I am very grateful to have been given the opportunity to serve as an Associate Editor for the journal Education and Information Technologies (EAIT). I believe it was last year at an international conference held in Ireland that I had the pleasure of working in the same theme-based working group as Professor Therese Keane, who served as our group leader and is also the Editor-in-Chief of EAIT. It was through this connection that I received the invitation, which I decided to accept.

I gave it a lot of thought. While I have never served as a deputy editor-in-chief domestically, I have served as a guest editor and secretary for special issues, so I had an idea that things would get busy. I asked Springer various questions to get a concrete picture of the role, and I came to feel strongly that as a researcher from Japan, this was an opportunity I had to accept. I do not know how long I will be able to hold this honorable position, but I hope that Japanese researchers working hard in the field of Educational Technology will have more confidence and venture out into the world. I want the younger generation to aim high and strive for top-tier achievements.

Currently, it is a very high-ranking journal, holding the 2nd position in the Google Scholar Metrics for Educational Technology. I consider it a great honor to become an Editorial Member of such a global journal, and I am deeply grateful to Professor Keane for giving me this opportunity. I will be taking on a significant role, and I intend to do my utmost to contribute to making this an even better journal.