This workshop was the last among the three workshops participated by students who took the Media Practice/Global Design Workshop courses in the S1 term of 2019. The participants, who belonged to different disciplines and were of different nationalities, were divided into four groups. Each team had to choose one of the two media groups: 1) newspapers and television 2) computer and the Internet. Then, they were asked to investigate how the media they chose were being used in everyday life of Japanese people around 1999 and come up with a scenario and present it as a package of 10-minute slide show with audio as well as perform a 3-minute skit. The participants were reminded to work collectively and not divide the works.
Investigating the media mood of a near past seemed very challenging for the students who were around 3 or 4 years old in 1999, and some international students noted the shortage of English materials that describes something about the media situation of Japan from that period. In the end, however, all the groups managed to compile interesting scenarios that focused on newspaper advertisements, TV dramas and popular idols, the use of mobile phones, etc. They also showed their talents and performed interesting skits. This exercise hopefully became an opportunity for the participants to recognize how the use of media that we take for granted continues to change in our daily lives.