スクリプトは事前提出されたものですので、ビデオの音声とは異なる場合があります。

Securing Kosen's Future

Oita National College of Technology

A: Would you like to hear some shocking news? A few years ago, a committee in the Japanese Diet wanted to abolish Kosen. It is shocking, right? Fortunately, that idea failed because the majority of Japanese industries strongly objected.
B: However, we are still afraid that the Kosen school system may be endangered. Why? - because fewer and fewer young Japanese are interested in science.
C: In fact, in Oita Kosen, the number of applicants has dropped. The ratio of overall applicants has decreased from 2.1 times the quota in 2010 to 1.5 times in 2011. If this trend continues, the voices to abolish Kosen will rise up again in the Diet.

B: Kosen was established as a specialized technical institution to prepare efficient work-ready engineering graduates for industry. Unlike other schools, Kosen provides students, in the early grades, with expert knowledge, skills, and a unique spirit of respecting students' autonomy.
A: We want society to know that Kosen graduates are taking a leading role in the world of engineering.
C: And, we want people to know that Kosen produces excellent engineers.
B: And above all, we want young people to know the great joy of learning science.

C: Now, we would like to convince you of Kosen's value with some facts! First, we want to introduce two amazing Kosen graduates to you.
A: Please look at Japan's largest and longest pedestrian suspension bridge! Do you know where it is?
B,C: Yes, it's in Oita!
A: That's right! This is the KOKONOE-YUME-OOTSURIHASHI.
B: This bridge is 390m long and was built in a small mountainous town called Kokonoe-machi in 2006. The bridge is 173m above a gorge and 777m above sea level.
C: From the bridge, you can enjoy a panoramic view of Shindo-no-taki fall, one of the 100 best falls in Japan, and other magnificent views of nature. On the bridge, you can view the bottom of the gorge because the bridge has a grated structure. You can feel as if you are walking on air.

A: Amazingly, this bridge, the pride of Oita, was designed by our Oita KOSEN graduate, Mr. MATSUBARA Yasuhiro. Mr. Matsubara struggled with two very difficult points in designing the suspension bridge: namely, how can the bridge be prevented from shaking in strong wind; and how can tourists feel safe at the high altitude. To his great credit, he succeeded in designing a very stable and safe bridge that can carry up to 1,800 adults at one time!

C: The total cost of the bridge construction was about 2 billion yen. But for Kokonoe–machi with less than 11,000 residents, building such a grand bridge was a financial and technical challenge.
B: In spite of these great challenges, their dream came true, and now the bridge attracts tourists from all over Japan. 　And up to 2 million tourists visit the bridge every year. Thanks to the bridge, a huge income from entry fees has brought about vigor and affluence in people's lives in this depopulated small town.
A: We are proud that a Kosen graduate, like Mr. MATSUBARA, is doing work that supports and improves people's daily lives because of his excellent technological skill.

B: Next, have a look at this. Does anybody know Mr. TAJIRI Satoshi? You might not know his name, but surely, you know his invention- the game Pocket Monster. Yes, POKEMON!
C: POKEMON is not only popular in Japan but, now, all over the world. It is also very popular as an animated cartoon and as card games among children.
A: Mr. TAJIRI was in charge of the game from design to production. Yes, he is really the inventor of POKEMON. And can you believe it? He also graduated from Tokyo Kosen.
B,C: Wow!

C: POKEMON uses a unique program. Many players can play at the same time via a wireless communication function which conventional games didn't have.
A: In the process of making the program, of course Mr. TAJIRI used knowledge and skill he learned at Kosen.
B: The term Kosen might remind you of hardware technology, like robotics, but Mr. TAJIRI is an outstanding example of how Kosen graduates play an active role in a variety of business fields.

C: Finally, let's talk about young learners and our activities to develop new interest in science.
A: We hold a yearly open-campus event for local elementary and junior high school students. They experience the real Kosen atmosphere by joining typical Kosen experiments.
B: In the open-campus, we display a robot which has now become the "mascot" for Kosen, and our young guests can enjoy moving it first hand.

C: Oita Kosen, since 1997, has also held what is called "the Delivery of Science Experiments and Lectures" outside of the college, titled "Kagaku-to-Asoboo!", meaning, "Let's Play with Science!"
A: We target elementary school children - hopefully, our future Kosen students!

B: Here are some examples of what we do. We sometimes introduce "Ifs": "What if you put a flower into minus 196 degree liquid nitrogen?" and "What if you strike a nail with a banana frosted by liquid nitrogen?"　Other "hands on" courses include teaching children why a plane can fly by actually flying their hand-made paper planes.
A: Here let us show you this….＜C: flies a paper plane on the stage.＞ Did you see it? What's happened? OK, let us try again. Watch carefully how the plane flies.＜B: flies it again on the stage.＞
C: Why do you think this paper plane can return to us? Do you want to know why? If so, why don't you join us and learn together at Kosen? In fact, in the "Kagaku-to-Asoboo!" we often heard young guests say, "Science is lots of fun! I want to come to Kosen to study science more!" We get very excited about future scientists when we see young learners watching the experiments with shining, happy eyes!
B: We truly believe our strong efforts to introduce children to fun science will bring them to Kosen, as future students!

A: In conclusion, we think the time is right to set up a strong organization to help the public understand the great value of Kosen and the contributions our graduates make to society. As one important activity of the organization, we want to start a major campaign named "One College for All Colleges, All Colleges for One College".
C: Through this campaign we will work to build a human resource data bank full of excellent Kosen graduates throughout Japan.
B: Won't you join us to help secure a strong future for Kosen? Please visit our website here, and introduce your college's famous graduates and interesting activities (A,B,C) right now! One for all, all for one!

ABC: Thank you for your kind attention.