Japanese language ability in the age of AI?

■Japanese language ability in the age of AI?

I was interviewed by NewsPicks about "Japanese language skills in the age of AI."

The question is why I gave both GhatGPT 's and my own speech at the spring entrance ceremony .

The AI's congratulations were correct and logical, but not funny.

 

AI is good at logical, orderly, and "correct" expressions, but not so good at interesting, unexpected, or moving expressions.

That's why AI is good at manuals, textbooks, and eulogies, but not so good at essays, comedy, or congratulatory speeches.

When I think of people who are experts in Japanese, I think of Yukio Mishima, Yuming, and Downtown. AI has a long way to go.

 

However, AI will eventually be able to overcome such obstacles. We just need to train it to get there.

What's important is the script that makes it interesting, in other words, the questions to ask the AI.

Until now, teachers have asked questions and students have answered. From now on, students will ask questions and AI will answer.

What is necessary for Japanese language skills in the age of AI is the ability to ask questions .

 

Another thing you need is editing skills .

Select, cut, paste, combine, and transform the countless pieces of information generated by AI into your own expression.

Yes, that's the job of a DJ. DJ skills .

 

I am right; my ability to express myself logically was honed during my time as a civil servant.

However, I long for cheesy expressions like "but"

tweet and comment on NewsPicks every day are:

It is training to hone that ability.

 

History has always been made in speeches, never in prose.

Oral expressiveness will be the focus of attention again .

I'm not good at improvising speeches or presentations,

In other words, their Ogiri skills are low (something they can improve through tweets and NPs),

Therefore, speaking ability is based on writing ability.

 

Train your questioning skills to draw out the basic sentences and turn ChatGPT into your servant.

your editing skills by combining these elements to create your own expressions .

speaking skills to strengthen your presentations and performances .

I think that's what Japanese language ability in the age of AI is all about.

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iU President Gachon. Mr.Toshiaki Endo

 2026/1/18

■iU President Gachon. Mr.Toshiaki Endo

The first Minister for the Olympics and Paralympics. At the time, I was asked by Mr. Endo to serve as a government advisor for the Olympics and Paralympics. We are still together at the Japan Sport Organization.

He served as the chairman of the bipartisan Education ICT Diet Members' League, and I teamed up with him as an advisor. In 2019, the "Act on the Promotion of Educational Informatization" formulated by the Diet Members' League was passed unanimously, which gave the impetus to realize one PC per student in school all at once.

The interview took place in the office of the LDP Election Strategy Chairman. He later became the LDP General Affairs Chairman. He has held two of the four top positions in the party.

◆Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games 2020

We apologize for causing concern, but in the end it was a great success. As there were no spectators, it seemed like the excitement was lacking domestically, but from overseas, there were almost no people watching in person, and they watched on TV. Someone overseas told me that 30-40 million people watched it. They said it was amazing that Japan could hold such a wonderful tournament at a time like that. They said it was possible only for Japan, and we received positive feedback. Japan's reputation is rising in every country. We are very happy about this.

A dozen years ago, we created the Basic Act on Sports in order to utilize the power of sports. A national organization to enforce this law was needed, so we created the Sports Agency. At the time, we were in the era of administrative reform, and there was a lot of opposition to creating a new ministry. After much consideration, we thought that if we brought the Olympics, everyone would cooperate, so we started bidding. We also did the Rugby World Cup.

As a result, the Basic Act on Sport was enacted, the Sports Agency was established, and this led to the success of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. I was able to engage in fulfilling political activities for 10 years.

◆ Education and Digitalization in Japan

I first saw ICT education at Tsuchido Elementary School in Onomichi a dozen years ago. My parents were school teachers, so education was a policy theme. By using ICT, I could instantly know the students' answers and develop good answers. It was an eye-opener for me to see English pronunciation classes. I thought that if we used this, education would advance dramatically. Since then, I have been promoting ICT in education.

During the Aso administration, they allocated 300 billion yen to install tablets, Wi-Fi, and electronic whiteboards, but when the government changed, the budget was cut and it was not possible. In 2013, they formed a parliamentary group and started to move forward again. Three years ago, the law was finally passed.

The purpose of digital education is not to use it as a tool to help students understand and cooperate with each other. There are issues such as the gap between schools and the lack of teachers, but we should try it first. We want to move forward with the ICT in education and GIGA School Initiative.

◆Message for you guys

Have hope and challenge your dreams. I wanted to be a politician when I was in the fifth grade of elementary school, but my father was not a politician, so I thought there must be some way to become a politician. I graduated from university, trained as a secretary to a member of parliament, and then I took on the challenge. I have lost two elections so far. Including the time I spent in Korea, I was a ronin for 8-9 years. Not everything will go well, but I will pursue my dreams and work hard. That kind of passion moves people.

Every job is important. Whatever your job, have the biggest dream and work hard to make it come true. People around you have high hopes for those who have dreams and work hard. My favorite saying is "Whoever has a dream has a way." If there's a will, there's a way. Look forward and do your best.

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Cool Japan: Otaku

■ Cool Japan: Otaku

NHK Cool Japan: "Otaku" edition.

The word otaku is said to have been created in the 1980s, and has since become an international word, but even when this program began in 2006, the word still had an image of being a reference to "weird people" and had not yet gained widespread acceptance.

That is clearly turning out to be a positive thing.

"Otaku Affairs"

Otaku-related events, including those related to Japanese anime, are now held all over the world, with the number of participants reaching 20 million per year.

In many cases, events are held by researchers from well-known universities.

So they established something called the "Global Otaku Research Institute" to connect researchers from around the world, but when you ask around, you'll find that the word otaku has become firmly established and is no longer something to be embarrassed about.

Moreover, it is not just pop culture like anime and games that is being referred to; saying "I'm an otaku of ___" has the same meaning as saying "my hobby is ____."

The same is true in Japan.

It's been almost 40 years since the word otaku was coined, and since we original otaku are now old, the term has become mainstream and has become more of a casual term referring to people with a hobby.

The era of 100 million otaku.

"Virtual Idol"

In the past, anime songs were just a supporting role that explained the anime, but from the late 1990s, there was an increase in high-level music by top-class artists that was independent of the anime, and these music began to be distributed around the world.

In 2004, a voice synthesis technology called Vocaloid was developed, and virtual idols became popular, with characters such as Hatsune Miku becoming popular around the world.

It combines the pop expressions of anime and music with cutting-edge technology.

Otaku discovered it, mastered the technology, and took the lead.

As cutting-edge users of technology, otaku also play a role in pioneering culture and markets.

It is also important from an industrial perspective.

For example, compared to the sales of anime itself, the subsequent developments in merchandise and live shows are 10 times larger.

The age of media mix: anime, music, concerts, cosplay, technology.

With so many different ways to get involved, virtual idols will likely develop into a new otaku culture and industry.

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iU President Gachon. Mr.Shuichi Miyawaki

■iU President Gachon. Mr.Shuichi Miyawaki

Representative of Kaiyodo, a global company. Representative, but with a name of Senmu. Four people, but they remind me of the Chambara Trio. It's a tremendous achievement to have created a worldview for the sculptures and figures, but it looks light and fun. It's Osaka. I've been to the head office in Kadoma, the museum in Nagahama, and the Wonder Festival.

◆Kaiyodo

Kaiyodo is the only group that calls itself a modeling group. There are many toy and figure plastic model manufacturers, but this is what sets them apart. Kaiyodo's biggest selling point is that the names of the prototype and model artists are included on all of the products, works, and merchandise they make. They continue to promote the idea that great things are made by people. They have created various exhibition facilities throughout Japan and are engaged in missionary activities to have people all over the world recognize Kaiyodo's way of making things and its way of life.

◆50 years since I started working

I've been in this job for 50 years. I graduated from junior high school at the age of 15 and joined Kaiyodo, a plastic model shop founded by my father, and have been making things ever since.

Kaiyodo was founded in 1964. When I was entering elementary school, I was a boy who loved plastic models, so my father wanted to open a model shop for me. Plastic is a wonderful material; it can be painted, is easy to process, can be mass-produced, is precise, and does not decay. When this material for models was born, I fell in love with it. I continued making models. I knew what I liked when I entered elementary school. I had the ambition from the beginning to expand my world of making models, plastic models, and all kinds of things, without thinking about anything else after graduating from junior high school.

People around me told me to graduate from high school and go to college, but my father had strong opinions about education, so he thought, "How can I leave my beloved son in the hands of a teacher I can't trust? I'll raise him!" and so I've been in the world of model making for 50 years. This is my biggest selling point.

◆ Sculptor

Instead of just making prototypes, we make large objects, individual items, and works of art. There are many sculptors. And so are artisans. Japan also has material workshops. There must have been a system in place for making things, but there weren't many for plastic models and miniatures. We were able to fuse these things with the world of otaku. Until then, there were great academic sculptors, fine art, and Buddhist statue artists. By incorporating otaku elements such as manga characters, monsters, and ghosts, we were able to do fun work.

The things we wanted didn't exist in the world, so we decided to make them ourselves. We started making manga characters, monsters, and all sorts of things, and the fact that we were doing modeling as an otaku job is our strongest point.

Japanese manufacturing is too serious. It would be nice if they made more interesting things. The new work we have started with figures involves making beautiful girls, monsters, robots, tanks, and other figures with our own hands, as if we were drawing a picture.

Kaiyodo's Ambition

20 years ago, there was a big boom in figurines as a freebie with candy. However, Japanese people still don't love figurines as much as people in the world. 40 or 50 years ago, there were toy stores, plastic model stores, and stationery stores in the city. There were heaps of places selling things you could make. Now they've died out, and mail order has taken over. Japanese people are the ones in the world who enjoy three-dimensional objects the most. I want to somehow make up for what is missing among Japanese people. I want everyone to love figurines. No one knows about Kaiyodo yet. I want to spread the fun and excitement of figurines, three-dimensional objects, and modeling to the world more and more.

◆School

Kaiyodo is like Tokiwa-so. As long as there is a place where people who like manga, anime, dinosaurs, beautiful girls, robots, etc. can gather, it is a school. A place where people who like things gather together, see each other's strengths, compete as rivals, and aim for higher heights while being conscious of each other. They work hard to improve themselves.

At one time, Kaiyodo had about 20 people living together and working on making things. That passion is something you can't experience anywhere else. Now, various vocational schools such as Osaka University of Arts have opened, and people have a place to gather. At Osaka University of Arts, about 180 students are learning figure shaping all at once. That kind of era has come. Even at 65 years old, he is still working at the forefront. The driving force behind teaching is for the representative of Kaiyodo to convey the stories, fun, and appeal of figures from the front lines, and to share the appeal of various artists with everyone.

◆Message for you guys

There is a 60-year-old beautiful girl figure artist called BOME. He has been our customer since he was in the fifth grade of elementary school. He had no talent whatsoever. He just loves beautiful girls. He loves manga. Once he finds something he loves, he can become a great man who has teamed up with Takashi Murakami and held exhibitions at the Versailles Museum and the Cartier Museum of Contemporary Art, just by using that power.

First of all, what do you like? As long as you have something you like, you can manage.

★Postscript

Mr. BOME, who appears at the end. I thought it was a French nickname, but when I found out it was Baume with hats and glasses, I realized it was Osaka. We were born in the same year and month, but when I went to the head office, he was busy sculpting alone, and I was nervous in front of a great man and couldn't speak well. In 2022, he received the Commissioner's Award from the Agency for Cultural Affairs. I was a judge and strongly recommended him.

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iU President's Gachon. Mrs. Mutsumi Tsuzaki

■ iU President's Gachon. Mrs.Mutsumi Tsuzaki

A world-famous xylophone player. Her book "Tenshi Tokinuke Memo" is very interesting. Tenshi Tokinuke is a place name in Kyoto, a few blocks down from my house in Kyoto. And Michizaki is also an antique kimono collector, and I also wear only old clothes, so although I'm from a different world than iU , I'll go out of my way to visit him.

◆ Xylophone and Marimba

It is surprisingly little known that the xylophone and marimba are different. The xylophone is called a xylophone and is a European tool. The marimba came to Japan via Africa, Central and South America, and the United States. The way the bottom of the keys are carved is different, which changes the tone. Both marimbas and xylophones are made from a type of wood called rosewood from Honduras, which is the highest quality. The xylophone is light, bright, and gorgeous. The marimba has a slightly lower range and a softer, sweeter tone.

I've been playing the marimba since I was 5 years old. In 2005, I came across an old American xylophone made in 1935 that had been used by a xylophone player named Yoichi Hiraoka, born in the Meiji era, and it had a really nice sound. It had little reverberation and a clear sound. I thought that it was better.

I still give marimba lessons and will play if asked, but I've now moved on to the xylophone.

Even beginners can make sounds with the xylophone as soon as they pick up the drumsticks, so it doesn't take long for them to be able to play songs. It's easy to get used to it. If you dig deeper, you can delve deeper into it, and it has a wide range of possibilities.

The other day I held a xylophone concert for children (Mrs.Mutsumi Tsuzaki Concert: Xylophone Days for Children, Saturday, July 23, 2022). It was a concert that adults were welcome to attend too. Even elderly people came because they felt nostalgic. They wrote in the questionnaire that they had heard me perform there when I was in kindergarten (30 years ago), and that for a while they had dreamed of becoming a marimba player, and when they found out there was a performance coming up, they came for the first time in a long time. I was very touched.

◆Antique kimono

I saw the marimba when I was 5 years old and thought it was cool, so I started playing it. I also had a secondhand kimono that my aunt (my father's older sister, born in the Taisho era) had worn when she was young, and when I saw it, I thought it was cute and cool, and I wanted to wear it. I learned how to wear it and started wearing it. I started going to antique markets such as Toji Temple to buy obi that go with old kimonos and kimonos that go with old obi, because they are more lively than the beautiful komon that my parents had prepared for my dowry. That was the beginning. It wasn't so much that I was attracted to secondhand clothes, but rather that I started wearing old things that I had at home because I wanted to wear them, and as I bought more, I started to buy more, and so I created the world of antique kimono collection.

The starting point for anything is to try anything that seems cool or interesting. From there, you can learn about that field.

Interest in pre-war items

Kyoto was not burned down during the war, so there are many old things left. Not only old clothes, but even houses. It's an interesting place.

In the past, there was only a xylophone in Japan. After the war, in the 1950s, an American Christian missionary, Mr. Lacoure, came to Japan to spread the word about Christ through music. The Lacoures were marimba players. They are said to have brought the marimba to Japan.

Instead of the fun and light xylophone, the Americans brought the rich sound of the marimba, and when they played hymns and other songs with a resonant sound, the Japanese people during the period of high economic growth were touched by the idea that they were richer than the xylophone. People who played the xylophone became marimba players, and the xylophone was forgotten. I took over the instrument that had not been played for a long time and now I play it. I call myself a xylophone player because I like old xylophones and not marimbas.

During the postwar period of rapid economic growth, kimonos were replaced by Western clothing for active wear, and kimonos from beloved eras were forced to be abandoned.

The old tenement house is being used as a warehouse. With the advent of the age of reinforced concrete, wooden houses are being demolished. Since I bought this warehouse, I have come to understand the appeal of wooden houses.

I'm interested in pre-war things. My work and hobbies are all from the 1920s and 1930s, before the war. Not intentionally.

◆Spread

It's difficult to spread something as an individual. I'll do what I love and do my best, and I'll be happy if people become interested and spread the word.

It is quite difficult to have the ability to look inward and the ability to communicate with the outside world at the same time. However, it is possible to have people listen to what you have done.

◆School

I'm a teacher at school. I've always lived in Kyoto.

Just like temples, there are many things to protect and show, but it is not the statues or buildings that say it, but the presentation of the people who are protecting the place. Should they write "Don't throw away trash" in large letters, or create a clean space where people won't throw away trash without writing it, and if they do write it, what font and size should they put on the sign? It is the sense of the people who are protecting the temple.

It's the same in school. The teachers make it. When you go to a school performance, the way the teacher responds when they first come out tells you 90% of how the students will listen to that performance. Getting along with people is a big part of it.

◆ Pursue the path you believe in

I've thought since kindergarten that it's not always right. I always have a rebellious spirit. I wonder if what the teacher says is right. I find what is right for myself.

Just because someone tells you it's beautiful doesn't mean it's beautiful, but rather find something that you think is beautiful yourself.

I liked beautiful sounds. Since I was young, I was told for a long time that I was just beautiful, but nothing else. I thought that beautiful things were good. I wanted to polish a beautiful tone. When you polish it, something other than just beautiful will naturally come out.

It's important to listen to other people's opinions, incorporate them, and make an effort, but it's also important to forge ahead on the path you believe in.

◆ Unique

Your individuality will come out whether you like it or not.

I tell my students to play exactly as the score says. Play exactly as the score says, and what emerges from that is individuality. If you can't play exactly as the score says, then it's not individuality, so stick to the basics and do exactly what's written.

What is a school?

There is also resentment.

When I was in elementary school, I wrote a diary about morning glories. It was excellent and I was asked to rewrite it to enter a contest. My teacher came to my house to give me advice. While I was rewriting it, it got late and my mother served dinner. It came with white asparagus, which I hate. When I didn't eat it, my teacher told me, "Eat the asparagus."

I thought that the teacher could give guidance on school lunches, but whether or not the student would come to my house and eat what my mother gave me was not within the realm of school. When I was in the first grade of elementary school, I really wondered what school was.

I wondered if the observation of morning glories was just my observation or something the teacher was planning to present. There were many times when I wondered what it was all about.

There is an opportunity to think about anything.

◆Message for you guys

I think it's good to value your own feelings. I value what you like and dislike. I think it's good to go down that path. It's no good to be self-centered, so I also look around me.

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I walked around New York for 1 minute.

■ I walked around New York for 1 minute.

I feel depressed when I come to New York.

Going from Tokyo to Paris and then to New York feels like a decline for me.

Police sirens and horns were blaring nonstop.

A meal of grilled minced meat dipped in ketchup and washed down with sweet sauce.

I had no choice but to go into Ootoya and muttered how expensive it was.

It's good that there's MOMA.

They say New York is a melting pot of races, but it actually seems quite uniform.

Coming from Paris.

There were people with hijabs, Middle Easterners, Africans, and all sorts of outfits, and I blended in wearing a haori and hakama, but since New York fashion is the norm, I stood out and people called out to me, "I love your kimono." Leave me alone.

I came here for work, a job that requires me to walk around in a haori and hakama.

New York Fashion Week.

It's a job that only requires a one-minute walk.

Wearing the kataginu (shoulder garment) used in Kyogen (and everything else, from hat to shoes, is his own, which is revolutionary!), he walked back and forth down the runway.

taller than the other models , and her role was to lead them.

This year I had the opportunity to walk around in a kimono twice: once in Kyoto for the Gion Festival and once in New York for Fashion Week.

Sound of Ikebana.

A project by Professor Tosa Naoko of the Kyoto University Disaster Prevention Research Institute.

The fashion pieces are punk art and technology pieces that turn the sounds of babies crying into flower arrangement designs .

This time I'll be parading around as a special professor at Kyoto University.

I hope you understand!

It's been exactly 20 years since New York Fashion Week last took place.

I was working in Kyoto that time too.

fabric to an artist in New York to create a design, and in the end the uchikake that I brought in without any design work was the most popular.

It seems that the Kyoto side had no confidence in the value of Nishijin 's 500-year-old materials, colors, patterns, and designs.

This was two years after 9/11.

911. I got caught up in Manhattan.

The job was at a venture company founded in New York by a female MIT PhD student named Idit Harel .

This is one of the things that makes me feel depressed in New York.

I was 40 years old. I reset my life. It had been 20 years since I returned to Japan from the United States.

Coincidentally, it was September 11th that I walked around New York this time.

Once again, the woman was invited.

I think the goddess smiled on me on this job.

Jet planes in skyscrapers.

It pits cutting-edge 20th century tech against cutting-edge 20th century tech.

That was the beginning of the 21st century.

It was a terrifying yet magnificent piece of design that marked history.

Twenty years have passed. There have been earthquakes, epidemics, and wars.

its pursuit of digital transformation and is sinking.

I feel depressed when I come to New York.

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Cool Japan: Snow

 ■Cool Japan: Snow

NHK Cool Japan: "Snow" edition.

Approximately half of Japan's land area is subject to heavy snowfall.

It is rare for a country to have so much snow, especially in populated areas.

That's why there are so many cultures and ingenuity involved in living with snow.

"Big city"

Japan is one of the snowiest countries in the world, but because it is a small country, it is impossible to avoid it.

In some places, snow falls for as long as six months, from November to April.

Since ancient times, people have continued to use wisdom and ingenuity to find ways to live comfortably and enjoyably during the snowy season.

Snowball fights and snow huts. We had fun playing in the snow.

Even in cities, there is a long-standing culture of enjoying snow, such as snow viewing.

The book Edo Meisho Zue describes a snow-viewing banquet held at a high-class restaurant at Tomioka Hachiman Shrine in Fukagawa.

This culture of enjoying snow is surely what makes Japan, a snowy country, so appealing to foreigners, unlike anywhere else.

"Snow Removal Team"

Mastering snow removal. A truly Japanese style.

Not only Aomori Airport has White Impulse, but Akita Airport also has a snow removal team called Yuki Sentai Namahage.

Asahikawa Airport in Hokkaido also has a snow removal team, most of which is done by local farmers, providing an important source of income during the winter.

White Impulse also holds tours, and many people visit to see their tricks.

It also contributes to revitalizing the local community.

If we master snow removal, we can create new jobs and tourism, turning the severe heavy snowfall into an advantage.

"Japanese paper"

It whitens paper and cloth and sweetens vegetables.

This is wisdom and ingenuity that can only be discovered by living deeply in snow.

It was born out of a long relationship with harsh snow.

"Risetsu," which I introduced previously, is one of them.

Snow can be used for storage, as refrigeration energy, and for tourism and local development.

I'm familiar with snow.

I believe there is still a lot of potential hidden in Japan's snow.

I used to have the image that snowy countries were difficult and gloomy, but I feel like that has been turned around and is now becoming more interesting, more work-oriented and more positive.

I thought we might be able to discover more of the power that snow has.

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