Collection of short message cards

Q:

Regarding the discontinuation of the student cafeteria pass.
It appears that the student cafeteria pass will be discontinued, but I feel that the explanation for this discontinuation is insufficient. Please explain the rational reasons for discontinuing it, how the app is superior to the student cafeteria pass, and why the student cafeteria pass cannot replace it. Also, there are likely a small number of subscribers who do not own smartphones, and it is unfair to unilaterally discontinue the student cafeteria pass and demand that they switch to the app without providing any alternative measures for them. I believe an explanation is needed for this as well. I await a sincere response.

A:

We apologize for any inconvenience caused regarding the transition from cafeteria pass to cafeteria money

The Gakushoku Pass system was linked to a POS register (Toshiba TEC) that was used jointly not only by the University of Tokyo Co-op but also by many other university co-ops in the Tokyo area. As part of a large-scale system overhaul across the nationwide university co-op group, including the Tokyo area, the registers will also be changed, and the Gakushoku Pass system, which was only used in the Tokyo area, will be revamped and made into a smartphone app. Since the services that have been provided through the Gakushoku Pass will continue to be available even after the overhaul, we have decided to ask members to switch to Gakushoku Money. We sincerely apologize for the inconvenience this system switchover will cause our members

The transition from the Student Cafeteria Pass to Student Cafeteria Money is due to a nationwide system renewal as described above, but the existing functions (cashless use at the Co-op cafeteria, limited use for eating, and viewing of usage history and nutritional information on My Page) will basically be maintained. In the future, we also plan to implement point accrual for individual items and events/fairs.
Currently, alleviating congestion at the University of Tokyo Co-op, especially at the Komaba campus cafeteria during peak lunch hours, is one of the most pressing requests from our members.
We believe that the increasing number of Student Cafeteria Pass holders and the fact that the Pass is limited to cafeteria menus are contributing factors to this congestion. The Co-op handles food items such as bento boxes and beverages not only at the cafeteria but also at its stores, so after the transition to Student Cafeteria Money, we would like to expand the scope of use to include food items at the stores as well, making it a system that further supports "eating" on campus. We hope that by promoting the dispersion of usage between the cafeteria and stores, we can contribute to alleviating congestion as much as possible.

Finally, regarding members who do not own a smartphone but are currently using the cafeteria pass, we would like to discuss and address this matter on an individual basis. We believe it is
necessary to consider alternative payment methods other than smartphones from a system perspective.

Q:

Tosho Card Next is being sold at a discount at discount shops, so to help reduce the burden of book costs for students, we would like you to consider the following:

1. Negotiate with major discount ticket shops (such as Ticket Ranger, J Market, or Ticketty) to have them install a book card vending machine in the university bookstore and have the shop replenish the book cards as needed. Alternatively, you can take on consignment sales from the discount ticket shop and sell them to students at a discounted price at the bookstore counter

2. The University of Tokyo Co-op will purchase Next Book Cards in bulk from major gift certificate shops at bulk rates and sell them to students at the University Bookstore (and faculty and staff if there are any surplus). In this case, it would probably be necessary to obtain a secondhand goods dealer license under the Secondhand Goods Dealers Act, but since they are planning to obtain a license in order to start trading in computers, I think the hurdle is low

In addition, please consider other items that might be useful to students that are sold at discount ticket shops, such as JAL and ANA shareholder discount coupons (for returning home, etc.), stamps, and JR Orange Cards (some major discount ticket shops sell stamps at a discount of nearly 20%, and Orange Cards at a discount of nearly 10%). While it
is possible for individual students to use discount ticket shops, they are small individual customers and therefore cannot receive the large-volume rates, and shipping costs tend to be a burden for small transactions, so we would like university cooperatives to handle large-volume transactions.

Q:

You requested that we sell the book vouchers at a discount, similar to those sold at discount voucher shops. We apologize for the delay in responding, as we had to check the procurement conditions from discount voucher shops based on the information you provided.
In conclusion, it is difficult to sell the book vouchers at a discount even if we purchase them from discount voucher shops.
This is because, if we were to purchase the book vouchers from the discount voucher shop you provided
, the cost would be higher than the purchase price of new book vouchers.
the cooperative also incurs certain expenses to run its business, so
it is difficult for us to sell at the same price we purchase them.

Q:

I have a question. Following the recent announcement regarding the abolition of the Gakushoku Pass, there is information that the University of Tokyo may follow the trend of other university co-ops and abolish the 10% discount on books for members. Regarding this, I would like to ask whether a decision has been made at this point regarding the abolition of the discount, and whether abolition is being considered at the management level

In addition, as we believe there are many students, faculty and staff members who are interested in this matter, we would also like to request that an official announcement be made in either case

A:

Regarding your inquiry regarding whether the 10% discount on books offered to members will be abolished, the University of Tokyo Co-op has no plans to abolish the current discount on books offered to members

Q:

I know an international student who is a heavy user of the cafeteria, even walking all the way from the Komaba Research Campus to the Komaba First Cafeteria to eat. Since they can't read Japanese, I thought they would be happy if there were message cards that could be written in English. I
also think that creating English versions of the message cards would be very useful in understanding the difficulties and misunderstandings that non-Japanese speaking users of the cafeteria may have.

A:

Even now, some people are submitting complaints in English at places like the central cafeteria, but your point is valid and we will consider some kind of response. We have signs in stores and on forms, butcontact information for the University of Tokyo Consumer Cooperative (utcoop.or.jp), so please give us some time.