The Construction and Transport Ministry is to hold a tour guide license examination overseas for the first time.
The first-stage written examination for the multilingual national tour guide license will be held in China, Taiwan and South Korea in early September at the same time as the test is taken in Japan.
The examination will be held in Beijing, Hong Kong, Seoul and Taipei. The second-stage oral test will be held only in Japan.
In 2004, of the foreign tourists who visited Japan, 32.5 percent were from China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. South Korean holidaymakers accounted for 25.9 percent of tourists.
However, only 9.2 percent of certified tour guides are licensed in Chinese and a mere 4.5 percent in Korean, forcing the government to train more qualified Chinese- and Korean-speaking guides.
(May. 22, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060522TDY02010.htm
Monday, May 22, 2006
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
France to set up French-language high school in Tokyo
France plans to set up high schools in Tokyo and other major cities abroad to conduct lessons in French, Foreign Minister Philippe Douste-Blazy said Monday.
In the first round of the plan, France will also establish such schools in Munich, London and Cairo, Douste-Blazy said at a press conference.
Through cooperation with private organizations, the government hopes to spread French culture overseas and nurture elite people with a good command of French.
The government also plans to establish around the world organizations for introducing French culture and liaison offices for accepting applications from foreign students who want to receive advanced education in France, Douste-Blazy said. (Jiji Press)
May 16, 2006
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/international/europe/news/20060516p2g00m0in007000c.html
In the first round of the plan, France will also establish such schools in Munich, London and Cairo, Douste-Blazy said at a press conference.
Through cooperation with private organizations, the government hopes to spread French culture overseas and nurture elite people with a good command of French.
The government also plans to establish around the world organizations for introducing French culture and liaison offices for accepting applications from foreign students who want to receive advanced education in France, Douste-Blazy said. (Jiji Press)
May 16, 2006
http://mdn.mainichi-msn.co.jp/international/europe/news/20060516p2g00m0in007000c.html
Monday, May 15, 2006
Govt panel identifies 12 skills needed in society
A government panel has identified the abilities required to be a good citizen and worker, to help students prepare for job-hunting and provide a common view among students and firms as to what the most important abilities are.
The panel, chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, was set up to promote the diversification of job opportunities. It compiled a list of 12 fundamental abilities every citizen should have, which include: independence; planning skills; listening skills; respect for social rules; flexibility; creativity; analytical skills; people skills; expressive skills; coping with stress, and being goal-oriented.
The formalization of abilities needed at the workplace and within local communities is expected to help students find a job and assist them to acquire necessary job skills.
The categorization is expected to help companies and students agree on what abilities can be expected beyond those directly related to occupation or educational background, when companies recruit or students apply for a job.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060515TDY03003.htm
The panel, chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe, was set up to promote the diversification of job opportunities. It compiled a list of 12 fundamental abilities every citizen should have, which include: independence; planning skills; listening skills; respect for social rules; flexibility; creativity; analytical skills; people skills; expressive skills; coping with stress, and being goal-oriented.
The formalization of abilities needed at the workplace and within local communities is expected to help students find a job and assist them to acquire necessary job skills.
The categorization is expected to help companies and students agree on what abilities can be expected beyond those directly related to occupation or educational background, when companies recruit or students apply for a job.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060515TDY03003.htm
Thursday, May 11, 2006
Oxford Univ. considering setting up Japanese branch school
Oxford University is considering setting up a branch school in Japan in cooperation with Japanese trading house Mitsui & Co., sources familiar with the matter said Wednesday.
The specifics of the plan, such as the timing and how the new school's capital will be financed, have not yet been decided, the sources said.
In June 2004, the British university and the trading house agreed to jointly engage in some forms of new business related to high technology in such fields as biotechnology and information technology.
The two parties have since tried to realize the project, with a wholly owned subsidiary of the university holding talks with multiple Japanese companies on relevant technological research and development, they added.
In a written statement sent to Kyodo News in London, Oxford University said, "Oxford University enjoys a cooperative and collaborative relationship with Mitsui on a number of fronts, and that relationship is expanding. However, there are no plans to develop an Oxford University campus in Japan at this time."
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060510/kyodo/d8hh1qvg2.html
The specifics of the plan, such as the timing and how the new school's capital will be financed, have not yet been decided, the sources said.
In June 2004, the British university and the trading house agreed to jointly engage in some forms of new business related to high technology in such fields as biotechnology and information technology.
The two parties have since tried to realize the project, with a wholly owned subsidiary of the university holding talks with multiple Japanese companies on relevant technological research and development, they added.
In a written statement sent to Kyodo News in London, Oxford University said, "Oxford University enjoys a cooperative and collaborative relationship with Mitsui on a number of fronts, and that relationship is expanding. However, there are no plans to develop an Oxford University campus in Japan at this time."
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/060510/kyodo/d8hh1qvg2.html
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Adult education courses to provide career skills certification
Adults taking university extension courses to improve their skills or knowledge for career changes or reemployment will be eligible for certification under a new system to be established by the government, The Yomiuri Shimbun has learned.
The certification system, which was conceived as a response to criticism the nation has experienced a widening economic gap under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is designed to give adults a chance to increase their job skills and have them officially recognized with certificates for courses such as finance or information technology.
The proposed system will be included among policies to be mapped out this month by a government council to promote a more skilled workforce, chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe. Sources say the system could be put into practice as early as next academic year.
Though many national, public and private universities offer adult education classes, there are no criteria for the courses, which range from general interest subjects to graduate school-level study. However, only some universities present their students with certificates.
(May. 9, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060509TDY02005.htm
The certification system, which was conceived as a response to criticism the nation has experienced a widening economic gap under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, is designed to give adults a chance to increase their job skills and have them officially recognized with certificates for courses such as finance or information technology.
The proposed system will be included among policies to be mapped out this month by a government council to promote a more skilled workforce, chaired by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe. Sources say the system could be put into practice as early as next academic year.
Though many national, public and private universities offer adult education classes, there are no criteria for the courses, which range from general interest subjects to graduate school-level study. However, only some universities present their students with certificates.
(May. 9, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060509TDY02005.htm
Monday, May 08, 2006
Encouraging students to speak in many voices
With the population of 18-year-olds decreasing every year, Japanese universities are facing a fight for survival. Over a quarter of them could not recruit enough students to fill their official capacity last year.
Foreign language faculties are no exception. Although learning English has had an unprecedented boom in Japan in recent years, this has not really benefited university foreign language faculties.
For one thing, other departments have been putting increasingly more emphasis on their own English teaching programs. English, in other words, is no longer the specialty of the English department.
Other departments such as German and French are also having difficulty recruiting good students. Moreover, the demand of the students in these departments--and even of their parents--for more English-language courses is so strong that these departments are on the verge of sacrificing their own courses to open extra English courses.
This is a sad situation. True, none can deny the importance of English as a communication tool in today's globalized world. To learn different languages, though, is also to learn and understand different cultures and peoples, to better appreciate the values of others and learn how humanity can better coexist.
Oddly enough, a growing number of foreigners living in Japan are non-English-speaking Asians and South Americans. Since many of them have Asian features, especially Chinese and Koreans, we tend to overlook this fact. But even our neighborhoods are becoming multicultural, a tendency that will increase with the anticipated future shortage of younger workers.
In such a society, learning English alone seems insufficient, as important as the language may be in business and academic environments.
What should the future of a faculty of foreign languages be in this situation?
I have two tentative, contradictory prescriptions: The first is to make our students specialists, and the second is to make them generalists.
The first applies to the departments of English and other languages. To survive in the current situation, English majors must have excellent language skills, and the department should offer effective and extensive language programs.
The same applies to the departments of other languages--though fortunately, these students may not need extraordinarily high-level skills because they have fewer competitors than English majors. Nonetheless, these departments should still provide their students with a minimal English proficiency.
In addition, all language departments should offer sets of courses to make their students specialists in their chosen fields. Students should be equipped with both the theoretical and practical aspects of communication needed to understand the culture and to interact with the people who use the language they are learning. The keyword here is communication, or "intercultural communication." My hypothesis is that you can cope with a multicultural situation if you have sufficiently mastered a bicultural one.
My second proposed solution--producing generalists--is based on my experience with the Department of Languages and Culture at Dokkyo.
Here, students are required to learn both English and either Spanish or Chinese; they study both languages equally. The department also offers a good Japanese language program and has successfully recruited students from overseas, especially from East Asian countries where Japanese and English are usually emphasized.
Many of the faculty here come from the former liberal arts division, which used to take care of liberal arts education for the whole university. Partly as a result, the department offers a wide variety of courses, including Japanese studies.
Despite our worries that it was too far oriented to producing generalists, it has been successful since its creation seven years ago. Many of the graduates have a very good reputation in the business and academic sectors. The department's emphasis on liberal arts education and the study of not only Spanish-speaking areas and China but Japan itself, together with the multicultural environment created by the overseas students, has made its students the kind of language majors that can send out messages about their own country and culture--true generalists, in other words.
As we are not yet sure which of these two solutions is correct, we have decided to create a new faculty of "international liberal arts" by enlarging and strengthening the present Department of Languages and Culture.
In this new faculty, students will be able to also learn English and Korean. The emphasis will be on the study of the developing Pacific Rim regions, the evaluation of Japanese culture and thought, the understanding of the significance of the multilingual and multicultural environment, and on international exchanges. The program will start next April if approved by the Ministry of Education.
Which will appeal more, the generalist or the specialist approach? Hopefully, both answers are correct.
* * *
The author is the dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Dokkyo University.(IHT/Asahi: May 8,2006)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200605080091.html
Foreign language faculties are no exception. Although learning English has had an unprecedented boom in Japan in recent years, this has not really benefited university foreign language faculties.
For one thing, other departments have been putting increasingly more emphasis on their own English teaching programs. English, in other words, is no longer the specialty of the English department.
Other departments such as German and French are also having difficulty recruiting good students. Moreover, the demand of the students in these departments--and even of their parents--for more English-language courses is so strong that these departments are on the verge of sacrificing their own courses to open extra English courses.
This is a sad situation. True, none can deny the importance of English as a communication tool in today's globalized world. To learn different languages, though, is also to learn and understand different cultures and peoples, to better appreciate the values of others and learn how humanity can better coexist.
Oddly enough, a growing number of foreigners living in Japan are non-English-speaking Asians and South Americans. Since many of them have Asian features, especially Chinese and Koreans, we tend to overlook this fact. But even our neighborhoods are becoming multicultural, a tendency that will increase with the anticipated future shortage of younger workers.
In such a society, learning English alone seems insufficient, as important as the language may be in business and academic environments.
What should the future of a faculty of foreign languages be in this situation?
I have two tentative, contradictory prescriptions: The first is to make our students specialists, and the second is to make them generalists.
The first applies to the departments of English and other languages. To survive in the current situation, English majors must have excellent language skills, and the department should offer effective and extensive language programs.
The same applies to the departments of other languages--though fortunately, these students may not need extraordinarily high-level skills because they have fewer competitors than English majors. Nonetheless, these departments should still provide their students with a minimal English proficiency.
In addition, all language departments should offer sets of courses to make their students specialists in their chosen fields. Students should be equipped with both the theoretical and practical aspects of communication needed to understand the culture and to interact with the people who use the language they are learning. The keyword here is communication, or "intercultural communication." My hypothesis is that you can cope with a multicultural situation if you have sufficiently mastered a bicultural one.
My second proposed solution--producing generalists--is based on my experience with the Department of Languages and Culture at Dokkyo.
Here, students are required to learn both English and either Spanish or Chinese; they study both languages equally. The department also offers a good Japanese language program and has successfully recruited students from overseas, especially from East Asian countries where Japanese and English are usually emphasized.
Many of the faculty here come from the former liberal arts division, which used to take care of liberal arts education for the whole university. Partly as a result, the department offers a wide variety of courses, including Japanese studies.
Despite our worries that it was too far oriented to producing generalists, it has been successful since its creation seven years ago. Many of the graduates have a very good reputation in the business and academic sectors. The department's emphasis on liberal arts education and the study of not only Spanish-speaking areas and China but Japan itself, together with the multicultural environment created by the overseas students, has made its students the kind of language majors that can send out messages about their own country and culture--true generalists, in other words.
As we are not yet sure which of these two solutions is correct, we have decided to create a new faculty of "international liberal arts" by enlarging and strengthening the present Department of Languages and Culture.
In this new faculty, students will be able to also learn English and Korean. The emphasis will be on the study of the developing Pacific Rim regions, the evaluation of Japanese culture and thought, the understanding of the significance of the multilingual and multicultural environment, and on international exchanges. The program will start next April if approved by the Ministry of Education.
Which will appeal more, the generalist or the specialist approach? Hopefully, both answers are correct.
* * *
The author is the dean of the Faculty of Foreign Languages at Dokkyo University.(IHT/Asahi: May 8,2006)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200605080091.html
Virtual experience video game turns arcades into classrooms
Konami Corp. aims to lure bookworms into game arcades.
Its bait? The summer debut of a game that tests the player's English skills.
The company's move comes on a wave of popularity of home console video games that involve mental exercises, such as Brain Age for Nintendo Co.'s DS handheld machine.
Konami expects the new game, to be jointly developed with foreign-language school operator Nova Corp., to attract new customers to game arcades.
"Game de Ryugaku!? (Virtual overseas study experience)" consists of 15 English-based games featuring Nova's rabbit-like character Nova Usagi.
Players indicate the correct answer on the machine's touch-screen with a stylus. They can touch words to complete an English idiom or make Nova Usagi's parachute land on the correct answer.
The difficulty will range from junior high school level to questions that could prove to be posers even for native speakers, Konami said.
Players will get promoted to higher grades according to the level of questions solved.
A personal card will be issued that identifies the player so that he or she can continue from the grade achieved on the game last played.
"This is a new genre that can bring in people who do not usually come to game arcades," a Konami official said.
The company is considering developing other educational games for mathematics and kanji.(IHT/Asahi: May 3,2006)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200605030105.html
Its bait? The summer debut of a game that tests the player's English skills.
The company's move comes on a wave of popularity of home console video games that involve mental exercises, such as Brain Age for Nintendo Co.'s DS handheld machine.
Konami expects the new game, to be jointly developed with foreign-language school operator Nova Corp., to attract new customers to game arcades.
"Game de Ryugaku!? (Virtual overseas study experience)" consists of 15 English-based games featuring Nova's rabbit-like character Nova Usagi.
Players indicate the correct answer on the machine's touch-screen with a stylus. They can touch words to complete an English idiom or make Nova Usagi's parachute land on the correct answer.
The difficulty will range from junior high school level to questions that could prove to be posers even for native speakers, Konami said.
Players will get promoted to higher grades according to the level of questions solved.
A personal card will be issued that identifies the player so that he or she can continue from the grade achieved on the game last played.
"This is a new genre that can bring in people who do not usually come to game arcades," a Konami official said.
The company is considering developing other educational games for mathematics and kanji.(IHT/Asahi: May 3,2006)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200605030105.html
Monday, May 01, 2006
TOEIC revisions mean big change in English study
A major revision of the Test of English for International Communications, or TOEIC, that will be implemented with testing on May 28 is sure to make people studying English work a lot harder.
Kazumi Iwase gives lessons recently at ARE, a school in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, that specializes in preparing students for TOEIC.
TOEIC, which consists of listening and reading portions to evaluate English proficiency, has a corner on the English qualification test market in Japan.
This is one of TOEIC's biggest markets, with nearly 1.5 million people here taking it in fiscal 2005 while the overall number worldwide stood at some 4.5 million in 2004, according to the Institute for International Business Communication.
It is the first revision since the English proficiency test for nonnative speakers was launched in 1979.
The changes will be instituted next year for group participants who take the exam on a corporate basis.
"The idea behind the changes is to make the test 'more authentic' . . . and meet the needs of the times and the situation regarding how English is actually being used" at work, said Kazumi Yamamoto, an IIBC spokeswoman. The IIBC is the Japanese administrator of TOEIC, which is a product of the U.S.-based English Testing Service.
"For the past 25 years, we have seen such changes as the emergence of e-mail as a major communication means," while reading and analyzing long passages in English is growing increasingly more common in the business field, she said.
The biggest changes in the new listening portion of the test is that it will use four accents -- American, British, Canadian and Australian -- and each conversation will be longer.
In the reading section, error recognition questions will be replaced by fill-in-the blanks based on long passages. Test-takers will be required to answer questions by reading two interrelated passages instead of a single passage.
The number of total questions, 200, and the duration, two hours, will remain unchanged. Scores range from 10 to 990.
Although the IIBC maintains these changes are not intended to make the exam more difficult, it is widely perceived as a step toward more dramatic revisions, prompting many to take the test before it gets harder.
The number of people who took the test in March -- the last time under the old version -- was a record 140,000, up 19.2 percent year-on-year, according to the IIBC.
ETS is also considering the addition of new writing and speaking components in the future, the IIBC said.
The media has reported that the writing and speaking components will be added in late 2006, but the IIBC said the timing has not been decided.
All Round English Inc., which operates a school in Tokyo focusing on preparing for TOEIC, believes it is inevitable that ETS will make the test more difficult.
"The future direction of (TOEIC) is to prevent test-takers who only learn techniques from getting high marks," ARE President Yoshinari Nagamoto said.
The revision will affect many workers in Japan.
Some 2,500 companies, organizations and educational institutions here use the test not only to assess English proficiency but also to determine promotions and overseas assignments.
Globalization "is inevitably increasing employees' chances of communicating in English at work," said Toyota Motor Corp. spokeswoman Yurika Motoyoshi.
The world's second-largest automaker is rapidly expanding its production bases and overseas networks, making its workers' English training a primary concern.
In 1999, Toyota made it a requirement that administrative and engineering personnel had to have a TOEIC score of at least 600 to be promoted to the equivalent of section chief.
In addition, Toyota introduced TOEIC Bridge -- the English test for beginners whose score ranges from 20 to 180 -- to evaluate the English skills of production workers.
The IIBC tailored the TOEIC Bridge score evaluation to the characteristics of manufacturing employees. For instance, those who attain scores of 96 to 115 "can give instructions on how to attach an armrest of a car."
"As we shift production overseas, an increasing number of manufacturing workers in Japan are being dispatched abroad to support overseas production," to convey not only technical skills but also Toyota's philosophy, to local employees, Motoyoshi said.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. in April raised the TOEIC score requirement to 550 from the previous 450 for almost every employee wishing to be promoted to above the section chief level, while those aspiring to get overseas assignments are required to achieve a score of 650.
"The good thing about TOEIC is that we can objectively assess the workers' ability to use English in terms of scores," said Hiroaki Nishimura of the firm's global human resources team.
"I think 730 is the ideal score level for business in general and we wanted to raise the minimum standard even if only slightly," he said, adding that the electronics giant intends to raise the mandatory level in the future.
He welcomes the revision of TOEIC because it will enable Matsushita to assess its employees' English proficiency more accurately. "Lacking substantial English skills means that you'll get less job opportunities in the workplace."
People who try to learn techniques just to get a good score regardless of their actual ability to communicate in English are going to have a much tougher time with TOEIC now.
But Masahiro Takamoto, who studies English at TOEIC prep school ARE, is optimistic about the exam's future direction.
The 32-year-old employee of Visionare Corp., a venture company engaged in DVD-related business, said his ultimate goal is not to obtain high marks but to gain English skills that will someday help him get a job overseas.
He spends five hours at the school every Saturday, attending four lessons to prepare for the test.
Takamoto, who achieved a TOEIC score of 715 in March, up about 60 points from the last time he took the test two years ago, said preparing for TOEIC helps because he can learn practical words used in business.
"In the long run, the revision of TOEIC will affect me in a good way because I'm serious about improving my English."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060501f1.html
Kazumi Iwase gives lessons recently at ARE, a school in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, that specializes in preparing students for TOEIC.
TOEIC, which consists of listening and reading portions to evaluate English proficiency, has a corner on the English qualification test market in Japan.
This is one of TOEIC's biggest markets, with nearly 1.5 million people here taking it in fiscal 2005 while the overall number worldwide stood at some 4.5 million in 2004, according to the Institute for International Business Communication.
It is the first revision since the English proficiency test for nonnative speakers was launched in 1979.
The changes will be instituted next year for group participants who take the exam on a corporate basis.
"The idea behind the changes is to make the test 'more authentic' . . . and meet the needs of the times and the situation regarding how English is actually being used" at work, said Kazumi Yamamoto, an IIBC spokeswoman. The IIBC is the Japanese administrator of TOEIC, which is a product of the U.S.-based English Testing Service.
"For the past 25 years, we have seen such changes as the emergence of e-mail as a major communication means," while reading and analyzing long passages in English is growing increasingly more common in the business field, she said.
The biggest changes in the new listening portion of the test is that it will use four accents -- American, British, Canadian and Australian -- and each conversation will be longer.
In the reading section, error recognition questions will be replaced by fill-in-the blanks based on long passages. Test-takers will be required to answer questions by reading two interrelated passages instead of a single passage.
The number of total questions, 200, and the duration, two hours, will remain unchanged. Scores range from 10 to 990.
Although the IIBC maintains these changes are not intended to make the exam more difficult, it is widely perceived as a step toward more dramatic revisions, prompting many to take the test before it gets harder.
The number of people who took the test in March -- the last time under the old version -- was a record 140,000, up 19.2 percent year-on-year, according to the IIBC.
ETS is also considering the addition of new writing and speaking components in the future, the IIBC said.
The media has reported that the writing and speaking components will be added in late 2006, but the IIBC said the timing has not been decided.
All Round English Inc., which operates a school in Tokyo focusing on preparing for TOEIC, believes it is inevitable that ETS will make the test more difficult.
"The future direction of (TOEIC) is to prevent test-takers who only learn techniques from getting high marks," ARE President Yoshinari Nagamoto said.
The revision will affect many workers in Japan.
Some 2,500 companies, organizations and educational institutions here use the test not only to assess English proficiency but also to determine promotions and overseas assignments.
Globalization "is inevitably increasing employees' chances of communicating in English at work," said Toyota Motor Corp. spokeswoman Yurika Motoyoshi.
The world's second-largest automaker is rapidly expanding its production bases and overseas networks, making its workers' English training a primary concern.
In 1999, Toyota made it a requirement that administrative and engineering personnel had to have a TOEIC score of at least 600 to be promoted to the equivalent of section chief.
In addition, Toyota introduced TOEIC Bridge -- the English test for beginners whose score ranges from 20 to 180 -- to evaluate the English skills of production workers.
The IIBC tailored the TOEIC Bridge score evaluation to the characteristics of manufacturing employees. For instance, those who attain scores of 96 to 115 "can give instructions on how to attach an armrest of a car."
"As we shift production overseas, an increasing number of manufacturing workers in Japan are being dispatched abroad to support overseas production," to convey not only technical skills but also Toyota's philosophy, to local employees, Motoyoshi said.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. in April raised the TOEIC score requirement to 550 from the previous 450 for almost every employee wishing to be promoted to above the section chief level, while those aspiring to get overseas assignments are required to achieve a score of 650.
"The good thing about TOEIC is that we can objectively assess the workers' ability to use English in terms of scores," said Hiroaki Nishimura of the firm's global human resources team.
"I think 730 is the ideal score level for business in general and we wanted to raise the minimum standard even if only slightly," he said, adding that the electronics giant intends to raise the mandatory level in the future.
He welcomes the revision of TOEIC because it will enable Matsushita to assess its employees' English proficiency more accurately. "Lacking substantial English skills means that you'll get less job opportunities in the workplace."
People who try to learn techniques just to get a good score regardless of their actual ability to communicate in English are going to have a much tougher time with TOEIC now.
But Masahiro Takamoto, who studies English at TOEIC prep school ARE, is optimistic about the exam's future direction.
The 32-year-old employee of Visionare Corp., a venture company engaged in DVD-related business, said his ultimate goal is not to obtain high marks but to gain English skills that will someday help him get a job overseas.
He spends five hours at the school every Saturday, attending four lessons to prepare for the test.
Takamoto, who achieved a TOEIC score of 715 in March, up about 60 points from the last time he took the test two years ago, said preparing for TOEIC helps because he can learn practical words used in business.
"In the long run, the revision of TOEIC will affect me in a good way because I'm serious about improving my English."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20060501f1.html
Ministry plans to reorganize grad schools
A five-year program to create a better study environment for graduate students and young researchers has been announced by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry. The program, to begin this academic year, aims to rein in autocratic professors and stimulate international competitiveness.
According to the ministry, the program is meant to end the conventional "academic unit system" structure, a hierarchical, apprenticeship-style faculty practice under which a professor bosses around younger researchers.
While the number of students continuing into post-graduate study has rapidly increased in recent years, many graduate schools have been criticized by the business sector and from abroad for poor education levels, officials said Saturday.
Enhancing of the quality of graduate schools is a prerequisite for boosting Japan's international competitiveness in business and technology, the ministry said.
Toward the end of March, the ministry eliminated the academic unit system from the prerequisites for university charters. It also worked out a five-year project called "An Outlook of Measures Necessary for the Promotion of Postgraduate Education."
Under the academic unit system, the head professor in each specialty has a dominant say over assistant professors and other research assistants in his unit regarding personnel affairs and research methods.
Criticism of the apprenticeship-like system has increased among graduate students and other young researchers who say they feel like they are treated as low-paid employees of professors.
The ministry quoted some young researchers complaining that their head professors had monopolized decisions on the content of their research and that they are made to do odd jobs for the professors.
Following the ministry's decision to abolish the system, universities from this academic year have been allowed to create new education-research systems.
Effective from next academic year, the post of assistant professor will be abolished and replaced by the new post of associate professor. Associate professors will be capable of exercising discretion in educating students and undertaking research activities, the officials said.
They said the time has come to revamp the conventional faculty system under which graduate students and other young researchers are supposed to acquire expert knowledge by being assistants to senior professors.
The business community also has criticized the system for lacking flexibility in allowing academic knowledge to be applied for industrial purposes.
In response, the ministry plans to introduce an evaluation system by a third-party organ of individual graduate courses, effective this academic year, the ministry said.
In addition, new steps will be taken to expand financial assistance programs for young researchers, it said.
The ongoing project, the 21st Century Center of Excellence program designed to provide government subsidies for universities and postgraduate courses if they are officially recognized as doing high-level research, will be replaced by a new one. Priority in recasting the Center of Excellence program either this fiscal year or next will be placed on boosting the quality and international competitiveness of postgraduate education, according to the officials.
The number of students enrolled nationwide in postgraduate courses stood at about 87,000 in 1988. The number jumped to about 254,000 in 2005, the ministry said.
(May. 1, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060501TDY01002.htm
According to the ministry, the program is meant to end the conventional "academic unit system" structure, a hierarchical, apprenticeship-style faculty practice under which a professor bosses around younger researchers.
While the number of students continuing into post-graduate study has rapidly increased in recent years, many graduate schools have been criticized by the business sector and from abroad for poor education levels, officials said Saturday.
Enhancing of the quality of graduate schools is a prerequisite for boosting Japan's international competitiveness in business and technology, the ministry said.
Toward the end of March, the ministry eliminated the academic unit system from the prerequisites for university charters. It also worked out a five-year project called "An Outlook of Measures Necessary for the Promotion of Postgraduate Education."
Under the academic unit system, the head professor in each specialty has a dominant say over assistant professors and other research assistants in his unit regarding personnel affairs and research methods.
Criticism of the apprenticeship-like system has increased among graduate students and other young researchers who say they feel like they are treated as low-paid employees of professors.
The ministry quoted some young researchers complaining that their head professors had monopolized decisions on the content of their research and that they are made to do odd jobs for the professors.
Following the ministry's decision to abolish the system, universities from this academic year have been allowed to create new education-research systems.
Effective from next academic year, the post of assistant professor will be abolished and replaced by the new post of associate professor. Associate professors will be capable of exercising discretion in educating students and undertaking research activities, the officials said.
They said the time has come to revamp the conventional faculty system under which graduate students and other young researchers are supposed to acquire expert knowledge by being assistants to senior professors.
The business community also has criticized the system for lacking flexibility in allowing academic knowledge to be applied for industrial purposes.
In response, the ministry plans to introduce an evaluation system by a third-party organ of individual graduate courses, effective this academic year, the ministry said.
In addition, new steps will be taken to expand financial assistance programs for young researchers, it said.
The ongoing project, the 21st Century Center of Excellence program designed to provide government subsidies for universities and postgraduate courses if they are officially recognized as doing high-level research, will be replaced by a new one. Priority in recasting the Center of Excellence program either this fiscal year or next will be placed on boosting the quality and international competitiveness of postgraduate education, according to the officials.
The number of students enrolled nationwide in postgraduate courses stood at about 87,000 in 1988. The number jumped to about 254,000 in 2005, the ministry said.
(May. 1, 2006)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060501TDY01002.htm
Japan firms, universities to cooperate to nurture software engineers - report
TOKYO (AFX) - Japan's business and academic communities are set to cooperate in a project to fill the shortage of software engineers and boost the global competitiveness of Japan's manufacturing and service industries, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported, citing sources close to the matter.
Among the participants are universities nationwide, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and 14 major information technology-related companies, the newspaper said.
Under the scheme, the nation's largest business lobby will encourage universities to set up graduate courses dedicated to the training of software engineers.
Corporate participants, including Hitachi, Fujitsu, NEC Corp, IBM Japan Ltd, NTT Data Corp and NS Solutions Corp, will provide engineers to serve as full-time and part-time lecturers, it said.
Toyota Motor Corp and Sony Corp will do the same in an effort to strengthen the country's ability to develop software that can be incorporated into automobiles, household appliances and other products, the report said.
http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5628655&subject=economic&action=article
Among the participants are universities nationwide, the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren) and 14 major information technology-related companies, the newspaper said.
Under the scheme, the nation's largest business lobby will encourage universities to set up graduate courses dedicated to the training of software engineers.
Corporate participants, including Hitachi, Fujitsu, NEC Corp, IBM Japan Ltd, NTT Data Corp and NS Solutions Corp, will provide engineers to serve as full-time and part-time lecturers, it said.
Toyota Motor Corp and Sony Corp will do the same in an effort to strengthen the country's ability to develop software that can be incorporated into automobiles, household appliances and other products, the report said.
http://www.iii.co.uk/news/?type=afxnews&articleid=5628655&subject=economic&action=article
Universities relocate in chase for students
As competition among universities and colleges for student enrollment intensifies, many schools are shifting away from campuses in suburban areas to convenient locations near the heart of big cities.
In one such move, a number of universities, mostly private, are vying to purchase the former site of the state-run National Police Academy in Nakano Ward, Tokyo, since its relocation to Fuchu, western Tokyo.
The 13-hectare former site of the academy is believed to be the final plot of land remaining in the 23-ward area of the capital for large-scale redevelopment.
Nakano Ward decided in 2005 to invite a university to occupy 4.4 hectares of the central government-owned land. Like many businesses seeking large plots of land in central Tokyo for development, an increasing number of universities and colleges are keen to buy tracts of state-owned land in Tokyo that the government plans to sell.
Wards are often keen to let universities locate in the hope of upgrading the image of their community, with a university as the centerpiece. Unlike building projects such as factories and condominiums, there are rarely objections by local residents against university construction plans.
A Nakano Ward official explained that the ward has few universities, so it wants to invite a university to the former site of the police academy to help reinvigorate the area. If a university is located there, it will boost the number of young people in the area, thanks to such projects as joint industry-academy study programs and a university lecture series open to the public.
===
Turning back from the suburbs
In the past, universities would have new, extensive campuses built in the suburbs to replace their modest campuses in central Tokyo.
Spearheading this trend was the move of the liberal arts school of Chuo University in 1978 from Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda Ward, to the Tama region on the western outskirts of Tokyo.
There are now more than 60 universities and college campuses in the Tama area.
For students, however, schools located close to the heart of Tokyo are attractive for finding part-time jobs and enjoying their leisure time.
In the eyes of university authorities, central locations are advantageous for attracting company employees wishing to study postgraduate courses after work.
The shift in the past of campuses moving away from central Tokyo to the suburbs has thus been reversed by a "U-turn phenomenon" to the heart of the metropolis. It seems the tendency for students to favor universities located in central Tokyo may be irreversible.
Two universities with old campuses in the vicinity of Chuo University's Kanda-Surugadai--Nihon University and Meiji University--are both having their buildings remodeled into high-rise structures, while purchasing adjacent plots of land for expansion.
University administrators say those schools with campuses in central Tokyo are likely to become more and more popular in an age of declining birthrates.
Chuo University has also adopted a U-turn policy, establishing a postgraduate school in Ichigaya, Shinjuku Ward, in 2000.
Shibaura Institute of Technology opened its new campus in Toyosu, Koto Ward, this spring.
The new campus is more than three times the size of the old campus in Shibaura, Minato Ward, in terms of area as well as floor space. Of its three vacant buildings in Shibaura, the university has sold two, while a new building is planned to be built on the remaining plot.
The university had earlier planned to accept an invitation from the city government of Okaya, Nagano Prefecture, to relocate there, but declined the offer due to difficulties in attracting enough students to a rural location.
Because of its convenient location close to JR Tamachi Station, there have been inquiries from several universities to let them use the planned building as a "satellite" arm, Shibaura Institute of Technology officials said.
Tosei Gakuen, the institute running Showa Academia Musicae, plans to close its campus in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, next April, to move to Kawasaki, following the example of Aoyama Gakuin University, which moved from the same location in 2003, chiefly because of insufficient transportation.
After its move from Atsugi to Kawasaki, the new campus of Showa Academia Musicae can now be reached from Shinjuku in 21 minutes by train, compared with the previous train journey of 46 minutes followed by a 20-minute bus ride.
A school spokesperson said, "Students and staff can now return to the new campus easily after enjoying a concert or other cultural performance in central Tokyo."
Heian Jogakuin (St. Agnes) University, a women's school in the Kansai area, closed its campus in Moriyama, near Lake Biwa, Shiga Prefecture, in 2005, only five years after opening, due to low student numbers. The campus is now located in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, considerably more convenient than Moriyama.
However, the move was not popular with everyone and a group of students filed a complaint against school authorities over the abolition of the Moriyama campus, arguing that they have been deprived of the right to study at Moriyama.
Against this background of restructuring universities, it seems there may be more cases in which students will be "forced to move" because of the relocation of campuses.
===
Schools moving into metropolis
In addition to those making "U-turns," schools moving into central Tokyo have been increasing.
Teikyo Heisei University, currently located in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, purchased a former primary school site in Toshima Ward in 2004 for 6.5 billion yen, and plans to build a 10-story school building.
Associate Professor Masako Igarashi, played a major role in finding out the site as she obtained information about the sale of the site through frequent visits to the ward office.
"We wanted to secure a plot of land within 10 minutes' walk from a JR Yamanote Line station," Igarashi said.
Prospective students want to attend a school which is convenient to their homes or located in the heart of Tokyo, she said. "Those schools situated elsewhere have trouble securing enough students," she added.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060429TDY04002.htm
In one such move, a number of universities, mostly private, are vying to purchase the former site of the state-run National Police Academy in Nakano Ward, Tokyo, since its relocation to Fuchu, western Tokyo.
The 13-hectare former site of the academy is believed to be the final plot of land remaining in the 23-ward area of the capital for large-scale redevelopment.
Nakano Ward decided in 2005 to invite a university to occupy 4.4 hectares of the central government-owned land. Like many businesses seeking large plots of land in central Tokyo for development, an increasing number of universities and colleges are keen to buy tracts of state-owned land in Tokyo that the government plans to sell.
Wards are often keen to let universities locate in the hope of upgrading the image of their community, with a university as the centerpiece. Unlike building projects such as factories and condominiums, there are rarely objections by local residents against university construction plans.
A Nakano Ward official explained that the ward has few universities, so it wants to invite a university to the former site of the police academy to help reinvigorate the area. If a university is located there, it will boost the number of young people in the area, thanks to such projects as joint industry-academy study programs and a university lecture series open to the public.
===
Turning back from the suburbs
In the past, universities would have new, extensive campuses built in the suburbs to replace their modest campuses in central Tokyo.
Spearheading this trend was the move of the liberal arts school of Chuo University in 1978 from Kanda-Surugadai, Chiyoda Ward, to the Tama region on the western outskirts of Tokyo.
There are now more than 60 universities and college campuses in the Tama area.
For students, however, schools located close to the heart of Tokyo are attractive for finding part-time jobs and enjoying their leisure time.
In the eyes of university authorities, central locations are advantageous for attracting company employees wishing to study postgraduate courses after work.
The shift in the past of campuses moving away from central Tokyo to the suburbs has thus been reversed by a "U-turn phenomenon" to the heart of the metropolis. It seems the tendency for students to favor universities located in central Tokyo may be irreversible.
Two universities with old campuses in the vicinity of Chuo University's Kanda-Surugadai--Nihon University and Meiji University--are both having their buildings remodeled into high-rise structures, while purchasing adjacent plots of land for expansion.
University administrators say those schools with campuses in central Tokyo are likely to become more and more popular in an age of declining birthrates.
Chuo University has also adopted a U-turn policy, establishing a postgraduate school in Ichigaya, Shinjuku Ward, in 2000.
Shibaura Institute of Technology opened its new campus in Toyosu, Koto Ward, this spring.
The new campus is more than three times the size of the old campus in Shibaura, Minato Ward, in terms of area as well as floor space. Of its three vacant buildings in Shibaura, the university has sold two, while a new building is planned to be built on the remaining plot.
The university had earlier planned to accept an invitation from the city government of Okaya, Nagano Prefecture, to relocate there, but declined the offer due to difficulties in attracting enough students to a rural location.
Because of its convenient location close to JR Tamachi Station, there have been inquiries from several universities to let them use the planned building as a "satellite" arm, Shibaura Institute of Technology officials said.
Tosei Gakuen, the institute running Showa Academia Musicae, plans to close its campus in Atsugi, Kanagawa Prefecture, next April, to move to Kawasaki, following the example of Aoyama Gakuin University, which moved from the same location in 2003, chiefly because of insufficient transportation.
After its move from Atsugi to Kawasaki, the new campus of Showa Academia Musicae can now be reached from Shinjuku in 21 minutes by train, compared with the previous train journey of 46 minutes followed by a 20-minute bus ride.
A school spokesperson said, "Students and staff can now return to the new campus easily after enjoying a concert or other cultural performance in central Tokyo."
Heian Jogakuin (St. Agnes) University, a women's school in the Kansai area, closed its campus in Moriyama, near Lake Biwa, Shiga Prefecture, in 2005, only five years after opening, due to low student numbers. The campus is now located in Takatsuki, Osaka Prefecture, considerably more convenient than Moriyama.
However, the move was not popular with everyone and a group of students filed a complaint against school authorities over the abolition of the Moriyama campus, arguing that they have been deprived of the right to study at Moriyama.
Against this background of restructuring universities, it seems there may be more cases in which students will be "forced to move" because of the relocation of campuses.
===
Schools moving into metropolis
In addition to those making "U-turns," schools moving into central Tokyo have been increasing.
Teikyo Heisei University, currently located in Ichihara, Chiba Prefecture, purchased a former primary school site in Toshima Ward in 2004 for 6.5 billion yen, and plans to build a 10-story school building.
Associate Professor Masako Igarashi, played a major role in finding out the site as she obtained information about the sale of the site through frequent visits to the ward office.
"We wanted to secure a plot of land within 10 minutes' walk from a JR Yamanote Line station," Igarashi said.
Prospective students want to attend a school which is convenient to their homes or located in the heart of Tokyo, she said. "Those schools situated elsewhere have trouble securing enough students," she added.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20060429TDY04002.htm
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