A questionaire about the curent state of consumer education in home economics and social studies courses was sent to each of 500 junior high schools in the Kansai region from January to March 2011. The results are as follows: 1. Interest in consumer education was higher among home economics teachers. 2. Around 60% of home economics teachers had received consumer education, compared to around 30% of social studies teachers. In a addition, a higher percentage of home economics teachers participated in training workshops. 3. The average number of hours devoted to consumer education annually is insufficient. 4.The majority of teachers of each subject want to collaborate with teachers of the other subject, but such collaboration is now virtually nonexistent.

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The purpose of this paper is to consider the characteristics of consumer education to be conducted in social studies and civics classes. The goal of social studies and civics education is to nurture citizenship through social recognition. Therein lies the uniqueness of consumer education in a social studies and civics framework. The paper first surveys the concepts of citizenship and consumer citizenship.Then it discuses how to nurture consumer citizenship with social recognition in educational categories found in a social studies and civics contexts, such as politics, economics, and international relations.

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This paper defines those who can consume safely in special support systems as & quot; consumers in need& quot;, focusing on people with insufficient judgment. The existing studies pointed out that people with insufficient judgment have been commonly targeted victims of unnecessary sales. In the analysis of consultation reports of PIO-NET, it was common that consultation from anyone other than the person him/herself accounted for approximately 80%. At a consultation for over-indebted debtors in Kanagawa prefecture, the majority of counselors have reported the inadequacy of their client's understanding. This paper proposes that the adult guardianship system and daily management of money in support programs for self-reliance in daily life are useful, and considers how consumer education cooperates with existing social resources.

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Previous studies had been pointing out the necessity of material development for comprehensive learning. In this research, the material for comprehensive learning in dietary habit area was created and the effect was examined. Upon verification, the difference of knowledge level that students originally have was divided into 3 stages. It was conducted using a material targeted for students who already have certain level of knowledge. The material used in this research was a shopping game which divided the participants into " distributor& quot; and & quot; consumer& quot;. Subject was students from 2 universities. The result showed score improvement in all regional targets, and the level of satisfaction amongst the students was high as well.

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Recent consumption patterns demonstrate consumers' increasing awareness of and concern about environmental and health issues. This consumer behavior can contribute to a healthier and more environmentally conscious society, in that it encourages producers of goods to respond to consumers' desire for products that are more healthful and environmentally sound. The link between consumers' desire and producers' fulfillment of that desire should be made clear. In this study, we first applied factor analysis to data collected from questionnaires to determine the health and environmental consciousness in consumers' patterns of consumption. Second, we clarified the mechanism of environmental and health conscious consumption patterns by applying covariance structure analysis to the results of the factor analysis. The results indicate that social capital contributes to environmental and health conscious consumption patterns. Therefore, consumer education promoting such consumer behavior, through the improvement of social capital, is desirable.

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The purpose of this study is to show the possibility of Kyoudou-Gakusyu by considering cases of "Seikatsu-Gakkou". The results were as follows: 1) Kyoudou-Gakusyu can develop consumer learning. 2) Kyoudou-Gakusyu can develop interactive learning based on the learner's knowledge and experience. 3) The Consumer learns consumption, production, and labor in Kyoudou-Gakusyu, developing into a learner who can participate in reforming the economic system and solving problems in the community. 4) Consumers, producers, local overnment officers, and co-op staff can all benefit by learning Kyoudou-Gakusyu.

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This study investigates principles of conduct related to medical safety covered by consumer education research. This research is based on a conception of patient's rights and responsibilities developed from principles of consumer rights and responsibilities. The method of research was a textual analysis of principles of conduct appearing on hospital websites. 'Patient's rights and responsibilities' was used as a keyword to identify suitable hospital websites. The websites were further searched for explicit reference to patients' rights and responsibilities. 61 hospital websites were selected for analysis. From the textual analysis categories were created based on their frequency. High frequency categories related to rights were 'decision-making', 'informed' and 'quality medical treatment'. High frequency categories related to responsibilities were 'not bothering other patients' and 'consensual participation in medical treatment'. The results show to some extent the nature of hospitals' expectations of patients' rights and responsibilities in the process of receiving medical treatment. Based on these results it is clear that in order to for patients to be active consumers and receive safe medical treatment, consumer education that raises awareness of the hospital's expectations is necessary and reduce the gap between how hospitals and patients think. This will improve the dialogue between hospitals and patients empowering them to be more active participants in their own medical care.

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Changing our lifestyles to reduce household CO2 emissions is essential to solve the problem of global warming. This paper presents our analysis of Japanese family consumption and CO2 emissions based on a family budget for the 29 years spanning 1980 to 2008. Family consumption increased for 10 years starting in 1980, then it remained flat for seven years, and started to decrease in the late1990s. However, CO2 emissions increased throughout this period, although the rate of increase became smaller during the mid-'80s. Most CO2 emissions came from the eategories of fuel and transportation. The study concludes that it is important to supply consumers with sufficient information as well as ways to put the information to practical use.

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This study considers the validity of using websites as support tools to teach consumer education. Based on a survey of teachers, five categories were extracted from the point of view of useful educational resources and effective teaching:1) The current question and date are easy to read. 2) There are introductory educational　materials. 3) The product is relevant to students' life? 4)There are resources from teacher's networks. 5) There is information about institutions and sources for teaching of consumer education. Through the comparative study of the websites “Portal Site of Consumer Education” and “Dolceta”, the validity of website as support tools is evaluated based on their structure and contents. These consumer education websites would be expected to support the interest of teachers and become resource centers.

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Shiho-Shoshi Lawyer's Associations, in their regions, developed educational materials from the standpoint that a contract is a juristic act Their materials dealt with contracts related to everyday life and relevant consumer matters. The aim was to acquire understanding of basic principles of civil　law, especially contract law, and then to think from and act upon those principles; in other words, to　gain the ability to take action when there is a sense that something legally wrong or dangerous has　occurred. This type of consumer education would be defined as & quot; consumer education by means of law-related education & quot;.

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This study tackles the problem of understanding the realities of consumer education and the enlightenment policies of each major city(MC), and examines future tasks. The survey results show that in the MC, the enlightenment policy is the main policy. However there are differences among the realities of the policies of the different MCs. For many of the MC, consumer education policy is the entry point. Expanding the consumer education policy is seen as the biggest problem. To accomplish this task, the willingness of each MC's residents and staff is required.

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The purpose of this study is to clarify methods of life-rebuilding support for over-indebted debtors who are prone to impulse buying. First, the author analyzes the transcript of a counselor (Co.) interviewing a client (Cl.) then instructing the Cl. how to maintain regular household accounts and control shopping behavior. The first method the Co. demonstrates is to let the Cl. answer key points about how to keep household accounts and confirm whether this can be done. This method emphasizes the importance of maintaining a regular routine and developing motivation to keep a household account book. The second method is to let the Cl. answer key points about controlling shopping behavior, and to confirm whether the Cl. can do this. This has the same effect as the first method.

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Alcohol, in the different forms in which it is used, contributes to people’s daily lives in various ways: people drink it, it is used in antiseptids, and it is used for fuel. So we chose the theme of alcohol for a series of seminars for consumers. We conducted scientific experiments and chemical demonstrations from two viewpoints to understand the following “Risk Principles”: 1) Examining “Drinkin and Health” by producing ethanol in a bioreactor experiment. 2) Exploring “The Risk Pertaining to Household Goods” by viewing the results of an experiment demonstrating alcohol’s ignitability.

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This paper examined sustainable consumption in elementary and junior-high school home economics classes by analyzing the course of study and textbooks. We concluded that students learn about environmental problems through daily life experiences. Junior-high scholl students learn in class about fair trade and universal design from a social viewpoint. Then when they go shopping, they scrutinize ingredients to determine their adherence to fair trade requirements.

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Consumption activities are closely related to social issues. The idea of &“socially responsible consumer behavior” has been circulating, but without understanding of the current issues of producer and consumer, it is difficult to achieve socially responsible goals, such as women's empowerment. Fair trade production and consumption is one area of socially responsible behavior that can be a significant contributing factor to women's empowerment. Consumer research shows that consumer knowledge on fair trade is hardly linked with their action. However, consumers who have purchase fair trade goods want to give continuity. Producer research shows that highly educated women tend to be economically secure and knowledgeable about fair trade. However, women with lower levels of education are less secure economically and less knowledgeable about fair trade.

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The purpose of this study was to explore the learning process of professional consumers. A review of previous research found several factors in the process by which professional consumers gained proficiency. The results of a questionnaire conducted by NACS members showed that professional consumers learn through interaction with others and have served as role models for associates. This type of learning environment indicates the educational significance of situated learning theory. In addition, it was found that it is important for professional consumers to join groups such as NACS and participate in the group's activities.

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This study analyzed the difference between Korean and Japanese financial education curricula in elementary, middle, and high schools. In Korea, the financial education curriculum is composed only of special content concerning finance. An assessment was made that more extensive financial education eventually should be implemented in the Korean high-school curriculum. In Japan, it was found that having financial education in the curriculum has reinforced financial education. However, an assessment is needed to determine if this education is satisfactorily implemented in school. To effectively pursue financial education, it is crucial to form a cooperative system between government and schools as well as among diverse institutions in the financial sector and private consumer organizations.

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A lesson plan in life-planning and family-budget management for high-school home economics students was created using household-fund management. After the lesson was conducted, it was found that the students picked up basic financial knowledge but it took them too much time to recognize and calculate interest. However, the students recognized that cooperative discussion among family members is necessary to successfully carry out a family budget. Students reported that they found the lesson interesting, and confirmed that they also found it useful.

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The purpose of this study was to develop teaching materials for recipes that focus on consumer safety. Seventy-five students planning to become elementary-school teachers were assigned the task of creating recipe cards for miso soup as teaching materials for an elementary-school homemaking course emphasizing food safety and security and using locally sourced ingredients. The teaching students were then asked to evaluate the possibility of using recipe cards as elementary-school teaching materials, and to evaluate the effectiveness of making the recipe cards as teaching materials in their university education. Results showed that the students were in favor of making the recipe cards as well as using them as teaching materials.

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The objective of this paper is to clarify the current state of college students’ online game and SNS usage, and to establish a basic resource for consumer education regarding mobile phone. All college students possess mobile phones, and almost 90 percent of students access the Internet every day. Heavy Internet users (those who access the internet more than three times a day) use their mobile phones more than they use a PC to access the Internet. Almost 80 percent of students think consumer education about mobile phones is needed. Vertical consumption formats, such as online games and SNS, are increasingly being used daily by young people. Consequently, consumer problems regarding the Internet also are increasing. Therefore, it is urgent to explore consumer education resources for mobile phone use.

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This study investigated consumer education in elementary school, specifically how students learn the processes and connections between eating, selling, distribution, and production and improving prosumer cooperation between subject-teaching and the chisan chishou school lunch. Students learned to create an “Oita’s vegetable card game” and this was used in this research. The result is that the subjects learned about production and agricultural products.

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The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of cultural activities on consumer citizenship education. An example of such activities is making influenza masks in junior-high school industrial arts and home economics classes. Previous students response and feedback has shown that cultural activities work well for the development of attitude, skill, and knowledge in consumer citizenship education. Significantly, the findings indicate that when students learn and perform cultural activities, it connects to their willingness to join together and work in unison; both of which are basic requirements for consumer citizenship education.

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School education about traditional culture can give pupils interest and concern about a traditional-handicrafts article. It will contribute to make the purchase class of a traditional-handicrafts article in the future and to make a handicraft man. The experience learning at the spot of textiles is the best in the education of traditional textiles. I proposed that a school trip is the most suitable to experience study.

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