Reflection 英語だけでも良いかなと思ったのですが、先生方に英語では表現しきれない部分も お伝えできればと思ったので、日英両言語で記載します。 Japanese 引用に残っている話 ①競争力 (Competitiveness) とは何か 競争という言葉を聞くと、他者との争いに目が行きがちである。だが、講義でもあった ように競争は他者との闘争ではない。(To compete is not to fight.) あくまで定めた目標に 向かって進んでいく、その中で他者との比較があるというのは、なるほどと思った。 そして競争を有利に進めるためには、物理的な力だけでなく知力も必要だというのは、 改めて国や地域の力が重要視されるようになっている現代社会でとても大切だと思った。 ②問題解決 (Problem solving) の一連の流れ 問題解決において、問題の認識・分析・解決の流れがいかに重要かを学んだ。問題は樹の ように複雑に枝分かれしていて、その末端を認識し追求することで本当の課題に気づき、 具体的な解決につながっていく。授業や作文で社会問題について考えるとき、私たちは 何かと「目の前の困りごと」にとらわれがちである。認識 (Awareness) からさらに一歩 踏み込むことが、問題解決のカギとなるというのは、今回のワークショップで新しく 気づいたことの一つである。 English The part which I was impressed me in today’s workshop ① About - What is “Competitiveness”? When we hear the word “Competitiveness”, it reminds me of conflict against others. However, as it was mentioned in the workshop, “To compete is not to fight”. It is an action that sets a goal and works on something to achieve that goal. And during the action, there is a contest against others. I was very impressed by this way of thinking. In addition, in order to compete well, we need power but also intelligence. The concept of competitiveness is important for modern society, in which people are focusing more on the country or local community. ② The flow of the problem-solving Today, I’ve also learned about the importance of the flow of problem-solving. The problems we face are very complex; still, by recognizing (Awareness) and analyzing them, we can solve them. When we think about social problems like global warming, we are usually obsessed with the “surface problems". It was very new to me that stepping into more than awareness is the key to problem-solving.

First of all, let me say hundreds of thank yous for coming and for an amazing workshop! I had a really great time surrounded by many fresh ideas, realizations, and angles of view about the future of my own country. This workshop, “Global Competitiveness and Partnership Workshop,” gave me the opportunity to look at another point of view that I had never thought about. When I care about the actual social problems, I always used to look at major issues such as climate change, wars, the wealth gap, etc However, I’ve never looked up about the balance/bridge between rural areas and urban sites so much. And embarrassingly, I used to spend more time thinking about international challenges instead of challenges facing my country, which is Japan. Japan faces the aging population issue, the labor shortage, the low self-sufficiency, and more challenges. And all these challenges are related and connected to each other, and by pursuing the source of the long-long tree, perhaps we can reach the solution. This is something that I realized here through the workshop. I felt that thinking about this theme, “The global competitiveness and responsibility for sustainability” of Japan, is not simple, and there is no sample answer, but maybe talking with others, discussing with people that you didn’t know before, would help to connect different ideas so that those connected ideas could lead to a better solution. I only had one extremely sad thing that I wasn't able to participate in the second day workshop. But except for that, everything was funny. I would like to participate again. Thank you for the workshop, and please come again someday!

Before participating in this program, I knew about Japan's declining agricultural workforce, its low food self-sufficiency rate, and the fact that many countries still suffer from hunger while other countries waste enormous amounts of food. However, I thought that for an individual like me, the fundamental solutions to these problems were out of reach. Through this program, I learned that agriculture is not just a domestic issue, but a global one. The decline in agricultural production, GDP, and food self-sufficiency is likely to have serious international consequences. These issues need to be resolved quickly. Furthermore, by identifying current problems, analyzing their causes and ripple effects, and considering solutions, I began to feel that there may be something that we as individuals can do. Some solutions require significant effort, such as creating a system to encourage young people to enter agriculture and utilizing technology to increase efficiency. However, there are many small things that individuals can do. For example, even if we don't become farmers, we can stay engaged with these issues, promote awareness, and support sustainable agriculture in our daily lives. This experience has made me realize that I shouldn't give up just because the problem is too big. Therefore, I want to keep thinking about what role I can play and how I can contribute to creating a more sustainable and equitable food system.

Before I participated in the workshop, I knew some of the issues that Japan has. However, I’ve never thought about what the problem is or what we can do about it. Thus, this workshop provided a crucial opportunity for me to reflect on Japanese agricultural problems. Furthermore, by identifying the problems, I became more aware of the seriousness and focused on the point. Another thing I learned from this workshop is the importance of sharing ideas. Through the workshop, we didn’t only think about the solution, but we also shared our opinions. And this activity gave me a chance to come up with better solutions. I think many times, even when I come up with good ideas, I don’t know if the ideas are really good, and I tend not to share them. However, from now on, I want to spread my opinion and deepen my awareness and understanding. Lastly, I think the most important thing to solve the issues is to enhance people's awareness. If people know about what is happening, people can take action more easily. Therefore, I would like to share what I learned from this workshop with my family and friends.