We conducted a study on volunteering by comparing essays written by college students about their first volunteering experience with essays by so -called "expert volunteers" taking a leading role in the volunteering movement in Japanese society today. The essays were analyzed with reference to seven aspects, including the type of activity, when and for how long it was carried out. Our analysis found significant differences in every aspect, and that no student shared similarities with experts. The results indicate that volunteerism programs at Japanese schools fail to develop human resources capable of continuing their activities as a volunteer, in other words, capable of incorporating their activities in this field into their daily life and leading society in terms of volunteering. We expect that programs at schools will be improved
