The COVID-19 pandemic has widened the digital divide, and the spread of disinformation, known as the disinfodemic, has become a global challenge. UNESCO has been working to counter the disinfodemic and improve digital inclusion efforts through media and information literacy. The author calls digital inclusion, which includes the development of critical thinking skills about media messages and information, “critical digital inclusion.” This paper examines the report of the “Study Group on Platform Services” by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) and the report of the Center for Global Communication at the International University of Japan on “The Reality of Fake News in Japan and Measures to Deal with It” as examples of Japan’s efforts towards digital inclusion and against disinformation. Critical digital inclusion in Japan is still in its infancy, and it is necessary to conduct research and surveys not only in the government but also in civic activities and schools.

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Media and Information Literacy (MIL) in South Korea began as a civic movement by intellectuals, journalists, and students during the military dictatorship in the 1970s. After the June Conflict and the end of the military dictatorship in 1987, the guarantee of freedom of thought and expression was also expanded. In the 1990s, opposition parties, critical intellectuals, and civil society groups demanded legislation on freedom of expression and the right to know, as well as institutional reforms such as public access for the media. The 2000s saw the beginning of government support for MIL, including public access. Regional media centers were also established. In 2009, the 2007 Revised Curriculum, which incorporates critical reading and creation of media, was applied. We have now entered a new phase in the search for a MIL for a mature democracy. And in 2020, UNESCO announced the “MIL Seoul Declaration by All for All” at the Global MIL Week. From now on, it is expected that there will be continuous dialogue and cooperation between Japan and South Korea for the development of MIL. Today’s challenges include the following: 1. Achieving a balanced MIL and dealing with disinformation and hate speech. 2. Establishing an on- and offline education system. 3. Achieve digital inclusion. 4. Guarantee MIL as a basic education to all citizens. 5. Enact the “MIL Basic Law”. In Korea, the relevant ministries and agencies have jointly decided on the “Comprehensive Plan for Strengthening Digital Media and Communication Capabilities.” In other words, the plan aims to expand the infrastructure of on- and offline media education, strengthen the people’s ability to produce digital media and discern media information, and expand the digital citizenship of compassion and participation.

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This paper summarises the philosophy, activities and approaches toward media literacy at the FCT Media Literacy Research Institute. At the FCT, we consider issues related to media as issues of public interest and have been studying them from the perspective of citizens (i.e. the media audience). A critical approach to media literacy is based on definitions, basic concepts, media analysis models and learning through dialogue. As a case study, we performed quantitative analyses on people who appeared in news programmes during the novel coronavirus pandemic, following the method used in the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP) 2020. The attributes of people we analysed include their gender, professional and social status, whether their remarks were covered in the news story (“with remarks”) or whether they appeared only as visual subjects (“visual only”), and the subject of the news story in which they appeared. The study has revealed asymmetric representation of gender in terms of the number of people who appeared in the news stories, the coverage of their remarks and their professional/social status. We believe that citizens’ critical media awareness and proactive communication are a step forward towards information societies that are people-centred, inclusive and equitable, as stated in the Civil Society Declaration.

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Museums are not currently sufficiently used for peace and environmental education, except for visits to large-scale museums by students on school trips. Many smaller private museums have important exhibits for such education, but have almost no visits from schools. Therefore, we held interviews with four private museums at which important exhibits related to peace and environmental education are shown. Based on the results, we analyzed each museum with regard to exhibition contents, traffic accessibility, relationship with local residents, and operational issues in order to determine the reasons for the number of visits from schools. To encourage greater use of such private museums by schools, we focused on their approaches to discussion of past wars and environmental destruction, and on original activities, such as essay contests and use of volunteer assistance.

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In this article I give an overview of the historical transition process of Japanese night junior high schools and their students after World War Ⅱ, and discuss their historical and social significance. I examine this topic from the viewpoint of social change theory of postcolonialism. The History of Japanese night junior high schools and their students can be divided into 5 phases. In the first phase (1947-1954), which was the postwar chaotic period, the number of night junior high schools had rapidly increased to accept the increasing number of students who suffered from poverty. In the second phase (1955-1969), the rapid economic growth caused disparity in region and class. With the managerialism and competition-oriented education developed in compulsory education, the number of night junior high schools and their students decreased rapidly, leading to a search for new roles. In the third phase (1970-1998), children of school age and junior high school graduates were excluded from night junior high schools. Meanwhile, the role-sharing system was collapsed by the rapid increase and explosive diversification of students which contained handicapped people, special class graduates, Korean residents, returnees from China, Indochina refugees, Japanese immigrants, and so on. In the fourth phase (1999-2018), with globalization, there was an increase in the number of foreign students. This propelled the notion of education for universal human rights beyond the idea of national sovereignty and national liberation. New role-sharing for adjustments between junior high schools and night junior high schools were sought and the Act on Securing Educational Opportunities was enacted for their legal basis. In the fifth phase (2019- ), with development of glocalization, there is a diverse and increasing diaspora of students.

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