Change of the situation and change of our mind

Yesterday, I and my English teacher talked about work hours.
In Japan, work hours are decreasing, but that's sometimes not true.
For example, my work hours are about 13-14 h a day on the average.
Some companies force employees to work on Saturdays without additional payment. They are called "black companies".

Next, we talked about psychological aspects. When the work is too hard, we tend to feel bad about our work. And that cause phenomenons called "Blue Monday" and "TGIF".
 We afraid Monday and become happy on Friday.
Such thinking is inevitable if we dislike our work.

Several decades ago, Japan was in the era of prosperity and thinking of people was relatively positive ( of course, I can't experience that, but I heard it from elder people).
Now, Japan is in a negative atmosphere.
Objectively, the state of life in Japan is better than that in other countries. But subjectively, people see their life as worse.
They no longer believe that tomorrow is better than today. So, that is difficult for them to make positive attitude to their work.

However, I think, the situation surrounding us is only "changing", not "deteriorating".
There are many good changes. For example, now, we can exchange our thinking globally. That is clearly shown when we receive  message to Japan from all over the world after the terrible earthquake.
Receiving change takes long time and that involves pains. But I believe we can overcome it.

Good aspects of stress

From today's English lesson, I learned about a word "Eustress".

My dictionary defines this word as :
"moderate or normal psychological stress interpreted as being beneficial for the experiencer"

Generally, stress is considered to be a bad thing but this word teaches us there are positive types of stress.

I think that it is a very important concept for improving our attitude to work.
Good workers use stress from their work to heighten their concentration and accomplish high performance.

So, stress is painful but we can translate it into an opportunity for our improvement.


In Japan, there are many beautiful flowers in the spring like this.

They can't bloom without getting through the cold winter.

When you are in pain, you may be on the path to success.

Open Science and Technology

I think, science and technology should be more open so that we can share scientific knowledge and technological skills.

We can think deeper if we work together, and potentially create anything.
Anybody can change the world via their knowledge and skill if they share their ideas with other talented people.

This is why I have called my blog "My open laboratory".

I have done extensive research in laboratories of Japanese graduate universities for 4 years.

(Kyushu university and University of Tokyo)
My major is in Agriculture.

At the moment I am working for a Japanese engineering company. 

My lifestyle involves working for the company during the week, and discussing  innovation and inventions at the weekend.

I live in Tokyo and most of my colleagues and friends are Japanese.

However, I  want to collaborate with people globally.

Japan is a good country but can be quite insulated at times.
This is why I want to expand my knowledge and opinions through this blog.

I'm looking to share articles and discuss ideas with people from all over the world.