Am I the only one who thinks civil engineering gets far too little coverage on TV and online media?
How many TV shows with the theme of “civil engineering” can you name?
Are there any nationwide TV shows that focus on civil engineering?
Based on the criteria of “nationwide broadcasts or streaming aimed at the general public featuring celebrities,” I believe that, at least over the past five years, the only regular program that focuses purely on civil engineering is *Momoiro Inflator Z*, which I’ll discuss later.
"Bura Tamori" was also quite focused on civil engineering. It was a walking tour-style show with a geographical and geological perspective.
Also, while NHK’s *Demolition Kingdom* covers the topic from an architectural perspective, demolition work does have aspects that lean more toward civil engineering.About NHK General TV's "Demolition Kingdom" | National Construction Industry Association (Zenken)
Even if there are construction-related elements, most of them involve architectural design or urban planning.
In 2024, there was a TV drama starring Kimutaku called *Believe: The Bridge to You*. While the premise revolved around bridge construction by a major general contractor, the story itself was essentially a crime thriller dealing with accidents and criminal activity. I only watched a few episodes, but my impression was that the show seemed to have a superficial understanding of civil engineering. Furthermore, it did nothing to improve the public image of the civil engineering and construction industries.
The only show that’s purely about “civil engineering” is probably *Momoiro Inflator Z*. Other than that, there are no other shows that deal with “civil engineering” as a theme.
Why are there so few civil engineering shows? 🤔
Well, civil engineering doesn't exactly have a great reputation among the general public, and just spouting off about civil engineering wouldn't exactly give viewers a sense of excitement or happiness. In other words, the ratings wouldn't be very good, right?
I guess there's nothing I can do about it...
No, but that doesn’t mean you should give up on civil engineering!! Why? Because civil engineering is what builds the foundation of people’s daily lives. Civil engineering is the very foundation of human life. You should know that! Just imagine trying to build a village from scratch on a deserted island—then you’ll understand, right? To survive, we need food, clothing, and shelter, and civil engineering is the foundation that makes all of that possible.
You might think, “Since I’ll never go live on a deserted island, I don’t need to know anything about civil engineering,” right? Well, no—that’s not true. Roads, rivers, parks—civil engineering is all around you.
Percentage of Civil Engineering
If we consider the number of government employees, for example, in a typical city hall, about 10 percent of general administrative staff are civil engineering technicians. If there are 1,000 employees, 100 of them are civil engineering technicians.
In addition, civil engineering costs account for roughly 10 percent of the budget.
Civil engineering accounts for about 10 percent of the personnel and budget required for local governments to develop and manage their communities. (This is a really rough estimate, so please don’t take it too seriously, lol.)
One-tenth of the books on bookstore shelves should be about civil engineering, and one-tenth of TV shows should be about civil engineering!!!!
Civil engineering should be a required subject in school!!! (Radical)
In modern society, I feel that civil engineering is often taken for granted and left entirely to the experts. We should be providing the general public with a basic understanding of civil engineering—answers to questions like “How are roads built?”, “What is concrete made of?”, and “What happens to the rivers near us during heavy rain?”—as part of their general education.
……I guess I’ll start by brainwashing the public. 🤔
The Momoiro Inflator Z is just perfect.
As I mentioned at the beginning, I think *Momoiro Inflator Z* is the ideal show.
Since some of you might not be familiar with the show, I’ll go ahead and introduce it:
I joined "Infra-Z"—an organization dedicated to training the ultimate infrastructure warriors by teaching them about infrastructure such as roads, railways, water and sewer systems, power grids, ports, and dams—as a new recruit.Momoiro Clover ZThe four members of the group, playing the roles of instructors,Satoshi FujiiIt is a program in which viewers learn about the importance of infrastructure while having fun, under the guidance of [name]. (From Wikipedia)
Apparently, it won the Grand Prize at the Japan Society of Civil Engineers' 2023 Civil Engineering Public Relations Awards.
First of all, this show is easy to follow. The structure and content are carefully crafted to be accessible to the general public. It’s actually a good thing that the four members of Momoiro Clover Z say such silly things.
A picture is worth a thousand words. Believe it or not, you can watch the entire series of “Momoiro Inflator Z” on YouTube!
Be sure to check it out!
It’s a shame they use the term “infrastructure” instead of “civil engineering” because civil engineering has such a bad image… Oh well…
Key Points for Public Relations in Civil Engineering
If you don’t limit yourself to shows featuring celebrities or major media outlets, you do see a few civil engineering-related YouTube shows here and there. I hope the major media outlets step up their game, too. (Though, to be honest, the public really needs to watch more of these...)
That said, it’s not as if the civil engineering industry isn’t engaging in public relations activities. While I won’t name specific organizations, many groups are actively promoting themselves through social media and other channels.
One thing I think is important is not to get caught up in in-group humor. Above all, target the general public. Even if people don’t take you seriously, don’t resort to inside jokes. No one is going to read inside jokes about civil engineering, and that defeats the purpose of public relations.
Well, that's all for today.
See you later.
