Flowcharts

My position in Kyoto is funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, which is essentially Japan's version of the NSF. Although their main mission is to distribute and manage the scientific research funded by the government, they also have many outreach and publicity campaigns, to keep Japanese students interested in pursuing careers in the sciences.

In one of their programs, "Science Dialogue," they send researchers funded by the JSPS out to give talks to high school students about their research fields. On Friday, I was asked to give one of these presentations at a school in Kobe this July. After discussing it with my supervisor, I've decided to accept the invitation/request -- I'll be sure to follow up and let you know how it goes.

But this is really just the backdrop for what I really wanted to talk about: Flowcharts! Flowcharts are everywhere in Japan, dutifully mapping out to concerned citizens just exactly how they should open a bank account, start a business, operate a washing machine, or rent a movie. And I don't mean old school diamonds-and-rectangles flowcharts you use to outline programs. Flowcharts here are finely-tuned masterpieces of graphic design, impressively squeezing as much harmony, synergy, and information into one area as possible. For example, this is a picture of the flowchart illustrating how the "Science Dialogue" program works:

And here's a flowchart from the International University of Japan, diagramming the interconnectedness of their research programs:

They also show up in day-to-day life, such as at banks and government offices, although I unfortunately could not find good examples online to post.