{"rewrite":{"id":"r_e73c3644f4cd644e192484c1","clusterId":"c_904fb97b3aad9546d357b70a","slug":"kosen-alumni-lobbying-led-to-ministry-of-education-degree-consideration-webinar-reveals","model":"deepseek-v4-flash","headline":"Kosen Alumni Lobbying Led to Ministry of Education Degree Consideration, Webinar Reveals","summary":"A June 15 webinar hosted by Shireru detailed how KOSEN alumni advocacy over two and a half years led the Ministry of Education to consider conferring degrees to graduates. The effort began when a graduate living abroad discovered she had no degree certificate, only an associate degree title. Alumni collected cases and conducted surveys, building a case that moved the government.","whyItMatters":"The webinar provides the first detailed account of how a single graduate's visa problem escalated into a formal government review of KOSEN degree policy.","webCardHtml":"\u003cp\u003eShireru, a company based in Yokohama, held an online webinar on June 15, 2026, recounting the two-and-a-half-year campaign by KOSEN alumni that led the Ministry of Education to consider granting degrees to graduates. The trigger was a KOSEN alumna living abroad who, when asked by a local government office for her degree, realized she only held an associate degree title, not a degree. She raised the issue at a KOSEN graduate gathering, and an article by Shireru\u0026#39;s Mikan Yamada became the first public step.\u003c/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAlumni Shigemaru Nishiyama and Takaaki Takashima then formed a chat group and began daily advocacy. They collected cases from other graduates who faced barriers to study abroad, permanent residency, and graduate school because their KOSEN coursework was not recognized as a degree. Nishiyama contacted a Nara KOSEN alumnus working in the US, saying he did not want juniors to suffer the same fate. The group also conducted a survey among Human Network KOSEN members, gathering about 55 responses to strengthen their case.\u003c/p\u003e","blueskyPost":"Kosen alumni gathered case evidence for two and a half years before the Ministry of Education took up degree conferment. The trigger was a single graduate denied a work visa abroad.","twitterPost":"Kosen alumni spent 2.5 years collecting cases before the Ministry of Education considered degrees. One graduate's visa denial started it.","threadsPost":"Kosen alumni advocacy took two and a half years of case collection and surveys before the Ministry of Education agreed to consider degree conferment. The catalyst was a graduate living abroad who could not get a degree certificate, only an associate degree title, which blocked her visa.","newsletterBlurb":"A June 15 webinar hosted by Shireru detailed the two-and-a-half-year campaign by KOSEN alumni that led the Ministry of Education to consider granting degrees to graduates. The effort began when a graduate living abroad discovered she had no degree certificate. Alumni collected cases of others facing similar barriers to study abroad and residency.","attributionJson":"[{\"source\":\"ASCII.jp\",\"url\":\"https://ascii.jp/elem/000/004/411/4411810/?rss\",\"title\":\"[Event Report] From 'Can't Get a Visa' to Ministry of Education Consideration: The Full Story of 2.5 Years of Grassroots Lobbying by KOSEN Alumni\"}]","lintFlagsJson":null,"lintHits":0,"costUsd":0,"inputTokens":4276,"outputTokens":670,"status":"published","repairAttempts":0,"nextRepairAt":null,"factsAttemptedAt":1781797760,"createdAt":"2026-06-18T15:45:40.000Z","publishedAt":"2026-06-18T15:48:15.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-18T15:48:15.000Z"},"cluster":{"id":"c_904fb97b3aad9546d357b70a","canonicalTitle":"【開催報告】「VISAが取れない」から文科省の検討へ ── 高専OBOGが起こした2年半の\"市井のロビイング\"、その全貌","representativeArticleId":"a_3f14cd8d7599d1f97b72c73c","sourceCount":1,"writtenSourceCount":1,"writeAttempts":0,"isSolo":true,"entitiesJson":"{\"anime_titles\":[],\"manga_titles\":[],\"work_titles\":[],\"studios\":[],\"people\":[],\"type\":\"news\",\"domain\":\"other\",\"is_roundup\":false}","contentType":"news","status":"published","firstSeenAt":"2026-06-18T07:46:46.000Z","lastSeenAt":"2026-06-18T07:46:46.000Z","updatedAt":"2026-06-18T15:48:16.000Z"},"attribution":[{"source":"ASCII.jp","url":"https://ascii.jp/elem/000/004/411/4411810/?rss","title":"【開催報告】「VISAが取れない」から文科省の検討へ ── 高専OBOGが起こした2年半の\"市井のロビイング\"、その全貌"}],"entities":{"anime_titles":[],"manga_titles":[],"work_titles":[],"studios":[],"people":[],"type":"news","domain":"other","is_roundup":false},"keyFacts":["A June 15, 2026 webinar by Shireru detailed how KOSEN alumni advocacy over two and a half years led the Ministry of Education to consider granting degrees to graduates.","The campaign began when a KOSEN alumna living abroad discovered she only held an associate degree title, not a degree, after a local government office asked for her degree.","The alumni group conducted a survey among Human Network KOSEN members, gathering about 55 responses to strengthen their case for degree recognition."]}