A Change of Address

I'm going to be updating
Japan Unplugged

rather than an Australian Scholar in Japan. I'm not sure why I chose that, but I like fresh and new things. So fix up your bookmarks and head over there for the lowdown of the trip to Japan. :)

Adam

It's The Final Countdown...

You have to admit, Europe's The Final Countdown is ridiculously catchy if it gets you at the right moment. Like, say, counting down the two weeks until we fly to Japan for the start of the JAL Foundation scholarship programme. It's been a long wait, but finally we're off to Nippon!

I'm excited. :D

That being said, it's time this blog started to perform it's intended purpose. An Australian Scholar in Japan will be an ongoing chronicle (of sorts) of our experiences and adventures in Japan. Any MISadventures that we happen to get up to won't be reported here; it's not that I don't trust ya'll, it's just that I'd like to keep some things on the down low.

We received a "Preparation For Arrival" document via email a few weeks back. Part of our requirements are as follows:

1. To bring a national costume (or suit/jacket) as recommended attire for receptions in Tokyo and Kanazawa.
Do you think they'd be offended if I wore stubbie shorts, thongs, and a singlet? ;) Joking!

9. Slippers for wearing inside the dormitory (at the National Olympic Memorial Youth Centre), especially if your foot is a size 11 or higher, as it is difficult to find slippers in these sizes.
I think my Australian side is going to show here. Since my foot is a size 13, I'm going to have to bring my favourite uggboots from New Zealand to wear. On the plus side, they can double as a cool fashion statement!

And my favourite...

In addition, group of scholars from each country will be invited to give a ‘country presentation’ at the farewell reception on July 24^th (Tuesday), as well as in Kanazawa. This may be a traditional song, dance or some other short performance. You might like to take the opportunity before you leave for Japan to think about what you would like to present and what things you think would be appropriate to bring from your country.

In advance, I would like to apologise profusely for the representation Australia is going to get. I may in fact be forced to sing Waltzing Matilda. Monica suggested some form of interpretive dance. I wanted to sing Slim Dusty's "A Pub With No Beer". Katelyn suggested re-enacting the Cronulla riots and attacking the other students, but I somehow doubt that'd go down very well. ;)
Anyone have any ideas of what we can do for this?

The programme documents will be arriving in a week or so via snail mail, so when they turn up I'll let you all know what's happening. Until then!

Jeff McMullen is an interesting chap

Since I have a soapboax where I have a captive audience (you guys are screwed!), I might as well use it to promote my own particular brand of social justice whereby I punish the wicked...by investigating this new media phenomenon further.

Just kidding. This blog is here to serve another purpose, but while we're waiting to go to Japan and a topic of relevance came up, I thought I'd post.

There's a programme on the ABC called Difference of Opinion, presented by venerable reporter Jeff McMullen. It's basically a panel of brains and opined people who debate academic/intelligent issues relevant to Australia. I found out about it today; hot damn the ABC has some good shows. The Chaser, Difference of Opinion, Mediawatch...I really have to start getting free-to-air teev at the ol' casa. Apparently SBS also dishes up the goods with Insight and Dateline (plus, I have a fanboy woody for George Negus). And while I list TV shows, has anyone watched The Cook and The Chef? Freakin' awesome. It's almost as good as the UK version of Ready Steady Cook with Ainsley!

ANYWAY! Difference of Opinion had a show on 23/4/07 about Growing Up In The Digital Age, with three topics debated covering "Is Generation Y better connected or disconnected?", "Is technology normalising otherwise unacceptable behaviour?", and "What sort of adults will the children of the digital revolution become?"
Check out the transcripts rather than the videos; the text covers the entire show rather than just snippets.

I gotta say, I'm not a fan of the format. There's a distinct lack of participation from the audience in the debate, many of whom are presumably selected for their background knowledge / previous interaction with the subject matter. We're instead forced to listen to the panel of "experts", which may not be the best way to provide knowledge on the issue.
On the flip side, I like the fact that these types of questions can be debated on a national broadcaster. Sadly the impact of the new media on Generation Y was pretty much glossed over by the entire panel as they each went off on their own personal tangents / interest pieces about the topic. Which is, of course, entirely understandable given their role. Tim Brunero was probably the only one that actually had something relevant to say regarding the topic, since he has experience with the new media and wasn't basing his opinion on hearsay and flawed research. I love nothing more than listening to people who supposedly have respected opinions try and talk about YouTube, MySpace, and the cultural knowledge of Generation Y. Sorry guys, but you wouldn't have the faintest. And that's because we're moving too fast for you to catch up.

We're a fast moving generation, always have been. Information is at our fingertips, communication is instant, and celebrity and fame are just around the corner, if only for a few minutes. As one audience member said, "technology...is my being". We cannot be disassociated from the tools and technologies that we interact with continuously and still perceive ourselves to be "me". I'm not sure about you, but when I accidentally leave my mobile at home, I feel as if a part of me is missing all day.
Then again, it's interesting who we do become and what kind of a person we truly are when we distance ourselves from the technology. I spent three months backpacking around South East Asia in December 06 to Feb 07, and to be honest I never knew who I truly was and what I was capable of until I let go of everything that was shielding me from thoughts and actions previously unknown to me. Spend a minimum of 10 hours on a bus every couple of days for twelve weeks and you begin to look inside and actually think about things, rather than observe. And boy oh boy, did I have some interesting things to say to myself.

That concept brings us to the social complexities of the topic and the impact it's having on our society. What kind of adults WILL Generation Y become? And how is this technology affecting us? But those are topics best suited to another forum.

I have really gotta start finding some like-minded people at uni and see what kind of research everyone's up to on this topic. Oh, and I'm trying to find a case study on the marketing strategies of 42 Below, so if anyone out there knows anyone in a position of power...?

Thanks for indulging me. It's been an interesting last few days.

A Brief Interlude Ni

Ni is apparently "two" in Japanese according to this website.


Anyway, myth BUSTED! Our favourite South Australian resident and potential Pulitzer winning journalism student Sheree has pointed out to me that my previous post on the poodle/sheep issue was actually a little bit of bullshit.

Mediawatch ran it as one of it's stories tonight, and as such it's not up yet on the website (but it will be under the 30/04 edition). Apparently it all started as a funny joke which people pretended was true; the actress has never owned a dog or a sheep, and the police never received any complaints.

As Sheree has requested, I'd like to kickstart the world in setting the record straight and let the intelligently savvy public follow our lead. She points out that it's always an issue with both traditional and new media these days: we can't verify the sources! Silly me, even in my judgemental state I just had a giggle at the story and passed it on rather than investigating fully, as any true student of humanity should have done.

Muchos props to Sheree for pointing out this inaccuracy to me, and to Mediawatch for having the balls to investigate such a firebug of an issue. I'd also like to thank Sunrise and 9am with David and Whatserface for running with the story as well; I should have immediately questioned the veracity of the story as soon as they got involved!

Then again, Sunrise did have the High School Musical cast on the show once...and the chicks were lookin' mighty fine...
"We're all in this together \ And once we know \ That we are \ We're all stars"
...I love High School Musical. I like to watch it with the sound on mute and the lights off. I call it "Quiet Time".

A Brief Interlude

To interrupt the flow of the essays, I just have one thing to say. If this is any indication of how much fun it's gonna be in Japan, I think I'm gonna laugh my tits off for three weeks. I mean come on, how do you not NOTICE these things?!

---

Japanese Sold Sheep Instead of Poodles

April 27, 2007 - 9:06AM

Thousands of Japanese have been swindled in a scam in which they were sold Australian and British sheep and told they were poodles.

Flocks of sheep were imported to Japan and then sold by a company called Poodles as Pets, marketed as fashionable accessories, available at $1,600 each.

That is a snip compared to a real poodle which retails for twice that much in Japan.

The scam was uncovered when Japanese moviestar Maiko Kawamaki went on a talk-show and wondered why her new pet would not bark or eat dog food.

She was crestfallen when told it was a sheep.

Then hundreds of other women got in touch with police to say they feared their new "poodle" was also a sheep.

One couple said they became suspicious when they took their "dog" to have its claws trimmed and were told it had hooves.

Japanese police believe there could be 2,000 people affected by the scam, which operated in Sapporo and capitalised on the fact that sheep are rare in Japan, so many do not know what they look like.

"We launched an investigation after we were made aware that a company were selling sheep as poodles," Japanese police said, the The Sun reported.

"Sadly we think there is more than one company operating in this way.

"The sheep are believed to have been imported from overseas - Britain, Australia."

Many of the sheep have now been donated to zoos and farms.

AAP

Ladies and gentlemen, we are about to go down the rabbit hole. Hold onto your pants, swashbuckles, and frilly lace underwear. Oh, oops! Heh...that, um, that last one is mine, could you just pass it...yeah, thanks. Sorry about that. Please, continue down the hole.

Sheree's Essay

Challenges For The Future: Global Governance

Governance of the world is both the means to solving challenges for the future and a challenge for the future in itself. The structure of the world governance system is the world’s ultimate challenge for the future because it determines how effectively global issues such as the environment, disease, peace and prosperity will be dealt with. The current anarchical sovereign state system is becoming outdated and ineffective for dealing with global problems which transcend state boundaries. Global solutions require global cooperation, and whether the current states system is preventing progression is a question the world must soon answer.

European countries established the state system in the 1648 Peace of Westphalia agreement. Despite institutionalising states’ independence and sovereignty, states soon realised that they must work together to realise common goals. Today, states are even more interdependent. Global challenges such as HIV/AIDS and terrorism do not respect state borders, so no state is immune to their effects. In a response to global challenges, intergovernmental organisations (IGOs) were born to facilitate cooperation. Regional organisations such as the European Union and ASEAN, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), multinational corporations and individuals in civil societies also play an integral part in dealing with global challenges. The United Nations is currently the central IGO base for global governance. Regrettably, its effectiveness is waning as excessive bureaucracy, lack of authority, veto powers and its reliance on state support prevent it from fixing global problems now and preventing more in the future.

States are not the only actors in global governance but any decisive, effective action to address global challenges must stem from their individual desire for change. States’ ad hoc, disorganised and sometimes conflicting approaches to solving problems is contributing to global issues instead of solving them. States need to realise their sovereignty is preventing cooperation and then revise the system of world order. This task poses a major challenge because a world without state sovereignty is difficult to imagine.

The challenge of global governance permeates through all cultures and nationalities to every individual. The biggest challenge will be agreeing on the best way to provide one unified entity of cooperation while still recognising and preserving each distinct culture. Cultural variation enriches the world by providing alternate views on life. Increasing each individual’s knowledge of and interaction with other cultures will create a liberal attitude towards change, testing new opinions and courting new impressions, so that the best possible responses to global challenges can be developed.

My locality is an agricultural community in rural South Australia. Environmental degradation seriously affects our farm and puts its future in jeopardy. The complex causes of the environmental degradation in our area can be attributed to human activities and pollution. Managing global warming and adopting environmentally sustainable practices is a global challenge and therefore requires a global solution. Despite efforts by the UN, NGOs, civil societies and individuals, it is clearly individual states’ narrow-minded approaches - such as Australia and other states’ reluctance to follow the Kyoto Protocol - that are preventing a healthier environment. Every global challenge faces similar problems; for example, managing the issue of poverty and the Third World requires global thinking. It requires all states to not be blinded by their domestic issues but to address global issues as if the sustainability of all human life depends on it, because it does. States need to think globally and act globally because in the current system only they have the power to find and carry out solutions. If they continue to block progress, society needs to consider an alternate world structure which possibly diminishes or abolishes state sovereignty.

States have procrastinated reforming the UN for a number of years but the issue will not disappear. The UN can not remain as it is because it is already viewed as ineffective and states continue to disregard its limited authority. The most integral global challenge of the future is whether or not to reform the UN, how to reform it, and then the process of actually reforming, abolishing or replacing it. Because states are interdependent, there is without question a need for better global governance if global challenges of the future are to be managed.

As the world faces many challenges for the future, as well as the overriding challenge of how to govern the world and facilitate the effective solutions to these challenges, it is easy to become overwhelmed. But when each individual contributes and does their best to act in the best interests of humanity, everyone will benefit. State leaders and individuals need to view the world as a whole, and view humanity as one. Combining forward, altruistic thinking with immediate, cooperative action is the world’s best hope of preventing global challenges from getting out of control and maintaining hope for a sustainable, peaceful future.

Elizabeth's Essay

A New Way Forward: How Australia and Japan Can Take The Lead On Climate Change

The interests of Australia and Japan in combating climate change, an issue which transcends national boundaries, are bringing the two countries together. Never before has climate change posed such an unprecedented challenge to humanity and drastic action needs to be taken to reduce its effects. Despite the recognition that climate change is a significant threat to the delicate balance of life, an internationally unified approach to tackling the issue is difficult to obtain. It is difficult to determine if there will be an agreement reached that satisfies the interests of every nation. However, by increasing ties between countries, the issue can begin to be alleviated successfully. An example of such collaboration is apparent in the increasing bilateral ties between Australia and Japan, and both countries’ environmental policies can gain significantly by cooperation based on open dialogue and scientific thinking.

Since the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change in 1997, the Australian government determined not to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, Prime Minister Howard stating that its obligation was to protect the national interest both in Australia and overseas. [1]The Australian economy has relied heavily on its exports of coal, and agricultural products that have not only made Australia a prosperous nation, but have contributed to the prosperity of others, including Japan, Australia’s best customer. While there is a realisation that climate change must be tackled, the Howard government argues that this must be done in a way that is ‘fair and economically efficient encompassing all major global greenhouse gas emitters.’[2] In other words, the government wants emerging countries China and India to join in a united approach.

Japan has moved ahead of Australia as it is committed to the Kyoto Protocol and is encouraging large emitters to take up the challenge of substantial emission reduction. Australia is among the non-complying countries Japan seeks to influence and, while its own emissions are low in total quantity, it is a great exporter of coal, a major contributor to the enhanced Greenhouse Effect.

Despite recent efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the Australian government needs to do more and it is to Japan that Australia should look. It is in Australia’s interest to ratify the Kyoto protocol as Japan did in 2002. At present, Australia is facing the worst drought is decades, made even worse by the effects of climate change. Urgent action needs to be implemented to secure Australia’s future water supply. Japan being the home of the Kyoto Protocol and fully understanding its implications, is in a prime position to influence the direction of Australia’s future environment policy.

While Australia has been slow to promote research into sustainable development, Japan is already a leader in the field. Since the late 1980s Japan has implemented domestic environment laws such as the Air Pollution Control law as well as laws relating to the promoting recycling and that of regulating hazardous waste. In 2000 a Green Power Fund[3] was established to promote wind power and, in 2005, Japan successfully promoted the United Nations Decade of Education for Sustainable Development (UNDESD). Other initiatives by the Japanese government include the funding of energy efficiency improvements, and pollution control projects throughout the Asia-Pacific region to address the problem of acid rain.[4]

Australia’s growing ties with Japan in areas like security and reconstruction have been productive of a growing attitude of trust and good will between the two countries which can be drawn upon in the important work of reducing greenhouse emissions. By increasing the funding for projects in the field, both countries can foster new sustainable technologies and implement them in practice. Collaborative participation in think tanks is another option.

It may be that Australia will not sign the current Kyoto agreement however it will certainly become closely involved in future international treaties. Here Japan’s easing of the way for Australia could do much to make Australia more confident of its capacity to meet greenhouse targets which today’s government believes threatens its economic viability. It is possible that with future collaboration Japan and Australia will be among the leaders in the post Kyoto agreement. Indeed it may even be that Japan will assist Australia in joining the current Protocol before 2012.

Climate change is a silent threat to the wellbeing of international citizens, the greatest single issue facing the world. The bilateral cooperation in addressing the climate change problem between Australia and Japan is of significance to both governments and both have the opportunity to learn from the other’s example. Policy making at the top should be further complemented by informal dialogues between the citizens and business communities from each country. Looking wider, constructive collaboration may lead to agreements in other areas of mutual interests outside of environmental policy, again benefiting both countries and possible stability to the Asia region. In the long run, it will be the goodwill inherent in both countries which will allow a spirit of understanding and agreement to emerge capable of promoting real solutions for our planet.

---

[1] John Howard, Safeguarding the Future: Australia’s Response to Climate Change, (Canberra: Government Printer, 1997), p. 1.

[2] Alexander Downer, David Kemp, Global Greenhouse Challenge: The Way Ahead for Australia, (media release), updated 19 July 2004, The Australian Government, , viewed 29 March 2007.

[3] Department of Environment, Japan: Environmental Issue, updated 2004, , viewed 29 March 2007.

[4] Miranda A. Schreurs, Environmental Politics in Japan, Germany, and the United States, (United Kingdom: Cambridge University Press, 2002), p. 253.

Jessica's Essay

Challenges For The Future: Global Poverty

As a student in this contemporary era of globalisation an awareness of global issues is vital. While issues such as global warming and natural disasters, religious and cultural conflict, global health, and the spread of weapons of mass destruction are key issues in contemporary international relations, perhaps one of the greatest challenges facing humanity is that of global inequality. Inequality in the form of poverty has become global, and effects the security of people worldwide. This paper will briefly outline the types and causes, as well as the effects of global poverty at local, national and global scales. Secondly, this paper will discuss poverty as a result of globalisation, and finally the paper will discuss poverty eradication efforts.

Global poverty effects rich and poor nations, but perhaps more so those that are referred to as ‘developing’ or ‘least developed’ countries. The United Nations states that, ‘the least developed countries (LDCs) represent the poorest and weakest segment of the international community. The economic and social development of these countries represents a major challenge… Extreme poverty, the structural weakness of their economies and the lack of capacities related to growth and development, often compounded by geographical handicaps, hamper efforts by these countries to improve effectively the quality of life of their peoples’ (2001, p.3 cited on UNESCO 2006).

Approximately one third of the global population are living in extreme or moderate poverty (UNMP 2005, cited on NetAid.org 2006). People living in extreme poverty earn less than $1 a day, and can not afford basic necessities, such as food and water, that ensure survival (World Bank 2006 cited on NetAid.org 2006). Moderate poverty means that people are able to just barely meet their basic needs, but they must still miss out on several basic human rights – education and healthcare (World Bank 2006, cited on NetAid.org 2006).

Poverty in developing countries can be contributed to both internal and external factors, including a weak and ineffective government, over-population, poor education, mismanagement of the countries’ internal economy, and the position of the developing country in the external global economy (McMillen & Gehrmann 2006, p.3.2). Other major causes of global poverty have been listed as cultural and social discrimination, local or regional history, natural disasters, war, unjust trade laws, and foreign influence, control or actions (World Vision 2006).

Global poverty produces despair and frustration at local, national and global levels, leads to social instability, violent conflict, increased levels of organised crime (such as terrorism), and refugee crises (Simmons 1995, p.12 & p.31). Poverty also causes hunger and malnutrition, lack of safe drinking water, no shelter, and no access to education or health care. It is estimated that another person dies of starvation every 3.7 seconds and that six million children under the age of five die of malnutrition every year (UNMP 2005, cited on NetAid.org 2006). Global poverty is a major challenge to human security.

The contemporary process of globalisation has produced a ‘spill-over’ like effect from poverty-stricken areas in the global south to countries in the global north. It has been argued that globalisation has made the rich richer and the poor poorer. Globalisation has had a positive impact on poverty by making it a global issue of human security. The global scope of poverty means that any efforts to reduce or eradicate poverty will need to be on a global scale.

Global efforts to eradicate poverty and restore human security have been pursued through glocal governability or global governance – cooperation of state and non-state organisations to resolve a global problem (Baylis & Smith 2005, p.773). There are a number of state and non-state actors involved in the global ‘fight against poverty’. State organisations involved include several branches of the United Nations, the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), the World Health Organisation (WHO), and the World Trade Organisation (WTO). Non-state actors include Oxfam International, Amnesty International, and World Vision. Individual states take part in the fight against poverty thorough programs of foreign aid.

Poverty eradication efforts have been undertaken in the form of ‘development policies’. The United Nations Millenium Development Goals aim to halve the levels of extreme poverty by the target date 2015. There are eight Millenium Development Goals, four of which are eradication of poverty and hunger, reduction of child mortality, improving material health, and combating HIVAIDS, Malaria, and other diseases (United Nations 2005). The other four Millenium Development Goals are to achieve universal primary education, ensure environmental sustainability, promote gender equality (and empower women), and to develop global development partnerships (United Nations 2005).

The recent process or event of globalisation has allowed for the issue of poverty to become a global issue. Global poverty is one of the greatest challenges to human security and humanity in the first half of the 21st century, and can only be reduced or eradicated if state and non-state actors work together to create global social and economic equality. Fighting and eradication of global poverty is one of the greatest challenges for the future.

Monica's Essay

Challenges For The Future: Childhood Obesity

As citizens of te 21^st century, we face numerous challenges that must be addressed in order to safeguard a viable future for forthcoming generations. Few issues are more pertinent than the wellbeing of those who will one day inherit our legacy – today’s children. As humans strive towards the universal goal of reliable and plentiful sustenance, we are inadvertently exposing ourselves to diseases of excess. Although not as sensational or immediately alarming as SARS or global conflict, childhood obesity poses a significant threat to future citizens of the world. Despite being conventionally considered a disease of wealthy nations, obesity is also imposing a burgeoning burden on low and middle-income countries. With the exception of parts of sub-Saharan Africa and the former Soviet Union, obesity is now the most common paediatric disease on Earth. More locally, one in four Australian children are now overweight or obese. However, the most frightening of these statistics is probably yet to come, as the rate of obesity is expected to continue to rise around the globe.

The consequences of paediatric obesity extend beyond the low self-esteem and psychological ill health that result from teasing and bullying. In children, obesity is associated with a plethora of conditions, including high blood pressure, sleep apnoea, asthma, diabetes and liver disease. With up to 80% of obese children likely to become obese adults, as they grow up they will be at risk of further complications such as heart attacks, strokes, depression and arthritis. In addition to direct health care costs, obesity also incurs much greater intangible and indirect costs in terms of ill health, reduced quality of life, loss of productivity and premature death. As childhood is a crucial time for the establishment of lifelong habits, current trends point to the likely ascendency of obesity as a major problem in years to come. By the same token, childhood also presents a unique opportunity to stave off these grim predictions.

Simply put, obesity arises as a consequence of the disparity between caloric intake and activity output. Although obesity is easily explained in terms of biological and behavioural mechanisms, it is predominantly a social and environmental disease. This is manifest in the neologism “obesogenic environment”, which describes the ready availability of affordable, palatable, energy-dense food, coupled with lifestyles that require minimal physical activity for subsistence. Identifying underlying causes of obesity provides targets in the fight against childhood obesity. This challenge can only be conquered through population-wide public health programs that proactively prevent childhood obesity, rather than by simply treating established disease. Not only is prevention more cost-effective, it is one of the few viable strategies for tackling obesity in children, for whom the majority of conventional adult weight loss treatments are unsuitable.

A multi-sectoral approach is necessary to transform today’s obesogenic environment into one where healthy diets and lifestyles are more accessible and appealing. Schools feature numerous opportunities for intervention, such as health and nutrition education classes, structured physical exercise, and limiting the availability of non-nutritious food. The influence of television and other media should not be underestimated, both as a promoter of and weapon against childhood obesity. For instance, the vast majority of food-related advertisements during children’s television viewing times endorse foods that are high in sugar and fat. However, the power of the media can and should be harnessed to educate and motivate children to make positive food and lifestyle choices. One such example is Sportacus, a television character who recently halted the rise in childhood obesity in Iceland for the first time in ten years.

Governments are in a unique position to lead the fight against obesity by legislating school-based interventions and regulating the marketing of unhealthy foods to children. The obesogenic environment may be modified on a societal level by introducing levies to increase the prices of transportation and non-nutritious, energy-dense food, and thus discourage unhealthy lifestyles. The provision of safe and accessible outdoor play areas would facilitate habitual physical activity, as would alteration of transport infrastructure to promote walking and cycling. Community action groups and non-government organisations are instrumental in raising public awareness and providing impetus for positive change.

Making such widespread changes to the physical and social environment is no small task, and requries the commitment of governments and civil society, as well as the private sector. While many of the aforementioned solutiosn have been initiated in parts of world existing efforts are vastly disproportionate to the scale of the problem. Only with concerted, collaborative international strategies to target the causes of obesity can we hope to solve this problem on a global scale. The tragedy of the current situation is that an essentially preventable condition threatens to inflict an immense burden on the future generations. The beauty is that together we can feasibly meet this challenge to prepare healthy children for a healthy future.

Adam's Essay

To kick off the accumulation of the essays, here's mine.

----

A Whole New World: The Rise of the New Media

When asked to write about an issue that engages me as a human being, and that has implications for the future global community, my first immediate reaction was to consider the role of mass media. After all, isn’t that where a significant proportion of the world’s industrialised population receive their information about the world around them? And doesn’t information (or even lack of information) shape a global community?

However, I realised in contemplation that the real driving force for information in the new millennium and for the new generation (dubbed Generation Y by certain researchers and journalists) wasn’t the traditional media outlets: it was themselves. As acknowledged by Time Magazine in 2006, the most influential person of last year was “you”. And it was “you” because of our role in user generated content through non-traditional digital mediums such as YouTube, Blogger, Xanga, and MySpace.

The rise of the new media, specifically blogs, online journals, interactive newspaper columns, and online diaries, has shaped and continues to shape the way that the global community interacts and communicates with each other. By providing a relatively censorship free channel for individual opinion and commentary, the new media circumvents the traditional media outlets and presents a more “realistic” or “honest” view of world events. As always, though, truth is in the eye of the beholder; certain levels of personal bias will always colour an account, but the new media allows for more than one view of the same event to be presented. In this way, the internet generation are able to fulfil their desire for a broader perspective and for a more unedited view of their world.

How could something like this have come about, though? What lead to the rise of the new media? It could be said that due to globalisation and the increasing use of the internet, it was inevitable that dialogue would occur in some form between different communities across the globe. In a sense, the explosion of a global communications network was pushed ahead by the arrival of mainstream internet access in 1995. The ability to communicate with someone on the other side of the world about topics of relevance, at a speed previously undreamt of, surely would lead down the path of free and open communication.

In time, that exact event occurred. Handwritten diaries became online diaries. Online diaries prompted the creation of software to maintain them. The software was then used to branch out from just diaries to become web-based opinion logs, coining the term “blog”. And after the humble beginnings of the online diaries in 1997, we had in 1999 the launch of Livejournal and Blogger. From there, it was only a matter of time until text, images, video, and audio were combined into a fully global online community website. The ubiquitous MySpace, haven for Western teenagers and the forefront of the Generation Y community on the internet, was created in 2003.

However, as much as I understand that technology has allowed the new media to exist and to flourish, I still find myself questioning the purpose of it all. Why is it so popular, and what effect is it having on society?

The answer to that conundrum lies in what society and the global community are developing into. Shaped by the world around us and the technologically advanced times that we find ourselves in, the younger generations have an innate desire to know more about their world and to connect at an unprecedented level to sources of information. The new media is the method that has come about to answer this desire. New methods of communication and response have developed to connect interested parties. “Old world” media sources such as broadsheet newspapers and the six o’clock news are reporting on information that was available six hours previously through the blogs. Traditional slants and worldviews as presented by old media are being bypassed in favour of on-the-scene accounts, images, and video from the ground. The true horrors of the invasion of Iraq, the untold devastations of Hurricane Katrina, and the swamping of parts of the Solomon Islands in a tsunami / earthquake combination earlier this week have been broadcast live across the internet through eyewitness accounts, amateur video, and photos. All within minutes of the event occurring.

So, how has society reacted to this new media? Humanity is being brought together on a global scale over the internet, yet in our “real world” lives we are distancing ourselves from each other and from personal interaction. We are a generation of low social, political, and environmental activists. While the new media encourages a global sharing of ideas and circumvention of traditional mediums of communication, it also encourages it’s users to distance themselves to observe and comment, rather than to act.

The largest issue with the rise of the new media is the fall of genuine activity and involvement. As well as observing and commenting on the world, the general apathy of an entire generation must be lifted. Knowledge is power, and that power has been achieved. But is that power meaningless if people don’t have the will to use their knowledge to interact with and change the world for the better?

The Beginning

Brisbane, Australia
Greetings everyone and welcome to An Australian Scholar In Japan!

From the get-go, I feel morally obliged to tell you that this is NOT an official JAL or JAL Foundation Blog. I don't want to get anyone (including me!) sued for defamation or somesuch because I went off on a drunken tangent.

What this blog is intended for, and should be taken in the context of, is to keep updated anyone and everyone who is interested in what we get up to in Japan while we're over there. Obviously we're going to be doing certain things that aren't approved by JAL (no one's perfect!) so I'll figure out a way to report on those happenings without getting my ass kicked by anyone in power.

So Katelyn, Monica, and I (I'm Adam. Cool name. Cool guy. Winning combo!) are off to Japan on July 4 to shack up in the land of the rising sun for around 22 days. We'll be experiencing so much culture and enriching our views of the world that it'll just get to ludicrous stages of knowledge.

I'm sure that my compatriots (travel mates? Study buddies?) will agree with me when first we thank the other participants down in Sydney on April 19. I can honestly say that I have never before clicked with a group of people so quickly, so for that experience alone I thank you. We all challenged each other and made ourselves better people for spending those few hours together, and I hope that this blog will keep you updated on the things you can expect next year when you enter the scholarship competition and are selected as our worthy successors! ;)

We'd also like to thank JAL and the JAL Foundation for offering us this opportunity, and I'm severely excited about the journey even three months out! I'm just gonna be a bundle of fun and mentos come July. Pity help Katelyn and Monica!

To the crew at the JAL offices at Sydney, thanks for the well-organised day and for flying us Mexicans down to Sydney. Muchly appreciated, and you're definitely getting some good PR from me!

To the judges who came along to check us all out, thank you. The personal interview was the highlight of my day; never before have I been challenged to question and explain my attitudes and opinions in such a thorough manner. I wanna do it again!

And finally, I'd personally like to thank Mentos: The Fresh Maker!, because without them my day and everyone else's wouldn't have been quite as exciting. Ya'll know what I mean!

The blog will be updated more as the time comes closer. We have some other studies to focus on currently, but here's hoping July arrives faster than any of us could ever expect. I have three months to learn passable Japanese...lil bit of help? Anyone?

Hope to hear from you all soon, the email is fwinky@hotmail.com and let me know what you reckon of the blog. Perhaps I could whip up a link to everyone's essays so we have a collection of awesomeness on the interwebs? Or perhaps post them here as some reading material?

UPDATE 25/04/07:
So the essays have been coming in, and I've added them as seperate posts. To set the scene, check out the JAL Scholarship Website. A summary of what the essays should cover is this:

[students should write an] essay in English, of 800 words or less, on an issue that engages them and which has implications for the future for either their locality or the global community.

The essay should include an overview of the issue - including the cause, what effects it will have on humanity and society in the future, and possible solutions or resolutions.

And with that broad beginning, you'll see the following ten essays that cover completely different topics, from new media to global governance, from childhood obesity to global poverty and beyond. Enjoy!