The good news is that Japan's education bureaucrats realize that despite six years of middle and high school study many Japanese are still unable to speak English well. The bad news is that the bureaucrats plan to solve this problem by giving us more of what caused the problem.
True, there is nothing wrong with the move to have primary schools provide two or more years of basic English, mainly simple conversation, writing and songs. However, qualified teachers are few and the primary school curriculum is already crowded. But the main problem, teachers say, is that any benefits gained disappear rapidly once students move on to middle school. Children are bewildered by the sudden shift from living English to textbook English.
The bureaucrats focus on high school teaching. They say they want more English vocabulary to be taught, and will require Japan's large army of middle and high school English-language teachers to speak more English in the classroom. But is making Japan's children listen even more to the poor accents and pronunciations of their English-language teachers likely to improve things?
The bureaucrats plan to have these teachers take intensive spoken-English improvement courses. But if as an adult you speak a foreign language badly you tend to stay that way forever. In any case it will probably do little to cure teachers from their bias toward grammar and translation-based learning.
Japan seems not to want to realize the harm caused by having young students spend six years listening to bad English. Some say that if the world is happy with Indian or Singapore English then it should accept Japanese English. But these other varieties of English are standarized and fluent. Listening to them is no harder (sometimes easier even) than listening to the accents and dialects of British English.
Japanese English on the other hand ("Japlish" as some call it) is a hodgepodge of accents and pronunciations thrown together and spoken haltingly. It is hard on both the ear and the patience. More importantly, most Japlish speakers find it very hard to process English spoken at normal speed. Normal conversation is almost impossible.
Many blame problems on alleged differences between English and Japanese — grammar, word order, pronunciation, etc. But Korean is close to Japanese linguistically, and many educated Koreans can handle English well. Ironically, a major reason the bureaucrats are trying to improve English teaching in Japan is the sight of Koreans and other Asians, Chinese especially, able to handle the English of conferences and business negotiations far better than Japanese opposite numbers.
The bureaucrats think they can get the same results by meddling with the school curricula. But ask any foreign national teaching English in Japan and he/she will say the main problem is not curricula but the lack of student motivation. Unlike in South Korea, China and much of the rest of Asia, English ability is not as important for future careers. Motivation is bound to be weak.
Another reason could be the same island isolation and cultural self- satisfaction that makes the British notorious for their poor schoolboy French. For many Japanese, six years of forced English education simply produces the so-called English allergy — a determination to learn no more than is needed to pass exams, and an urge to forget everything once the exams are over. Even those who do try hard to learn can easily end up as damaged products.
Language learning is not like math or history — the mere accumulation of facts and data. With language the memory operates at two levels. One is what I call conscious memorization — mastering enough of the grammar, vocabulary, etc., to be able to translate and put sentences together. But at some stage the language has to be moved to the subconscious and that can only happen with strong motivation and good learning techniques — repetition, realistic conversation, good listening materials and so on. Only at this subconscious level can you retain vocabulary and speak the language naturally.
For most Japanese, however, the language remains at the conscious level, which guarantees permanent poor speaking ability, poor listening ability and poor memory retention. (As confirmation, some very interesting research by a Hamamatsu-based professor once showed that the part of the brain used by Japanese who had learned English naturally was quite different from that used by English speakers educated at Japanese schools.)
Japan should rethink the entire basis of its English education. Does every high school leaver really have to know English to university entrance exam level? A case can be made for having all middle school graduates (age 15) be able to read basic English and handle simple conversation. But at high school, English should be an elective, hopefully limited to only a motivated minority. Freed from the many hours now wasted on ineffectual English study, other students would be able to devote much more time to the many other subjects which teachers claim receive far too little attention — science, math and current history especially.
If Japan wants to match the best in the rest of Asia, English education should be concentrated at university level. Ideally university entrants should be given the chance to study English, or any other foreign language, intensively for four years as one leg of a double major or a major/minor combination. Those who do choose language study will by definition be motivated since they have done so either because they like the language or feel it will be important for future careers. Universities also have access to the best teachers and materials.
Many seem to think that languages have to be learned when one is young, well before university. But as someone who has spent most of his adult life learning foreign languages, three of them difficult languages, I disagree. Motivation and materials are the key. Concentrated study by motivated university students with access to good teachers and materials can give far better results than anything coming out of Japan's middle and high schools.
Graduates from these kinds of combination courses — business and Japanese for example — are coming out of Australian and U.S. universities with surprising ability. They quickly improve even more once they live the language abroad. Many had not even begun the study until they were 18. If they begin earlier so much the better. But it is not crucial.
Needless to say, this scheme would allow Japan's universities to provide combination courses using the other languages equally important for Japan's future but now badly neglected, Chinese especially.
Note: On an Education Ministry committee set up in 2002 to discuss ways to improve English teaching in the schools, myself and some others argued as above — that the focus should be on university rather than high school teaching of English. The bureaucrats not only ignored our ideas; they turned round and made a foreign language, mainly English of course, compulsory at the high school level. When will they ever learn?
Gregory Clark is vice president of Akita International University, where all course study is done in English. A Japanese translation of this article will be at www.gregoryclark.net
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
For cross-cultural children, a unique education
GINOWAN, Okinawa Prefecture--When Mario Anton called on his joint class of fifth- and sixth-graders to draw images of violence, it didn't take long for the 12 children to comply.
After 20 minutes of toiling with crayons and markers to create images of peace, the children quickly drew over the pictures they had just done: A gun was placed in the hands of a person standing atop a mountain, and a stream running through an otherwise peaceful field was painted blood red.
"You were quick at drawing violence," said Anton, a 27-year-old teacher at the Amerasian School in Okinawa, which provides an alternative form of education in a bilingual setting for children born between U.S. citizens and Asians, before adding, "I wonder why."
With its unique curriculum, the school has seen its enrollment jump from 13 to more than 70 in just over a decade.
Reflecting the rising number of children born to either a non-Japanese mother or father, and growing interest in education that caters to the needs of such children, many inquiries come from outside Okinawa.
The class Anton was teaching aims to encourage children to think and express their views on all manner of matters. Anton said he wanted the children to think about conflicts and poverty that plague so much of the world, using their unique multicultural perspectives.
"I want children to realize that they have a choice to live as a global citizen, not bound by any particular country," Anton explained.
Anton considers himself to be a "global citizen." Born in Shizuoka Prefecture to American parents, Anton graduated from a junior high school in Japan before going to the United States to study at high school and university there.
"People in Japan try to prove that I'm not Japanese. They say, 'You can't eat this sashimi, can you?' or 'You can't read this kanji.' And if it's not the case, they aren't satisfied," Anton said.
"If you think of people as global citizens, then nobody gets left out."
Many children in his class have had similar experiences.
One junior high school student said she was kicked by classmates who complained she was too tall, or appeared slovenly, when attending a Japanese elementary school. Then she said she would be teased by American kids who taunted her for pronouncing slang words with an Asian accent.
Another junior high school student complained that his Western appearance made him uncomfortable, as others would always ask him to speak in English.
According to estimates, in Okinawa, host to about 75 percent of all U.S. bases in Japan, about 250 Amerasian children are born every year.
The school's principal, Midori Thayer, founded the school with four others in 1998, employing an American teacher and operating in a rented room.
Today, the school, which uses facilities provided by the city, has 14 teachers tending to children from preschoolers to third-year junior high students.
About 80 percent of classes in elementary school are taught in English, while for junior high school, half of the classes are in English and the rest are in Japanese.
"The children are considered American in Japanese society and Japanese in American society. They only gain respect as individuals once they have mastered the languages and cultures of the two countries," Thayer, 49, explains. She said she hoped to have teachers from the United States and Japan provide perspective from two cultures.
The school receives about 20 inquiries each year, but Thayer says enrollment has reached capacity.
As it is considered a privately run home school, students who completed studies were initially not recognized in the Japanese education system as having graduated from junior high school.
However, after much lobbying by the children's guardians, the Ginowan education board in 1999 took advantage of an education ministry guideline to recognize children studying at the school.
The guideline stated that truant children who study at privately run facilities can be recognized as having attended regular elementary and junior high schools. Today, children register themselves at elementary and junior high schools and report their academic progress to those schools.
"There was a debate as to whether the children could be considered truant," recalls Masahiro Isa, 63, who served as a school education section chief at the board at the time.
"But we decided to broaden the interpretation."
Of 18 students who graduated from the Amerasian School, 14 have gone on to enter prefectural high schools. Thayer's oldest son, Ken, now 23, graduated in the 2000 school year. Last year, Ken graduated from Okinawa International University in Ginowan.
"Our belief was that in five or 10 years, the school would become a common thing," Isa said.
However, that is not the case. With more than 2 million foreign nationals living in Japan, there are an estimated 200 foreign schools, but most are considered private home schools or fall under the "miscellaneous" category.
While the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology encourages graduates from those schools to take junior high school-level aptitude tests, many critics say the test simply adds to the burden of high school entrance exams.
Others point out that the ministry grants children who complete nine years of school education abroad eligibility to enter Japanese high school.
"The government has a responsibility to assure that education is provided, but that only applies to Japanese nationals," said Hiroshi Tanaka, a professor of economics at Ryukoku University in Kyoto and an expert on foreigners' issues in Japan.
"The government must make sure that all children can receive a diverse education," he said.
http://www.asahi.com/
After 20 minutes of toiling with crayons and markers to create images of peace, the children quickly drew over the pictures they had just done: A gun was placed in the hands of a person standing atop a mountain, and a stream running through an otherwise peaceful field was painted blood red.
"You were quick at drawing violence," said Anton, a 27-year-old teacher at the Amerasian School in Okinawa, which provides an alternative form of education in a bilingual setting for children born between U.S. citizens and Asians, before adding, "I wonder why."
With its unique curriculum, the school has seen its enrollment jump from 13 to more than 70 in just over a decade.
Reflecting the rising number of children born to either a non-Japanese mother or father, and growing interest in education that caters to the needs of such children, many inquiries come from outside Okinawa.
The class Anton was teaching aims to encourage children to think and express their views on all manner of matters. Anton said he wanted the children to think about conflicts and poverty that plague so much of the world, using their unique multicultural perspectives.
"I want children to realize that they have a choice to live as a global citizen, not bound by any particular country," Anton explained.
Anton considers himself to be a "global citizen." Born in Shizuoka Prefecture to American parents, Anton graduated from a junior high school in Japan before going to the United States to study at high school and university there.
"People in Japan try to prove that I'm not Japanese. They say, 'You can't eat this sashimi, can you?' or 'You can't read this kanji.' And if it's not the case, they aren't satisfied," Anton said.
"If you think of people as global citizens, then nobody gets left out."
Many children in his class have had similar experiences.
One junior high school student said she was kicked by classmates who complained she was too tall, or appeared slovenly, when attending a Japanese elementary school. Then she said she would be teased by American kids who taunted her for pronouncing slang words with an Asian accent.
Another junior high school student complained that his Western appearance made him uncomfortable, as others would always ask him to speak in English.
According to estimates, in Okinawa, host to about 75 percent of all U.S. bases in Japan, about 250 Amerasian children are born every year.
The school's principal, Midori Thayer, founded the school with four others in 1998, employing an American teacher and operating in a rented room.
Today, the school, which uses facilities provided by the city, has 14 teachers tending to children from preschoolers to third-year junior high students.
About 80 percent of classes in elementary school are taught in English, while for junior high school, half of the classes are in English and the rest are in Japanese.
"The children are considered American in Japanese society and Japanese in American society. They only gain respect as individuals once they have mastered the languages and cultures of the two countries," Thayer, 49, explains. She said she hoped to have teachers from the United States and Japan provide perspective from two cultures.
The school receives about 20 inquiries each year, but Thayer says enrollment has reached capacity.
As it is considered a privately run home school, students who completed studies were initially not recognized in the Japanese education system as having graduated from junior high school.
However, after much lobbying by the children's guardians, the Ginowan education board in 1999 took advantage of an education ministry guideline to recognize children studying at the school.
The guideline stated that truant children who study at privately run facilities can be recognized as having attended regular elementary and junior high schools. Today, children register themselves at elementary and junior high schools and report their academic progress to those schools.
"There was a debate as to whether the children could be considered truant," recalls Masahiro Isa, 63, who served as a school education section chief at the board at the time.
"But we decided to broaden the interpretation."
Of 18 students who graduated from the Amerasian School, 14 have gone on to enter prefectural high schools. Thayer's oldest son, Ken, now 23, graduated in the 2000 school year. Last year, Ken graduated from Okinawa International University in Ginowan.
"Our belief was that in five or 10 years, the school would become a common thing," Isa said.
However, that is not the case. With more than 2 million foreign nationals living in Japan, there are an estimated 200 foreign schools, but most are considered private home schools or fall under the "miscellaneous" category.
While the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology encourages graduates from those schools to take junior high school-level aptitude tests, many critics say the test simply adds to the burden of high school entrance exams.
Others point out that the ministry grants children who complete nine years of school education abroad eligibility to enter Japanese high school.
"The government has a responsibility to assure that education is provided, but that only applies to Japanese nationals," said Hiroshi Tanaka, a professor of economics at Ryukoku University in Kyoto and an expert on foreigners' issues in Japan.
"The government must make sure that all children can receive a diverse education," he said.
http://www.asahi.com/
Professors receive money from students for reviewing doctoral theses
TOKYO, Feb. 4 (AP) - (Kyodo)—Thirty-three Tokyo Medical University professors involved in reviewing doctoral theses received money from degree earners between the 2005 and 2007 academic years, the education ministry and other sources said Wednesday.
It was common practice at the university for degree earners to provide 100,000 yen each to three professors for reviewing a thesis, according to the sources.
A whistle-blower told the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry about the money transfers in May last year, and the university set up an in-house panel to investigate and compile preventive measures.
"It is quite regrettable," a university official said. "We will make the utmost efforts so such an incident will never happen."
The private university was launched in 1916, and operates three hospitals in Tokyo and Ibaraki Prefecture. As of May 2008, some 700 students were enrolled.
http://www.breitbart.com/index.php
It was common practice at the university for degree earners to provide 100,000 yen each to three professors for reviewing a thesis, according to the sources.
A whistle-blower told the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry about the money transfers in May last year, and the university set up an in-house panel to investigate and compile preventive measures.
"It is quite regrettable," a university official said. "We will make the utmost efforts so such an incident will never happen."
The private university was launched in 1916, and operates three hospitals in Tokyo and Ibaraki Prefecture. As of May 2008, some 700 students were enrolled.
http://www.breitbart.com/index.php
No Okinawa clause for textbooks
The government officially decided Tuesday not to insert a special Battle of Okinawa clause into textbook screening guidelines that would give "special consideration" to passages about the history of Okinawa.
Shokichi Kina, an Okinawan lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Japan, had demanded the government clarify whether it intends to include the clause, sought by many Okinawa residents and teachers.
A similar provision giving special consideration to sensitive history issues involving South Korea and China was put into the guidelines in 1982.
"The education ministry is not considering mentioning in textbook screening guidelines that the damages from the previous world war in a certain area be treated differently from other regions," the government said in a written response to Kina's request.
To increase transparency, Kina also urged the government to disclose the details of the textbook screening discussions and to let the public listen in on the meetings. But the government said that would be inappropriate.
"It is important that the members come to an agreement by holding discussions openly and freely based on their own views without outside pressure and in a peaceful and tranquil environment," the government statement said. "Withholding personal exchanges and keeping the meetings closed to the public is considered appropriate."
The education ministry triggered public outrage in 2007 when it ordered publishers to modify statements that originally said Okinawans were forced to commit mass suicide by the military during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.
In 1982, the government faced similar controversy with sensitive historical facts, especially those related to China and South Korea. As a result, a sensitivity clause was officially added to the textbook screening guidelines.
Masami Ito
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
Shokichi Kina, an Okinawan lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Japan, had demanded the government clarify whether it intends to include the clause, sought by many Okinawa residents and teachers.
A similar provision giving special consideration to sensitive history issues involving South Korea and China was put into the guidelines in 1982.
"The education ministry is not considering mentioning in textbook screening guidelines that the damages from the previous world war in a certain area be treated differently from other regions," the government said in a written response to Kina's request.
To increase transparency, Kina also urged the government to disclose the details of the textbook screening discussions and to let the public listen in on the meetings. But the government said that would be inappropriate.
"It is important that the members come to an agreement by holding discussions openly and freely based on their own views without outside pressure and in a peaceful and tranquil environment," the government statement said. "Withholding personal exchanges and keeping the meetings closed to the public is considered appropriate."
The education ministry triggered public outrage in 2007 when it ordered publishers to modify statements that originally said Okinawans were forced to commit mass suicide by the military during the Battle of Okinawa in 1945.
In 1982, the government faced similar controversy with sensitive historical facts, especially those related to China and South Korea. As a result, a sensitivity clause was officially added to the textbook screening guidelines.
Masami Ito
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
Romania's Japan education 'mother' going strong
Angela Hondru is called the "mother of Japanese-language education" in Romania for her role in saving Japanese studies from extinction in her country in the 1970s and for her more than 30 years of dedication to the field since then.
Hondru was born in Deva in western Romania in 1944 and graduated from Bucharest University. She taught English at elementary and junior high schools before serving as a Japanese-language instructor at People's University and Bucharest University of Economics.
Hondru assumed her current professorship of Japanese literature and civilization at Hyperion University in 1997.
She has published numerous books on Japan, including "An Invitation to Japanese Literature," and has translated the works of famous modern novelists, including Natsume Soseki, Osamu Dazai, Yukio Mishima, Kobo Abe and Haruki Murakami.
She had little contact with Japan until 1975, when she saw a Japanese painting in India ink at an art museum in the Romanian capital. It was two years after she had become an English teacher following graduation from the school of English literature at Bucharest University.
"I was moved by its brushwork that was bold but subtle and simple," she said during a recent visit to Tokyo. "I was more surprised later when I saw a picture scroll depicting scenes from 'Genji Monogatari' ('The Tale of Genji') at the academy art museum."
Hondru, 64, recalled that in 1975, when Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu visited Japan, the nation's lone TV channel — which only broadcast from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. — devoted 30 minutes to a special program on Japan. She said the program showed bullet trains, expressways, the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara, Mount Fuji and geisha.
She attended a Japanese-language course at People's University taught by a Japanese Embassy staffer proficient in Romanian. Initially, 89 students attended the night class, using handmade teaching materials.
But two years later, she was the only student attending the class and after the diplomat returned home, she became his successor because there was no one else to do it.
"I spent seven to eight hours preparing for a 90-minute lesson," she said. "More than 30 years have passed since I started learning Japanese. The more I studied Japanese culture and literature, the more I fell in love with them."
But Hondru is more attracted to Japanese folklore. Her great uncle was a Romanian folklore scholar and in his fieldwork he took her to various parts of her country during her childhood.
"He was like (Japanese folklore scholar) Kunio Yanagida," Hondru said, referring to the father of Japanese folklore studies and the author of "Tono Monogatari" ("Tales of Tono"). "He told me many interesting stories. Influenced (by him), I am researching comparative Romanian and Japanese folklore," she said.
"There are many things in common (between Romania and Japan) in wedding ceremonies and funeral rites. For example, small change is placed in a casket. In Japan (it is for the departed to go across) the River of Three Crossings en route to the other world. In Romania it is the fare for the deceased to cross the river."
A recipient of the 2008 Japanese Foreign Ministry Prize, Hondru said people live their traditions such as the annual summer Bon festival and the New Year's holidays without being aware of them.
She noted particularly "kagura" festivals in Okayama Prefecture and Miyazaki Prefecture, which she called "wonderful." Hondru came to Japan in 2005 as a Japan Foundation Fellow to research kagura, a type of Shinto theatrical dance dedicated to shrine gods.
Referring to the Bichu Kagura festival in Okayama Prefecture, she said: "Young people working in urban areas return on weekends and take part in practice. On the day of the festival, they start in the afternoon and it lasts until the next morning. I watched it all three years ago. They were really serious and earnest."
Hondru said she wants Japanese to protect their traditional culture and identity: "I am concerned about young people, who seem to be a bit more interested in globalized culture. This goes for Romania, too."
By Hirotsugu Aida
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/
Hondru was born in Deva in western Romania in 1944 and graduated from Bucharest University. She taught English at elementary and junior high schools before serving as a Japanese-language instructor at People's University and Bucharest University of Economics.
Hondru assumed her current professorship of Japanese literature and civilization at Hyperion University in 1997.
She has published numerous books on Japan, including "An Invitation to Japanese Literature," and has translated the works of famous modern novelists, including Natsume Soseki, Osamu Dazai, Yukio Mishima, Kobo Abe and Haruki Murakami.
She had little contact with Japan until 1975, when she saw a Japanese painting in India ink at an art museum in the Romanian capital. It was two years after she had become an English teacher following graduation from the school of English literature at Bucharest University.
"I was moved by its brushwork that was bold but subtle and simple," she said during a recent visit to Tokyo. "I was more surprised later when I saw a picture scroll depicting scenes from 'Genji Monogatari' ('The Tale of Genji') at the academy art museum."
Hondru, 64, recalled that in 1975, when Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu visited Japan, the nation's lone TV channel — which only broadcast from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. — devoted 30 minutes to a special program on Japan. She said the program showed bullet trains, expressways, the ancient capitals of Kyoto and Nara, Mount Fuji and geisha.
She attended a Japanese-language course at People's University taught by a Japanese Embassy staffer proficient in Romanian. Initially, 89 students attended the night class, using handmade teaching materials.
But two years later, she was the only student attending the class and after the diplomat returned home, she became his successor because there was no one else to do it.
"I spent seven to eight hours preparing for a 90-minute lesson," she said. "More than 30 years have passed since I started learning Japanese. The more I studied Japanese culture and literature, the more I fell in love with them."
But Hondru is more attracted to Japanese folklore. Her great uncle was a Romanian folklore scholar and in his fieldwork he took her to various parts of her country during her childhood.
"He was like (Japanese folklore scholar) Kunio Yanagida," Hondru said, referring to the father of Japanese folklore studies and the author of "Tono Monogatari" ("Tales of Tono"). "He told me many interesting stories. Influenced (by him), I am researching comparative Romanian and Japanese folklore," she said.
"There are many things in common (between Romania and Japan) in wedding ceremonies and funeral rites. For example, small change is placed in a casket. In Japan (it is for the departed to go across) the River of Three Crossings en route to the other world. In Romania it is the fare for the deceased to cross the river."
A recipient of the 2008 Japanese Foreign Ministry Prize, Hondru said people live their traditions such as the annual summer Bon festival and the New Year's holidays without being aware of them.
She noted particularly "kagura" festivals in Okayama Prefecture and Miyazaki Prefecture, which she called "wonderful." Hondru came to Japan in 2005 as a Japan Foundation Fellow to research kagura, a type of Shinto theatrical dance dedicated to shrine gods.
Referring to the Bichu Kagura festival in Okayama Prefecture, she said: "Young people working in urban areas return on weekends and take part in practice. On the day of the festival, they start in the afternoon and it lasts until the next morning. I watched it all three years ago. They were really serious and earnest."
Hondru said she wants Japanese to protect their traditional culture and identity: "I am concerned about young people, who seem to be a bit more interested in globalized culture. This goes for Romania, too."
By Hirotsugu Aida
http://home.kyodo.co.jp/
Brazilians in need of vocational training, language courses
The government should provide vocational training and language support to Brazilian workers who have lost their jobs as manufacturers streamline operations, Brazilian Ambassador Luiz Augusto De Castro Neves said.
In a recent interview, Castro Neves expressed hope that Japan will bolster training to enable workers to transfer smoothly from ailing industries to other sectors. He also noted that public schools need to step up Japanese language education for foreign students.
Many out-of-work Brazilians who can no longer afford to send their children to private Brazilian schools are opting to return home rather than transfer their kids to public schools, partly due to the lack of language support.
"Japan has a compulsory education system for Japanese, but (it is as if education was) not compulsory for foreigners," Castro Neves said. The government should make "Brazilians who cannot afford private schools (feel comfortable) sending their children to public schools."
The government has already started working to explore some of the measures Castro Neves proposed.
The Cabinet Office on Jan. 9 established a team to compile measures to help out-of-work foreigners with permanent settler status — mainly Brazilians — find jobs and provide Japanese language education to them and their children. Yuko Obuchi, state minister for population and gender quality, is heading the team.
"This is an extremely positive move. It means Japan acknowledges the importance of foreign communities," said Castro Neves, who took up his position last October.
Rising unemployment became a social problem late last year as manufacturers, which hired many Brazilians and other South Americans as temporary workers at their factories, began cutting jobs amid the recession. Many dismissed foreign workers were also kicked out of their company dormitories, leaving them to search for new homes.
While the Brazilian embassy does not have the exact figure, "many Brazilians have returned home" since last fall, Castro Neves said. According to the embassy, about 317,000 Brazilians live in Japan, making them the third-largest ethnic community after Koreans and Chinese.
Their numbers continued to rise over the past decade, mainly because Japanese manufacturers hired them as a cheap source of labor. However, companies started firing them when business slowed and conditions deteriorated late last year amid the economic slowdown.
The ambassador also stressed Brazil's strong partnership with Japan. The two countries last year marked the 100th anniversary since Japanese began emigrating to Brazil to farm.
"Brazil and Japan are the best example (for international friendship). About 1.5 million Brazilians of Japanese descent living in Brazil fit in comfortably with local communities," he said.
Besides vocational training and children's education, he is also working on a social welfare agreement with Japan to avoid the duplicate payment of pension in the two countries. This would enable the transfer of pensions so that those who have paid into Japan's pension system will be able to receive them in Brazil, and vice versa.
Despite the strong bilateral ties, he said he is not sure if the number of Brazilians in Japan will rise further, given the recent economic plunge.
"It will depend on the Japanese economy and support for Brazilian communities," he said.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
In a recent interview, Castro Neves expressed hope that Japan will bolster training to enable workers to transfer smoothly from ailing industries to other sectors. He also noted that public schools need to step up Japanese language education for foreign students.
Many out-of-work Brazilians who can no longer afford to send their children to private Brazilian schools are opting to return home rather than transfer their kids to public schools, partly due to the lack of language support.
"Japan has a compulsory education system for Japanese, but (it is as if education was) not compulsory for foreigners," Castro Neves said. The government should make "Brazilians who cannot afford private schools (feel comfortable) sending their children to public schools."
The government has already started working to explore some of the measures Castro Neves proposed.
The Cabinet Office on Jan. 9 established a team to compile measures to help out-of-work foreigners with permanent settler status — mainly Brazilians — find jobs and provide Japanese language education to them and their children. Yuko Obuchi, state minister for population and gender quality, is heading the team.
"This is an extremely positive move. It means Japan acknowledges the importance of foreign communities," said Castro Neves, who took up his position last October.
Rising unemployment became a social problem late last year as manufacturers, which hired many Brazilians and other South Americans as temporary workers at their factories, began cutting jobs amid the recession. Many dismissed foreign workers were also kicked out of their company dormitories, leaving them to search for new homes.
While the Brazilian embassy does not have the exact figure, "many Brazilians have returned home" since last fall, Castro Neves said. According to the embassy, about 317,000 Brazilians live in Japan, making them the third-largest ethnic community after Koreans and Chinese.
Their numbers continued to rise over the past decade, mainly because Japanese manufacturers hired them as a cheap source of labor. However, companies started firing them when business slowed and conditions deteriorated late last year amid the economic slowdown.
The ambassador also stressed Brazil's strong partnership with Japan. The two countries last year marked the 100th anniversary since Japanese began emigrating to Brazil to farm.
"Brazil and Japan are the best example (for international friendship). About 1.5 million Brazilians of Japanese descent living in Brazil fit in comfortably with local communities," he said.
Besides vocational training and children's education, he is also working on a social welfare agreement with Japan to avoid the duplicate payment of pension in the two countries. This would enable the transfer of pensions so that those who have paid into Japan's pension system will be able to receive them in Brazil, and vice versa.
Despite the strong bilateral ties, he said he is not sure if the number of Brazilians in Japan will rise further, given the recent economic plunge.
"It will depend on the Japanese economy and support for Brazilian communities," he said.
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/
No. of foreign trainees at Japanese firms on sharp decline
The number of foreign trainees newly accepted by Japanese companies has been on a sharp decline amid the economic downturn, according to recent data released by a government-affiliated organization.
Preliminary data compiled by the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization show that the number of foreigners for whom domestic companies newly filed applications with the Immigration Bureau for permitting their entry into Japan as trainees or technical interns last October fell 18.8 percent from a year earlier to 4,753.
The figure in November stood at 4,692, down 25.5 percent from a year before. The organization, jointly founded by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and other four ministries, analyzes that Japanese firms are becoming reluctant about accepting new foreign trainees in the face of deterioration of the economy.
The organization said an increasing number of foreign trainees have been seeking advice, saying they may be forced to return to their own countries before their terms expire.
Although many foreign trainees are hired at low wages, the recent data suggest that domestic companies, particularly small ones, are now in bad shape and not even hiring such low-wage workers, officials with the organization said.
By country, the number of new trainees from China fell 27.6 percent in November, while it was down 26.0 percent from Indonesia and 41.0 percent from the Philippines.
The number of foreign visitors for the purpose of becoming trainees had been on the increase since the launch of the foreign trainee system in 1993, topping 100,000 in 2007.
http://www.breitbart.com/index.php
Preliminary data compiled by the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization show that the number of foreigners for whom domestic companies newly filed applications with the Immigration Bureau for permitting their entry into Japan as trainees or technical interns last October fell 18.8 percent from a year earlier to 4,753.
The figure in November stood at 4,692, down 25.5 percent from a year before. The organization, jointly founded by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry and other four ministries, analyzes that Japanese firms are becoming reluctant about accepting new foreign trainees in the face of deterioration of the economy.
The organization said an increasing number of foreign trainees have been seeking advice, saying they may be forced to return to their own countries before their terms expire.
Although many foreign trainees are hired at low wages, the recent data suggest that domestic companies, particularly small ones, are now in bad shape and not even hiring such low-wage workers, officials with the organization said.
By country, the number of new trainees from China fell 27.6 percent in November, while it was down 26.0 percent from Indonesia and 41.0 percent from the Philippines.
The number of foreign visitors for the purpose of becoming trainees had been on the increase since the launch of the foreign trainee system in 1993, topping 100,000 in 2007.
http://www.breitbart.com/index.php
Sexual harassment
Recent revelations of sexual harassment incidents force us to conclude that the sporting world seems to have a lowly view of women's rights.
In a junior high school in Osaka Prefecture, a male teacher overseeing a school club had continuously molested 19 female students. He was finally fired this month.
Reports say that since two years ago, the teacher had regularly told female students to see him in rooms, including the principal's office, and had repeatedly put his hands in their underwear under the pretense of giving them massages. It seems his actions are nothing but criminal.
Also last year, in Kumamoto Prefecture, a male junior high school teacher instructing a school sports club was fired for having continuously instructed about a dozen female students to take off their clothes. He touched their breasts on the pretense of giving them massages.
In Nagoya, a figure-skating coach was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a junior high school girl he was coaching. It is almost unbearable to even think of the horrific physical and emotional damage done to the victim.
The Kumamoto teacher said the purpose of his actions was to "give them gumption."
The figure-skating coach said, "I was drunk." The very fact that people like these were allowed to roam around as teachers and instructors is frightening.
Problems like these are not limited to Japan. In Norway, one-third of the country's 550 top-class athletes said they had experienced sexual harassment in the sporting world.
In Canada, 20 percent of 230 former Olympians said they had physical relations with the upper echelons of their sports associations, and nearly 10 percent said the relationship was forced.
Japan also needs to immediately conduct a full-blown investigation.
In the backdrop, there remains a lingering mood within the sporting world that a coach's use of violence is acceptable. In one women's physical education university, 40 percent of 600 students said they were hit by their coaches during their sports club activities.
There are also many cases of touching that is described as massaging and other things. One-on-one coaching in a private room is also common.
Of course, these things may be allowed if there is a relationship of trust between the coach and the athlete. But we cannot deny that such situations are breeding grounds for sexual harassment.
In Kumamoto, the prefectural school board announced a ban on teachers giving students massages during club activities. This is an appropriate measure; sports massages should be administered only by qualified experts. And this rule should be strictly implemented along with a ban on the use of violence as a way of teaching.
For private companies, systematic measures to prevent sexual harassment were put in place in the late 1990s. The sports world was slow on the uptake and went through a series of sexual harassment cases by famous instructors in track and field. Only seven years ago, preventive guidelines were introduced in the world of athletics.
Many sports associations followed suit with their own ethical guidelines, but in reality, those guidelines are not quite functioning. For starters, only a few women are sports coaches, and there are even fewer female executives in sports organizations and associations. A framework should be set up to foster the recruitment of females as top officials.
As it stands, it would be difficult for Japan to make boasts about being a top sporting nation seeking to host the Summer Olympic Games for a second time. We urge the sporting community to tackle this task aggressively and to make up for all the lost time.
http://www.asahi.com/news/
In a junior high school in Osaka Prefecture, a male teacher overseeing a school club had continuously molested 19 female students. He was finally fired this month.
Reports say that since two years ago, the teacher had regularly told female students to see him in rooms, including the principal's office, and had repeatedly put his hands in their underwear under the pretense of giving them massages. It seems his actions are nothing but criminal.
Also last year, in Kumamoto Prefecture, a male junior high school teacher instructing a school sports club was fired for having continuously instructed about a dozen female students to take off their clothes. He touched their breasts on the pretense of giving them massages.
In Nagoya, a figure-skating coach was arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting a junior high school girl he was coaching. It is almost unbearable to even think of the horrific physical and emotional damage done to the victim.
The Kumamoto teacher said the purpose of his actions was to "give them gumption."
The figure-skating coach said, "I was drunk." The very fact that people like these were allowed to roam around as teachers and instructors is frightening.
Problems like these are not limited to Japan. In Norway, one-third of the country's 550 top-class athletes said they had experienced sexual harassment in the sporting world.
In Canada, 20 percent of 230 former Olympians said they had physical relations with the upper echelons of their sports associations, and nearly 10 percent said the relationship was forced.
Japan also needs to immediately conduct a full-blown investigation.
In the backdrop, there remains a lingering mood within the sporting world that a coach's use of violence is acceptable. In one women's physical education university, 40 percent of 600 students said they were hit by their coaches during their sports club activities.
There are also many cases of touching that is described as massaging and other things. One-on-one coaching in a private room is also common.
Of course, these things may be allowed if there is a relationship of trust between the coach and the athlete. But we cannot deny that such situations are breeding grounds for sexual harassment.
In Kumamoto, the prefectural school board announced a ban on teachers giving students massages during club activities. This is an appropriate measure; sports massages should be administered only by qualified experts. And this rule should be strictly implemented along with a ban on the use of violence as a way of teaching.
For private companies, systematic measures to prevent sexual harassment were put in place in the late 1990s. The sports world was slow on the uptake and went through a series of sexual harassment cases by famous instructors in track and field. Only seven years ago, preventive guidelines were introduced in the world of athletics.
Many sports associations followed suit with their own ethical guidelines, but in reality, those guidelines are not quite functioning. For starters, only a few women are sports coaches, and there are even fewer female executives in sports organizations and associations. A framework should be set up to foster the recruitment of females as top officials.
As it stands, it would be difficult for Japan to make boasts about being a top sporting nation seeking to host the Summer Olympic Games for a second time. We urge the sporting community to tackle this task aggressively and to make up for all the lost time.
http://www.asahi.com/news/
New teaching posts to be created to boost Japanese studies in U.K
The funding crisis affecting Japanese studies in Britain has been alleviated with the creation of 13 new teaching posts thanks to two charities.
The new lectureships and research positions, which are costing 2.5 million pounds ($3.25million) over a five-year period, will focus on the contemporary aspects of Japanese business and society in an effort to boost the subject's appeal and also cope with growing demand in that area.
The Nippon Foundation and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation decided to inject the funds after years of decline in Japanese studies. Several Japanese courses have closed at Britain's universities over the last 10 years as it was a costly subject to teach relative to other languages. The Japanese courses also attract fewer students than more popular degrees, making the ratio of teachers to pupils higher and leading to a dearth in home-grown experts on Japan. The creation of the new teaching posts, which were unveiled on Monday, means 11 universities can provide new courses spanning Japan's economy and management, modern and post-war history and the Japanese visual media. Stephen McEnally, chief executive of the Sasakawa foundation, said in a statement, "All incumbents possess impeccable qualifications and this timely injection of young Japanese studies scholars into our universities will serve to guarantee a greater depth and diversity of scholarship and research at a time when it is most needed." The earl of St. Andrews said, "Japan matters because it is the second most powerful economy in the world. It is a major overseas investment and trade partner of the U.K." Britain's policy makers, business leaders, scholars and its future leaders "must all be given the tools to better understand Japan's culture, its society and its language," he said. Perhaps as a reflection of the claim that Japanese studies have been underfunded over the last few years, only three of the new lecturers are British. Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of the Nippon Foundation, said, "The many viewpoints that the Sasakawa lecturers will bring to their posts will be a major driving force behind research into Japan at universities in the U.K." The Sasakawa foundation is a charity established in 1985 with an endowment from the Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation, now the Nippon Foundation. The Nippon Foundation is a private foundation funding three main areas of activity: overseas co-operative assistance, maritime development and domestic social welfare and volunteer support.
Rules to be eased for foreign students
The government plans to simplify immigration screening procedures and extend the duration of stay for foreign students from fiscal 2009, Justice Minister Eisuke Mori said Friday.
The measures are part of the government's plan to increase the number of foreign students here to 300,000 by 2020, compared to 123,800 as of May 2008.
The Justice Ministry will also unify two categories of study status: shugaku for language and high school students; and ryugaku for university students.
This will allow language school students to attend universities without a change in status.
http://www.asahi.com/news/
The measures are part of the government's plan to increase the number of foreign students here to 300,000 by 2020, compared to 123,800 as of May 2008.
The Justice Ministry will also unify two categories of study status: shugaku for language and high school students; and ryugaku for university students.
This will allow language school students to attend universities without a change in status.
http://www.asahi.com/news/
Kyoto University not to renew employment contracts of 100 part-timers+
Kyoto University will not renew the employment contracts of about 100 part-time staffers whose five-year contracts will expire in fiscal university officials said Friday.
The step apparently reflects the severe finances of the state-run university amid the deepening recession, said the officials, citing an annual reduction of about 1 billion yen in state subsidies to the university.
The decision has sparked criticism from university staffers, who say part-timers play an important role in enhancing the academic and educational levels of Kyoto University.
Other state-run universities have also been trimming operational costs by terminating part-time employment contracts.
Kyoto University, in the face of the subsidy cut, is being forced to cut its personnel expenses and so the number of its full-time employees. As a result, research work initially assigned to full-time staffers is being shouldered by part-timers.
As of December, about 2,600 people worked at Kyoto University on a part-time basis. Of them, about 1,300 were employed after a maximum five-year-contract rule was introduced in connection with part-timers in March 2005.
The 100 part-timers affected by the recent decision are the first employees whose contracts are to run out under the five-year rule. According to a survey conducted by the university's labor union, at least 90 of the 100 affected people want to renew their contracts.
An official with the university's personnel planning division indicated that terminating the part-time employment contracts will cause no legal problems. The official said people employed in April 2005 or later were fully informed that the nature of their job would be temporary and auxiliary, and that their contracts would end in five years.
Yoshinori Kishimoto, who heads the university's general affairs division, said the university has no plans to change the five-year limit.
"Fewer than one out of five part-time employees work for three years or more," he said.
But Koji Matsunami, chief of the school's labor union, said the termination of the employment contracts is "an act that must not be tolerated" at an educational institution whose aim is to develop human resources.
A 52-year-old part-timer at the university said its research activities would be affected if one after another veteran researcher leaves the school due to holding part-time status.
http://www.breitbart.com/index.php
The step apparently reflects the severe finances of the state-run university amid the deepening recession, said the officials, citing an annual reduction of about 1 billion yen in state subsidies to the university.
The decision has sparked criticism from university staffers, who say part-timers play an important role in enhancing the academic and educational levels of Kyoto University.
Other state-run universities have also been trimming operational costs by terminating part-time employment contracts.
Kyoto University, in the face of the subsidy cut, is being forced to cut its personnel expenses and so the number of its full-time employees. As a result, research work initially assigned to full-time staffers is being shouldered by part-timers.
As of December, about 2,600 people worked at Kyoto University on a part-time basis. Of them, about 1,300 were employed after a maximum five-year-contract rule was introduced in connection with part-timers in March 2005.
The 100 part-timers affected by the recent decision are the first employees whose contracts are to run out under the five-year rule. According to a survey conducted by the university's labor union, at least 90 of the 100 affected people want to renew their contracts.
An official with the university's personnel planning division indicated that terminating the part-time employment contracts will cause no legal problems. The official said people employed in April 2005 or later were fully informed that the nature of their job would be temporary and auxiliary, and that their contracts would end in five years.
Yoshinori Kishimoto, who heads the university's general affairs division, said the university has no plans to change the five-year limit.
"Fewer than one out of five part-time employees work for three years or more," he said.
But Koji Matsunami, chief of the school's labor union, said the termination of the employment contracts is "an act that must not be tolerated" at an educational institution whose aim is to develop human resources.
A 52-year-old part-timer at the university said its research activities would be affected if one after another veteran researcher leaves the school due to holding part-time status.
http://www.breitbart.com/index.php
The purikura king is at PikaPika in Japantown
When Ryan Kimura graduated from UC Berkeley in 2004 with a degree in Asian American studies, he kept running into the same question: "What are you going to do with that?"
He wasn't sure. So he spent two years in Japan teaching English to high school students, who introduced him to purikura - the art of making photos, which are often turned into photo stickers - in a fancy, high-tech photo booth.
Now Kimura, 27, seems to be the king of purikura in the Bay Area. He and his parents own PikaPika in San Francisco's Japantown, which has become a magnet for young Asian Americans.
"It's kind of crazy. I've come full circle," said Kimura, who spent his youth in Japantown.
The recession hasn't affected business, said Kimura, who is bracing for Valentine's Day, the busiest day of the year.
His shop reflects a trend that began in Japan in 1995 and has spread to much of Asia, especially Taiwan.
Purikura, a contracted form of purinto kurabu (print club in Japanese), takes the black-and-white photo booth concept to manic and varied extremes.
Each of the seven color photo booths in PikaPika does different things. Patrons can customize their virtual backgrounds so that they can, for example, sit on an elephant, leap out of a washing machine, turn into a bobblehead or become a sumo wrestler. Then they do a series of poses and move to a digital decorating station to add dozens of individual touches.
Finally, they retrieve the prints, which are the size of a 4-by-6 postcard and can be cut up and peeled off. People slap them on cell phones, wallets, lockers, refrigerators or journals, and use the scanned-in version on their Facebook or MySpace pages.
'The opposite of serious'
"Purikura is the opposite of serious," said Kimiko Ryokai, a UC Berkeley assistant professor in the School of Information. "It is just for fun."
Ryokai, who grew up in Tokyo, said, "It is always a social activity. Nobody really takes purikura by him- or herself."
Much like karaoke, she said, it allows people to be silly in groups.
Duncan Williams, chair of the Center for Japanese Studies at UC Berkeley, said interest in purikura has waned somewhat in Japan in the past two years.
Before that, he said, it was very popular, especially among teenage girls, who would adorn their cell phones and notebooks with group photos of their pals - a quick way to signal to oneself and others who was most important among friends, he added.
It also served as a thing to do for groups and families to document an occasion and have the ability to "sticker" it easily, he said.
Although individual purikura booths started popping up in the Bay Area and elsewhere in the country in 1997, large shops such as PikaPika are generally found in Asia rather than the United States.
The store, on the second floor of the Kinokuniya mall, got its start on the first floor, when Joanne Sato bought a purikura machine 12 years ago and put it outside her photo shop.
"The first day I got it, there was a line going around the corner," she recalled. "We were the first in the Bay Area. I didn't know how to run the thing."
In August 2006, she sold the business to Japantown accountant Lowell Kimura, wife Donna, a computer programmer, and their son Ryan. It opened two weeks later, and now has a mailing list of 3,500 and 80 percent repeat customers, including many Cal students.
Roseville waitress Nikki Barber, 22, has been driving about 100 miles to PikaPika every weekend for three or four years.
"They're super unique," Barber said on a recent Saturday visit. "I just love taking pictures with my friends and always having that memory. It's so enticing."
A Japan buff
Like many purikura fans, Barber is a Japan buff interested in manga, anime and all things Japanese. And, like many others, she keeps her photos in a book.
Her boyfriend, Alameda High senior Simon Li, 18, said, "It's more a girls' thing. If it were all guys, it would look weird."
He was almost drowned out by pounding Japanese music and frenetic shrieks and squeals.
"Once you start you can't stop," said Nancy Dang, 20, who attends City College of San Francisco.
Daly City resident Lisa Situ, 17, said, "It gets addicting."
"I probably have $500 worth of these things," said Jenny Yip, 17, who goes to Lowell High in San Francisco.
The photos machines are imported from Japan and produce prints that cost from $5 to $9 apiece. The oldest machine, with Hello Kitty characters, was the mall original, which Kimura visited in high school. Now there's graffiti on it.
"It's an old warrior," he said.
Connie Ng, 22, bought a photo machine from Kimura for a corner of her new mall, 31 Plaza in Oakland, for one simple reason.
"It's something the Asian market enjoys doing," said Ng, who uses purikura prints on coffee coasters and as thank-you cards.
Kimura said 27 is the record for the number of people in a booth. Besides Valentine's Day, spring break and Christmastime - when families make their holiday cards - are especially busy. Bachelorette parties and high school graduations also bring in customers, along with the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japantown.
"A big thing in Japan now is to do purikura naked," Kimura sighed. "I hope it doesn't happen here."
When he started, he didn't know how to get a business license, fill out tax forms or do much of anything. His parents told him it was time to learn.
"I had no idea what a business plan was," Kimura recalled.
A fifth-generation American, he said he's a 50/50 descendant - Japanese on his father's side, Chinese on his mother's - and the only one in his family who speaks Japanese. From time to time, one of his former students in Japan will drop by his purikura palace.
"They think it's kind of funny that I was their teacher but now I run this shop," Kimura said.
E-mail Patricia Yollin at pyollin@sfchronicle.com.
Osaka cram school manager arrested over fraud+
TOKYO, Jan. 22 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The manager of a cram school in Osaka was arrested Thursday on suspicion of defrauding parents of a medical school applicant of 70 million yen by telling them he could sell backdoor admissions to private medical schools, Osaka prosecutors said.
Shingo Okada, 40, and three others were arrested, the prosecutors said.
Okada is suspected of telling the parents of his cram school student between 2006 and 2007 that he could pay a medical school in Fukuoka Prefecture to inflate entrance exam scores, in an attempt to swindle them out of 9 million yen.
He also told them, along with the three, he could arrange for the student to pass the exam for another medical school in Iwate Prefecture and received 62 million yen in total on five occasions, according to the investigation.
Okada was quoted as telling the prosecutors he had difficulty raising management money for his cram school, according to them.
http://www.breitbart.com/index.php
Shingo Okada, 40, and three others were arrested, the prosecutors said.
Okada is suspected of telling the parents of his cram school student between 2006 and 2007 that he could pay a medical school in Fukuoka Prefecture to inflate entrance exam scores, in an attempt to swindle them out of 9 million yen.
He also told them, along with the three, he could arrange for the student to pass the exam for another medical school in Iwate Prefecture and received 62 million yen in total on five occasions, according to the investigation.
Okada was quoted as telling the prosecutors he had difficulty raising management money for his cram school, according to them.
http://www.breitbart.com/index.php
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