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Introduction: International travel to Japan increased steadily until the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak. Although international travel was curtailed worldwide due to the pandemic, the number of overseas visitors to Japan should increase again after the restrictions are lifted. We assessed the effect of a five-minute digital game on the knowledge of health information and the level of satisfaction with educational health resources of overseas visitors to Japan. Methods: We conducted a randomized controlled trial among 1062 previous and potential visitors to Japan utilizing an internet portal. We recruited previous and potential visitors to Japan from the internet portal sites of the UK, the US and Australia. We randomly allocated participants to two groups: an intervention group that played an animated game and a control group that viewed an online animation. All participants answered a self-administered questionnaire online from March 16 to 19, 2021. We assessed visitors' levels of health knowledge and satisfaction using the CSQ-8. We analyzed the data with a t test and the difference in differences test. Our RCT followed the SPIRIT guidelines. Results: Of the 1062 previous and potential visitors recruited via the three countries' internet portals (354 from each country), some had visited Japan previously (174 in the intervention group, 220 in the control group), while some were potential visitors to Japan (357 in the intervention group, 311 in the control group). Some had gathered health and safety information about Japan prior to this study (180 in the intervention group, 211 in the control group). Both groups improved their health information levels after the intervention. The level of satisfaction with health information in Japan was significantly increased in the intervention group (average difference of 4.5 points) compared to that in the control group (average difference of 3.9 points) (p < 0.05). Both groups' mean CSQ-8 scores increased significantly after the intervention (p < 0.001): from 23 to 28 in the intervention group and from 23 to 24 in the control group. Conclusions: Our study introduced unique educational strategies using an online game to provide health and safety information to previous and potential visitors to Japan. The online game was a more effective way to increase satisfaction than the online animation about health information. This study was registered in the UMIN-CTR (University Hospital Medical Information Network Center Clinical Trials Registry) as Version 1, and the trial registration data are available as UMIN000042483, 17/11/2020. Trial registration: Trials UMIN-CTR (University Hospital Medical Information Network Center Clinical Trials Registry), UMIN000042483 (Japanese health and safety information for overseas visitors: A randomized controlled trial), 17/11/2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Dementia‐friendly communities promote community coherence and reduce the risk of ageism in the community. This study examined the effects of a Virtual Reality (VR) educational program on participants' attitudes towards dementia and their sense of community related to supporting community‐dwelling older adults. Methods: We delivered an educational program using a virtual reality platform that provided a first‐person perspective of people with dementia in the courtyards of two convenience stores in the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, Japan. We investigated attitudes towards dementia and participants' sense of community before and after the educational program. Results: There were 42 study participants (average age = 48 years). The total scores of attitudes towards dementia and sense of community changed positively from pre‐ to postintervention (P =.004 and <.001, respectively). Conclusion: This educational program for understanding dementia could enhance people's support of community members living with dementia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we will introduce a game production program to iterate multiple game development cycles in a limited period. In one semester, we executed a game development process thrice, changing members every time. Students had the opportunity to gain experience, working with different people; also, by being provided a time limit for the development process, they learned how to manage development time effectively. Furthermore, by implementing the plan–do–check–act (PDCA) cycle [ASQ] in each development, students had the opportunity to identify and solve problems during the semester. Using this framework, we worked on the following three educational problems in Japan: (1) Mixed development with students of diverse ages and educational levels (2) Consciousness of development time (3) Understanding of each individual׳s strong and weak points Finally, we compared three types of programs (this program, Global Game Jam, and a mentor-based development program) in order to evaluate the aspects of game development that can be learned by them. We discussed how to develop a curriculum using a Game Jam framework. CR categories K.3.2 [COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION]: Computer and Information Science Education—Curriculum K.3.2 [COMPUTERS AND EDUCATION]: Computer and Information Science Education—Self-assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analysis of radioactivity data obtained under the food monitoring campaign in Japan indicates that elevated 134 Cs+ 137 Cs activity concentrations in wild boar meat remained constant or slowly decreased in Fukushima and surrounding prefectures from 2011 to 2015. The activity concentrations in some samples are still over the regulatory limit of 100 Bq kg −1 fresh weight, even in 2015. Activity concentrations of 137 Cs in muscle of wild boars we captured in 2011 were higher than those in kidney, liver, spleen, heart and lung. A food processing retention factor, F r , was 0.5 or 0.6 for 137 Cs when the wild boar meat was boiled, suggesting that a parboiling process is effective for reduction of radiocaesium intake from wild boar meat. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective The effect of media use on child behavior has long been a concern. Although studies have shown robust cross-sectional relations between TV viewing and child behavior, longitudinal studies remain scarce. Methods We analyzed the Longitudinal Survey of Babies, conducted by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare since 2001. Among 53,575 families, 47,010 responded to the baseline survey; they were followed up every year for 8 years. Complete data were available for longitudinal analysis among 32,439 participants. Daily media use (TV viewing and video game-playing hours at ages 3, 4, and 5 years) was used as the main exposure. We employed an index of the children's self-regulatory behavior as the outcome variable. Odds ratios and 95 % confidence intervals (CIs) were estimated. Results Among boys, longer TV-viewing times at ages 4 and 5 were related to problematic self-regulatory behavior. Compared with boys who watched just 1-2 h of TV a day, those who watched it 4-5 h had a 1.79-fold greater risk (CI 1.22-2.64) of problematic self-regulatory behavior, according to parental report. Among girls, similar results were evident at ages 4 and 5 (e.g., adjusted odds ratios for 4-5 h daily viewing versus 1-2 h at age 4: 2.59; 95 % CI 1.59-4.22). Video games may have a protective effect on the risk of problematic self-regulatory behavior at ages 3 and 5. Conclusion Longer daily exposure to TV during early childhood (age 4-5) may be associated with subsequent problematic child self-regulatory behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, there is a growing interest in disaster prevention exercises such as games, debates, workshops, and 'town walks' that involve the active participation of community members as an alternative to seminars in which disaster prevention experts simply share their knowledge and skills. We have developed a disaster prevention game called Crossroad for use in local disaster prevention programs. It is a group learning game, in which players read cards with a scenario written on each card. The scenarios were derived from extensive, focus-group interviews with disaster veterans of the Kobe Earthquake of 1995 that killed more than 6400 people and described the dilemmas faced by these veterans. To deal with the dilemma, each player was required to make a 'Yes' or No decision on two conflicting alternatives. We used Crossroad as a part of tsunami disaster prevention, community-building workshops for citizens of Kishiwada city in Osaka, Japan. The results suggested the importance of motivating local people to find a socially 'viable' solution through their own strength, rather than forcing a community to accept a universally 'correct' solution prescribed in advance by outsiders. It is concluded that the Crossroad game can be used effectively as a new communication medium to promote the active participation of community members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article intends to bring a new perspective on conflict and cooperation analysis addressing a case study of Yoshino river weir conflict (Japan) by the use of drama theory approach. The confrontation arose when the Governmental agency proposed to remove and replace the old weir by a movable modern dam (kodazeki) to prevent future flooding. The Opposition group's main arguments were that the new weir may not be as effective as compared to the cost of constructing the new renewal project and damage of water quality and ecosystem. Thus, both players are playing the game where their interests are different. Rather than adopting the conventional approach of modeling the conflict using game theory, we propose the alternative approach to describe how the situation evolved and how game can be changed in the context of player's threats and promises. This also emphasizes that future can be created cooperatively by a group, rather than by way of confrontation in the conflict. This model may bring an effective methodological leverage in conflict and cooperation analysis where we can change the game. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]