Celebrating 10 years!
It has been almost a year since the spread of COVID-19 infection in April last year, which caused pandemic all over the world and the government declared a state of emergency. In the meantime, the spread of infection has gone through second and third waves, and today we are living with a new lifestyle “new normal” to prevent the spread of the infection as much as possible. At this turbulent time of transition from FY2020 to FY2021, NSTC is celebrating its 10th anniversary.
NSTC opened in 2011, just after the Great East Japan Earthquake, started as the only training center in Japan to provide OPITO approved BOSIET training and STC training for seafarers (predecessor of current STCW training). Since then, we have transformed ourselves into a training center that provides a variety of training such as ADC/ADE training for helicopter crews, GWO training for those working in wind power facilities, STCW training required for seafarers and Diving Technique Training for firefighters/police/aquaculture businesses. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all of our delegates and to the companies and organizations that support our activities.
I myself have been working for NSTC for nine years since I joined them in 2012. In those nine years, I have experienced many things and have tons of memories. Therefore, I would like to share and look back on the past 10 years of NSTC along with the events of the world (please note that the selection based on my personal judgment). If you have time, please take a look along with me.
| year | NSTC events | Events of the world (domestic/international) |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | April 18: Opening ceremony of NSTC Starting to provide Offshore Survival Training Course and Special Course for Helicopter Crew, etc. December: Obtained OPITO approval as the first approval in Japan and 34th in the world. Dec 20: The very first OPITO approved BOSIET course was provided. |
April: Prince William and Princess Catherine got married (UK) May: A series of mass food poisonings from Yukhoe occurred, leading into a ban on serving raw meat in the summer (it’s a big deal for me, as a Yukhoe lover) July: Nadeshiko Japan became the world’s No.1 October: Steve Jobs passed away The world’s population exceeded 7 billion. |
| 2012 | January: Began renting out the training pool to the public February: Aircrew Ditching Course (ADC) started  Received many TV interviews such as, live broadcast “Mentai Wide”, NHK, RKB, TVQ, etc., |
April: Tokyo Skytree opens Martial arts became compulsory at junior high school July: Raw liver banned (my favorite, finally…) London Olympics September: Population over 100 years old surpassed 50,000 December: Second Shinzo Abe Cabinet formed Hideki Matsui (Baseball, aka “Godzilla”) retired |
| 2013 | March: MILT approved Lifeboat Operation Training, etc. July: Original NSTC T-shirts on sale (still good sales!) October: Underwater Robot Festival (commemorating 50th anniversary of Kitakyushu City) held at NSTC   |
January: President Obama’s second administration starts March: Internet access started on almost all lines of Tokyo Metro and Toei Subway June: Mt. Fuji registered as a World Heritage Site September: Tokyo been selected as host city for the 2020 Olympics. December: Japanese Cuisine registered as an intangible cultural heritage. Specified Secret Protection Law was enacted |
| 2014 | March: Obtained approval of Basic Safety Training for STCW convention (approved by ClassNK) for the first time in Japan April: Run a booth at “Sea Japan” (@Tokyo Big Sight)   July: NSTC won 1st place at Dokai-bay Cutter Boat Race! September: Approved as Japan’s first GWO approved training center (SGS Japan) |
January: Successful development of STAP cells February: Yuzuru Hanyu won gold medal in men’s figure skating at Sochi Olympics March: Disney Movie “Frozen” was released April: Comsumption tax increased from 5% to 8% Sinking of MV Sewol May: Major explosion at a mine in Turkey kills 31 people August: WHO declared a state of emergency due to Ebola epidemic. September: Mt. Ontake erupted, worst volcanic disaster in postwar history Dengue fever epidemic November: Ken Takakura (83) passed away |
| 2015 | June: Diving Technique Training started December: Freefall Lifeboat reached 100th launch, still breaking records now.  |
March: Battleship Musashi discovered? July: Diplomatic relations btw USA and Cuba restpred for the first time in 54 years October: My number system begins operation November: MRJ, Japan’s first small jet arirliner, successfully completed first flight. Multiple terrorist attacks in Paris killing 130 people December: The word “Shopping Spree” became most popular |
| 2016 | January: 20th Anniversary of Nissui Marine Kogyo, Co. Ltd.  June: Run a booth at IFCAA 2016 (International Fire Chief’s Association of Asia) exhibition  September: Diving Technique Training for aquaculture business started |
February: 12 countries sign the TPP (USA withdraws the following year) March: Hokkaido Shinkansen begins service April: Kumamoto Earthquake occurred June: The right to vote lowered to 18 years old. July: Pokemon Go smartphone application released Yuriko Koike was elected as governor of Tokyo August: Mountain Day, a new national holiday, was introduced Rio de Janeiro Olympic Games November: “Yamahoko-Yatai Events” registered as an Intangible Heritage of UNESCO. 33 festivals in Japan (including Tobata Gion Oyamagasa!) December: SMAP disbanded |
| 2017 | February: Obtained approval of refresher training for STCW convention (Class NK) April: Business cooperation with JMETS sarted July: Engineering students experienced HUET as Ocean Innovation Consortium project. Many students have visited us every year since then. December: NSTC’s first company trip (since then, we have been too busy to have a trip) |
January: President Trump inaugurated as the 45th President of the USA February: Premium Friday is implemented for the first time April: Kohei Uchimura wins the All-Japan Gymnastics Championships for the 10th consecutive time June: Baby panda (Shanshan) born at Ueno Zoo December: Soyuz, with Norishige Kanai on board, launched to space |
| 2018 | January: Exhibited at Ocean & Business Innovation Convention 2018 February 22: NSTC reached 5,000 delegates!! June: Exhibited at Tokyo International Fire Fighting Exhibition 2018 (@ Tokyo Big Sight)   August: Expanded the fire fighting training area at Wakamatsu Firefighting Training facility. Co-sponsored the 21st National Diving Skills Contest for Fisheries and Marine High Schools. |
February: Yuzuru Hnyu won the Pyeongchang Olympics for the second consecutive year March: Russian President Vladimir Putin re-elected May: Singer Hideki Saijo (63) passed away June: First ever U.S.A. – North Korea summit September: Singer Namie Amuro retired October: Opening of Toyosu Market, two years late November: A small capsule detached from KOUNOTORI is recovered by the research vessel CONCEPT Former Nissan Chief Carlos Ghosn arrested |
| 2019 | February: Exhibited at Ocean & Business Innovation Convention 2018） April: TIPC and Nissui Marine Kogyo, Co., Ltd. Signed a memorandum of understanding for cooperation in human resources training in offshore wind power industry August: Sea Survival Experience for Parents and Children event was hosted by NSTC as a Marine Day event.   |
January: Heisei’s last New Year’s general congratulatory palace visits attracted a record 154,800people. The first auction of MAGURO from Ouma in Toyosu market stats at a record of 330million yen. Sumire Nakamura, became a professional “Go” player at the age of 1, the youngest in history. March: Ichiro announced his retirement May: Heisei era ends, and new era “Reiwa” begin August: Anti-government protests in Hong Kong September: Rugby World Cup starts, creating an unprecedented rugby boom in Japan October: 10% consumption tax begins Shuri Castle fire December: The buzzword of the year is “One team” |
| 2020 | January: Fee for GWO training amended Number of delegates taken GWO training increased (the number of delegates in 2020 increased 675% up from the previous year, a remarkable achievement) |
February: COVID-19 infections spread around the world March: Takanawa Gateway Station (Yamanote Line, Tokyo) opened Comedian and actor, Ken SHIMURA passed away April: A state of emergency was declared due to COVID-19 July: Tokyo governor Yuriko KOIKE re-elected. September: Suga cabinet formed December: Hayabusa2 capsule recovered |
| 2021 | April: 10th Anniversary More than 500 organizations and companies have joined NSTC training 新規訓練開講＝ARDC New training=ARDC established New training course for helicopter rescue team (Aircrew Rescue Ditching Course) started in FY2021! Around summer… We are assuming to have 10,000th delegates!! |
January: Inauguration of U.S.A. President Biden State of Emergency declared in Tokyo and three prefectures. February: Vaccination of medical personnel against COVID-19 started. Coup detat in Myanmar |
※Photo source is from news article on the NSTC website（https://n-s-t-c.com/en/category/news-en/）
I have experienced so many things that I cannot write about yet.
Due to the effects of COVID-19 infection that has been continuing since last year, we are facing various difficulties both Japan and overseas, but I believe that the driving force to overcome these difficulties is “teamwork”. (One of the buzzwords for 2019 was “one team”!)
Now that NSTC has reached its 10-year milestone, it is time for us to value teamwork, and we will continue to work together as a team to provide high quality training with even greater consideration for safety and peace of mind for everyone.
We will do our best so that we can celebrate another 10, 20, 30 years in the future with you!
(Hiroko, Quality Management Section)
