海外ボランティア募集！大学生・高校生・社会人にオススメ。春休み夏休みも通年開催。

The Olympic Games are one of the largest sports competitions in the world. July 23rd, 2021, the Tokyo Olympics were held while COVID19 was widespread. Many people were impressed to watch the success of the players on TV. Meanwhile, two issues of Japan were known to the world.

The first issue is gender equality. It has become a hot topic because of the news that Yoshiro Mori who was the chairperson of the JOC made a disrespectful remark about women.

The degree of achievement of gender equality is determined by the Gender Gap Index, which quantifies the gender gap in each country. According to the announcement on March 31st, 2021, Japan was ranked 120th out of 156 countries and the lowest in the G7. It is clear that Japan is a country where gender equality has not been achieved compared to other countries in the world.

The reason of this result is that a male dominated society still remains in Japan. For example, women are more likely to be involved in harassment. According to “#We Too JAPAN”, 70％ of women and 32.2％ of men experience street harassment. This shows the criminals think women are weaker than men. Also, there is still the thought that woman should be graceful, and men should be stronger. In addition, there are few environments where women can work comfortably. Because of lack of childcare system, after getting job, many women quit their jobs due to marriage or childbirth. When childcare has settled down, they try to get jobs again. However, most of them cannot get regular employment and sometimes they cannot get it.

In recent years, various efforts have begun in Japan to achieve gender equality. For instance, in June 2021, the law was amended to encourage childcare leave for men. It is expected that men will be able to actively raise children and women will be likely to work.

When you think about the gender gap, you may not be able to imagine what you can do, but there are many ways. One of them is discussing with family and partners about the division of housework and parenting. By reviewing the roles in the home, you can live a better life with each other. Also, one of the ways you can act right now is to participate in donations and volunteers. Many organizations hold fund raising, volunteer activities and charity events that can be easily done online.

The movement to correct the gender gap has been more active, but it is not enough yet. I think that gender inequality can be changed by the accumulation of our small actions.

The second issue is food waste. It has became a popular topic on the news that surplus lunch boxes for 4000 volunteers at the opening ceremony of Tokyo Olympics were thrown away. Before the Games, the JOC had announced that it would take measures against it. So, it was criticized by a lot of people.

It is serious that the current state of food waste in Japan. According to the web site of Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and fisheries, Japan disposes approximately 6 million tons of surplus food per year. Main causes of this include unsold food from stores like supermarkets and leftover food at home.

Food waste can be reduced by little actions of daily life. By checking the stock in the refrigerator before shopping, you can avoid buying extra food and reduce waste. Furthermore, if you plan to eat immediately, you should buy from the one with the shortest expiration date. This action makes benefits both stores and consumers. Stores can reduce the amount of unsold items and the cost of disposing of them. Consumers can buy products cheaper than usual because such products are often discounted.

Japan has many points to improve on the problem of food loss. I think we should be more aware of it and make efforts.

In conclusion, gender equality and food waste problem are big problems of Japan revealed at the Tokyo Olympics. There are not easy to solve quickly. But by knowing them and making even small actions, they will be improved, and we can make our society that everyone can live with happiness. Also, solving them will lead to the achievement of the SDGs and make the world happy for everyone. I will spread the information about SDGs and make action on my own to make the world more peaceful.