My Contribution to the Sankei Newspaper Used in University Entrance Exam [2021/05/10]

The articles I contribute to newspapers and magazines and those posted on my Japanese blog are sometimes quoted by other newspapers and blogs. But it was a particular honor when an article I wrote for the Sankei Shimbun newspaper was used in its entirety in a Japanese university entrance examination.

It is the Asahi Shimbun newspaper that is known to be most cited in university entrance exams in Japan, exemplified by its popular daily column “Vox Populi, Vos Dei,” a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God.” The paper said in a special column that in fiscal 2020, 541 of its articles were used in entrance exams of 252 Japanese universities, making it the most frequently cited paper in entrance tests among five major Japanese national dailies. Apparently alarmed by a constant decline in its circulation, the Asahi seems eager to advertise its reputation as “the most cited paper in entrance exams in Japan” to boost its readership.

This is the second time that an article of mine has been used in a university entrance exam. On this occasion, it was the piece titled “Achieving Japan’s food security by revitalizing agriculture” that I contributed to the Seiron (Sound Opinion) column of the October 27, 2020, issue of the Sankei Shimbun.

Osaka Aoyama University used the article, comprising a little less than 2,000 words, in an entrance examination in Japanese for its Faculty of Health Sciences on February 21, 2021. Applicants were asked to read it and answer questions about a wide range of issues, including Japan’s food security, agriculture and the Rural Areas Basic Act as well as the meaning of terminology.

In the contribution, I noted that Japan’s food self-sufficiency rate based on a calories-supply basis has been on a constant decline since the 1960s to stand at 38% in fiscal 2019, ranking around 100th in the world. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, I continued, almost 20 countries, including Russia, India and Vietnam, started restricting their exports of wheat and rice as they try to ease pressure on the domestic market.

Although Japan’s farming population has been on the decline, I wrote, I have been encouraged by the increasing number of young Japanese interested in actively taking up farming as well as the unprecedented boom in Japanese food witnessed in many countries following the 2013 designation of washoku, or Japanese cuisine, as an intangible cultural heritage by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

Under the circumstances, I stressed the urgent need for Japan to look anew into how to revitalize its agriculture－a sector long considered to be in structural decline－as an important step toward raising the nation’s food self-sufficiency rate.

Founded in 2005, Osaka Aoyama University aims to nurture professionals with intellect, ethics and creativity who contribute to local communities. Its mainstay Faculty of Health Sciences consists of three departments focused on nursing, child education, and health and nutrition with a total of 240 students enrolled. Students of the Health and Nutrition Department are being trained to be experts on food and nutrition, and I look forward to seeing them contribute to enhancing Japan’s food security in the future.