第８９回 WORKSHOP報告（９月６日） / 参加者５９名
（１：前半マテリアル作成者のOさんからご挨拶です）
（２：後半マテリアル作成者のYさんからご挨拶です）
（３：後半のディスカッション中です）
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《 今回のworkshop 》
○workshop参加人数：５９名（うち新人の方：２名）
○【前半】：”Life support robots & nursing care robots”というテーマでディスカッション
○【後半】：”How to improve the food environment in Japan”というテーマでディスカッション
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＜英語サークル E’s club 第８９回workshopのご案内＞
みなさまこんにちは、E’s club幹事のKです。
９月６日（土）開催の第８９回workshopの詳細をお送りいたします。
今回は前半のマテリアルをOさん、後半のマテリアルをYさんにそれぞれご作成いただきました。
前半は”Life support robots & nursing care robots”、後半は”How to improve the food environment in Japan”というテーマでディスカッションを行ないます。
[今週のマテリアル]
＜FIRST HALF＞
前半マテリアルを担当させていただきますOと申します。
今回は高齢化社会から高齢社会に向けて介護の分野におき、ロボット技術導入が必要になってきている。
このことをテーマに取り上げてみました。
[Agenda] Life support robots & nursing care robots
Japan has one of the fastest aging populations and lowest birth rate in the world. The period to reach from an aging society to an aged society is 20 years for Japan which is horribly short-term.Any country has never experienced such a situation. There are a lot of inescapable problems for all of us. Today I focus on life support robots and nursing care robots. With the coming of aged society, there is an expectation toward life support robots including nursing care robots, which are of use in the sectors related to people’s lives that supports the safety and security such as nursing and welfare. Let’s talk about life support robots & nursing care robots for our near future.
[Questions]
Q1. Do you have robots or something with robots function in your company or at home?
If you have any, please introduce them to the other group members.
Q2. If you need any nursing care by a caregiver, which do you prefer, by a robot or a human?
Q3. If your family need any nursing care by a caregiver, which do you prefer, by a robot or a human?
Q4. What do you expect life support robots and nursing care robots to do?
Q5. How much would you pay for a robot if you find one in accordance with your need.
Q6. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of nursing care robots.
Q7. Do you agree or disagree with using the nursing care robots? And why?
[Reference]
http://www.nikkei.com/article/DGXNASFK0702P_X00C14A1000000/
( 介護ロボット市場は20年に350億円 (日本経済新聞) )
http://www.kaigo-robot-kanafuku.jp/article/13975190.html#top
( 介護支援ロボット種類 ）
http://asq.org/qualitynews/qnt/execute/displaySetup?newsID=16207
( Japan Moving Toward Nursing Robots for Elderly (ASQ) )
Japan Economic Newswire
June 12, 2013
In rapidly aging Japan, efforts are accelerating to make more practical and affordable robots for helping the elderly perform daily tasks to cope with a projected future shortage of caregivers.
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s government has allocated 2.39 billion yen in the budget for fiscal 2013 to help develop nursing care robots and spread their use.
The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry chose last month 24 companies that will receive subsidies covering half to two-thirds of the cost of developing what it calls “nursing care robot equipment.”
The tasks designated for such robots include helping the elderly move between rooms, providing help with toilet needs and tracking those prone to wandering.
The number of people aged 65 or older in Japan is expected to increase by about 7.09 million over the 15 years from 2010, with the percentage of the elderly in the overall population rising from 23% to 30% during that period, the government estimates.
It forecasts around 2.32 million to 2.44 million caregivers will be necessary, up more than 1.5 times from the 2010 level.
But the elderly care industry is suffering from a high job turnover rate due partly to relatively low pay. In addition, about 70% of caregivers are said to be suffering from back pains due to constant lifting of the elderly between bed and wheelchairs as well as helping them take baths and do other daily activities, the government said.
Robots can be “one of the few solutions” to this situation, said Akifumi Kitashima, deputy director of the industry ministry’s industrial machinery division in charge of the project.
“We aim to realize mass marketing of cheap robots costing 100,000 yen to 200,000 yen (about $1,000 to $2,000), no matter whether they look like a typical humanoid robot,” Kitashima said.
He noted that high prices have been an obstacle to the robots’ introduction in elderly care facilities, with some sophisticated robots costing over 10 million yen (about $100,000).
“By 2018, the lineup (of nursing robots to be developed under the project) should increase to a significant volume and people will be able to buy them,” he said. “We aim to achieve a situation where every senior citizen’s home or one in three to four houses have at least one unit.”
Companies to receive the subsidies include Toyota Motor Corp. for its development of a device to help carry the elderly, as well as Sekisui Hometechno Co., working on a mobile flush lavatory, and Toli Corp. with a wireless sensor mat that can report the wandering of the aged.
The government will also set a safety standard for nursing care robots so that manufacturers will have a clear idea of the safety level their products will be required to achieve.
“I find them very effective,” Akira Kobayashi, the head of Fuyouen senior citizens’ home in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, said, referring to the Palro humanoid robot and Paro seal-type therapy robot. They are leased free of charge under another project initiated by the Kanagawa prefectural government to promote the use of nursing robots.
The prefectural government began leasing the robots to the nursing home last year. It also leases a powered exoskeleton suit called HAL for assisting wearers to walk and perform other activities to a hospital in Kanagawa to help rehabilitation programs.
At the Fuyouen home for the aged, the 40-centimeter tall Palro conversation robot offers recreation services to residents, by playing games, singing and dancing together with the elderly.
“He knows everything very well. I learned a lot from him,” Tsugie Nakanishi, 88, said, referring to quizzes the robot gives. The robot can understand spoken words, and told Nakanishi that her answer was wrong while explaining the right answer.
A 92-year-old resident, Yukiko Kanesaka, told the baby seal-like Paro, “You’re so cute, look at me,” and the interactive robot responded as if it was alive, moving its head and legs, blinking its eyes and squealing.
Caregivers at the facility said their residents accepted the robots more easily than expected, with the robots having positive psychological effects on the residents, sometimes bringing smiles to the faces of even the mentally depressed.
In addition to such communication-type robots, Kobayashi expressed hope for the future development of more practical robots that can actually reduce caregivers’ physical burdens, such as by helping lift the elderly.
“I think people’s hearts, caring, and the warmth of physical contact can never be replaced by robots,” said Kobayashi. “But with many in the nursing care industry suffering from back pain, I am hoping that robots will be developed eventually so that they can ease such problems and enable them to work longer.”
In another development in the private sector, Orix Living Corp., an operator of elderly homes, began talks with some manufacturers to jointly develop nursing robots after offering tours of its facilities.
The government projects the Japanese market for nursing care robot equipment will expand from an estimated 16.7 billion yen in 2015 to 404.3 billion yen in 2035.
Yumi Wada, a caregiver at Fuyouen, said, “If robots will be developed while giving thorough consideration as to how to have them collaborate with human beings, I think there is a possibility that they can widen the scope of nursing care services we can offer.”
＜LATTER HALF＞
Title: How to improve the food environment in Japan
Hello, everyone. I’m Y.
I’d like to consider how to improve our food environment with you from the food-related scandal in these days.
Have you seen the video that shows the expired chicken meet changed to blue color at factory of Chinese food supplier？
It was shocking to see it because I had a certain amount of confidence about the security control by McDonalds which is international giant company.
And another scandal of mislabeling inexpensive meat as brand meat at Japanese restaurant Kisoji is reported in Aug. It make me doubt some other restaurant may be deceiving us same as this case.
[Question]
1. More food-related scandals are reported in the media in these days. What news do you remember? Could you give some examples of scandals and tell how you feel and think of that?
(a) Safety problem scandals
(b) Mislabeling scandals
(Reference1)
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/perspectives/news/20140724p2a00m0na009000c.html
(Reference2)
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/shabu-shabu-restaurant-mislabels-beef-on-menu-at-3-locations
2. Are there any changes on your consumption behavior after you know these food-related scandals?
3. Why these food-related scandals are increasing?
Or is it just revealed recently even such a fraud have been made for a long time?
If so, why does it become known in these days?
4. How can they make efforts to improve this situation?
(a) Government
(b) Company
(c) Consumer
5. We could refer the suggestion that Japanese company need to make effort so that consumers would accept the price increase for the additional value of securing food safety.
(Reference3)
http://www.huffingtonpost.jp/2014/07/24/lawson-niinami_n_5616271.html
What do you think of the price increase for securing food safety?
6. The following idea is introduced by a writer. He points out that Japanese have become divided into the” left “and “right” in making food choice.
Which position do you stand in?
Could you discuss merits and demerits of both forms of food production?
(Left) Those who value healthy diets, food safety and locally grown foods
(Right) Those who accept the global industrialization of food that produces cheap, high-volume products
(Reference4)
http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20140122p2a00m0na018000c.html
7. We need to become educated consumers to secure the fair behavior by food supplier and improve the food environment in Japan. Could you give your idea on how to become smart consumers?
8. Please make discussion about any kind of topic on the food environment in Japan
(Reference 1)
Editorial: Expired meat scandal must be thoroughly investigated to prevent recurrence
It has been learned that portions of chicken and beef past their shelf life were mixed into food products at a factory run by Shanghai Husi Food Co., the Chinese unit of a major U.S.-based food company.
The shelf life, or “quality preservation period,” of the products corresponds to the expiry date used in Japan. McDonald’s Co. (Japan) and FamilyMart Co. have halted sales of chicken nuggets and other products that they imported into Japan from the Chinese supplier.
Chinese authorities have taken five people into custody, and have launched a probe. It is hoped that they will thoroughly investigate what went on, and publicly announce their findings.
Shanghai Husi Food Co.’s parent company, OSI Group, is a major global supplier of food products. It has said it will cooperate with authorities and investigate the cause of the problem. It must waste no time in announcing the results of its investigation.
Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare says that roughly 6,000 tons of chicken products from the company in question were imported into Japan in a year. At this stage it is unclear whether any expired products found their way into the country. The Japanese government and the two companies need to investigate. No adverse health effects have been reported, but this issue, too, should be thoroughly checked.
According to Chinese media, the person in charge of quality control at the Shanghai Husi Food Co. factory has admitted the factory manager was involved, creating deep suspicions that the company as a whole was behind the scandal.
The Shanghai television station that first reported on the factory ran footage showing mold-covered meat that had changed color. In China, the scandal brought attention to the quality control of foreign-owned enterprises, which pride themselves on the image of their brands. Some reports said that they were showing disregard for China’s consumers.
Global distribution of food products has surged. Japanese food imports are also rising, influenced by the cheapness and diversification of food products. Trade statistics from the Ministry of Finance show that imports of food products such as meat and seafood in fiscal 2013 rose 9.4 percent from the previous year to hit 6.5 trillion yen — accounting for 7.7 percent of the total amount of Japan’s imports. Retailers and restaurant operators have spread their reach to other countries including China to acquire food products and support the Japanese diet.
Of course, just because something is cheap doesn’t mean safety can be neglected. It is common sense for companies handling food to regularly check on the hygiene management and manufacturing conditions at the factories that supply their products. Why did this scandal end up affecting the two companies in Japan? Were their checking systems adequate? These questions need to be thoroughly investigated, and the companies have a responsibility to inform consumers of solid measures to prevent recurrences.
China has had its share of food safety scandals, including the insertion of a pesticide in dumplings and the contamination of powdered milk with a harmful substance. Food problems have also been seen in Japan, with an agricultural chemical found in frozen products at a factory in Gunma Prefecture last year, leading to the arrest of a worker. On top of this we have seen a spate of mislabeling incidents. Taking a mistaken approach to food problems could threaten the very existence of a company. Businesses that handle food must take another hard look at their inspections and management.
July 24, 2014(Mainichi Japan)
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