Sojo University is one of a relatively small number of universities in Japan that train aspiring pilots. The university’s training facility (with small aircraft) in Kikuyo-machi was part of a story broadcast nationally by NHK last night on the shortage of pilots and efforts to train more. A video of the broadcast can be found (while it lasts; NHK takes stuff down pretty quickly) on the page I’m sharing. In the video, Sojo University President Nakayama can also been seen participating in a meeting of university leaders about the topic.
I once had a very good student who wanted to become a pilot but failed the examination. According to his explanation, if you failed once you were told that taking the exam again would do any good – you only had once chance. From talking with this student, I got the impression that it’s very difficult to become a pilot in Japan.
Perhaps the difficulty of gaining entry to the profession in combination with increased demand are behind recent news reports such as this one about pilot shortages:
Pilot shortage prompts Air Do to cancel 34 flights in November https://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2017/11/01/business/pilot-shortage-prompts-air-scrub-34-flights-november/#.Wh4a_LaB3_Q
– Kirk
http://www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20171128/k10011238091000.html
