ISSN 0915-3160

通巻百三十六号

No.

4Vol. 34 October 2022
AutumnS pec i a l Feat u re

Education and ICT

Try Group’s ICT Education Strategy amid Education Reforms and the COVID-19
Pandemic
Highly Effective Learning with “VRschool”: Beyond 360-degree and 3D
Digital Manufacturing Education Using Minecraft

New Breeze Vol. 34 No.4 Autumn

New Breeze

October 2022

C O N T E N T S

ISSN 0915-3160

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		 Special Feature — Education
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Chairman: Wataru Kameyama
Members: Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications, Association of Radio Industries
and Businesses, Communication Line Products
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KDDI CORPORATION, Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation, National Institute of Information andCommunications Technology, NEC Corporation,
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Panasonic Operational Excellence Co., Ltd.,
Softbank Corp., Sony Group Corporation,
The Japan Commercial Broadcasters Association, and
The Telecommunication Technology Committee

Try Group’s ICT Education Strategy amid Education Reforms andthe COVID-19 Pandemic— Cases from “Try IT”, “AI Tablet Service” and “Online GroupLIVE Summer Courses” —Highly Effective Learning with “VRschool”:
Beyond 360-degree and 3D

Digital Manufacturing Education Using Minecraft— The Minecraft Cup —		Report
14

Overview of the 2022 White Paper on Information andCommunications

		Column
19= A Serial Introduction Part 1 =Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2022

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Junichi Kishimoto
Naoko Ishida
Mariko Shimizu

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Try Group’s ICT Education Strategy amid Education Reforms
and the COVID-19 Pandemic— Cases from “Try IT”, “AI Tablet Service” and“Online Group LIVE Summer Courses” —Ryosuke Takarada

Executive Officer, Try Group

1. Introduction

Living in the Reiwa Era, we have faced considerable change in
our environment. These changes have also brought major changes
in what is required in the field of education. As a business in thefield of education, adapting to these changes is an urgent matter.
This article reviews changes in education due to educational
reforms and the COVID-19 pandemic, and discusses the Try
Group ICT education strategy, under the “People × Digital”
banner. We also discuss three examples of our achievements basedon this strategy.

2. Education and tutoring industries: Past,
present and future

In the past, “group teaching” and “off-line (one-on-one)teaching” has been the mainstream. In group teaching, classes
were conducted uniformly, according to a curriculum, and it was
effective in helping many students acquire knowledge, but had
issues in areas such as nurturing students’ thinking skills andaddressing students’ individual weaknesses.
It was also conducted mainly in an off-line (one-on-one)format, gathering students at a school, tutoring center or prepschool, and having tutors teach them directly. As such, educational
materials and learning environments were organized with theassumption that students and tutors would interact directly.
Having developed in this way, education in Japan has had tomake great changes due to education reforms in 2020 and the
spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Major reforms in education are being made, starting in
FY2020, including the content of elementary, middle and highschool, and also the system for university entrance exams. An
important aspect of these reforms is a shift from a “knowledge
memorization” and “information processing capability” approach,in which students need to understand what to learn, to a
“judgment,” “logical thinking” and “expression skills” approach, sothat students know how to use what they have learned. We believe
it will be difficult to handle such changes using conventionalgroup teaching with uniform classes following a curriculum.
The rapid spread of COVID-19 in Japan and the rest of theworld starting in 2020 prompted the three-Cs (avoiding Closed
spaces, Crowded places, and Close contact) to reduce risk ofinfection. This made it difficult to continue off-line (one-on-one)
education with people gathering in one place, and resulted in
rapid introduction and development of online education in regions
throughout the country.
With education reforms redefining scholastic ability, and

COVID-19 changing education environments, the very nature of
education is coming into question. The first thing that is needed
is to transition from uniform education to education tailored
to individuals. Demand for individualized teaching, which isadaptable for the learning-shift from focusing on memorization to
being able to use knowledge, is increasing.
The next requirement is to promote online education. This
goes beyond acquiring devices, to organizing content, training
tutors and other issues, too many to count. With a redefinition ofwhat education should be, education businesses are also required
to change the services that they provide.
■ Figure 1: Education in the past and future

3. Try Group’s ICT education strategy

Considering how to face this period of upheaval in the
education industry, Try Group has been building a new form ofeducation using the power of “People × Digital.”
Since Try Group was established, we have emphasized
one-on-one instruction, providing education that is closely
personalized for each student. Using the “Try Learning”
methodologies, such as our dialogue learning method in which
students output what they have learned in their own words, wehave had success nurturing students’ logical thinking capabilities
and expressive abilities. A central concept of our company is“People teaches people; people nurtures people.” We are using thisconcept as much as possible in pursuit of better forms of education.
On the other hand, as the demand for online education has
increased with the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been essential
to introduce digital teaching materials and ICT education, in
addition to our one-on-one instruction. Attention on “flipped
learning,” in which digital materials are used for preparation
before a lesson, has increased so the role of the lesson itself is alsochanging significantly. We expect even more demand for services
making full use of devices and networks in the future.
As such, Try Group has proposed an ideal image of education
represented by the tag line, “People × Digital” (integrating off-line

New Breeze Autumn 20221

and online methods), to accelerate our ICT education strategy inthe future. We are enhancing digital aspects by introducing andexpanding video courses, AI and online services, in line with thehigh-quality, one-on-one, individualized education that we havealready developed, to maximize their educational potential.
■ Figure 2: Changes in education and Try Group’s strategy

4. Try Group’s initiatives

To realize “People × Digital,” Try Group has incrementallydeveloped services utilizing online resources. This section will
describe our “Try IT” video-course service, our “AI Tablet”
service, and our “Online Group LIVE Summer Courses.”< “Try IT” Video Courses >“Try IT” was released in July, 2015, and is a service providing
high-quality video courses on the internet, with top-ranked
professional private tutors delivering the lessons on major subjects
for middle and high-school students. In September, 2021, it was
expanded to utilize multiple other media such as original apps,
websites, and YouTube. Try IT course video viewing is provided“free forever.” As such, the service provides opportunities to learn
at any time and any place, to anyone. Students can study by Try’s
carefully selected professional private tutors with short, focused,
10-to-15-minute units, and approximately 6,000 of these videos
covering middle and high-school topics are offered free-of-charge.
This service is also being used in a wider range of scenarios
in recent years, including supports for periodic exams, highschool and university entrance exams preparation, and courses toovercome students’ weaknesses. It is also being used in learning
support projects in collaboration with regional governments, andin learning environments at middle and high schools.
Try IT users can be divided broadly into two groups: those
who use our own app or the browser version, and those who watch
lessons on YouTube. Users that register to use the original app orbrowser version are able to learn using specialized video lessons
and learning materials.
The video lessons published on YouTube can be viewed on
the public “Try IT Video Course” YouTube channel without
registering. As of May, 2022, this channel had over one million
users and roughly 300 million views.
We are also building our own in-house studio and continuing
to update video courses, to revise learning outlines and adapt tochanges in digital-viewing environments.
< Try AI Tablet Service >The “Try AI Tablet” service was expanded nationally in April
2020, to further develop the “Try IT” video course service.
The AI Tablet service extends Try IT video courses, providing
a learning methodology that assesses the student’s understanding■ Figure 3: Studying with video lessons in the “Try IT” browser version

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of units in the learning material that they may be weak in,providing a direct learning flow leading to the required levelof understanding. At Try, we have developed an original app
combining video courses and the AI, providing a system thatmanages students’ learning history digitally. We made it a digitallearning package on a tablet device. There are three versions of theoriginal app, for middle-school term tests, high-school periodic
exam, and university entrance exam prep courses, and they aredesigned to be used depending on the student’s school year andstudy goals.
■ Figure 4: Studying with the AI tablet service

The Try AI tablet service includes two types of AI. One is
Try’s learning diagnostic AI, and the other is an AI to predictentrance exam questions. Both of these AIs were developedin collaboration with Ghelia Inc., with investment from Sony
Computer Science Laboratories. They use the latest technologies
to support individually optimized, efficient learning.
The diagnostic AI is specialized to estimate the level ofunderstanding for a course or unit from the student’s answers to alimited number of questions in one of three levels (★ to ★★★).
The issue solved by the diagnostic AI is to “improve theefficiency and accuracy of identifying the student’s level ofunderstanding.” In regular tutoring schools, paper tests are used
to assess students’ understanding when they enter the school.
This requires students to answer 200 or more questions overa period of two hours or more, and presents difficulties suchas ensuring students’ time and motivation, while not actually
producing accurate estimations of level of understanding. Using
the diagnostic AI has enabled us to greatly reduce the amount oftime and number of questions. It has also enabled estimation oflevel of understanding with approximately one tenth of the labortime required for paper tests.
The diagnostic AI was developed using large amountsof learning data and the latest AI technology to quickly andaccurately assess learning. Using the new method, we are able toprovide diagnostic results that are 80 to 90% consistent with theresults from answering all questions, and taking only one-tenth
the time. In 2019, this system received the “Education AI Award”
in the “Nikkei x TECH EXPO AWARDS 2019.”
Try Group’s AI tablet service presents learning methods
applying the level of understanding determined using
the diagnostic AI. For example, if the student had a level ofunderstanding of ★ for a unit, their understanding of basic
content is inadequate, so the service provides study from “Try IT”
video lessons. For units scoring ★★, basic knowledge has beenacquired, but not yet mastered adequately, it starts with a summaryof key points is presented. If the score is ★★★, the content has
been mastered and the service presents further study with practiceproblems.
The AI Exam Predictor is specialized to university entrance
exams and selects 50 questions optimized based on trends in past
exams, the student’s strengths and weaknesses, and the target
university. When the student’s target university, department, andcurrent academic ability are entered into the app on the tablet,
the AI automatically generates 50 questions for the student toanswer, optimized for their success. The service was started inAugust, 2020, covering 32 universities, and as of September 2021,
it covered 824 departments in 129 universities. For university
entrance exams held in FY2020 at all 32 universities*, thequestions appearing in the exams were similar to those anticipatedby the AI Exam Predictor.
When developing the AI Exam Predictor, we teamed up with
Ghelia Inc. and Obunsha Co. Ltd., who provided the questions
data used in the app. More than 60 textbooks of practice questions
are included in the app.
Try has established courses to support students until theysuccessfully enter their target universities, combing questions
selected by the AI Exam Predictor with coaching service.
Through use of the AI Exam Predictor, we had students thatpassed “against-the-odds” in FY2020 and FY2021 entrance
exams. We were able to support passing results in national
universities including Tohoku University, Hokkaido University,
Nagoya University, Shinshu University, the Kobe University
School of Medicine, and others. We achieved the same in private
universities including Waseda University, Keio University,
Sophia University, Tokyo University of Science and Ritsumeikan
University.
< Online Group LIVE Summer Courses>
In addition to Try IT and expanding ICT education (digital)
using AI, the Try Group has been developing and expanding
online services in response to rapid changes in education since
2020.
In this section, we introduce our “Online Group LIVE
Summer Courses,” which our entire company has been working＊ For universities that make their exams public

New Breeze Autumn 20223

on since FY2021. For these courses, we are providing real-time
distribution with recorded archives for a total of 350 lessons,covering the main units from the fourth year of elementary school
to the third year of high school, all free-of-charge.
We developed this service due to the increasing demand foronline education during COVID-19 pandemic, as well as theincrease in households facing economic hardship, and conditions
in society such as the declaration of a state of emergency andthe call to limit outings. This summer, approximately 36,000
people took the free courses. Participants evaluated the program
highly, and we have continued to update and provide the courses,
including winter courses in December 2021 and spring courses
in March 2022. In the summer course of 2022, we added VR
content.
Try Group has also been expanding the breadth of services
with “Online Private Tutor” which provides online one-onone private lessons, and “Online Group Live Courses” whichallows students from everywhere to take the lessons, regardless ofgeographical distances. We have also released services including“Online Coaching” and “Online Self-Study Spaces,” as services
to accommodate changing life styles and learning styles. “Online
Coaching” was created in response to increasing amounts ofcontent and time for home study, and feedback that it is difficult
to manage study progress and maintain motivation. Students

create study plans with the coach for days when they are notreceiving one-on-one lessons, developing study habits while
creating progress reports and having discussions. “Online SelfStudy Spaces” focus on a trend in middle-school and high-school
students, to gather with study partners on SNS. It provides spaces
for friends to study together online and free-of-charge. We arealso actively holding online seminars on various themes such as“The Changing Trends in Entrance Exam System,” and “How To
Spend the Summer Holidays,” to provide information to students
and their guardians.

5. Future prospects

The 2021 educational reforms and the COVID-19 pandemic
have called into question the very nature of education and haverequired drastic changes for students, teachers, and the entire
education industry.
Try Group is pursuing an ideal image of education represented
by the tag line “People × Digital”, integrating off-line and on-line
aspects. Based on our company concept of “People teaches people;
People nurtures people,” we value one-on-one education with close
attention to the needs of individuals, while using the latest AI
technologies to integrate “people” with “digital” and provide new
education services not seen before.

■ Figure 5: Studying in an “Online Group LIVE Summer Course”

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Highly Effective Learning with “VRschool”:
Beyond 360-degree and 3D

Tatefumi Kanaya
CEO, TEN UP Inc.

1. Current ICT education and VR education
Most people think of VR as a new technology, but actually,
the concept of VR has been around for over 100 years and has
been researched by many companies and research facilities.
However, it began to attract more attention even from the businessworld in 2016, which is considered by some to be the birth year of
VR. This was because in 2016, VR hardware and communications
environments (Wi-Fi) had consolidated, and VR moved from a
research level to a practical level.
Much research had already been done on VR, so ourcompany, along with many others, quickly began creating services
and commercializing them. However, before VR arrived, theeducation industry had not yet progressed developing ICT
education using PCs and other technologies. Many opinions andreasons why ICT education had not advanced have been given,
but we wanted to know the truth, so we got involved attempting
to introduce ICT measures in management of our own tutoring
school.
It was then we realized why introducing ICT at the classroom
level would not succeed. We found that those working in the
education industry were very aware and focused on issues such as
educational ideals and how to interact with students. Thus, webegan to feel there might be hesitancy toward the idea of using IT
to improve efficiency in education.
As such, it would be difficult to expand ICT education fromjust the perspective of technologists, by replacing materials on
paper or a blackboard using PCs or tablets in an attempt toimprove efficiency. The perspective of instructors needs to beincorporated somehow, with their warmth and enthusiasm foreducation.
In other words, it is important to create environments using
technology that will involve the instructors, so they can be more
active than they have been before.

2. How does VR change the brain?
Prof. Jeremy Bailenson of Stanford University has written,“Experience on Demand: What Virtual Reality Is, How It Works,
and What It Can Do?” Much interesting research has beenreported about this as well, but he writes that education andtraining using VR can increase accuracy of understanding by up
to 25%.
He also writes that when data on the posture of students
receiving classes in VR space was analyzed, it was possible toestimate the grades of each student, before they took a test.
Thus, there are many aspects of VR that we can look forward
to.
Further, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Scienceand Technology (MEXT) Research Cooperation Council(Science and Technology Policy), also has a study group for
research on “Neuroscience and Education.”
It is also well known that when dopamine levels increase,ability to concentrate also increases.
VR is a technology that can affect the visual senses, and in
humans, vision is the sense that brings the most information to thebrain. In other words, VR is able to both affect the visual senses
and to evoke higher levels of concentration.
Currently, various uses of VR are being considered, but themost common is for education and training, and we can expect it
to bring major changes in the form of innovation in the educationindustry.

3. Does VR create new communities?
One promising use of VR besides education is forcommunities: so-called “social VR.” We can look forward tobeing able to communicate in virtual spaces, having conversations,holding events, and creating other new forms of communication.
In fact, the University of Tokyo has already held classes using
a social VR platform. The benefit of VR for education is that,
although people are known to change with their environment
or customs, it is difficult for people to make dramatic changes totheir environment in daily life. With VR, it becomes easy for themto put themselves into any environment.
For example, one can work on communication with foreigners
as you would when studying overseas in a VR environment with
only foreigners and it is easier to become a professional in a field
when in the community of that particular profession.
Another unique case of VR research is being done at the
University of Barcelona, called, “Effects on cognitive function ofembodiment through VR.” The research examined the effects ofembodying Einstein, and found that participants achieved elevatedscores on cognitive function tests.
It may seem strange that participants achieved higher scores
just by impersonating Einstein, but when examining participants
for whom the effect was particularly strong, they found that theeffects were stronger among participants that showed lower selfesteem in their daily lives. In other words, when people with low

New Breeze Autumn 20225

self-esteem, who were not manifesting their own abilities, took on
the persona of Einstein, as a symbol of smart people, they seemed
better able to demonstrate their own abilities.

4. VRschool (School education case study)

So far, we have discussed technology that supports teachers
doing more for students, to promote ICT education in the
education industry. The assumption was that supporting theteachers is what is important. We touched on the potential of VR
technology regarding its brain-science and community effects.
Here we discuss some background and examples from ourcompany’s VRschool initiative.
[Example 1: Elementary school, grade 5 (VR science class)](1)	Learn about compasses and the movement of the earth andsun in a VR classroom (Figure 1).
(2) Move the VR space to a park (Figure 2).
(3) Ask the question, “Which way is north?”■ Figure 1(2) and (3), the students were able to enjoy it like a quiz show, andwere able to move around, looking for various hints in the VR
garden, so it was more like a field trip.
The answer to the question (3) is that, they will find a clock ifthey look around in the garden, they can see that it is morning bylooking at the clock, and guess that in the morning the sun should
be in the east and that shadows would point toward the west.
Solving such a riddle with the teacher creates a class that is “better
than real” for the students.
This type of learning methodology is called active learningin the education industry. In ordinary learning, classes would beheld for each unit separately, such as compasses or the movementof the sun, and students would understand them each in theirheads, but it is difficult to increase students’ ability to combine andapply them both together as was done here, when they derived thecompass directions in an empty garden.
We have found that with VR classes, we can increase students’ability to apply knowledge, to formulate their own questions andhypotheses and to think about them.
[Example 2: Elementary school, grade six (VR class content
for Japanese language)](1)	Lesson in a VR classroom on the haiku, “The old pond/A frog
leaps in/Sound of the water.” (Basho).
(2) Move to various ponds in VR, watch scenes of frogs jumping
into water (Figure 3).
(3)	Return to the VR classroom, and consider the meaning of ahaiku.
■ Figure 3■ Figure 2

The teachers also join the class in VR space as an avatar, andgives the lesson, so their essential role is not lost, and the lesson
can be more interesting than in an ordinary classroom. The
students responded well, and the teachers were also able to utilize
their strengths.
We now consider reactions to the lesson. Although part (1)was online, the children enjoyed it, and for the important parts

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New Breeze Autumn 2022

As with Example 1, students were able to have an enjoyable
class with guidance from the teacher. Incidentally, the Japaneselanguage haiku classes are generally thought to be very difficult toteach, and are not popular with the students.
In part (2) of this lesson, many of the students reacted, saying
things like, “The frog jumped into the pond!” so the teacher canthen say, “Okay, let’s look at some scenes with frogs jumping in,”and move to other locations. Various scenes with frogs jumping
into the water were reproduced, such as a pond near a summer
fireworks festival, another near a residential area, and anotherquiet one with no one around. VR is well suited to reproducing
various scenes in this way.
In this case, there were various reactions to experiencing
scenes of frogs jumping into a pond, focusing on different aspects
such as the frog, or the type of pond.
The haiku is “The old pond/A frog leaps in/Sound of thewater,” so we focused on the water sound and experienced various
pond scenes again. This showed that unless it was quiet, we could
not hear the sound of the frog jumping into the pond. This madeus realize that the “plop” sound of the frog jumping in is pretty
quiet.
So what was Matsuo Basho saying with this haiku? This iswhere teachers would apply their classroom expertise. We will givean answer below, but in a class, the teacher would discuss withthe students, convey important ways of thinking about it and help
them improve their Japanese language abilities.
The frog was not important in what Basho was trying to say,
but rather, a quietness that would enable one to hear the sound of
the frog entering the water.
Discussing this in a VR classroom creates a lesson completely
different than earlier haiku lessons, changing how students grasp
it and conveying how interesting haiku can be.
[Summary]
Example 1 emphasized the visual, while the lesson in
Example 2 was designed with awareness of sound. Both lessons
utilized features only possible with VR, and the teacher was able
to hold lessons that attracted the students’ attention like neverbefore.
Here, the most important feature of VR lessons is the ability
to “convey.” In conventional lessons, teachers give proper lessons
where it is important to “convey” the relevant ideas, and students
listen to what the teacher says, imagine it in their own way andcome to an understanding of the content. However, with VR, thesame scene can be shared, with a 360-degree view, and what theteacher wants to convey can become clear at a glance.

5. VRschool lesson planning

We discussed two examples of VR lessons that we thinkshow how they can be engaging. We will now discuss how lesson
planning can be done for VR lessons.
Considering that lessons go from elementary school touniversity, there is a great range of content. Not all lessons can beplanned to use the five senses as was done in the earlier examples.
Examples of when the five senses can be utilized easily include
when ideas in science or math can be illustrated (visually) as in
Example 1, or experienced bodily, as with a story in a language
class. Another example would be reproducing (visually) an English
conversation scenario.
On the other hand, there are topics in learning that cannot be
visualized. While the arithmetic we learn in elementary school
is often used in everyday life and can be visualized easily, more

abstract concepts arise such as negative numbers or square roots,
which are not used often in daily life. It may be difficult torepresent a square root in 360 degrees, so perhaps this concept is
not suited to a VR lesson.
To review, the two effects provided by VR are “brain science”
and “community”.
For a given topic, where learning is done is an important factor.
We conducted experiments examining the extent to which
community affects learning outcomes.
[Experiment 1: Solve a complex mathematics problem withmath colleagues throughout the country](1) Prepare a difficult mathematics problem in VR space.
(2)	Gather mathematics enthusiasts from throughout the country
and have them solve the problem together.
＊ Also perform the same using a Web meeting system.
[Experiment 2: Students from regional high-schools
consult university students in Tokyo about how to get into
university](1)	Gather high-school students in VR space, together withstudents from the university in Tokyo where they hope toattend.
(2)	Have the university students show the high students theschool, club facilities, and living arrangements at theuniversity.
＊ Also perform the same using a Web meeting system.
In both of these experiments, participants felt a deeper senseof connection with the community than they did when using the
Web meeting system. A reason for this is that for Experiments 1
and 2 with the Web meeting system, the person speaking becomesthe center of attention while the others feel like spectators. Thisoccurs even for the person holding the Web meeting.
On the other hand, with VR, participants are in the same
online space and feel like they are participating together. As
such, community use is well suited to VR. One of the university
students in Experiment 2 said that, “rather than showing
photographs of my home, it felt more like they came to visit myhome.”

6. Practical examples from outside theeducation industry[Example 1: Staff training at a construction company
At a certain construction company, several site managers
were expected to retire over the coming several years. Since theconstruction company revenues are determined by the number ofsites, cultivating younger employees that are able to manage newsites had become an urgent task.
However, in construction, site managers are cultivated throughexperience on many sites, so educating new managers is nota simple task. As such, we used our VR school system for thefollowing three tasks.

New Breeze Autumn 20227

(1)	Have employees at sites throughout the country capture 360
degree photos of everyday issues and errors.
(2)	U se our system for online schooling of site-manager
candidates.
(3)	Have candidates look at many examples of issues occurring onsites every day.
■ Figure 4

Through these activities, we were able to simulate many
real on-site issues. Moreover, these simulations were not textbook experience, but actual accidents and incidents that occurred
throughout the country at real sites, providing experience usefulfor practical work. Normally, employees can only experience
work at a few sites per year, but by simulating site work using
our system, they can gain experience from 100 sites or more.
Participants have said they feel like they have gained 20 years
worth of experience in a single year.
[Example 2: Fan event hosted by a talent agency]
Due to COVID-19, talent agencies could no longer hold fan
events, so a major component of their business disappeared andthe fans no longer had opportunities to meet the personalities.
As such, we used our VR system to hold events where these
personalities could make appearances as avatars.
In theory, fans can see these personalities with higher-quality
video on television or YouTube using an app, but in a VR space, we
can provide fans with a more satisfying feeling of being with themrather than just seeing them.
This example demonstrates the community effects of VR.

interesting lessons with 360-degree and 3D materials, we willenter a world where we can immediately visit any community, in
any country, whenever we like.
Returning to the issue described at the beginning of thisarticle, ICT in the world of education has not yet captured theenthusiasm of instructors, but we believe that VR is a technologythat can advance ICT, while leaving this enthusiasm intact.
Education is a relay, with human instructors passing on thebaton of enthusiasm and person-to-person communication, which
is a precious and essential thing.
While writing this article, we reviewed use of ICT in the
education industry. Why is it that we say “ICT in education,”rather than “IT in education?”
IT: Information Technology
ICT: Information and Communication Technology
The answer is in the words themselves; that communication isvery important.
We can enjoy lessons with 360-degree images and 3D, andhave positive communication. Communication is really “social
relations” and communication makes things happen.
ICT education has been a term used by education providers.
Should they use paper learning materials or a tablet? Both are
media that providers can use, and the students do not even use theword ICT. However, students will enter and enjoy a VR classroomon their own, and VR is a word that both the instructors and thestudents use.
It has long been said that ICT will not become widespread,but we believe that VR is a technology that can open it up.

Cover Art

7. VR in the future

The technology singularity moves quickly. We have been
expecting education and communication with VR to take a little
longer, but it has become possible before we even realized it. Even
communication capacity, which is an issue at this stage, can be
expected to be resolved soon with technologies like 5G. Whenthat happens, rather than the mainly just 360-degree images
as we have now, we will finally be able to use a combination of
360 degree live and recorded video and multiple other images
and video without difficulty. Then, beyond being able to have8

New Breeze Autumn 2022

Maple Leaves at Tsutenkyo (Famous Places of
Kyoto)
Utagawa Hiroshige (1797~1858)
Collection of the Art Research Center (ARC)
Ritsumeikan University
AcNo.: arcBK06-0013-010

Digital Manufacturing Education Using Minecraft— The Minecraft Cup —Takashi Doi

Minecraft Cup Director

1. What is the Minecraft Cup?

We have been holding a “National Minecraft Cup Contest”
to create worlds using the Education Edition of Minecraft since2019. In this contest, we give children a different theme eachyear, and they build and publish a world in Minecraft. For the 3rdnational contest, the Minecraft Cup 2021, our theme was “Futurecommunities and homes for the age of SDGs.”■ Figure 1: Educational effects of using Minecraft

Minecraft is generally thought of as a game, but it has thehighest sales in the world, with over 200 million units sold,and it has incredible recognition among children. But actually,
Minecraft is also used in educational settings. It is used invarious ways, such as having all class members work together
to build a structure and publish it, or to learn programming
within Minecraft. We think of Minecraft not as a game, but as adigital manufacturing platform. In this tournament, it is used asa platform for demonstrating participants’ powers of imaginationand creativity.
As they play, children develop abilities such as those shownin Figure 3. They become interested in studying the theme given
for the contest and their creativity is sparked, considering whatblocks and what kind of arrangement can be used to represent a
community or a home. They also use programming approaches
to build circuits that operate using power, and they develop
cooperative skills as they play with their friends and classmates.
For the Minecraft Cup, participants are evaluated using arubric. Nine indices for “next-generation personnel” are used,evaluating based on five levels. These are used before and afterparticipating in the contest to study how the children’s abilities■ Figure 2: Evaluation rubric: Definition of evaluation items and levels

New Breeze Autumn 2022

9

■ Figure 3: C hanges in participants

may have improved.
The results showed that before and after participating in
the contest, skills such as science and mathematics literacy,
expressiveness and design sense improved, and their curiosity
generally increased. Detailed results are available on our web pagefor those who are interested.

2. Why is the Minecraft Cup held?

We are not engaged in this activity to nurture Minecraftspecialists, or promote game sales. Our objective is to provide
opportunities for all children, to learn to identify and solve
problems using programming and digital manufacturing, andto build a learning community where they can learn together.
To achieve this, we are expanding our activities in collaboration
with Microsoft Certified Education Innovator teachers, who arepromoting ICT education in classrooms throughout Japan.
We often use the national high-school baseball championships
at Koshien as an example to describe our activities. I did notbelong to a baseball club, and not every child that starts playing
baseball is aiming to reach Koshien, but children learn manythings from baseball. Most players will not make it to Koshien.
Even so, there are great battles at regional tournaments and eventoday, games happening in various locations that we do not know
about. Children make friends through baseball, strengthen theirminds and bodies, and form connections with society. They
connect with other players, and also with coaches, teachers, andothers’ parents who support them. Our objective is to build adigital manufacturing community through Minecraft, similar tothe sports community built around baseball.
Throughout Japan, there already were many independent

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New Breeze Autumn 2022

communities such as programming classes and personal computerclubs in schools. In operation of this tournament, these types oforganization have felt the potential of this contest and worked
on building submissions. In running the contest, our biggest
obstacle was insufficient understanding from parents and school
teachers. Parents and teachers would praise a child who was
enthusiastic about baseball; even if that was all they did, but if they
were obsessed with Minecraft, generally they would be scoldedor even have their game taken away. As is true with anything,playing too much baseball can result in a shoulder injury forexample, and Minecraft is no different. One cannot achieve results
simply by spending large amounts of time. We feel that there is a
striking lack of initiatives that create opportunities for children toshow their efforts in digital education and to receive praise fromfriends and family who support and encourage them. As such,
we are working to raise awareness of children involved in digitalmanufacturing and the adults who are supporting them, andholding this contest is part of that effort.
In particular, we are promoting the contest by sending contest
information to education committees in cities, towns and villages
all over Japan through ICT CONNECT 21, an organizationthat promotes digital education. We also have PR activities suchas engaging popular YouTubers as judges, using video to promote
it, and advertising in magazines from the editorial departmentof Corocoro Comics, which is one of our media partners. Even
with these measures, it was also necessary to have parents andteachers encouraging students to get their participation. We
have had more participants each year, but when we asked what
prompted them to apply, the most common answer was that theirschool teacher suggested it. Initially, most of the applicants werechildren who became interested because of another activity such asa programming class, but this base really seems to be expanding.
By reducing obstacles to participating and creating more
opportunities to publish participants’ creations, we want to create aculture that encourages children to try digital manufacturing.

what materials they were made of from their guide, and they took
notes enthusiastically on their tablets.
As its name indicates, the town of Taragi is known for having
good timber. The Shiiba branch manager of Kumamoto Mokuzai

3. Real Event: Taragi Minecraft workshop■ Figure 6: W ood, a local resource

In addition to operating contests, we are also creating
opportunities by holding events such as workshops. For example,
in Taragi, a town of 9,000 people in the Kuma district ofKumamoto Prefecture, we collaborated with a local organization
called the Taragi Community-building Promotion Agency to holdthe “Taragi Minecraft Workshop” in March, 2021.
The workshop was held over three days, and involved studying
cultural properties and buildings in the region and then building
a world in Minecraft that reproduces them, as an introduction
to the town. 23 students from elementary schools in the town
participated. The children started with a tour of the town, during
which they heard explanations about the size of buildings and■ Figure 4: Taragi workshop■ Figure 7: Building with Minecraft■ Figure 5: Fieldwork at Otake family residence■ Figure 8: Design drawing of buildings being recreated

New Breeze Autumn 202211

(a local timber company) provided a chance for the children to see
and touch some real wood. In Minecraft, it is easy to obtain wood,
but in the workshop, they were able to smell and touch it, andgained a sense of the effort required to process real wood.
Next, they began building their creations, in teams of threeparticipants. Minecraft worlds are composed of blocks that areapproximately 1 m in each direction. In their teams, participants
collaborated, drawing design diagrams, selecting materials touse, and building their world. Although some teams had conflictor became distracted, they all worked together enthusiastically.
Teachers who came to observe were surprised to see theenthusiasm in the children’s’ eyes as they worked.
On the final day, we held presentations of each of thecompleted projects. The mayor of Taragi attended as a guest, andwatched all of the presentations. He commented that this digital
education was nothing like what he had imagined and that all of
the projects were wonderful.
Our impression after a series of workshops is that, beyond thechildren that participated, the parents, teachers, and the mayor
who watched the presentations really got a sense of the children’s
potential. One elementary school principal that attended the■ Figure 9: Recreating Ebisu Plaza, Ishikura Community
Centerpresentations immediately decided to integrate Minecraft intoclasses. Currently, all grade six students at that school have lessons
using Minecraft throughout the year. We feel that we can advancedigital education by gradually expanding this type of activity
throughout Japan. Starting this fiscal year, we have decided to
conduct judging in separate regional blocks.

4. Online workshop connecting all of JapanFor the Minecraft Cup, we held qualifying contests dividing
the country into five regional blocks. This enabled us to increase
the number of announcements in each region in hopes ofstimulating activity in the community. Initially, we intended tohold many events in each region, but a state of emergency andother measures to prevent spread of infection were instituted due
to COVID-19, so we were unable to hold most of them.
As such, we collaborated with teachers in charge of eachregional block, holding hybrid workshops and seminars.
Participants gathered at real locations in regions where a venue
could be arranged and online where that was not possible. The
venues were connected with each other using Microsoft Teams,
and children all over Japan were able to attend classes together.
In one class, a top-class Minecrafter called Hizume joined asa guest, and explained how to recreate real houses in Minecraft.
Children from all of Japan were able to watch the video and alsoable to see each others’ facial expressions and reactions as the classprogressed, providing a deeper learning experience.

5. Online promotion conceived with partnercompanies

We worked with partner companies to plan online promotion
for this contest. In an online dialogue held jointly with our Gold
Partner, Sekisui House Ltd., professional Minecrafter, Shuichi
Tatsunami, visited the latest residences and showed how he had■ Figure 10: Minecraft Cup regional workshop

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New Breeze Autumn 2022

■ Figure 11: Online dialogue with pro-minecrafter, Shuichi Tatsunami

recreated them in Minecraft. Various techniques are used in theselatest homes, such as how to install solar panels and designingfloor plans to create space for each room, which conveyed a real
sense of the connection between Minecraft worlds and real homebuilding.
We also planned online promotions together with Silver
Partner companies, Mitsubishi Estate Co. Ltd. and Norinchukin
Bank. In collaboration with these two companies, who are
working on community building and the agriculture, forestry andfisheries industries for the future, we sent promotions from thecenter of Tokyo Station to all of Japan. This promotion gave a real
sense of the connection between worlds conceived in Minecraft
and the real world, and how good-quality input is necessary
to produce creative expression. This initiatives show how very
important our partnerships with these companies are.

6. Support classes for special support bases

One of our objectives is to “maximize the possibilities of allchildren.” To begin using Minecraft requires a personal computerand internet environment. There are also some children thatcannot be reached through schools or programming classes, andother children who cannot go to school for various reasons. We areworking to create learning environments using Minecraft for thesechildren. This year, together with one of our advisors, Yasushi
Aoto, who is also Director of the Council of Organizations
supporting education and children in need throughout Japan,
we provided equipment and held online workshops for children
attending Saitama Youth Support Net. Many children having
difficulty with self-expression are able to demonstrate their own
abilities on Minecraft. We hope that by creating a cycle in which
older members can teach younger members in classes using
Minecraft, our efforts will be able to expand further.

7. Why did I start working on Minecraft Cup?

Besides working on this contest, I am also working on regional
community building. In 2015, I moved from Tokyo to an island in

Kagoshima Prefecture called Nagashima-cho, with a populationof 10,000, and I have been working on services and plans to solve
regional issues using ICT. Previously I worked at an IT services
enterprise. In my activities in the region, I realized that there arestill issues that can be resolved using digital technology. However,people to take on these issues were not being cultivated in theregion, and were leaving the area for the cities. It was clear thatcompared to cities, there are few opportunities to be involved withICT in such localities. With the GIGA School initiative, a PC
will be provided to all students in Japan, but there are still people
who will not know what to do with it. With aging and shrinking
population of Japan, schools are also being reorganized so that,as with other clubs such as baseball or ballet, the number ofavailable choices is decreasing. The number of children leaving thecommunity to go to university is also increasing, possibly related
to these conditions. In the town where I am, the only high school
was closed more than ten years ago. In 2016, I began collaboratingwith an internet distance-education high-school, attempting tocreate mechanisms for students to attend high school even from
communities that have no school. However, the project did not gowell because we could not get adequate understanding from thestudents or their parents. What I learned from this was that rather
than just a learning environment, what is needed is content that is
enjoyable to learn.
Amid these circumstances, we began discussion to establish
the Minecraft Cup in 2019, and I became the director of the
project. Digital manufacturing is not confined to a location.
Anyone, anywhere and at any time can connect. We feel that thisis more important for the expansion of this project than producing
any one specialist.
There is much more we want to do in the future, such as
operating a national tour, and holding more regional workshops.
I hope that if anyone reading this article is interested, they will
not hesitate to try Minecraft, and to encourage children to do so
as well.

New Breeze Autumn 2022

13

Overview of the 2022 White Paper on Information andCommunications
Economics Research Office,
ICT Strategy Policy Division, Information and Communications Bureau,
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
1. Introduction

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications(MIC) has published the 2022 White Paper on Information andCommunications in Japan in July this year. [in Japanese] This is
the 50th edition since the first White Paper on Communicationsin Japan was published in 1973.
Part 1 deals with the changes in ICT and the digital economy,
including the changes in systems, services, and technologies
in the ICT sector over the past 50 years since the publicationof the first White Paper on Communications. It also discusses
the roles of ICT in the future. Part 2 describes the trends in the
ICT market and in the use of digital technologies, as well as thetrends in the ICT policies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs andCommunications. The following is an overview of the contents ofParts 1 and 2.
The latest White Paper provides new data on trends indomestic and overseas markets for equipment, devices, services,
and applications, as well as trends in the use of digital technologies
in daily life, in corporate activities, and in the public sector, both inJapan and overseas. The White Paper is presented in concise text,
with the data published on the MIC website as part of a collectionof data (Figure 1).

to view videos on mobile devices.
ICT is now widely used in various areas of social andeconomic activities. In the corporate sector, cloud technology has
enabled companies to share data and expand functions without
having to build an in-house IT system. In disaster prevention
and mitigation, sensors and drones can now be used to checkon-site damage from a remote location. In the medical field,
electrocardiogram data can now be transmitted from an
ambulance to a cloud server so that they can be viewed at thehospital even before the ambulance arrives (Figure 2). In thefield of education, the use of computers and tablets in classes
under the GIGA School Program has now become widespread.
In the agricultural sector, smart agriculture is making significant
progress, such as in crop growth management using sensor
information and pesticide spraying using drones.
■ Figure 2: New areas for ICT application■ Figure 1: Site of publication of data collection,
Example: Section 1 of Chapter 3

3. Part 1: Changes in the ICT sector over the
past 50 years

2. Part 1: Changes in the current environment
since the publication of the first WhitePaper

In the 50 years since the publication of the first White
Paper on Communications in Japan, ICT has become moresophisticated, and a variety of services have emerged. The maincommunication tool in 1973 was the subscriber telephone, andthe means of communication while on the go was the pay phone,which is now replaced by the mobile phone. In addition, various
communication tools such as e-mail and social media (SNS) are
now in wide use.
In 1973, people watched videos through analogue terrestrial
broadcasting on television. At present, satellite and cable TV
broadcasting, as well as ultra-high-resolution 4K and 8K video areavailable. Internet video streaming services can now also be used

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New Breeze Autumn 2022

From 1973 to 1985, as fixed-line telephones and television
broadcasting became widespread, Nippon Telegraph andTelephone Public Corporation was privatized, introducing theprinciple of competition into the telecommunications market.
From 1985 to 1995, competition in the fixed and mobile
communications markets progressed along with the spread of
PC communications using character-based data communication.
Services in the field of broadcasting diversified with the launch of
BS and CS broadcasting.
From 1995 to 2005, signif icant progress was madein broadband and mobile communications in the field of
telecommunications. With the uptake of the Internet, it became
possible to view photos and images via the Web, and online
businesses (e-commerce malls, portal sites, etc.) became prevalent.
The number of mobile phone subscribers increased rapidly
due to the lower rates brought about by the abolition of the fee
authorization system in 1996. At the same time, however, negative
aspects of the Internet, such as the spread of illegal and harmful

■ Figure 3: C hanges in the ICT sector over the past 50 years

information, also became magnified, leading to reinforcementof institutional responses. Digitalization also made headway inthe field of broadcasting, such as through the launch of digitalterrestrial broadcasting in 2003.
Bet ween 20 05 and 2015, net works became moresophisticated, leading to the widespread adoption of FTTH for
fixed-line communications and LTE for mobile communications.
After the launch of the iPhone in Japan in 2008, smartphones
became increasingly popular, and various services such as maps,
social media, and search engines were provided as smartphone
apps, leading to the wide use of mobile devices. Further, theInternet of Things (IoT), which connects everything from cars tohome appliances to buildings and factories to the network, began
to spread.

From 2015 to the present, the network has become even moresophisticated, eventually leading to the launch of 5G services inMarch 2020. Likewise, video streaming services, the sharing
economy, drones, AI, and other ICT services have emerged,
penetrating all areas of society. Meanwhile, the COVID-19
pandemic paved the way for further advancement in the useof ICT that enables contactless and non-face-to-face lifestyles,
such as telework, online education, and online medicine. Thus,
ICT has become the “infrastructure of infrastructures” that
underpins all social and economic activities. In the midst ofthese developments, global platformers like GAFA have been
gaining more market power (Figure 4), bringing to the fore issues
pertaining to the oligopoly and handling data (see section (5)below).

■ Figure 4: GAFA sales trends(Source)Prepared using data from Statista

New Breeze Autumn 2022

15

4. Part 1: The Roles of ICT in the futureThis part summarizes the roles of ICT in the future, as Japan
continues to face various social and economic issues.
● Improvement of labor productivity and labor
participation rate
Amid concerns of labor shortage due to a shrinking
working-age population, labor productivity should be enhanced
by improving work speed, accuracy, and the efficiency of work
processes using AI. In addition, telework and other work
arrangements will enable diverse and flexible working styles,
leading to improvement in the labor participation rate.
● Regional revitalization
With concerns over shrinking regional economies due to thedeclining birthrate and aging population in the regions, the useof ICT should expand the trading area of regional companies
beyond the constraints of time, place, and scale. Telework andother measures will also make it possible to work in a way that is
not constrained by location. Residents can enjoy the same services
as those in cities, such as through Internet shopping, online
medicine, and online education, likely leading to an increase in thenumber of residents in the regions.
● Collection and dissemination of information in the eventof disasters
Natural disasters are becoming more severe and frequent;
but the use of ICT, such as sensors and drones, should enabledisaster prevention and mitigation through the quick and efficientcollection and provision of disaster-related information.
● Maintenance and management of social infrastructures
The aging of social infrastructures is progressing rapidly, e.g.,
the proportion of highway bridges that are more than 50 years
old is seen to increase from 25% in 2018 to 63% in 2033. The
use of ICT in monitoring and analysis operations should enableprolonging the life of social infrastructures and reducing costs formaintenance and management over the long term.
● Contribution to the realization of a green society
While global warming is predicted to worsen, Internet traffic
is increasing along with the digitalization of society and economy,
further increasing the power consumption by ICT equipment.
Contributions to the realization of a green society are expected
through “Green of ICT,” i.e., the use of new technologies toreduce the power consumption of ICT equipment, as well as
through “Green by ICT,” i.e., the use of ICT to improve work
efficiency and reduce the movement of people and goods in society
as a whole.

5. Part 1: Responding to emerging social
issues
Certain issues have already become apparent with the spreadof ICT in social and economic activities. The White Paper
highlights three of these issues and summarizes the current
initiatives to addresses them.

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New Breeze Autumn 2022

● Responding to risks associated with changes in theinternational environment
In the midst of the race for technological supremacy between
the United States and China, the global situation is becoming
more complex as countries around the world are implementing
initiatives with an awareness of the relationship between economic
activity and security (economic security), mainly in the high-tech
sector, as a real-world policy theme.
Under these circumstances, it is important for Japan tostrengthen telecommunication networks and the supply chain
for ICT-related equipment and components and to ensure thestable supply of ICT services. In May 2022, Japan enacted theEconomic Security Promotion Act centered on four pillars:(1) ensuring stable supply of key products, (2) ensuring stableprovision of essential infrastructure services, (3) enhancing
development of advanced critical technologies, and (4) nondisclosure of selected patent applications. Likewise, in June 2022,
the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications formulated
a new technology strategy to accelerate research and development
through intensive national investment in the development ofworld-leading advanced technologies, such as all-optical network
technology, non-terrestrial network technology, and secure
virtualization and integrated network technology.
● Data governance
Data analysis has become widespread, and global platformers
are collecting, analyzing, and utilizing user data, raising concerns
about the oligopoly and handling of data. Specifically, there is
growing concern that certain companies will use data to control
people’s behavior and preferences.
In response to the increasing economic value of data, in June
2021, the Cabinet of Japan approved the “Comprehensive Data
Strategy” for the effective and appropriate use of data. In addition,
in June 2022, the revised Telecommunications Business Act wasenacted to require telecommunications carriers, which have asignificant impact on the interests of users, to formulate and reportrules on the handling of information that they acquire from users.
● Measures against illegal and harmful information
With the spread of social media, video streaming, andother Internet services, the distribution of illegal and harmful
information, including defamatory statements and contents that
infringe on intellectual property rights, and false information has
become a problem.
Japan, therefore, has implemented institutional measures
such as the revision of the Provider Liability limitation Act (theamended Act was enacted in April 2021), which includes thecreation of a new judicial process (non-contentious case proceduresystem) for the disclosure of sender information. Moreover,various stakeholders in the private sector are promoting different
initiatives to improve user ICT literacy, establish consultation
desks, and promote fact-checking.

6. Part 2: Trends in the ICT market and indigital utilization

ICT includes terminals and equipment that serve as pointsof contact for users, networks provided by telecommunications
carriers and broadcasters, cloud and data centers, content andservices such as video and music distribution, as well as security
and AI services (Figure 5). The following is an overview of thetrends in the ICT market and in digital utilization● Usage status of radio waves
・The number of radio stations in Japan increased 2.3 times from
120.99 million stations at the end of FY2010 to 277.11 million
stations at the end of FY2020.
・As of the end of FY2020, the 5G infrastructure deployment
rate was 16.5%, and the number of 5G base stations wasapproximately 210,000.

● Overview of Japan’s ICT Industry (2020)
・Nominal GDP of the information and telecommunicationsindustry was 51.0 trillion yen (down 2.5% year-on-year).
・Value of exports of ICT goods and services (nominal value) was
10.6 trillion yen (13.7% of total exports), and value of imports(nominal value) was 16.8 trillion yen (18.4% of total imports).

● Terminals, equipment, etc.
・In 2021, production value of network equipment in Japan was
774.3 billion yen (down 0.5% year-on-year), and shipment valueof semiconductors was 741.2 billion yen (up 29.6% year-on-year).
・Value of Japan’s exports of ICT equipment in 2020 was 6.0871
trillion yen, and value of imports was 9.5804 trillion yen,pointing to an excess of imports at 3.4932 trillion yen.

●Telecommunications business・Net sales of the Japanese telecommunications industry in
FY2020 were 15.2405 trillion yen (up 2.5% year-on-year).
・T he COVID-19 pandemic has led to the rapid increase ofInternet traffic in Japan.

● Services and applications
・The data center service market scale in Japan in 2021 was 1.7341
trillion yen (up 11.6% year-on-year)*1.
・The public cloud service market scale in Japan in 2021 was
1.5879 trillion yen (up 28.5% year-on-year)*2.

●Broadcasting and content
・Net sales for all Japanese broadcasters in FY2020 were 3.5522
trillion yen (down 8.1% year-on-year)
・In Japan, Internet advertising (2.7052 trillion yen) surpassed thefour major types of advertising media (2.4538 trillion yen) for
the first time in 2021.

● Cybersecurity
・The volume of cyber-attack-related communications reported on
NICTER in 2021 was approximately 518 billion packets (down
9.2% year-on-year).
・In 2020, foreign-affiliated companies accounted for more than
50% of the total sales of domestic information security products
by vendor*3.

■ Figure 5: Market structure surrounding ICT by layer＊ 1 to 3 Source: IDC Japan

New Breeze Autumn 202217

● Digital utilization (daily life, corporate activities, public
sector)・In 2021, 74.3% of individuals owned smartphones (up 5 points
year-on-year).
・The Internet usage rate was over 90% for all age groups between
13 and 59, with the usage rate decreasing at age 60 and higher.
● Postal service and correspondence delivery service
・C onsolidated financial results of Japan Post Holdings for
FY2021 reported ordinary revenues of approximately 11.3
trillion yen (down 3.9% year-on-year) and net income of 501.6
billion yen (up 19.9% year-on-year).

7. Part 2: Trends in ICT Policies of the Ministryof Internal Affairs and Communications

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications is
implementing cross-cutting initiatives within the ministry as wellas initiatives in various policy areas (telecommunications, radio
waves, broadcasting, etc.) as part of its ICT policies, and the statusof such efforts is described in the White Paper. The following isan overview of these cross-cutting initiatives.
● Initiatives to promote the Realization of the Vision for a
Digital Garden City Nation
To promote regional revitalization through digital

implementation, in November 2021, Japan established the Council
for the Realization of the Vision for a Digital Garden City
Nation, with the Prime Minister as Chair. In November 2021,
the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications establishedthe Headquarters for the Promotion of the Vision for a Digital
Garden City Nation, headed by the Minister of Internal Affairs
and Communications. Initiatives are being promoted around thethree pillars of “digital infrastructure development,” “fosteringand securing digital human resources/ ensuring that no one is left
behind” and “digital implementation to resolve regional issues.”(Figure 6).
● Inquiry on information and communications policy witha view to 2030
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications sent
an inquiry to the Information and Communications Council on
the “state of information and communications policy with a viewto 2030.” In response, the Council conducted an investigative
study aimed at realizing Society 5.0 and ensuring economic
security. The Council’s report (June 2022) outlines the directionsof initiatives to ensure strategic autonomy and to acquire strategic
indispensability of the information and telecommunicationsindustry. It also presents the eight areas to focus on, such as the (1)uptake, sophistication, and overseas expansion of 5G, and (2) andexpansion of broadband services.

■ Figure 6: Towards the realization of the Vision for a Digital Garden City Nation

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New Breeze Autumn 2022

= A Serial Introduction Part 1 =Winners of ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards 2022
In May every year, The ITU Association of Japan (ITU-AJ) proudly presents ITU-AJ Encouragement Awards to people who have madeoutstanding contributions in the field of international standardization and have helped in the ongoing development of ICT.
These Awards are also an embodiment of our sincere desire to encourage further contributions from these individuals in the future.
If you happen to run into these winners at another meeting in the future, please say hello to them.
But first, as part of the introductory series of Award Winners, allow us to introduce some of those remarkable winners.

Shinsaku Akiyama

NTT DOCOMO, INC.
https://www.docomo.ne.jp/english/
Fields of activity: E
 TSI ISG ZSM, O-RAN WG10

Autonomous Network and Service Management
I am delighted to receive the Encouragement Award from the
ITU Association of Japan. I greatly appreciate the support of mycolleagues in ETSI ISG ZSM and my company.
I have been involved in ETSI ISG ZSM since 2018 andthis was my first standardization activity. In ETSI ZSM, we
aim to realize full end-to-end autonomous networks and service
management. It has become an urgent necessity to realize
the autonomous networks because networks are getting more
complex and the number of experienced maintainers is decreasing.
Although achieving our goal in a short time will be difficult,
we need a standard specification for autonomous networks. We
have been actively discussing and have already published many
specifications toward this goal.
One particular specification that I focused on was for Closed
loop models required for lifecycle management of closed loops,
which is covered in GS ZSM009-1 Closed-Loop Automation. I
took the lead in organizing many ad hoc meetings and received

cooperation and support from many colleagues across different
companies. At the plenary session there were many opposing
opinions and we had difficulty getting our contributions approved,
but we discussed it together cooperatively and finally they wereapproved.
Recently we have started studying new fields such as Intentdriven Autonomous Networks and Network Digital Twins, formore- autonomous networks. With Intent-driven Autonomous
Networks we could realize a world where systems automatically
perform maintenance and operation by inputting declarative
statements. Please join ETSI ISG ZSM if you would like to get
involved in standardization activities for this kind of advanced
technologies.
Finally, my current focus is on ETSI and O-RAN work, andI hope to work with ITU and many other standards organizationsin the future.

Topic
At the ITU Plenipotentiary Conference 2022
in Bucharest, Mr. ONOE, Seizo was elected
new Director of the ITU Telecommunication
Standardization Bureau for the term January 1,
2023 - December 31, 2026.
Japan was also elected a Council Member state.
We thank you for your endorsement, and lookforward to fruitful four years to come !

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Takamasa IsoharaKDDI Research, Inc.
https://www.kddi-research.jp/english/
Fields of activity: ITU-T SG17, ITS security

Collaborative work at ITU-T aiming to create secure ITS for the future
At this time, I would like to express my deep appreciation onreceiving an ITU-AJ Encouragement Award. I would also liketo thank the many people at ITU-AJ who have offered me theirvaluable assistance and cooperation in past activities.
I have had the opportunity since 2018 to participate instandardization activities in relation to Intelligent Transport
Systems (ITS) in ITU-T SG17. Specifically, I have been
engaged in the creation of Recommendations that stipulate therequirements for appropriate measures to defend against security
threats to the various types of data exchanged in Vehicle toEverything (V2X) communications, in which an automobile
equipped with communication functions (Vehicle) communicateswith other vehicles, transport infrastructure facilities, and ICT
services (Everything).
In this work, proposals are received not only from telecom
operators but also from automobile manufacturers, suppliers,

Fumito Ito

and other parties. As a result, conflicts can arise in the processof compiling proposals from multiple parties with different roles
and expectations into a single Recommendation. Nevertheless,by extracting the ideas and grounds behind those proposals andnegotiating patiently to obtain mutual understanding and consent,
I was able to make progress in this work. I was greatly impressedwith the sincere efforts of multiple parties to collaborate based on
the common objective of creating secure ITS for the future.
Since May 2022, I have been serving as associate rapporteurof Question 13 in ITU-T SG17. I would like to continue in thisactivity while collaborating closely with all concerned. In addition,
I would like to serve as a source of support for others involvedin standardization activities based on my own experiences inreceiving assistance from many of my seniors. With this in mind,
I will make every effort to fulfill my duties in returning the resultsof R&D in advanced technologies to society.

Japan Broadcasting Corporation (NHK)https://www.nhk.or.jp/corporateinfo/
Fields of activity: WP5A, WP5C, SG5

Activities for Revision of Recommendations related to UHDTV-FPU
It is a great honor to receive the Encouragement Award fromthe ITU Association of Japan. I would like to express my sincere
gratitude to the ITU-AJ and everyone that has given me guidanceand encouragement.
Radio systems are indispensable in the production of broadcast
programs, such as a live broadcast from the scene of an incident orlive production of a marathon race. Program transmission systems
for broadcasting are called Field Pick-up Units (FPUs). In Japan,
microwave band FPUs (5 to 7 GHz band and 10 to 13 GHzband) and millimeter wave band FPUs (42 GHz band), which
can transmit 4K/8K UHDTV (Ultra-high-definition Television)
programs, have been standardized and are already in operation. In
ITU-R, the system characteristics of television outside broadcast
are described in the Recommendation F.1777 in the fixed service
and the Recommendation M.1824 in the mobile service. I haveworked on revision of both Recommendations, to add the latest
FPU characteristics for UHDTV in WP5A and WP5C.

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New Breeze Autumn 2022

I first drafted the revision of Recommendation F.1777 around
March 2020. Then I further revised the draft with suggestions
and advice through the domestic deliberations and submitted
the contribution to WP5C in July 2020. The Japanese proposal
was output successfully as a working document. A contribution
proposing a revision of M.1824 was submitted to the WP5A
meeting in November 2020, and since then, revision work was
carried out in parallel in the WP5A and WP5C meetings. Thanks
to the cooperation of the Japanese delegation, the deliberations
proceeded smoothly and both recommendations were revised in
February 2022.
I hope that these revisions of the Recommendations willreflect Japan’s advanced efforts regarding program transmission
systems for UHDTV and will be helpful for sharing studies ofimportant radio systems. With this valuable experience, I willcontinue to contribute to promotion and standardization of R&D
results.

Yoshihiro Inoue

NTT Advanced Technology Corporation
https://www.ntt-at.com/
Fields of activity: 3GPP CT1/CT3, TTC

International standardization and creating highly compatible IPinterconnect standards between IMS operators in Japan
It is a great honor to receive this ITU-Association of Japan
Encouragement Award. I would like to offer sincere thanks toeveryone at the ITU-AJ and the many others who have given theirguidance and support.
I have been involved in standardization of IMS interoperator Network-to-Network interface specifications at 3GPP
since 2011. This is part of IMS, which has been adopted as the
IP multimedia communication specification since IMT- 2000
by ITU. The objective of this work was to create a domestic
specification for IP interconnection between the networks ofdomestic telephone operators in Japan, while also maintaining
consistency with international standards. We have participatedin both domestic and international standardization processes tocreate these standards. During the four years from 2017 to 2021
as the vice-chair of the 3GPP CT3 WG, I was also involvedin standardization of the 5G Core Network specifications, theNorthbound API specifications and others, in addition to work on
IMS specifications. These were also very valuable experiences.

Yuichiro Okugawa

A particularly difficult issue during these activities was how
to resolve differences that arose between domestic requirements
and international specifications. Often it could take deliberation
over six months or more, just to add or change a short description
in a signalling specification. However, building arguments andholding discussions with other participants toward resolving such
issues is the whole point of standardization, and the experienceand personal connections gained through that activity are valuableassets.
Currently at 3GPP, service requirements, architecture, andprotocol specifications for 5G Advanced and Beyond 5G are being
studied. One part of this work related to IMS and voice services is
the Real Time Communication specification, which will provide
AR/VR and is promising for developing future communication
services. I hope to continue working and contributing to studyof new specifications and international standardization in thetelecommunications industry as it continues to develop.

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation
https://group.ntt/en/
Fields of activity: ITU-T SG5

Standardization activities in the field of telecommunications EMC
I am very thankful to be receiving this encouragement award
from an organization with the history and prestige of the ITU
Association of Japan. I would also like to thank everyone for theirsupport of activities in ITU-T SG5.
I have been participating in ITU-T SG5 activities since2011, involved in revisions of various recommendations in
the telecommunication EMC field. In this work, most of myfocus was on establishing the Recommendation, “Method forradiated immunity testing anticipating use of radio devices neartelecommunications equipment.”
In the past, there were cases when radio waves emitted
by mobile phones used nearby interfered with operationof communication equipment, so for many years, use wasdiscouraged. However, considering the proliferation ofsmartphones and tablets and the need to optimize equipment

maintenance work, more recently it has become necessary
to clearly def ine emission immunit y requirements forcommunications equipment taking into account that radio devices
could be used nearby.
Cla rif y ing these technica l requirements involved
performing emission immunity tests on approximately 300
types of communication equipment, conducting simulations todefine the requirements, liaising with IEC, and holding many
discussions with participants over roughly two years before the
Recommendation was completed. We achieved this goal throughsteady effort and through it I gained great experience and growth.
Building on this experience in the future, I will continue tocontribute to standardization activities as an associate rapporteurfor SG5/Question 1, dealing with EMC issues that arise indevelopment of ICT technologies.

New Breeze Autumn 2022

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通巻百三十六号

定価一冊一、六五〇円 （本体価格 一、五〇〇円、消費税 一五〇円） 年間購読料

The ITU Association of Japan六、六〇〇円 （本体価格 六、〇〇〇円、消費税 六〇〇円）