ブックタイトル縁19号

概要

縁19号

Adobe Systems Co., Ltd., a Japanese subsidiary of the US software developer, conducted an online surveyin May and June 2017, targeting teenagers in the US, the UK, Germany, Australia and Japan. The survey includedquestions on creativity.Asked for views on themselves and others of the same generation, a mere 8% of Japanese respondentsselected "creative," compared with 37-47% from the other four countries. And for views on careers andjobs requiring creativity, only 31% of Japanese respondents thought that there were "many," versus 70-77%from other countries.The above results appear to indicate that Japanese young people lack essential attitudes to face a newsociety.While a negative outlook as indicated above is emerging, we should acknowledge many creative and ingeniousJapanese children who produce distinctive, inspiring inventions.JIII hosts a nationwide young inventor competition every year. At the fiscal 2017 event, the grand prizewent to a sixth grader, who expressed his delight in receiving the award as follows:"This year's project was planned to help people in wheelchairs. I decided on this theme when I noticeda problem when using a tool in an integrated study class, where we had the opportunity to use awheelchair for the purpose of learning about the difficulties of operating one. Many students had difficultyclimbing up the practice ramp, and I myself thought that wheelchairs should be safer and morefunctional. I thought of switching the conventional round wheels to star-shaped wheels. This wouldenable the wheelchair to climb up stairs more easily due to increased floor contact area. Based on thisidea, I worked hard to create a desired system. I went through many failures and improvements. I wasafraid I would not be able to complete the system by the due date, but I felt delight in each successfulstep. Also, I felt encouraged by the famous quote of Thomas Edison that, "The most creative way tosucceed is always to try just one more time." So, I continued with my challenge until finally I completedmy invention. I can't express how excited I was the moment the wheel mode switching systemworked properly and the control program was completed. I felt a great sense of fulfillment. And Iowe this success to the many people who supported me so I could devote myself to the project.Thank you very much.Figure 3. Variable Wheel Shape System46 ENISHI IP Friends Connections August 2018 No.19