7 ms·

As someone who lives in Tokyo, I admit I've never seen this before. Not sure about "suddenly everywhere" but if it is I've never come across it. I haven't gone

As someone who lives in Tokyo, I admit I've never seen this before. Not sure about "suddenly everywhere" but if it is I've never come across it. I haven't gone out much since covid but still...

hsn915 4y ago
Same here. I've been living in Tokyo for the past several years and I've never seen this thing.
- aikinai 4y ago
  If you live in Tokyo, there’s no way you haven’t seen it. You just haven’t noticed.
ciabattabread 4y ago
Always be suspicious of New York Times trend pieces.
- o10449366 4y ago
  It's a running joke in New York that if the NYT writes a piece on a particular trend or sub-culture it may as well be the subject's obituary.
  - nine_k 4y ago
    A real trend-setter writes about a subculture before it exists, and it springs into existence!
    - kevinmchugh 4y ago
      This is how Saturday Night Fever came to be
freetime2 4y ago
Also living in Japan and have never seen it.
marak830 4y ago
I work in sakuragicho, quite busy there and I haven't seen this either.
vsnf 4y ago
As a counterpoint, I see it so frequently you could conceivably describe it as being “everywhere” but it’s mostly within corporations, so you wouldn’t exactly be seeing it on the streets of Shibuya (although you do in fact see it there sometimes too) Now that you’re aware of it, keep your eyes open and you’ll see it pop up in various spots
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
akaBruce 4y ago
Moved to Tokyo from the US in 2020. I first heard of the SDGs in language school. They're also heavily promoted in my work's orientation and training material, but the hq's over in Europe. I've seen it in the wild maybe two times at most. Once in Ikebukuro as part of some volunteer clean up thing and another on some building somewhere. So to me, it's not completely unheard of, but "suddenly everywhere" is still definitely a huge stretch.
johnwalkr 4y ago
Now the at you’ve read the article, you’ll surely see it.
aikinai 4y ago
It is everywhere, and you'll notice it now that you know about it. I never noticed until I learned about about sometime last year and then I saw it everywhere. It's on suit pins, trucks, businesses, etc.
- minikomi 4y ago
  I have to admit it's a bit less prevalent than maybe 2 years ago but The yamanote line: https://sdgs-navi.com/jr https://sdgs-navi.com/jr Quite often on politicians/government worker lapels: https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/content/20211224_sdgsaw02.jpg https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/content/20211224_sdgsaw02.jpg Skytree event: https://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/press/post/493 https://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/press/post/493 ... I expect it to be everywhere mid September for "sdgs week" https://www.edie.net/sustainable-development-goals-week/ https://www.edie.net/sustainable-development-goals-week/
tkgally 4y ago
I teach at a public university in Tokyo. “SDGs” is clearly a current buzzword being promoted by government policy in Japan. I subscribe to the paper edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and nearly every day there are multiple advertisements and articles that mention “SDGs,” often prominently. Not only Japanese companies but also Japanese universities have been quick to adopt it. Some examples of university programs with “SDGs” in their titles are at [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In my experience, the currently promoted buzzwords are often included in university program names in order to attract government funding. Five or ten years ago, the leading buzzword was “global.” My own university has probably a dozen or more programs with “global” in their titles; my colleagues often remark how hard it is to remember which is which. Another current buzzword, in both business and academia, is “DX” (digital transformation). Though the SDGs bandwagon is still going strong, some Japanese commentators have started to question it. A person interviewed in an article posted on Friday to a radio station’s website [6] calls SDGs “fraudulent.” He also notes that Japan leads the world in Google searches for “SDGs,” followed by Zimbabwe. [1] https://www.nara-edu.ac.jp/ESDC/ https://www.nara-edu.ac.jp/ESDC/ [2] https://www.chubu.ac.jp/academics/college-education/sdgs/ https://www.chubu.ac.jp/academics/college-education/sdgs/ [3] https://www.senshu-u.ac.jp/social/senshu_sdgs/challengeprogram.html https://www.senshu-u.ac.jp/social/senshu_sdgs/challengeprogr... [4] https://www.koeki-u.ac.jp/academics/personnel-training-program/SDGs-tankyu_program1.html https://www.koeki-u.ac.jp/academics/personnel-training-progr... [5] https://www.it-hiroshima.ac.jp/about/gp/center/sdgs.html https://www.it-hiroshima.ac.jp/about/gp/center/sdgs.html [6] https://web.archive.org/web/20220828044344/https://www.joqr.co.jp/qr/article/63159/ https://web.archive.org/web/20220828044344/https://www.joqr....
- glandium 4y ago
  Not sure it's a pure scam, but it sure is very performative. But then, when you see the number of businesses proudly showing "ISO9001" on their buildings...
deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
glandium 4y ago
As someone who lives in a not exactly big but also not quite small city that I wouldn't quite call inaka but my wife does, I've never seen this logo, and not much about SDGs around here, but boy is it all over the media. I remember checking out when the initiative started because I hadn't heard about it even once before suddenly you couldn't spend a day without hearing about it. IIRC, it started in 2014, and somehow, Japan suddenly woke up a year or two ago.

As someone who lives in Tokyo, I admit I've never seen this before. Not sure about "suddenly everywhere" but if it is I've never come across it. I haven't gone out much since covid but still...

hsn915 4y ago

Same here. I've been living in Tokyo for the past several years and I've never seen this thing.

aikinai 4y ago
If you live in Tokyo, there’s no way you haven’t seen it. You just haven’t noticed.

ciabattabread 4y ago

Always be suspicious of New York Times trend pieces.

o10449366 4y ago
It's a running joke in New York that if the NYT writes a piece on a particular trend or sub-culture it may as well be the subject's obituary.
- nine_k 4y ago
  A real trend-setter writes about a subculture before it exists, and it springs into existence!
  - kevinmchugh 4y ago
    This is how Saturday Night Fever came to be

freetime2 4y ago

Also living in Japan and have never seen it.

marak830 4y ago

I work in sakuragicho, quite busy there and I haven't seen this either.

vsnf 4y ago

As a counterpoint, I see it so frequently you could conceivably describe it as being “everywhere” but it’s mostly within corporations, so you wouldn’t exactly be seeing it on the streets of Shibuya (although you do in fact see it there sometimes too) Now that you’re aware of it, keep your eyes open and you’ll see it pop up in various spots

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

akaBruce 4y ago

Moved to Tokyo from the US in 2020. I first heard of the SDGs in language school. They're also heavily promoted in my work's orientation and training material, but the hq's over in Europe. I've seen it in the wild maybe two times at most. Once in Ikebukuro as part of some volunteer clean up thing and another on some building somewhere. So to me, it's not completely unheard of, but "suddenly everywhere" is still definitely a huge stretch.

johnwalkr 4y ago

Now the at you’ve read the article, you’ll surely see it.

aikinai 4y ago

It is everywhere, and you'll notice it now that you know about it. I never noticed until I learned about about sometime last year and then I saw it everywhere. It's on suit pins, trucks, businesses, etc.

minikomi 4y ago
I have to admit it's a bit less prevalent than maybe 2 years ago but The yamanote line: https://sdgs-navi.com/jr https://sdgs-navi.com/jr Quite often on politicians/government worker lapels: https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/content/20211224_sdgsaw02.jpg https://www.kantei.go.jp/jp/content/20211224_sdgsaw02.jpg Skytree event: https://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/press/post/493 https://www.tokyo-skytree.jp/en/press/post/493 ... I expect it to be everywhere mid September for "sdgs week" https://www.edie.net/sustainable-development-goals-week/ https://www.edie.net/sustainable-development-goals-week/

tkgally 4y ago

I teach at a public university in Tokyo. “SDGs” is clearly a current buzzword being promoted by government policy in Japan. I subscribe to the paper edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun, and nearly every day there are multiple advertisements and articles that mention “SDGs,” often prominently. Not only Japanese companies but also Japanese universities have been quick to adopt it. Some examples of university programs with “SDGs” in their titles are at [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]. In my experience, the currently promoted buzzwords are often included in university program names in order to attract government funding. Five or ten years ago, the leading buzzword was “global.” My own university has probably a dozen or more programs with “global” in their titles; my colleagues often remark how hard it is to remember which is which. Another current buzzword, in both business and academia, is “DX” (digital transformation). Though the SDGs bandwagon is still going strong, some Japanese commentators have started to question it. A person interviewed in an article posted on Friday to a radio station’s website [6] calls SDGs “fraudulent.” He also notes that Japan leads the world in Google searches for “SDGs,” followed by Zimbabwe. [1] https://www.nara-edu.ac.jp/ESDC/ https://www.nara-edu.ac.jp/ESDC/ [2] https://www.chubu.ac.jp/academics/college-education/sdgs/ https://www.chubu.ac.jp/academics/college-education/sdgs/ [3] https://www.senshu-u.ac.jp/social/senshu_sdgs/challengeprogram.html https://www.senshu-u.ac.jp/social/senshu_sdgs/challengeprogr... [4] https://www.koeki-u.ac.jp/academics/personnel-training-program/SDGs-tankyu_program1.html https://www.koeki-u.ac.jp/academics/personnel-training-progr... [5] https://www.it-hiroshima.ac.jp/about/gp/center/sdgs.html https://www.it-hiroshima.ac.jp/about/gp/center/sdgs.html [6] https://web.archive.org/web/20220828044344/https://www.joqr.co.jp/qr/article/63159/ https://web.archive.org/web/20220828044344/https://www.joqr....

glandium 4y ago
Not sure it's a pure scam, but it sure is very performative. But then, when you see the number of businesses proudly showing "ISO9001" on their buildings...

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

glandium 4y ago

As someone who lives in a not exactly big but also not quite small city that I wouldn't quite call inaka but my wife does, I've never seen this logo, and not much about SDGs around here, but boy is it all over the media. I remember checking out when the initiative started because I hadn't heard about it even once before suddenly you couldn't spend a day without hearing about it. IIRC, it started in 2014, and somehow, Japan suddenly woke up a year or two ago.