Field-based learning that takes students out of the classroom and into real-world settings is gaining traction in Japanese education, with students from Dalton Tokyo Junior and Senior High School and Minerva University in the United States visiting the Unosumai district of Kamaishi in Iwate Prefecture in November as part of an inquiry-based learning program to trace the aftermath of the March 11 disaster.

As part of a postwar 80th-anniversary project titled “Passing On, Staying Connected,” this article looks back on the Battle of Okinawa through the memories of Higa Tomiko, who survived one of the fiercest ground battles of World War II by holding up a white flag, reflecting on what she saw as a seven-year-old girl who wandered alone through a devastated battlefield and the feelings she now hopes to entrust to future generations.

In mid-November, Their Majesties attended a ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of Japan’s Overseas Cooperation Volunteers, a program that has sent some 58,000 participants to 99 developing countries since its launch in 1965 to support economic and social development. The first assignments were in Laos, then part of Southeast Asia’s emerging development frontier, where five volunteers were selected for dispatch.

Japan’s cities appear filled with dental clinics, yet experts warn that their numbers may soon decline, raising concerns that the country could eventually face a shortage. Tooth decay has decreased in recent years while periodontal disease has become more common, and as these trends reshape the market, the operating environment for dental practices is deteriorating.