What's New at Kyoto NHK ESS?

Dear Kyoto NHK ESS members,
Here is the announcement of the latter practice planned on Feb.7th
Genre: Group Talk
Topic: Time-saving

Q1 What does it mean for you that ‘Time is money’?
Q2 What kind of things do you want not to spend so much time?
Do you sometimes pay extra money to save your time?
Do you like binge-watching or watching at more than 1.5 times speed ?
Q3 What kind of things do you want to spend time as long as possibe?

Procedures:
1.Make several groups
2.Talk about the questions above by turns and ask questions
3.Please choose a person who saves time the most in your group
4.Please a person who presents so that they will explain who saves time the most and how they do.

I hope you can enjoy free taiking.
Thank you.
By Megumi Iwai

Dear Kyoto NHK ESS members, This is the announcement of the latter half practice on Feb.14. ☆Title: "Unconscious Bias"(赤いランドセルは女の子用？～無意識の思い込み～) Unconscious bias, also called implicit bias, is a form of stereotyping that is often unintentional, automatic, and outside our awareness. All of us, both men and women, are influenced by our experiences and make judgements without being explicitly aware of how our decisions are impacted by our unconscious. Unconscious bias links social group; with characteristics, such as gender, race, and religion, which generate relative disadvantages for especially underrepresented groups, such as women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). As unconscious bias resides outside of awareness, it is not possible to completely eliminate it, but It is possible to minimize its negative impact by recognizing that we all have it and by understanding how it works.
☆Procedures:1 Make 3～4 groups.
2 (17:45-18:00) Please work on“無意識の思い込み”check sheet.
3 Read the article “アンコンシャス・バイアス”（朝日2026. Jan. 24）and exchange your comments in your group on each question below. (18:00-18:40)
(1) How do you think about your results?
Please show your check sheet to other members.
(2) Do you expect men to be assertive, strong and driven?
And do you expect men as taking charge and should be a leader?
(3) In Japan, it’s common to categorize students into “Rikei”(STEM) and “Bunkei”(humanities) groups. There are few female students in “Rikei”.Why?
(4) Do expect women to be helpful, sensitive and supportive?And do you expect women as taking care and stay home?
(5) Do you think younger people are tech -savvy, whereas elder people are not?
And do you think the elders are stubborn, while younger people play it by ear?
(6) Are red school bags only for girls? How about black school bags?
(7) What image do you have of Asian people?How about black people and European people? (the appearance, culture, religion, life style and so on.) What image do you have of Kyusyudanji(九州男児)?
(8) What do you think are the tips to behave bias-free?
Hoping you'll enjoy my practice! Motoko Tabata

ESS. 2nd Practice for 2026.2.21 (Sat)
“What is Harassment?”
Genre: Discussion and Talk.
Grouping: 3~4 groups consisting of 3~4 people.
Procedure:1: Please pick one kind of harassment from the list and explain it.
2: Talk about your experience of harassing someone
3: Talk about your experience of being harassed by someone.
4: Please compare the situation of working in the past and in the present.
Through your discussion, how can we solve these problems in our society?

Naomi Tanahara