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Japan for Sustainability Newsletter #169
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September 30, 2016
Copyright (c) 2016, Japan for Sustainability
Japan for Sustainability (JFS) is a non-profit communication platform to
disseminate environmental information from Japan to the world, with the
aim of helping both move onto a sustainable path.
See what's new on our web site: http://www.japanfs.org/en/
E-mail: [email protected]
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In the September 2016 issue of the JFS Newsletter:
- What are the Secrets to a Long, Healthy Life?
From Japan's Longest-Lived Prefecture, Nagano
- 'work with Pride' (wwP) Launches Index to Promote LGBT-inclusive
Workplaces in Japan
- Chiiki Mirai Juku : Local Communities Support Government's Tutoring
Program to Fight Child Poverty in Japan
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What are the Secrets to a Long, Healthy Life?
>From Japan's Longest-Lived Prefecture, Nagano
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035655.html
Building a society with a healthy lifestyle, where even the elderly can lead
active lives, is a central challenge worldwide. As of 2014, the average
lifespan in Japan for both men and women, is the world's longest --
men there live 80.50 years on average, while women top them at 86.83
years.
Among Japan's 47 prefectures, Nagano has the longest average life
expectancy for both men and women. It leads Japan not only in terms of
average life expectancy, but has also garnered attention for "healthy
life expectancy," meaning the number of years a person can live a normal
life without nursing care or, worse, becoming bedridden. This is a crucial
concept for promoting wellbeing among the elderly. Nagano ranks among
the best in terms of healthy life expectancy in Japan. While Japan tops
the world in longevity, Nagano's citizens enjoy the longest and the healthiest
life span in this country. What are Nagano's secrets?
One secret is that Nagano, whose population exceeds two million, has
over 10,000 health promotion volunteers organized throughout the
prefecture who work every day. In this article, we will introduce
initiatives of theirs that are indispensable to Nagano's healthy
community building.
Founding and Activities of the Health Promotion Volunteers
The Health Promotion Volunteers initiative was launched in 1945, in
response to calls by housewives in the former village of Takaho
(currently part of Suzaka) asking how they could help public health
nurses. The poor hygienic environment during the war cost many infants
their lives from infectious diseases such as tuberculosis and dysentery.
Under such circumstances, the Suzaka Health Promotion Volunteer (HPV)
Association was voluntarily organized by housewives in the community to
assist public health nurses, who were struggling alone to protect people's lives.
To eliminate the sources of parasitic insects and infectious diseases
that were epidemic at that time, their activities included campaigns to
dry futons and stop people from eating with their hands. This spread
from the HPVs, who were mainly housewives, to each home and thus to all
areas. To prevent strokes, the top cause of death at that time, they
focused on blood pressure control by having people measure it for
themselves. At times they also conducted nutritional surveys, beginning
with measuring salt in miso soup, and there were campaigns to
reduce salt.
After the village was incorporated into Suzaka, the activities continued,
aiming for "one HPV per family." The HPVs played an important role in
the city's health promotion declaration of 1987 that encouraged citizens
to build healthy lives for themselves.
The volunteers are not special, but ordinary local mothers. They are
recommended to serve as board members by the head of the community, for
terms of two years. One feature is that they are replaced every two
years, so that the number of experienced health promotion volunteers
increases. Currently, 269 members serve in the 30th term of Health
Promotion Volunteers, with each member in charge of 71 households on
average.
The HPVs have two main activities. The first is to learn and then put
what they have learned into practice in their daily lives. Monthly study
group meetings are held on each block, where they learn about health
through practice, including walking methods and dietetics such as salt
and dietary balance. They also study the city's health issues and lifestyle-
related diseases. Practice is just as important as learning, so they
wear pedometers and exercise in ways that are easy to continue
daily. They cook a balanced, reduced salt diet together with their
family, and participate in HPV health classes.
Their other main activity is to spread what they have learned among
their community. For instance, they offer health consultations at
community events and demonstrate calisthenics at the city's health
festival. In addition, upon request, they offer support to child-rearing
parents by organizing "child-raising plazas" and providing other
opportunities for mothers and children to meet up and interact each
other. They also offer similar opportunities for the elderly to gather,
talk and enjoy hobbies.
In addition, they cooperate with the city's health and welfare
activities, helping as staff at medical examinations and promoting
checkups by distributing applications when the city recommends checkups
for citizens.
In FY2014, Suzaka and Toho University jointly conducted the Suzaka City
Health Survey, to clarify factors in citizens' good health and improve
health further using the survey results. They learned the following
things from the survey.
People with HPV experience had a higher degree of vitality. In other
words, fewer of them had a low capacity for activities such as shopping,
preparing meals, making trips to the bank, or reading newspapers or
books than those without HPV experience. People with HPV experience had
lower per capita medical costs and were less of a national health
insurance burden, and they exhibited a higher rate of specific health
checkups and various cancer screenings compared to those without HPV
experience. Furthermore, among men in households where someone had HPV
experience, fewer people had low subjective health levels (health
self-examination), while many of them maintained desirable
health-related habits.
To publicize the benefits of HPV activities, Suzaka has solicited
comments from HPV veterans, who talk about changes they have made in
lifestyle and habits, such as cooking with lighter seasonings after
learning about reduced-salt cooking, eating more vegetables, trying to
balance their diet, and cultivating the habit of walking and other
exercises.
Another major benefit they mention is networking with new people. Some
say, "I enjoy meeting up with HPV friends who have worked with me to
build good health," and "Even after my HPV term was over, I kept working
as a caregiver and member of the Dietary Life Improvement Promotion
Association."
Comments such as "By working as an HPV, I could learn about the
community," "I could get to know local people, strengthening communal
ties," and "After serving as an HPV, I set up a Suzaka exercise group
and continue exercising," show that HPV activities build social capital
locally.
They also mention benefits to local communities including increased
awareness of health issues in the community, increased number of towns
where people have greater health awareness because of courses being
offered, as the HPVs have conducted an anti-smoking campaign, and have
become concerned about separation of smoking areas or have improved
smoking conditions at public facilities, a larger number of people with
better awareness of low salt and balanced diets, and more chances for
people to link up with others through opportunities to learn and gather.
The Suzaka Health Promotion Volunteer Association developed the Suzaka
Exercise, a calisthenics routine consisting of seven types of exercises
easy for anyone anywhere to do while singing songs known to people of
all ages, from childhood to the golden years. Singing while engaging in
multiple movements simultaneously increases the stimulation to the brain,
thereby also preventing dementia.
HPV Activities Extending across Nagano Prefecture
The HPV framework, which started in Suzaka, is spreading across the
prefecture. Each municipality has its own name for it, but currently
about 11,000 HPVs and similar groups are working as voluntary citizens'
organizations protecting the health of communities in almost all of the
prefecture's municipalities. Under a slogan translating as "Let's build
and protect our health for ourselves," these HPVs provide learning
opportunities and engage in health-related activities such as
recommending physical examinations or health screening at the
prefectural, affiliate and district levels.
As noted at the beginning, Nagano has the highest average longevity,
both male and female, in Japan, a country noted for long lives. The
prefecture says the reasons for that are the low mortality rate from
cancer or heart disease, well-established preventive actions by HPVs and
others in daily life supporting that, and the ability of HPVs and others
to take turns acquiring knowledge about health promotion activities as a
shared role in the community. It notes, "With knowledge, people behave
differently and encourage wider health promotion among families and
communities. Apparently, the many years of efforts have been supporting
long lives in modern Nagano."
The total number of people with HPV experience in Nagano is about
250,000, which only reflects the number since 1973 when statistics
became available. Recently, more and more men have become involved, but
the majority is still women, with one out of five women in the prefecture
having HPV experience. All of these people gain knowledge in their
communities, implement the knowledge at home and then spread it to
their communities. There are other regions in Japan where similar
activities are held, but it is said that only Nagano has prefecture-wide
activities.
In the spring of 2016, the Suzuka Health Promotion Volunteer Association
received the Medal with Green Ribbon (awarded to morally remarkable
individuals who have actively taken part in serving society). In 2014,
the association's health promotion activities via the HPVs to "build and
protect our health by ourselves," aiming for citizens' health, won the
highest place in the Third Award for Extending Healthy Longevity,
presented by the Minister of Health, Labour and Welfare. Activities in
Matsumoto, another city in the prefecture, also won the Award of
Excellence in the First Award for Extending Healthy Longevity in 2013.
These activities are receiving attention across Japan.
The late Ms. Miyoshi Ooba, the public health nurse who founded the
health promotion volunteer system, left the following words: "Soon, the
housewives of all households in the city will complete the two-year
volunteer training course. Then, our city will be a healthy city
established by the residents on their own." Her vision is taking shape
exactly as she said and supporting the health and happiness of residents
in the long-lived prefecture of Nagano.
Written by Kazuko Iijima and Junko Edahiro
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What can we learn from Nagano? Please share your ideas and leave
comments!
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035655.html#comment
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'work with Pride' (wwP) Launches Index to Promote LGBT-inclusive
Workplaces in Japan
In June 2016, a Japanese nonprofit group called "work with Pride" (wwP)
announced Japan's first index to evaluate corporate efforts to support
inclusiveness for LGBT employees and other sexual minorities.
Twenty-four companies and groups joined a voluntary working group to
develop the index through discussions over a period of six months.
work with Pride
http://www.workwithpride.jp/pride.html#prideEnglish
The index was named the PRIDE Index, representing the hope to create
LGBT-friendly workplaces where people can work with pride. Each letter
represents one of the five pillars in the index: Policy, Representation,
Inspiration, Development, and Engagement.
With cooperation from wwP, this month's JFS newsletter introduces the
complete text of the PRIDE Index, which takes the form of a series of
questions and suggestions.
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PRIDE INDEX
1.
Has your company implemented a formal policy with regards to sexual
minorities including LGBT, and is such policy widely disclosed
internally and externally (via the internet, etc.)?
- The policy should include the following principles: the company and
its employees shall not discriminate against employees based on sexual
orientation or gender identity (or any other word that has the same
meaning) or the company and its employees shall respect LGBT employees.
- For this year, it is adequate if the policy includes a prohibition of
discrimination based on either sexual orientation or gender identity.
- It is acceptable if there is either a separate policy or if the policy
is included in the code of conduct / a human rights policy / diversity
declaration, etc.
Suggestions
- Include both sexual orientation and gender identity in the policy.
- Include "the company's position on LGBT with respect to employees" and
"a code of conduct for employees regarding LGBT" in the policy.
- Share the LGBT policy with students, etc., as a standard recruitment
procedure.
- Top management should not only share the LGBT policy but also refer to
the policy internally and externally so the policy is ingrained into
the culture.
Expectations for next steps
- To establish and publish an LGBT policy with respect to clients and
business partners.
2.
Does your company provide all employees, whether LGBT or allies, with a
forum to express ideas to the company or exchange opinions with each
other regarding sexual minority matters (for example, by establishing an
LGBTA network, providing an internal or external counselling /
consultation service to employees or conducting an anonymous employee
survey, etc.)?
In addition, does your company make an effort to increase the number of
allies and make their support visible?
[Note: In LGBTA the A stands for Allies.]
Suggestions
- One of the purposes of a network is to create an LGBT inclusive
workplace. It is recommended that allies participate in the LGBTA
network. Sexual minorities do not need to be the only members.
- Employees should not be forced to identify as a sexual minority or as
an ally when establishing an LGBTA network in order to avoid outing an
employee.
- If establishing an LGBTA network at the company is difficult, one
option to start can be to set up a contact for counselling /
consulting or have the company participating in an outside LGBTA
network.
3.
Over the past three years, has your company made any efforts to promote
sexual minority awareness, such as providing training or media tools for
awareness, sending out messages within the company via the intranet or
setting an pride week / month, etc.?
Suggestions
- Aim to provide training to all employees, cascading to participants in
the following order:
(1) Human resources functions (it is especially important for those
who recruit new employees).
(2) Managers (it is desired that training to managers be mandatory. An
employee will feel more comfortable to come out (as a sexual
minority) if the employee's manager has become an ally after
participating in awareness training).
(3) All employees in a sequential manner (for example, training to the
head office first and later expanding to local offices and
manufacturing locations, or training to permanent employees first,
expanding to contract employees and temp staff).
- Provide training to newly graduated employees and mid-career employees
upon joining the company.
- Provide education on how to handle when an LGBT employee comes out to
him / her and to maintain confidentiality.
- The training should include content about both sexual orientation and
gender identity.
- Conduct group work such as "things to keep in mind for conversations
regarding sexuality" so as to assimilate "the way of thinking" in
addition to the right words.
Expectations for next steps
- Provide ongoing training rather than one-time training.
- Check the degree of awareness of employees by way of a survey.
4.
If your company has the below human resources management policies and
programs, do they apply to employees who are married to, or have a
partnership with, a same-sex partner as well as his / her families?
Or, if the employee applies, would the policy or program be applied?
("Launching an approach for such policy and program is deemed as
meaningful" in this year's evaluation. If one of the following items
applies to your company, your company is evaluated as "accomplished."
Please note that human resources management policies and programs are
not limited to the following items.)
A. Leave / leave of absence (leave for marriage, maternity, childcare,
adoption of a child, and providing care to family)
B. Allowance (congratulatory payments, condolence payments,
congratulatory payments for giving birth, family allowance, and
rent subsidy)
C. Transfers (transfer allowance, moving costs, leave, and subsidy
for the language school)
D. Other employee benefits (company-owned housing, family days,
family discounts, and recreation facilities)
Do any of the items below for transgender employees apply if the
employee applies for it? (If even just one item is applicable, answer
'Yes'.)
A. Your company accepts the gender that your employee wants to select
(in connection with health checks, dress, and name).
B. Your company supports an employee to continue employment in the
event of gender reassignment surgery, hormone treatment, etc.,
(leave of absence, care for working arrangements).
C. Your company provides infrastructure that anyone can utilize
regardless of gender, such as toilets, changing rooms, etc.
Suggestions
- Policies and the programs should be well-known among the employees.
- Whenever possible, there is flexibility in the way an employee can
apply for the policies and programs so an employee can apply
confidentially.
- As a consequence of an employee coming out, certain issues may arise,
such as his / her manager or colleague making inappropriate remarks on
being an LGBT. In such case, it is necessary to (i) take measures to
support the LGBT employee, such as providing counselling or a transfer
to another department, and (ii) implement a training program to
prevent the recurrence of such issue.
- Be considerate if a request is made regarding who to stay with in the
room at business trips and company events.
- Consider the potential risks of an LGBT employee being asked to
transfer or take a business trip to a country where homosexuality is
criminalized.
- Consider the same sex partner when transferring an LGBT employee.
- Be mindful of transgender employees regarding unisex / gender-neutral
uniforms (or a uniform that s/he can select at his / her choice).
- Consider that the bathroom that a transgender employee wants to use
could differ depending on each person's or each company's facility
situation. (Transgender employees do not necessarily want a gender
neutral bathroom.)
- If a transgender employee wants to work in accordance with his / her
gender identity, create a team involving HR, the department to which
the employee belongs and the relevant departments needed to support
the employee.
5. Activities>
Has your company conducted any CSR activities / programs or external
activities to assimilate social awareness towards sexual minorities
within the past year?
For example, sponsor, promote or donate to LGBT events and activities,
hold company events to promote awareness among employees, industry lobby
groups, promote / sponsor educational events about LGBT for the younger
generations.
Suggestions
- Sponsoring or promoting events will not only assimilate social
understanding, but will also help promote the company's philosophy /
vision within the company. Encouraging employees to attend these
events will also help spread awareness among the workforce.
(If starting LGBT initiatives or implementing policies and programs is
difficult, one option is to begin by getting involved with external
CSR activities.)
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As this is the first year of the PRIDE index, "work with Pride" (wwP)
intends the index to be used with an emphasis on whether or not
companies have started implementing the action items, rather than on the
scope and level of implementation. In the future, after monitoring the
efforts of Japanese companies, wwP intends to review the evaluation
index for further improvements year by year. When this PRIDE index was
announced in June 2016, wwP started inviting companies to report their
examples of actions to achieve LGBT inclusive workplaces, and will award
companies that have achieved excellent performance and publicize best
practices at a seminar on October 26, 2016.
JFS will continue watching efforts in Japan to create diverse and
inclusive workplaces where all employees, including those who identify
as LGBT, can work with pride.
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Chiiki Mirai Juku : Local Communities Support Government's Tutoring
Program to Fight Child Poverty in Japan
Child poverty is attracting growing concern in Japan. It is a problem
requiring serious attention, because it affects not only the health and
happiness of children and their families but also their potential for
higher education and better jobs in the future. This month we report on
the status of child poverty in Japan, plus the Chiiki Mirai Juku Program,
a tutoring program undertaken by the government to address child poverty.
Worsening Child Poverty in Japan
According to a study conducted by the Ministry of Health, Labour and
Welfare, one of every six Japanese children lives in relative poverty,
which means living in a household with below 50 percent of national
median income. In developed countries, poverty is generally measured by
relative poverty, whereas in developing countries it is measured by
absolute poverty (e.g., living on less than $1.90 a day ). The poverty
rate among children has been rising in Japan.
A report published by UNICEF in April 2016 stated that Japan had the
eighth widest gap between the poorest and the average groups in terms of
income, educational achievement, and other measures, among 41 member
countries of the European Union and Organization for Economic Cooperation
and Development (OECD).
Future Effects of Child Poverty
Child poverty has a great influence on the future life of a child. For
example, the university graduation rate is more than 40 percent for both
men and women in households not in poverty, but for households on
welfare the rate is approximately 15 percent. One can see large
differences between the two groups. As educational background also
affects employment patterns (e.g., permanent versus part-time employment),
educational disparities lead to disparities in lifetime income earned.
The Nippon Foundation published a report in December 2015 that estimated
society's losses due to child poverty, with two scenarios to highlight
differences in the number of university graduates, income disparities,
and other parameters. In the "current scenario," poverty is left
unaddressed, while in the "improved scenario" measures are taken such as
providing educational assistance to 180,000 children aged 15 years
living in poor households. Approximately 34,000 graduate from university
in the current scenario, compared to 62,000 in the improved scenario, a
difference of nearly 30,000 university graduates. The number of future
permanent employees was estimated at 81,000 in the current scenario, and
90,000 in the improved scenario.
These differences lead to differences in income, because permanent
employees earn more than part-time employees. The report estimated the
total lifetime income (earned until the age of 64) for 180,000 children
in poor households at 22.6 trillion yen (about U.S.$215 billion) in the
current scenario, and 25.5 trillion yen (about $243 billion), in the
improved scenario, an increase of 2.9 trillion yen (about $28 billion).
These estimates show the significant differences resulting from support
measures taken even just for 180,000 children.
If parents remain in poverty, their children will also be likely to grow
up in poor households. This is called the cycle of poverty. In Japan,
many children attend after-school tutoring programs, but this is
something that poor households cannot afford. To break the vicious cycle,
children also need extra assistance to learn, in addition to regular
school.
Free Learning Assistance: "Chiiki Mirai Juku" Program
With this background, the Japanese government launched the Chiiki Mirai
Juku program (translated roughly as "Community Tutoring School for the
Future") in fiscal 2015, as a form of community-based learning assistance
for children. As the name suggests, the program is implemented with the
cooperation of local residents. Using local schools as a platform, the
support is offered free of charge to junior high school students who
have difficulty in developing study habits at home. In 2015, the Chiiki
Mirai Juku program was offered in 2,000 junior high school districts,
with a total budget of 200 million yen (about $1.9 million). The program
can be implemented flexibly according to local needs. For example,
municipalities can entrust it to private tutoring schools or non-profit
organizations, etc. In addition, the program can focus on certain
students or can be open to anyone.
One Chiiki Mirai Juku program is offered evenings twice a week during
the school term, using classrooms in a junior high school. Seventh to
ninth graders who want to participate in the program can receive
learning assistance from aspiring teachers and university students. This
is an example of Chiiki Mirai Juku open to any junior high school
student in the district. Participating students study alone using
workbooks but ask instructors when they have a question. An average of
30 students receive learning support each time. Since the number of
students in the school is about 300, the program participants account
for about 10 percent of the total.
Another example of Chiiki Mirai Juku targets children who have
difficulty studying at home or have poor study habits. Under this
program, participants are divided into two courses according to their
learning levels: Mirai Juku course and standard course. The Mirai Juku
course is a small-group class in which students can learn more
thoroughly.
In this case, careful attention is given to the students in the Mirai
Juku course who tend to fall behind at school. The program offers the
two courses at the same time so that the Mirai Juku course does not
stand out. The goal is to provide adequate learning support to students
who need it, but to avoid having them being perceived as "poor" or
"under-performing" students.
In fiscal 2016, the second year of the program, the government has set a
goal to increase the number of participating school districts to 3,000,
and for 2019 the target is 5,000 districts (covering half of all junior
high schools in Japan). The Chiiki Mirai Juku program entered a new
phase in 2016 by targeting not only junior but also senior high schools,
and utilizing information and communications technologies (ICT) to
accelerate learning support.
Legislation and Programs that Support Chiiki Mirai Juku
The Chiiki Mirai Juku program is offered based on various laws and
programs. For example, the Act on Promotion of Policy on Poverty among
Children entered into force in January 2014. Its basic philosophy is to
realize a society where a child's future is not influenced by family
background. In line with the legislation, the General Principles of
Policy on Poverty among Children was formulated to focus on specific
measures, in such areas as (1) educational support, (2) livelihood
support, (3) job assistance to parents, (4) financial support, and (5)
research on child poverty.
In the area of "educational support," priority measures include (1)
promoting child poverty countermeasures using schools as platforms, (2)
reducing the burden of educational costs, (3) promoting learning
assistance to prevent the cycle of poverty, and (4) providing learning
assistance focused on junior high school students who are more likely to
fall behind at school. These are exactly the areas where the Chiiki
Mirai Juku program is focused.
Other programs support the Chiiki Mirai Juku program from approaches
other than measures against poverty. When Japan's Basic Act on Education
was amended in 2006, new provisions were added concerning mutual
cooperation between schools, households and local residents. To turn the
legislation into practical action, efforts have been made since 2008 to
set up a community-based support organization in each school district.
In this scheme, local residents provide support as volunteers upon
request of the schools. Many Chiiki Mirai Juku initiatives are
undertaken based on these local support organizations. This is how the
Chiiki Mirai Juku program has been growing in individual communities,
while being connected with existing programs and organizations.
Written by Naoko Niitsu
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[JFS Web Site Additions of the Month]
- This month's cartoon:
"Recently, we're always taking turns" (2016/09/05)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/manga/manga_id035636.html
- JFS Newsletter No.168 (August 2016)
Innovative 'Hometown Tax' Donation Program Supports
Municipalities(2016/09/19)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035641.html
Community Building through Local Money Circulation Analysis
-- The Case of Minamata, Japan(2016/09/11)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035639.html
Making Olympic Gold Medals from 'Urban Mine' Sources(2016/08/31)
http://www.japanfs.org/en/news/archives/news_id035631.html
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