Following my recommendation, Japan's Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications started to support initiatives such as these during last fiscal year, naming the concept "hometown telework." I'm personally involved with initiatives in the town of Sharicho in Hokkaido: in Sharicho's case the local government renovated the former legal affairs bureau building, installing ICT infrastructure, and a large number of major companies started to use the building for their satellite offices. The catchphrase for the initiative is "Your usual job, but in Shiretoko" (Shiretoko is the area of scenic natural beauty in which Sharicho is located). It's a great catchphrase, don't you think?
When it comes to teleworking, companies worry about whether employees will actually work properly if they're out of sight, while employees worry about whether they might be forced to work endlessly long hours, and these concerns appear to be deep-rooted. But issues such as these can easily be resolved if employees are managed using appropriate ICT-based systems.
Well, my once-shattered dream of being a teacher has recently started to be revived a little. I was chosen as a member of the board of education for Hokkaido, and not being content to just observe what's happening in classrooms, I am now giving classes on ICT and career management as a visiting teacher.
I hope that by the time the children I have taught go out into society as adults, the way Japanese people work will have been transformed, and I hope that those young adults will then continue to make changes for the better. (259 words)
______ min. ______ sec.