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

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 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...

April 13, 2022 Yuka Yoshida Why was Shirakawa-go, a World Heritage Site, chosen as one of the 100 Most Sustainable Tourist Destinations...

April 9, 2022 Mizuho Kakiuchi There are many famous sceneries in Japan. For example, Mt. Fuji, the historic cityscape of Kyoto, and the...

During the Meiji era [1968-1912] in Japan, masks were made out of wire mesh as the core and used cloth as the filter. At that time, the...

Due to the spread of COVID-19, many university students have become dissatisfied with two issues: The prohibition of face-to-face classes...

August 1, 2020 Ayano Hata With the spread of new coronavirus, the Toyota Corp, the biggest automarker, is providing medical support to...

North Sails Japan helped those who are fighting against the COVID-19 by making new products. This action was realized by their...

July 31, 2020 NATSUHA AKIYAMA To counter COVID-19, Fujitsu group, a Japanese information and communication technology giant, has started...

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