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Bong Joon-ho’s darkly comic Korean thriller has become a box office hit, a meme machine and might be the first non-English language film to win the best picture Oscar

On Monday morning, a flurry of Hollywood trade-paper headlines greeted the news that Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite had, in its fifth weekend of release, crossed the $10m threshold: at this time of writing, its American gross stands at $11.3m, steadily rising as its screen count expands across the country. Ordinarily, that is hardly a figure that would have champagne corks popping in Tinseltown, but the current market is a tough one for subtitled cinema: Parasite’s current haul is the year’s highest for any non-English-language film in the US. (For the sake of comparison, last year’s critically beloved, Cannes-approved Korean thriller, Lee Chang-dong’s Burning, made a paltry $719,000 stateside; even Park Chan-wook’s more broadly accessible The Handmaiden barely scraped $2m in 2016.)

That may not make it anything close to a threat for the all-time record – held by Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon with $128m, distantly trailed by Roberto Benigni’s Life is Beautiful, with $57m – but in tandem with its worldwide gross of $115m, the milestone is enough to seal the Palme d’Or winner’s status as an international arthouse phenomenon. (The UK, where Bong’s film is only set to open in February 2020, will be somewhat late to the party.) Its US distributor Neon, meanwhile, will certainly feel emboldened by the record as Parasite heads into awards season – where it will be tough to beat for the newly named best international film Oscar, but where, like Lee’s and Benigni’s film before it, it’s also aiming at the bigger prizes.

Last year, Alfonso Cuarón’s Netflix-backed Mexican memory piece Roma came close to doing what no non-English-language film has done before, in 91 long years of the Oscars: winning best picture. Entering the ceremony as the odds-on favourite, it made history by taking best director – another first for this eternally anglocentric institution – before being tripped up at the final hurdle by the safe, retrograde and emphatically all-American comforts of Green Book. In the largely disgruntled industry post-mortem that followed, pundits traded various theories about why Cuarón’s more acclaimed film had lost. Was Hollywood loath to hand its top prize to Netflix? Was the film itself too languid and meditative? Or was a body of predominantly English-speaking voters still ineluctably biased toward its own tongue?

As pundits start talking up the Oscar possibilities of Parasite, then, it’s hard not to feel a little jaded by past disappointments. If Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (with its mighty box office, lavish historical spectacle and Ang Lee’s crossover imprimatur) or Roma (a heart-stirring personal project from a director whose previous film, Gravity, was a global smash that won seven Oscars) couldn’t beat Gladiator and Green Book, respectively, what hope is there for a comparatively modestly scaled Korean genre ride with lashings of chilly, grisly violence, seething sociopolitical subtext and a pointed but muted emotional payoff, from a director whose two previous English-language outings never quite captured Hollywood imaginations? It seems a lot to ask of the Green Book contingent, put it that way.

Yet Parasite is incrementally acquiring something that Roma, for all its doting reviews, never quite managed: genuine popular cachet, of the kind that can’t be bought or fabricated, but can make a film’s cultural footprint seem bigger than its box office. It began as early as Cannes, where hype for the film wasn’t just generated by fawning reviews from the critical establishment, but a younger, very online and very vocal group of Generation Z cinephiles, who swiftly branded themselves the #BongHive and granted the film an immediate social-media presence even before it won the Palme, or began rolling out internationally.

Since then, Parasite has become a positive meme machine: if you haven’t seen the film yet but are a regular on Twitter, you may have regularly encountered images and gifs from the film without even realising it. The “Jessica Jingle” – a brief chant delivered by one of the film’s young characters to help remember her false identity, itself based on a standard memory aid for Korean schoolchildren – has been so widely appropriated by fans that it’s now available as a mobile ringtone, the kind of inexplicable-out-of-context in-joke that signals a film’s ascent to a phenomenon status worth far more than $10m.

It’s rare for any non-American film to attain this kind of universal currency in the borderless online realm, though cinema has been lagging behind when it comes to such cultural globalisation. After all, it was the internet, not national broadcasters, that made K-pop an international obsession. Parasite may hardly be the cinematic equivalent of BTS, but there are parallels in the ways they’ve cultivated their fanbases: they speak the same language in more ways than one. That Bong’s film also neatly taps into a global well of class outrage, moreover, has given it universal resonance for socially conscious young audiences, hungry for texts to feed their haves-versus-have-nots discourse amid global political disarray: Parasite’s class-based sympathies might be multi-generational, but it still cuts close to the bone for the “OK boomer” crowd.

Whether the Academy – still not the youngest or hippest group on the block, for all recent attempts to diversify its membership – tunes into that frequency and recognises Parasite as perhaps the most, well, 2019 film of 2019 remains to be seen. Either way, the international #BongHive will keep buzzing, while Bong himself could hardly seem less bothered about his film’s US awards prospects. “The Oscars are not an international film festival,” he said airily when quizzed on the subject. “They’re very local.”

The ultra-rare material made from fibers – byssus – harvested from giant mollusks was once the height of fashion, for items such as the hat going under the hammer in New York

Decorative sea silk, woven from the spun byssus threads produced by the large bivalve mollusc, the Noble pen shell (Pinna nobilis). Photograph: Nature Picture Library/Alamy
On Wednesday, a curious item will be auctioned at Landmark on the Park on the Upper West Side.

At first glance, there is little remarkable about lot 200, a turban-style hat with a dark golden hue. On close inspection, its threads appear similar to that of human or horse hair, but it is in fact woven of a silken fiber unfamiliar to most New Yorkers.

Indeed, objects made of the material rarely come up for auction – there are only about 60 known items in existence and the last public sale may date as far back as 1767. As the auctioneer, Bob Ross, freely admits, the estimate for the hat ($5,000-$8,000) is little more than a wild guess. “I have no idea what this might sell for,” he says. “We’ll see how well-informed the market is.”

The market could be forgiven for being ill-informed. When we think of silk we often conjure images of insects, such as silkworms, or spiders. But this particular hat has an entirely different origin. Its threads were made by a Mediterranean mollusk, the noble pen shell Pinna nobilis.

Measuring up to a meter in height, these large bivalves root themselves to the seafloor by emitting hundreds of fibers, known as byssus (think of the grizzled threads you might find on a common mussel). Once extracted from the shell, cleaned and spun, it possesses a beautiful dark chestnut color, once compared to the “burnished gold of some flies and beetles”.

Historically, items made of cleaned byssus, properly known as sea silk, have been highly prized. According to the sixth-century historian Procopius, the Byzantine emperor Justinian I gave a gift of a sea silk cloak to five Armenian satraps. Since then, the fascination with this marine fiber has not abated, reaching its peak in modern times. The British admiral Horatio Nelson wrote of his intention to send his lover, Emma Hamilton, a pair of gloves made from byssus. Jules Verne chose to dress his narrator in Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea, Dr Pierre Aronnax, in “sea-boots, an otterskin cap, a greatcoat of byssus lined with sealskin”.

This enthusiasm did not last in the 20th century, as the material struggled to find a place in our world of synthetics. Italian fascists briefly flirted with it, imagining that it might be used as camouflage, covering for aircraft and even gas masks. Such visions proved illusory and by the end of the second world war, weaving was confined to a handful of women in Italy.

Inspect lot 200 and it is not hard to see why we do not wear sea silk today. The hat weighs a mere 83 grams, but, according to Felicitas Maeder, a scholar at Basel’s Natural History Museum, it may be made of the byssus of 80 mollusks. Each of these giant shells would have had to be hauled up from the seabed before their byssus could be cut off, cleaned, woven and spun. The operation required a huge amount of time and labor. It was also highly destructive to marine ecosystems (thankfully the Pinna nobilis is now protected under EU legislation; it is illegal to harvest byssus in the Mediterranean).

We might be tempted to cheer the decline of byssus, this fiber that required the destruction of so many giant mollusks to make a single hat. But today we are all too familiar with the cost of the synthetic materials that now surround us. Countless marine mammals and seabirds die each year after ingesting plastic; the spillage of oil, from which much of our clothing is ultimately derived, can also cause great harm to bivalves. Against these charges, the small-scale harvesting of sea silk begins to seem benign. It may be the case that the ecological cost of the lot on sale is lower than that of many of the plastic objects that surround us at home.

Not that sea silk will make a comeback. Recently scientists warned of unprecedented mass mortality outbreaks of the Pinna nobilis that threaten the survival of the species. From the coast of Spain to Cyprus, scuba divers have discovered ghostly fields of empty shells. Recent studies attributed the deaths to outbreaks of a parasite and mycobacteria. Concerned biologists are trying to protect the species by moving healthy individuals into tanks or harvesting their larvae which can then be grown in aquaria.

The fate of these bivalves is not exceptional. In recent years corals, sea urchins and mollusks have all been struck down by disease or mortality outbreaks which are often believed to be tied to rising water temperatures.

It’s a disappearance which can easily go unnoticed in the bustle of city life and one, no doubt, which will be ignored as bidding starts for Wednesday’s auction. Yet perhaps the sudden arrival of this fiber in the city should generate more than wonder, but serve as a quiet reminder of the incalculable loss taking place in our oceans and its relationship with human desire.

• Some 120 wealthy Chinese tourists have had their Antarctica expeditions put on ice after a Canadian tour company said it was facing financial difficulties
• A significant number of rich Chinese are opting for more off-the-beaten-path travel experiences like the polar regions, Mount Everest and the Amazon rainforest

It was supposed to be a trip of a lifetime to one of the world’s most remote and pristine continents, but Kent Cai now faces the prospect of being thousands of dollars out of pocket with little to show for it.

Cai is among at least 120 wealthy Chinese who have been left hanging after a Canadian tour company that charges more than US$14,000 for a single trip to Antarctica announced it had encountered financial difficulties last week.

One Ocean Expeditions has not responded to calls and emails from customers amid reports that two of its three ships have been recalled by their Russian owners, at least one trip has been cancelled, and staff are owed thousands in unpaid wages. The company did not reply to a request for comment from the South China Morning Post.

“Only four months of each year are available for tourists to go to Antarctic Peninsula, and just a few vessels can make land there. We just couldn’t wait to do the trip,” said Cai, a veteran traveller and entrepreneur from Zhejiang, one of China’s richest provinces.

At least 10 friends have already gone to Antarctica in the past couple years. Most of them are successful entrepreneurs, so of course I have to experience it as soon as possibleKent Cai

Cai and many other Chinese customers are furious and disappointed, but the incident has also highlighted the increasing appetite among affluent Chinese for off-the-beaten-path travel experiences – and the amount they are willing to pay for it.

Spurred on in part by a desire to brag about their travels on social media, a significant number of rich Chinese tourists are eschewing the relative safety of Europe and the United States for more adventurous destinations, such as the polar regions, Mount Everest base camp and the Amazon rainforest.

“This is kind of recognition of our self-worth and success, compared to our peers,” said Cai, who booked his Antarctic trip with six friends from the Yangtze River Delta and Chongqing province. All earn between 500,000 yuan (US$71,000) and 2 million yuan (US$285,000) a year running foreign trade companies, or working as senior executives in manufacturing or real estate.

“At least 10 friends have already gone to Antarctica in the past couple years. Most of them are successful entrepreneurs, so we seven have to experience it as soon as possible.”

Another Chinese customer of One Ocean Expeditions, who declined to give his name, said Antarctica was the final destination on his bucket list.

“I have visited every country and territory in the world – I just have the South Pole to go,” he said, adding the trip’s $14,000 price tag was very reasonable. “I even prepared and printed a banner with a slogan to promote my business when I land in Antarctica. It will help show my character and my company’s position.”

A total of 56,168 tourists visited Antarctica’s vast white ice sheets and glaciers during the 2018-2019 summer season, which runs from roughly late October to the end of March, according to the International Association of Antarctica Tour Operators. More than 8,100 or about 15 per cent were from China, up some 3,000 from 2016-2017, making the country the second largest source of visitors behind America. This season’s figures were down about 100 on last year, but a massive leap from 10 years earlier when only 100 Chinese visited in total.

In 2018, Chinese travellers spent an average of 23 days on Antarctic tours, which typically cost between 50,000 yuan (US$7,100) and 200,000 yuan (US$28,000) per trip, according to Ctrip, the country’s biggest online travel agency. Prices varied based on how travellers accessed the remote region; either by boat across the frigid waters of the Drake Passage from South America’s Cape Horn or by plane from Chile or Argentina.

有人断言，日本已经进入了“Solo社会（单身社会）”。因为2015年的人口普查数据显示，“单人家庭”占比已经达到了34.6%，超过了“标准家庭（夫妻孩子）”和“夫妻2人家庭”等。也就是说，单身一人成为了日本最普遍的家庭构成。这些不结婚的日本人过着怎样的生活呢？日经中文网汇总了《日本经济新闻》等的报道，介绍了他们从中青年到老后、再到去世的生活各面。

据日本2015年实施的人口普查数据，生涯未婚率（到50岁时未结婚的人数占比）在1965年仅为男性1.50%，女性2.53%，到了2015年已经猛增至男性23.37%，女性14.06%。不结婚的人越来越多，也加深了日本的少子化现象。2018年出生的婴儿数为91万8397人，创出历史最少，连续3年不足百万人。

为什么越来越多的日本人选择单身？

从昭和末期到平成时代，很多人优先工作而将结婚向后推迟。在职业上升期结婚生子被视为“走弯路”。经过经济高速发展期，越来越多的女性走入职场，开始经济独立，抓紧结婚的理由变得薄弱，在20多岁结婚被认为太早，晚婚化倾向越来越明显。《超级Solo社会》的作者荒川和久指出，“独立女性增加，结婚和生子已经不是人生理所当然的前提”。

“我不想结婚和生孩子”，一名庆应大学的女大学生（20岁）断言道。自己的母亲为了生她而放弃了美发师的工作。她回忆起小时候母亲焦虑的神情，感到“如果没有我，妈妈的人生可能会不一样”。“我想要一个可以自由支配金钱和时间的人生”。有这样想法的日本年轻人，不只她一个人。下面的数据就反映了这一现象。

在日本国立社会保障・人口问题研究所实施的《单身者調査》中，从1987年到2015年，一生没有结婚打算的人所占比例在逐年上涨。选择单身最大的理由是“行动和生活方式自由”，其他的比较多的理由还有“金钱上的宽裕”、“没有抚养家人的责任，很轻松”、“容易保持广泛的人际关系”等。

日本政府2018年实施的意识调查结果则显示，在具备什么条件会选择结婚的问题中，最多有42.4%的人选择了“经济上的宽裕”。而有结婚意向但没有结婚的人最多的理由（46.8%）是“没有找到合适的人”。这其中有61.4%的人“并没有采取什么行动”。从不结婚的理由来看，大家似乎并没有什么不同，基本可以归结为钱不够、圈子小、不主动。

单身人士在日本过着怎样的生活呢？为了迎合越来越多的单身消费者，日本商家推出了很多一个人就可以实现的服务。“一人旅”在日本早已不是什么新鲜事，街头的旅游广告单和书店里的旅游指南有很多都是关于一个人旅游的。日经中文网特约撰稿人青木明子在《一个人的海外游，日本女性首选的是…中国！》 一文中就列举了很多这样的书籍，比如《男なら一人旅》（中文翻译：男人就该独自旅行）、《シニア一人旅》（银发一族的独旅）、《ひとり旅は楽し》（独旅之乐）、《ひとりっぷ》（一个人的旅游）等等。

一个人旅游的男性
　

除了一个人旅游，还有“一人烧烤”、“一人KTV”、“一人电影院”等。最新的还有“一人健身房”和“一人瑜伽”。有人可能对在异性和陌生人面前激烈运动有抵触感。于是横滨市一家名为“东急运动绿洲”的健身房在今年7月就推出了这样的服务。与热闹的健身房不同，客人可以在单间内不用在意他人的眼光，一个人酣畅淋漓地锻炼。房间内有运动单车和健身器械，正面和侧面的墙上投影播放健身指导视频，还可以自由选择深山、太空等VR影像。

东急运动绿洲健身房的单间
　

吃穿住行等消费可以一个人轻松地实现，但回到家中还是希望能有人陪伴。因此，宠物经济在日本十分繁盛。有专门给宠物狗设计的培训班，还有人给宠物上保险，带宠物健身、做艾灸。宠物酒店、宠物咖啡馆人气火爆，有的企业还为员工的宠物生病和去世设置了专门的病假和丧假。除了传统的猫和狗，日本近年来还掀起了水獭、猫头鹰、刺猬等更多物种的宠物热潮。

年轻的时候一个人过的确非常自由，但很多人担心老了之后的生活。当今，日本社会上单身老人的存在感越来越高。据日本厚生劳动省2018年实施的《国民生活基础调查》显示，有65岁以上老人的家庭中，单身老人的比例上升到了27.4%，达到史上最高。日本国立社会保障·人口问题研究所在4月19日发表的推算也显示，到2040年，日本的单身人士将达到1994万人，约为整体的40%，其中75岁以上的单身人士也将超过500万人。

“COCO宫内”的老人们在一起吃午餐（川崎市中原区）
　

面对最让人担心的老后生活，NPO法人团体Living川崎从2003年开始在川崎市成立了针对单身老人的共享公寓“COCO宫内”。该团体理事长原真澄美（68岁）说：“没有依靠的单身老人会越来越多，需要为他们创造一个安心的生活空间”。60~90多岁的9名老人一起生活在这里。他们晚上各自住在单独的房间，白天在一起吃饭，参加兴趣小组的活动等。附近约30名主妇作为协助者，承担了做饭和打扫等工作。每个月的费用为17~15万日元（约合人民币11330元~9997元）。

该设施官网上的房间图
　

尽管有各种养老院等设施，但仍有人至死都不愿离开自己的家。于是出现了所谓的“孤独死”现象。据日本少额短期保险协会统计，从2015年4月至今4年时间内孤独死去的人共有3392人，其中男性超过了8成，反映了男性比女性更容易被社会孤立的现实。其中，未到退休年龄的男性占37%，女性占41%，可见“孤独死”并非只是老年人面临的问题。从去世到被发现的平均时间为17天，有的人甚至超过了3个月。如果这间屋子里发生了“孤独死”，不仅需要花钱处理残留物，之后再寻找新的租客也会很难。房东受到的损失包括恢复原状和房租保证等大约为90万日元（约合人民币6万元）。

对于不喜欢给人添麻烦的日本人来说，这种“孤独死”是很多人不能接受的。一些日本的自治体与当地企业合作，开始为单身老人的“Solo终活”提供援助。

神奈川县横须贺市政府的一个房间里保管了那些无人认领的骨灰
　

在神奈川县横须贺市，无人认领的骨灰在2000年以前每年大概有10人，到了2014年度增加到了60人。而且其中大部分骨灰并非无名氏。通常情况下，亲戚会来领走骨灰，但这些人身边没有亲近的人，就算有因为平时不怎么走动也不愿意去认领。时间一长，市政府的负担越来越重，于是推出了“Ending Plan·支援业务”。

符合“低收入（月收入低于18万日元）”、“低资产（存款在225万日元以下）”、“没有可以依靠的亲戚”等条件的单身老人可以到市政府进行注册，记录好紧急联络人、是否需要续命治疗、葬礼和骨灰安放等事项，市政府会为老人介绍葬礼公司，支付25万日元签订生前契约。

单身老人留下的纸条
　

横须贺市福祉部的北见万幸刚开始还担心没有人来签约，直到收到了一张纸条。上面写着“我死的时候只有15万日元，能否帮我火葬，让我做一个‘无缘佛’（指死后无人拜祭的灵魂），没有人会来拿我（的骨灰）”。北见万幸说：“我很震惊，看了纸条之后哭了。其实收入很少的人也会给自己留一些钱”。到今年3月底，已经有40人注册了该服务，有9人已完成了葬礼和骨灰存放等身后事。

除了神奈川县横须贺市，大和市、千叶市和东京都中野区等自治体也为“终活”提供了支援服务。身后事信息网站运营商“镰仓新书”从6月也推出了“好的生前契约”服务，不仅提供葬礼服务，还有交还社保卡、驾照等死后手续代办等。服务价格为49.8万日元（不含税，约合人民币33190元）。

在日本，单身人士需要的各种服务在不断涌现并趋于成熟。只要合理规划，单身人士随性又体面地过完一生似乎不是什么难事。中国2018年的结婚率较2013年下降了25%，在结婚率年年下跌这一点上，中日似乎有很多共同话题。

利用光子交换信息的量子密码走向实用化的趋势正在世界范围内扩大。这是因为可轻易破解目前密码技术的量子计算机带有现实意味，不得不进行机密保护的根本性强化。举国家之力采取行动的中国和美国领先，但日本也将通过政府与企业的合作力争卷土重来。

在互联网等领域被广泛使用的密码的基础，是以此前的计算机难以短时间破解的数学问题。其安全性随着以新原理运行的量子计算机的实现而受到威胁这一可能性浮出水面。10月美国谷歌宣布开发出的量子计算机能以最尖端超级计算机15亿倍的速度解答复杂计算问题。

在此情况下受到期待的是，在理论上被认为不可能盗取的量子密码。这是基于量子力学这一物理法则的技术，信息的发送者将用于加密和破解的“钥匙”信息放在属于量子之一的光子上发送。据称如果第三方试图盗取，必将留下痕迹，面对非法破解的尝试，能确保安全性。

要发送量子密码，需要巨大成本和精力，但在交换机密信息之际能发挥巨大效果。由于密切关系到军事和安全保障等领域，举国家之力加以引进的趋势在全球扩大。

显得突出的是中国。据称到2020年投资额达到1万亿日元规模的国家实验设施将在安徽省建成，将在量子计算机和密码的领域争争夺主导权。在北京和上海之间建立了世界最大规模的量子密码网络，在人造卫星和地面之间发送量子密码的实验取得成功。在美国，国防部的机构成为主体，正推进量子密码的研究开发。

日本政府将在2019年度补充预算中列入用于量子密码通信系统引进的经费。首先在掌管安全保障方面重要信息的防卫省和日本日本警察厅设置支持量子密码的信号收发器，进行尝试。

量子密码有可能成为巨大的业务。金融机构等已注意到以量子计算机也难以破解的技术。印度调查公司Markets and Markets预测称，世界量子密码市场到2023年将达到5亿600万美元，增至2018年的5倍。

在美国，以初创企业为中心，服务开始出现。韩国SK Telecom、德国电信和西班牙电信等世界通信运营商也在引进。而在日本，东芝力争2020年度实现量子密码系统的商用化。日本国内企业的举措今后有望全面启动。围绕包括量子计算机在内的量子技术的各国竞争将加速。

日本各大名牌补习学校正全面引进人工智能（AI），为学生参加高考提供指导。骏河台学园（简称：骏台）与初创企业合作，开发用于应对名校入学考试的人工智能教材。河合塾将于12月使用人工智能进行个别补习指导。随着考生人数逐渐减少，以集体授课为优势的业务模式迎来转机。“AI（人工智能）老师”会超过专业讲师吗？

骏台9月与开发平板终端人工智能教材的atama+公司开展了业务合作

骏台9月与开发平板终端人工智能（AI）教材的atama+公司开展了业务合作。

学生在遇到“三角函数”等疑难问题时，人工智能会代替讲师找出学生没有掌握的知识点，督促学生复习相关内容。从2018年开始，骏台在集团的补习学校等进行试用，最终模拟考试中学生的成绩有所提高。

不过，骏台的目标并非仅限于此。

7月，骏台向从事人工智能开发的日本Data Science研究所出资，致力于开发高难度的人工智能教材，用来应对国立和公立大学的二次考试和重点私立大学的入学考试。程序内编入了骏台专业讲师的指导方法等，让人工智能反复学习，最早将于年内试制出部分学科的教材。考虑从2021年度开始以人工智能教材为主，面向高中生开展新讲座。

另一家补习学校河合塾将从12月启动“河合塾One”服务，由人工智能编纂教材和课程方案。日本产业技术综合研究所开发的人工智能将加入知名讲师的指导经验等。

学生使用智能手机和个人电脑，可以一边观看模仿板书解说的教学视频一边学习。人工智能可以实时分析学生对问题的理解程度等，为每个人提供最优化教材。最初仅限于英语和数学两个学科，从2020年4月起还将扩大到物理、化学和古文。

骏台2019年春季有1345人升入东京大学，河合塾有1263人。以充满人情味的专业讲师大课为卖点的两大补习学校为什么要全面推出人工智能的个别补习指导呢？其背景是对大学入学考试淘汰率越来越高的危机感。

日本大学的2019年升学率为53.7％，较2000年上涨了14个百分点。但18岁人口在这段时间减少了20％以上。越来越多的人不愿复读，复读生也减少了30％，以希望进入重点院校者为主要生源的补习学校受到了打击。代代Seminar在2015年将27所校区关闭了20所。

日本经济产业省实施的“特定服务产业实态调查”显示，面向高中生以上人群的私塾、补习学校的市场规模2018年约为2500亿日元。较2009年增加200亿日元以上。原因是双职工家庭增加，孩子的人均教育费增加。增加的部分几乎都交到单独指导的私塾和补习学校，集体授课型补习学校的生源减少了近一半。

河合塾的信实秀则理事表示：“不得不探讨校区的布设战略”。骏台的山畔清明专务理事也表示，“只需有大校区就能等到生源的时代已经结束。今后需要积极地提供服务”。

授课讲师也在减少。据说骏台有800名讲师，但这些人群已渐渐进入老龄化。因人手不足，确保优秀年轻人的难度也越大。在这种背景下，要想加强耗费人力的单独指导，转换商业模式，最好怎么做呢？答案之一就是人工智能教材。

学研控股从2017年起运营个别补习私塾“G-PAPILS”。利用人工智能分析学生的答题倾向等，减轻讲师的负担，这样一个讲师可以教授15个学生。东京个别指导学院也在不断构筑符合学习进度的辅导服务。

不过，现阶段以高效提升基础学习能力为核心的人工智能教材占市场主流。这是因为在重点大学的考试中，解题方法和误答的情况变得复杂，开发教材很有难度。要想开发出高水平的教材，在人工智能程序中编入人气讲师的指导经验必不可少。骏台和河合塾与技术实力较强的企业和团体合作、致力于教材开发的意义也在于此。

新服务的用户越多，人工智能掌握的学生成长过程也越多，从而提高指导能力。河合塾One计划今后针对不同的报考院校开发相应课程等。

利用人工智能技术强化个别补习指导的趋势在全球不断扩大。2008年成立的美国Newton就是代表性例子。该公司2019年并入到美国大型出版公司旗下，开发出针对每个学生的最佳解决方案的人工智能。在日本，通信教育企业Z会和学研控股等也使用Newton的人工智能编制教材。

人口持续增长的亚洲也是人工智能教材开发的集中地。中国的英语学习服务“流利说”利用人工智能评价用户的发音等，并提出学习教材方案。其运营公司已于2018年在纽约证券交易所上市。

在印度，视频在线教育APP“BYJU’S”深受欢迎。利用人工智能开发出最优教材也成为企业优势，一举成为企业市值高达10亿美元以上的“独角兽”企业。

要想利用人工智能提高教育服务水平，收集和分析庞大的学习数据必不可少。日本虽然很难抗衡人口较多的中国等国家，但教育是国力的源泉。随着学校不断引进数字教材等，今后需要举国之力利用人工智能提高教育水平。

银行行员劝诱客户贷款买保单的情况层出不穷，金管会决定从「奖酬制度」着手。金管会保险局近期正研议，银行授信部门人员就算拥有保险业务员执照，卖保单也不能拿保险业务员佣金，希望借此避免客户被不当劝诱借款买保单的情况，预计11月底定案。

目前各银行大多有保经代部门，若拥有保险业务员执照也能卖保单，银行大多以卖储蓄县、投资型保单为最大宗。但保险局近期研议修正「保险代理人管理规则」，其中拟针对银行授信部门人员，就算拥有保险业务员资格，卖保单也不能拿保险业务员佣金。

金管会主委顾立雄今受访表示，这提议是他提出来的，因为授信部门人员很清楚这客户何时会从银行拿到钱，然后又再问客户要不要买储蓄险，等于不当劝诱客户借钱买保单。授信部门人员卖保单同时拿业务员佣金，这对银行内控上很难做到位。授信人员不能拿保险业务员佣金，对授信人员来说就没有卖保险的诱因，就不会推广客户借钱买保单。

但民众也常常遇到银行柜员劝诱客户解定存买保单。顾立雄说，劝诱客户解定存买保单，这有折扣的问题，解定存是要打折的，这也是主动劝诱的一种。目前可以确定是授信部门限制领保险佣金，银行其他部门还正在讨论中。

协助年轻族群购屋，房贷龙头土地银行将推出「前低后高」型房贷本金还款方案。土银董事长黄伯川昨（12）日指出，考虑年轻人购屋困难主因是刚就业时收入较低，因此研拟推出「前低后高」型房贷还款方案，在年轻时收入较低，本金可以还少一些，未来薪资成长时，本金再多还一些。
黄伯川的构想来自企业融资的弹性还款方式。他表示，企业草创初期收入较低，企金还款时可先还较少本金，等公司营运上轨道、收入变多，再增加还款金额，甚至还有一部分不摊还，最后一期直接清偿，且就算没还，银行有公司机器设备或厂房等担保品，不用担心损失。

高房价时代，年轻族群购屋困难，黄伯川认为，年轻族群收入较低，申请房贷时，若要本金平均摊还会有困难，若能采「前低后高」，可协助青年早日圆梦购屋，银行风险虽变高，但考虑年轻族群收入将逐步增加，以及房贷有房屋作为担保品，风险仍在可控范围内。
土银主管说明，现行主要三种贷款方式，包括本息平均摊还、本金平均摊还及保留三成本金于最后一期还款等，土银正研议新增选项，「前低后高」还款方式偿还房贷，最快今年底上路。

同为房贷指标大行合作金库，也提供房贷客户多种房贷还款方式。合库主管指出，一般房贷年期20年、30年，首购族最长可至40年；合库与土银一样，都提供保留三成本金于最后一期还款方式。举例若客户向银行贷款1,000万元，贷款期间20年，其中300万元为最后一期，也就是第240期时一次偿还，前面700万元采平均摊还法。

假设客户申贷20年房贷，本金1,000万元，因属首购，利率约1.62%，采本金摊还法，每个月还款48,810元。

若采保留三成本金最后一期还款方式，前面700万元本金摊还，分成239期，每月摊还金额为34,290元，负担明显减轻；至于最后一期的300万元本金可一次还款，或按客户需求另外规划新案。

为防堵民众借钱买保单，金管会拟从奖酬制度着手，杜绝非从保险角度出发出售保单的情形。金管会主委顾立雄昨（12）日指出，虽然金管会允许银行兼营保经代业务，但不代表全行都可以卖保单，正在讨论从奖酬制度着手，以避免不当劝诱民众借钱买保单情形。

他指出，目的是希望控管两个不当行为，第一是不当劝诱，特别是借钱买保单；第二是不能劝诱解定存买保单，因据他了解，有些银行会提供民众解定存买保单，提前解约的定存利率不用打折扣。

顾立雄举例，假设不是理财部门而是其他部门销售保单，应不适宜发给其保险业务员佣金，因假设该行员本身为授信部门，又销售保险，将会引发该行员针对同一个客户办理贷款、核贷通知之余，又向该客户拉保险疑虑，该行员如果可以拿业务员佣金，将会创造这名人员一直劝诱销售保单诱因，等于可利用职务之便，应该要杜绝诱因。

详细修正后的制度何时推出？顾立雄指出，预计11月底前，会确认相关管理规则以及明年责任准备金利率细节，市场预期，对保险业招揽保单业务影响将更广。

顾立雄昨日出席第五届期货钻石奖，会后受访做出以上表示。

他指出，虽然金管会允许银行经营保经代业务，但目的是从理财观点出发，而不应该是全行都可以卖保单，希望可以弄清楚行员业务本质，如果不是理财部门而是其他部门的行员可以兼拿业务员佣金，内控上很难做到位。

他说，不是说有业务员执照不能卖保单，而是希望从奖酬度厘清行员的本质，否则会搞混本业。