Toyota Corp, the biggest automarker, is providing medical support to counter the COVID-19. This support activity is called Kokoro Hakobu Project. In fact, this project is a long-term support activity, originally started to support areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake that occurred nine years ago. The name of the project means to carry or deliver one’s heart along with things to people and place i

North Sails Japan helped those who are fighting against the COVID-19 by making new products. This action was realized by their inspiration of sail fabric. The World Today The world today is almost driven by the coronavirus. In Japan, a self-restraint request has been issued. Japan started fighting against the virus in late January. As the days went by, the number of infected people increased. At the beginning, it was said that infections of younger generations tended to be

July 31, 2020 NATSUHA AKIYAMA To counter COVID-19, Fujitsu group, a Japanese information and communication technology giant, has started many supportive services for free including offering it’s intellectual property rights for free. Freeing 40,000 Patents To Counter COVID-19 The medical crisis is becoming a great issue by COVID-19 and the vaccine and yet drugs for the terrible virus are not innovated. Fujitsu has suggested to supply it’s patents under the project of Open COV

July 31, 2020 Nao Kazuma In Japan, due to the aging population and the increase in single-person households, the number of people who feel the inconvenience and difficulties in purchasing is increasing, especially among elderly people. Today, this purchasing problem has become even bigger due to the spread of the coronavirus. Optician Go Shopping on Behalf of Customers Meganesuper Co., the chain of optician's shop that deals contact lenses and hearing aids, as well as glasse

May 30, 2020 Misato Sasaki Johnny & Associates, the top agency of Japanese entertainment, started their social contribution to counter the spread of COVID-19 in Japan. They have produced many artist groups to the public, made them appear to many exciting TV programs and produced many wonderful concerts. Currently, the number of Japanese artists are contributing to COVID-19 in the Japanese entertainment industry, but Johnny & Associates was the pioneer of social activities.

August 9, 2019 Misaki Nishi Have you ever witnessed or been bullied by your classmates, friends, or yourself being bullied? Currently, there is a lot of bullying among young people in Japan. This is about bullying cases and the current situation, and prevention of bullying. What is bullying? Since when has this word existed? Bullying means that a person who is bullied feels mental pain against psychological and physical attacks. Bulling includes speaking ill of the victim

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 8, 2019 Aoi Kojima How many hours do you use the smartphone in a day? Can you live without a smartphone? Smartphones are very useful and italways help us. However, they can be dangerous if you use them inappropriately Currently, smartphone addiction is a serious problem in Japan. It means the situation of a person who is mentally dependent on a smartphone and cannot stop using it even if various problems occur, and get frustrated and uncomfortable without smartphone. S

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

Saori Kikutani February 27, 2019 Do you think how many animals are euthanized per year in Japan? Unfortunately, euthanasia is the only option for many animals in Japan. According to a survey by the Animal Welfare and Management Office, a not-for-profit animal rescue organization survey, the number of killed dogs was 10,424 and that of killed cats was 45,574 in 2016. The total number of the killed dogs and cats was 55,998. About 155 animals are being killed per day, or one ani

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