Last week, we read an article about the changes which took place in the past 20 years, and it was quite interesting to think of the life changes that occured to ourselves in the period. What I've noticed was that, basically, most of those changes came from new services supported by technological developments.

    And other changes were caused by some disastrous events, such as wars, criminal acts, human-caused disasters, natural disasters, economic shocks, and so on. Those negative events evoke a strong reaction from the general public that social changes are likely to take place thereafter.

     When you look at the world today, the main issues we face are as below.

- How to get back to the normality before COVID-19

- The war between Russia and Ukraine (and its supporters)

- The tension between China and Taiwan (and the U.S. and Japan)

- How to stabilize the world economy

    Those are all very tough issues to tackle, but we need to face the reality. Crude oil prices are staying high, Inflation pressures seem to keep bothering us, and a lot of us are not quite sure what to expect. So, let's discuss over what will take place this year, from personal events to global ones!

1. What do you think you should be ready this year in terms of your personal life?

2. What do you expect to happen this year in Japanese society?

3. What about the events you expect that would take place globally?