Produced by OCHANOMIZU UNIVERSITY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL, GEIC and the Japan News

JournalisKICKPROFESSIONAL EDITION, OCTOBER 2018

Being Ethical Consumer Makes for Kinder World

E

thical consumption,choosing products that areenvironmentally friendly
or made by justly rewarded
workers, is one of the ways toprotect the environment and help
people suffering from low wages
and poor working conditions.
Today, there are numerous
environmental issues, such as
global warming and the labor
conditions of low-wage earners,
such as cotton farmers. Cotton
requires numerous pesticides togrow without becoming damagedby harmful insects. Yet thesepesticides reportedly cause thedeaths of about 20,000 farmers
a year. One way to help address
this problem is to buy T-shirtsthat have been made under proper
work conditions. This is an
example of ethical consumption.

To spread the idea of ethicalconsumption, members of theschool festival committee of
Ochanomizu University SeniorHigh School incorporated
this mindset into running theschool festival. They asked
that all groups participatingin the school festival ensurethat the activities took ethicalconsumption into consideration.
Moreover, to show customers at
the festival the concrete contentsof the ethical consumption eachgroup did, logos were displayed
at the venue.
One of the activities wasselling original tea bags, called“Ochako’s tea,” at a school
festival in 2017. A special
package of tea bags was madethrough collaboration between
Shimodozono, a long-established

Created by Kousuke Fuzisawa, Ayaka Matsuo, Shizuka Kasai, Sae Tatsuno

Ethical category markPhoto by Yuzuki Kondo

Ochako’s tea

tea company, and “the Ochas,”a cooking club authorized by
Ochanomizu University. Thistea is not an ordinary tea; it isan organic tea that was grownwithout using chemicals. As aresult, 900 sets of Ochako’s tea
were sold and the proceeds were
donated to the “Manaberukikin”
system, which supports teenagers living in disaster areas.
Another activity was selling
gelato in collaboration with
Ricca, a gelato company in
Nagano. This company uses fresh
fruit produced in Nagano andmilk made with animal welfare
taken into consideration. By

using these ethical ingredients,
we can prevent cows from being
milked under harsh conditions.
All of these are examples of
ethical consumption, which canhelp address problems the worldis facing now. You may think thatchanging the world is difficult.
But there are many ways of doing
so, and even high school students
can get involved. If you are notone already, why not consider
becoming an ethical consumer?
By Ayaka Matsuo, Kanon
Yoshimoto, Sae Tatsuno, Yuzuki
Kondo, Yuki Momose

NOTICE TO READERS
This newspaper was
created by third-year students
in Ochanomizu University
Senior High School’s Kiku
class. The “Ochakou” school
is in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo.
As many cultured people lived
here in the modern era, it wasnamed “Bunkyo,” or “city ofliterature.” Also, as there aremany schools here, we cancertainly say it was named forbeing a “center for academics.”
Our school was designatedas a Super Global High school(SGH) by MEXT. The missionof SGH is to cultivate humanresources who can succeed
in a globalized world. As an
SGH, our school holds “Global
Geography” as well as “Tankyu
I” and “Tankyu II” classes.
In first year, we study
global issues, such as environmental problems, energy, andworld situations in Global
Geography. In second year, wetake Tankyu I and learn how
to set, solve and communicate
projects, based on knowledge

learned in the previous year.
W e se t pr oje c ts ba s e d o n
individual interests, gather
information ourselves, anddecide on an approach. In
third year, we compile theindividual Tankyu I activities
and create an English-language
newspaper in Tankyu II.
This newspaper reports
on an activity at our school
festival in 2017 on page 1;
SGH activities on page 2;
problems of modern society
on page 3; and our experienceand mindset regarding trips
to Okinawa and Fukushima
Prefecture for field work on
page 4. The articles covervarious themes, from hot
topics, such as SNS and genderissues, to school activities.
We hope this newspaper helps
contribute to the creation of abetter society.
By Asa Tomita, Chieno Kuro­
kawa, Kaori Uwaso , Nagisa
Komura2

JournalisKICKOCTOBER 2018

SGH ACTIVITIESProtecting Japanese Food Culture: EelA

s a result of excessiveﬁshing, eel catches havebeen decreasing every
year. Owing to this, the traditional
Japanese food culture “Doyo-no
Ushinohi,” commonly known asa day to eat eel in Japan, is facing
a crisis of survival.
The responsibility of excess
fishing lies not only withpeople who fish, but also with
consumers. Therefore sustainableseafood (caught or farmed inways that consider the long-term
vitality of harvested species andthe well-being of the oceans) was
proposed by a group of students
from Ochanomizu University
Senior High School.
By adopting such an activity
and thinking about sustainableseafood, changes can be expectedin consumer attitudes, in turncontributing to eco-friendly
consumption, which eventually
helps address the problem.
Although sustainable seafood
has been suggested as one of thesolutions to this problem, there
are many difficulties in putting
this method into practice.
One of the challenges is how
to raise awareness of sustainable

Created by Shiori Akira

Original logo markPhoto by Nao Nagasawa“Unaju,” Japanese unagi cuisine

seafood. In a school survey,
students asked 356 Japanese
whether they are aware ofsustainable seafood or not, with
80% answering “No.” Thismeans that 4 out of 5 people are
not aware of sustainable seafood.
To overcome this challenge,
students have made leaflets,
promotion videos and a website.
As a result, awareness of an eel
crisis and sustainable seafood
has increased. Their thinking isthat if more people know aboutsustainable seafood, more people
will make eco-friendly choices

when shopping.
Many consumers think thatthey cannot have a great impact
or that they have no choice
when sustainable seafood is noton sale. But your choice is very
important, as it reflects yourmessage to society. Consumers
should thus take sustainability
into consideration for the future!
Greater awareness of andinterest in sustainable seafoodleads to the industry being moreaware as well. In this way, more
and more parts of society willtake eco-friendly actions.

Also, government cooperationis needed to make sustainableseafood popular. For example,
in New Zealand, the government
coop er ates with fishery cooperatives and monitors theirfishing. Such activities enable
most supermarkets in the country
to sell sustainable seafood.
Sustainable seafood will
be promoted in Japan, if such
movements as those in New
Zealand become more popular.
Excessive ﬁshing should thus betackled not by a few people, butrather by the whole of society topreserve Japanese food culture.
By Aki Hoshino, Nao Nagasawa, Nodoka Yamauchi, Ruka
YokotaCodes Help Visitors Ride the Rails
Tokyo is well-known for its
dense network of subway linesthat are intricately connected.
Today, with the inﬂux of foreign
visitors to Japan, the train is
becoming more indispensable
as a means of transportation. To
facilitate navigation for foreign
tourists traveling within thecapital, railway companies haveintroduced a so-called signaturesystem. For example, oneform of this system is “station
numbering.” Tokyo Metro, a
rapid transit system in Tokyo,
uses speciﬁc colors to represent
each line and has created easyto-understand signs with lettersand a number indicating theline and station, respectively.
For example, in Image 1 to theright, the letter M and the redcolor stand for the Marunouchi
Line, since its paintwork isred. Eight (08) is the number
designated for Shinjuku Station.
Also, East Japan Railway(JR East) uses a three-lettercoding system for hub stations
where many lines stop. As seen
in Image 1, Shinjuku Stationon the Yamanote Line can be
described using three different
codes: three letters, a line
code, and a station number. In
this case, the three-letter code
“SJK” stands for Shinjuku
Station, line code JY for the JR
Yamanote Line, represented
by its green color, and station
number seventeen (17) for
Shinjuku Station. Other hub
stations inc lude AKB f or
Akihabara Station, UEN for“STATION NAMBERRING”
Tokyo Metro

East Japan Railway
Three-letter code
Line code
Station number
The logos provided by JR East and Tokyo Metro
Created by Urara Nagumo

Image 1: Example of station numbering

Ueno Station and TYO forTokyo Station.
Such signature systems
with numbers, letters andcolors are displayed in eyecatching places. By utilizing
information technology, people
traveling on trains can moreeasily understand how andwhere to go. This should makeaccess using rail transporteasier, regardless of language
barriers.
By Ayano Oki, Karen Hamam o t o , S o y o k o Yo o n , U r a r a
Nagumo, Yukari Fuku

OCTOBER 2018

JournalisKICK

3

SOCIETYBe Aware of Unseen Risks in Era of SNS!

T

witter, Instagram,
Facebook—people
around the world use
various social networking
services that make it possible tointeract with a large number ofother users. These services areconvenient, but at the same time
there are some risks in being
online. Let’s try to understandthem so that we can use SNS
safely.
Some people post images
taken at their home or selfportrait pictures on SNS. Suchbehavior could, however, put
their personal information atrisk of being leaked online.
Once the images are posted,
they can spread across the worldand be saved and misused byanyone.
Smartphones and tablets
have a function of recording
the location a photo is taken
at. As a result, your address
could be identified from animage, whether it is a photo ofmore risks than one can imagine
meeting people from SNS inreal life. Someone on the otherside of the screen cannot always
be trustworthy.
There are even more issues
with SNS: obsessive use ofsuch services can cause people
to lose track of their true self.
While SNS platforms canbe interesting, users must be
careful not to lose sight of whothey are and should always
take their surroundings into
consideration.
Becoming involved withmany people over the Internet
is a double-edged sword. Users
must pay attention to the actions
they take on the Internet. Use
SNS wisely and have a good
SNS life!

Created by Natsumi Hamada

A picture with location informationa dish you cooked or a pet. To
prevent such risk, the location
information function should beturned oﬀ.
Have you ever met a friend
you made online in real life?
You may meet someone withthe same interests and deepen
the friendship through SNS.
You can also go to events

together, and talk aboutcommon interests. However, thecharacter, sex, or age of friends
on SNS may be fake. There are

By Azusa Iwata, Emma
Yamamoto, Nanami Ishigure,
Natsumi Hamada, Reona
Maezawa

Gender Issues Jam Up
Women-only Trains
Groping is a serious social
issue in Japan. Surprisingly,
many travel books written
in foreign countries refer to“chikan” on Japanese trains.
In fact, according to a survey
conducted with 232 students ofOchanomizu University SeniorHigh School, more than onethird of the students has been
groped. (Figure 1). To prevent
groping, women-only train cars
have been introduced in Japan.
More than 80 train routes offer
such carriages.
Some people think that men
are prohibited from riding in a
women-only train. However, it
is not a problem in the eye of thelaw. Such a misunderstanding
sometimes causes trouble
between women and men. In
February 2018, women accused
three men who rode in a womenonly train on the Tokyo Metro
Chiyoda Line of groping. Basedon those cases, it seems theissue involves only combatting
groping. Can it really be so?
These days, women-onlytrains are often associated withgender issues. Gender is not the
sex-biological characteristics
of female and male, but rather
refers to social and culturaldefinitions of women and men.
Moreover, it includes the theory
of “SOGI,” which stands for“Sexual Orientation and Gender
Identity” and is deeply related toLGBT.
Sustainable Development
Goals (SDGs) were adopted
at the U.N. summit in 2015.
Gender equality is one of thegoals. Such an initiative will
improve unfair standpoints
regarding women and sexual
minorities.
Based on the above, there
are three main problems withwomen-only trains from a

Provided by JR East

Figure 2: Women-only train

Created by Miyu Hattori

gender perspective.
Firstly, women-only trains
force gender identities on
everyone, even a *cisgender’sidentity of being a woman.
Secondly, women-only trains
hardly accomplish the primary
purpose. Such trains tend to be
used as a psychological shelter
for victims of groping. However,transgender people, who haveconcerns about their own sex,
cannot use the train because they
feel that their gender is being
denied or that they are being
forced to be a different genderfrom their real one.
Thirdly, women-only trains

discriminate based on being
male or female. On the one
hand, women are deprivedof freedom of behavior andfeel that they are confined toa women-only train. On theother hand, men may have theunpleasant feeling of being
treated as possible gropers.
It is the threat of gropingthat we should really eliminate.
These problems must now be
regarded as issues of the entire
society.
* Cisgender: A person whose
gender identity matches theirbirth sex
By Akira Kudo, Ayumi Ogawa,Miyu Hattori, Rin Nakano, Rio
Fujinami, Yuki Ogata

4

JournalisKICKOCTOBER 2018

LOCAL

Sasukenable: The Spirit of Fukushima
Seven years have passed
since the March 2011 earth­quake and tsunami struck
Fukushima Prefecture. Yet,
reconstruction is still ongoing.
Students of Ochanomizu
University Senior High School
visited the prefecture to gather
information about the current
condition of reconstruction
from people engaged in suchactivities.
All of the people were
working on such activities as
shelter management, handlingof nuclear accidents, restorationof agriculture, and so on. Those
involved with reconstruction
told students what they feel isimportant and must be passed on
to future generations.
Amano Hiroyuki, themanager of the largest shelterin Fukushima Prefecture,
called “Fukushima Palette,”emphasized, “It is significant
to supply daily necessities
to people rapidly. However,
the most important thing is tosupport their minds. We did our

Photo by Yuki Fukui

Damage from the 2011 quake
Photo by Yuki Fukui

A game called “Sasukenable”

best to make shelters a place
for communication and self­
government associations.”
The operating staff of the
shelter came up with a simulation
game called “Sasukenable”
based on lessons learned at the
shelter. It is a game that helps
people think about how to deal
with possible situations. Studentsof Ochanomizu University
Senior High School were divided
into groups and participated in
the game along each theme.
By going through “Sasuke­
nable,” students learned thatpeople who lived in disasterareas are generally referred toas “Victims”; however, they are“Humans.” Each person used

to have, and still has, their own
lifestyle even after the disaster.
It is necessary for people to keep
this in mind when engaged inreconstruction activities. Always
remember, victims are not“miserable people.”
By Kasumi Shioda, Kotoko
Yabe, Misuzu Akashi, Miu Kawada,
Yuki Fukui

Message from Himeyuri to Future Generations

Photo by Sawako Shinogi

The Tower of HimeyuriOchanomizu University
Senior High Schoolparticipated in peacelearning about Okinawa as partof a school trip to the island in
April 2018.
First, the students went to
Himeyuri Peace Memorial
Museum and Okinawa Peace
Memorial Museum. At the
Himeyuri site, they visited amemorial service monument andthe Tower of Himeyuri, where
Himeyuri students had beenlaid to rest. The students wereshocked by the sad situation
whereby girls around the sameage who had many hopes anddreams were forced to escape,leaving their classmates behind.
The Okinawa Peace Memo­rial Museum had models andphotographs through which
the students could understandwartime in Okinawa.
Later, the students visiteda natural cave called Itokazu
Abuchiragama. This cave islocated in the south of the mainisland of Okinawa. During
the Battle of Okinawa, it wasused as a shelter trench. As thebattlefield went south, this so­called gama served as a militaryhospital. When the students
entered, it was too dark to seeanything without a flashlight.
Himeyuri schoolgirls ran about
to help with the treatment of
injured soldiers and discarding
dead bodies or excrement. Afterthe war, the evacuees and thesoldiers spared by the offensiveof the U.S. army went to thegama.
The students realized thetragedy of the war and theimportance of peace by seeing
the scars of war in Okinawa

through this school trip. We
must not forget the tragedies
of war even when living in amodern society.
By Kumika Endo, Moena
Dan zuka, Sawako Shinogi,
Shono Sakai, Yuika Yasui
JournalisKICK
Published by a group of 39
students of Ochanomizu University
Senior High School, a public highschool in Bunkyo Ward, Tokyo, in
cooperation with the not-for-profit
Global Education Information Center(GEIC) and The Japan News.
Publisher: Ochanomizu University
Senior High School
Project Supervisor: Mayumi Abe
Project Coordinator: Junji Sakurai(GEIC)
Editor: Chieno Kurokawa
Assistant Editor: Asa Tomita
Contributing Editors: Kagari
Tsuchiya, Yumiko Mori (J-Proze)
Staff Writers: Chieno Kurokawa,Asa Tomita, Kaori Uwaso, Nagisa
KomuraContact: 2-1-1 Otsuka, Bunkyo-ku,
Tokyo, Japan 112-8610
URL: http://www.fz.ocha.ac.jp/fk/