To investigate the relationship between thermal environment and sensation, onsite measurements and questionnaire surveys were conducted in nine office floors in Tokyo and Gifu during the summer, autumn, and winter of 2013. A total of 650 office workers responded to questionnaires on thermal sensation. The main findings are as follows: (1) the environment in most floors were within the criterion of the Law for Maintenance of Sanitary Environment in Buildings for Japan, and most average Predicted Mean Vote (PMV) values were within the comfort range specified in ISO7730; (2) The approximate clo (clothing insulation) values of workers are 0.5 clo in summer, 0.6 in autumn, and 0.8 in winter. Throughout all the seasons, male clo values are significantly higher than those of females; (3) For realizing a more thermally comfortable office environment, it is necessary to consider measures for male who feel “hot” in summer, and female who feel “dryness” in winter.

This study investigates classroom bulletin boards and children’s awareness of them, focusing on elementary schools in Matsumoto. We find that on average, 38 bulletin boards were put up in every classroom, and 71% or more were lifestyle-related. Lifestyle-related bulletin boards in the front of the classroom were mostly used for ‘targets’ and ‘rules’, whereas those in the back of the classroom were mostly used for ‘initiatives’ and ‘messages’. For study-related bulletins, those on ‘work motivation’ were mostly posted in the front of the classroom, those on ‘works of learning’ were posted in the back of the classroom and those on ‘reflections on past work’ were posted on the windows and in the corridors. Classrooms for lower grades tended to have more bulletin boards and those for the higher grades tended to have a higher proportion of lifestyle-related bulletin boards. The children were found to have a strong awareness of the types of bulletin boards and were found to have a high level of recognition for ‘plans’, ‘initiatives’ and ‘works of learning’.

In this study, the effects of VDT color patterns on a feeling of fatigue were examined in 16 female college students. Eight color patterns were used to create achromatic or chromatic (blue, red, and green) backgrounds for the positive and negative VDT display modes. During a 30-minute task (a character search), color patterns creating backgrounds for the positive display mode with higher levels of brightness were more positively evaluated in terms of visibility and legibility. Thus, the visibility and legibility of color patterns creating backgrounds with higher levels of saturation for the negative display mode may be reduced even if they comply with international standards. When the difference in brightness between characters and the background was sufficient, the positive display mode and achromatic backgrounds were associated with a lower level of fatigue. In contrast, negatively evaluated color patterns reduced work accuracy even when the Critical Fusion Frequency-based fatigue was mild. Color patterns creating achromatic backgrounds, as well as chromatic backgrounds with lower levels of saturation, for the positive display mode may improve the esthetics and legibility for browsing texts.