Japan to boost language schools abroad: official

Japan plans a more than 10-fold increase in the number of Japanese-language schools it runs abroad, hoping to tap into a growing interest in its pop culture, an official said Friday.

The move is part of Japan's efforts to promote its "soft power" as the nation seeks a greater global role and faces intensifying competition from emerging economies in its core export industries.

A panel of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party said that the Japanese government directly operated only 10 language schools overseas, much lower than the number run by several other major countries.

Japan "will gradually increase the number of Japanese-language schools abroad to more than 100," said Nobuyuki Watanabe, a foreign ministry official.

"Ten government-backed schools is too small in number compared with the 950 French schools, 126 British-backed schools and 188 Chinese schools abroad," he said.

He said Japan would set up the new schools, partly through tie-ups with local universities, over the three years starting from the next fiscal year that begins in April.

Some 2.98 million people overseas were studying Japanese last year, most of them going to universities and privately managed schools, according to a survey by the quasi-governmental Japan Foundation.

Previously, most foreigners studying Japanese were motivated by an interest in doing business in the world's second largest economy.

"But recent trend is that people start learning Japanese because they are interested in Japanese pop culture such as manga and animation," Watanabe said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071221/lf_afp/lifestylejapandiplomacyschoollanguage_071221051708

Japanese, French among top second foreign languages for high school students

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- The number of local senior high school students to take up second foreign language courses as well as mandatory English classes increased 10 percent to nearly 30,000, this year.

A total of 26,289 students at 159 senior high schools vocational schools took up elective second foreign language courses last year.

The number rose to 29,890 students at 184 schools this year, according to the Ministry of Education (MOE).

MOE officials said Japanese remained the most popular second foreign language, drawing the vast majority of 24,233 students in 682 classes. The student number accounted for 81 percent of the total.

French came in second with 3,675 students in 121 classes, followed by German and Spanish that shared the third place with more than 800 students each.

The officials attributed the popularity of Japanese to the factors of history and environment.
There are a lot of people in Taiwan that can speak Japanese after the 50 years of Japanese colonial rule that ended in 1945.

This period helped to create a large reservoir of talents who can teach the language.

Japan is still the biggest source of foreign tourists visiting the island.

Due to the nation's geographical proximity, Japan is also one of the top trading partners with Taiwan and the second most popular overseas destination for Taiwan's outbound travelers after China.

To meet the growing market demand, more senior high schools -- especially vocational schools -- have now begun to offer Japanese language courses at the Department of Tourism and Culinary Skills.

Students are more interested in taking up the course so that they can find jobs more easily after graduation.

The massive amount of imports of Japanese products, especially vehicles, electrical appliances, video games and movies have all helped to generate a greater interest of Taiwanese in learning more about their neighboring nation.

The similarity between the written Chinese and Japanese words that evolved from Chinese characters make more youngsters think that it is much easier to pick Japanese as the second foreign language. Students at other schools selected other language courses, including Latin at the Taipei Municipal Jianguo High School and Russian at the Chengyuan Senior High School in Taipei City.

Teachers said some students were encouraged by their parents to take up the Russian language, in view of the opening up of Russia and Eastern European nations that will offer new business opportunities.

The MOE officials said that increasing globalization and more convenient transport services have also promoted the exchange of students of different nations.

A large delegation of 300 teachers and students from a school in Osaka, Japan, recently visited their counterparts at the Taipei Municipal Zhongshan Girls School.

Students from Malherbe School of Caen City in France also came to Taiwan to meet friends at the Taichung First Senior High School in central Taichung City.

Such were part of the exchange programs among the schools.

The visits of Taiwan's students to schools abroad and the return visits by foreign students helped to arouse new interest in learning the foreign languages, the officials explained.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/2007/12/20/135593/Japanese-French.htm

Kwansei Gakuin, Seiwa universities plan merger

Kwansei Gakuin University and Seiwa University, both in Nishinomiya, Hyogo Prefecture, signed a contract Wednesday to merge in April 2009.

The two universities will apply for the merger in May with the Education, Science and Technology Ministry.

The universities plan to set up a school of education and promote their educational continuity from kindergarten to university as a distinctive characteristic.

The presidents of both universities hope to contribute to society by creating a comprehensive school.

According to the merger contract, the universities plan to have two departments in the new school: a kindergarten and primary school education department that will accept 280 students and an education department for 70 students.
(Dec. 20, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071220TDY02201.htm

Japanese ambassador opens school in Taiz

TAIZ, Dec. 17 (Saba)- Japanese ambassador to Sana'a Masakazu Toshikage, along with officials in Taiz governorate, opened on Monday a new building of al-Sabah School in Maqbanh district at a cost of $ 95,000 funded by Japan.

Director of Education Office in the governorate Mahdi Ali stated to Saba that the project comes in the plan of the Japanese program to develop girls education in six districts across the governorate.

http://www.sabanews.net/en/news143594.htm

Panel eyes 19 graduate schools for teacher-training

A panel to discuss the establishment of universities and school corporations recommended Tuesday that Education, Science and Technology Minister Kisaburo Tokai accept 19 universities' requests to establish teacher-training graduate schools in April next year.

The panel's recommendation is considered to be certain to be accepted.

Twenty-one institutions initially requested permission to establish a graduate school, but two of them withdrew their requests due to "changes in the plan."

Although 19 graduate schools are to be launched, the panel urged all of them to improve their curriculums and operational plans.

Against the backdrop of eroding public trust in teachers due to an increasing number who lack appropriate skills, the teacher-training graduate schools are being introduced with great expectations, in the hopes of developing competent teachers for primary, middle and high schools. However, the start may not be so promising.

The graduate schools will provide two-year curriculums, under which students are to master practical areas of expertise, such as teaching methods and school management.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071128TDY02301.htm

Student interns in '06 top 50,000

The number of university students who took part in internship programs as part of their curriculum totaled 50,430 in the 2006 academic year, topping 50,000 for the first time since the education ministry began keeping records 10 years ago.

The education ministry said Tuesday that 482 universities implemented the on-the-job training program in the year that ended last March, up 35 from the previous year, and about 8,000 more students participated in the program compared with the year before.

The 482 universities account for roughly 66 percent of all universities in Japan.

"The results underline the recent increase in interest among universities in career training," said a ministry official, who added that the uptrend is expected to continue.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071121b4.html

3 mil. students taking Japanese classes overseas

Nearly 3 million people were studying the Japanese language in 133 countries and territories worldwide as of 2006, up more than 25 percent from three years earlier, according to a survey conducted by the Japan Foundation.

The organization, one of whose main duties is to promote Japanese-language education overseas, last week released the data from its latest survey, conducted between November last year and March this year. It has been conducting surveys of this kind since 1979--initially every five years but now every three years beginning from the latest one.

For the survey, the Japan Foundation sent questionnaire sheets to about 27,000 educational institutions worldwide, of which 75 percent responded. It found that there were 2,979,820 students of the Japanese language overseas last year, about 23 times larger than the student number in 1979.

The government has been aiming at increasing the number of students of the Japanese language to 3 million by 2010. The Japan Foundation's latest survey shows that the goal has almost been achieved.

By nation and territory, South Korea topped the list with about 910,000 students, followed by China and Australia with about 680,000 and 370,000, respectively. The number of students in these three countries accounted for about two-thirds of the total figure.

Compared to the 2003 survey, 95 countries and territories saw increases in the number of students of Japanese.

On the other hand, 31 countries and territories showed the opposite trend--with Australia and the United States among them. The United States, the sixth highest country in terms of the number of students, had a 15.9 percent decrease.

The organization guesses that behind such decreases, there is an increasing popularity for learning other languages such as Chinese and Spanish.

Of the 3 million, nearly 60 percent were students at the primary and secondary school level, while about 25 percent were studying at higher educational institutions. About 490,000 were taught at other institutions outside the formal education system, such as language schools in the private sectors. This was an increase of nearly 70 percent from the 2003 survey.

"This is a new phenomenon that is occurring," said Katsumi Kakazu, a Japan Foundation official who led the survey.

Nowadays, there is a greater variety of available methods for learning languages other than attending traditional classroom lessons, such as using the Internet, but the survey could not cover such individuals.

"[Sending the questionnaire sheets to relevant organizations] was a primitive but steady approach. The survey shows that there were 'at least' 3 million people studying Japanese worldwide," he said. "We'd like to find a way to cover students learning by various other methods in the future."
(Nov. 8, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20071108TDY14001.htm

Plans for Japanese university

KUALA LUMPUR: Japan pla-ns to set up a Malaysia-Japan International University of Technology here to enable Malaysians to further their studies in technological fields.

Japanese ambassador to Malaysia Masahiko Horie said he planned to promote efforts to establish the university which was expected to offer courses such as electrical engineering, industrial management and machinery.

Horie, 61, arrived in Malaysia last month to take up his post as ambassador.In expressing his delight at being posted to Malaysia, Horie said other fields of collaboration between Japan and Malaysia included promoting security, expanding the economic relationship and environment conservation.He said the relationship of both countries was especially meaningful this year as it was also the 50th anniversary of the Japan-Malaysia relationship and the 25th year of the Look East Policy.

http://www.nst.com.my/Thursday/National/20071101075836/Article/index_html

University campus proves land of opportunity

OSAKA--Many foreign students at universities in Japan have worked hard to come here, but it has been a particularly tough road for a Myanmar man at Kwansei Gakuin University, who fled his home country 16 years ago.

In April, Myo Myint Swe became one of the first two refugees admitted to the university through its agreement with the Office of U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Japan, aimed at providing college education for refugees. He attends the university's school of policy studies at its Sanda campus in Sanda, Hyogo Prefecture.

"I'd wanted to go to university since I left Burma [Myanmar], but it was just impossible," Myo said. "When UNHCR called to tell me I'd been picked as a recommended candidate to the university, I cried tears of joy."

Myo, 38, was involved in the pro-democracy movement as a university student in his home country. "We used to be rich, but we had become one of the poorest countries in the world," he said. "Senior military officials were the only ones living in affluence, and for all others, it was difficult to make a decent living. [Myanmar] is an agricultural country, but people didn't have enough rice to eat."

He added the student movement became so big because even those who had a college education could not find jobs.

However, after the military suppressed the pro-democracy uprising in 1988 and formed the government, he began to feel it was too dangerous for him to stay in the country. "I left [Myanmar], promising myself I'd come back when I could do something to improve the country," Myo said.

As for the recent military crackdown against peaceful demonstrators in Myanmar, he simply said, "I'm worried about the people."

For Myo, Kwansei Gakuin University was a fresh start after years of difficulty in Japan.
He has refugee status under the 1951 U.N. Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, but only received it two years ago.

He first came to Japan with a temporary visa, which he eventually overstayed while working at a Japanese restaurant and later at an IT-related firm in Tokyo. Although he had left Myanmar in fear of political persecution and should have been protected as a refugee, he was concerned that overstaying the visa would cause problems, he said.

Unfortunately, his worries became a reality.

As Myo continued to voice his opinion on Myanmar, he felt the need for protection even in Japan. He applied for refugee status in 2004, but shortly after was arrested on suspicion of overstaying his visa. He was detained by the police and the immigration authorities for 251 days, he said.

Two weeks after a provisional release from an immigration facility, Myo was given refugee status by the justice minister.

The first thing he did after earning the status was look into the possibility of going to university.

However, Myo would have to pass examinations and pay tuition like Japanese students, so he decided to get a job and take a college correspondence course. While working for another IT-related firm, he learned about the new program launched by the UNHCR and Kwansei Gakuin University.

For the program, the UNHCR office in Japan screens applicants about their refugee backgrounds and fluency in Japanese, and the university interviews the recommended candidates.

Married by this time, Myo faced a difficult choice, as going to the university meant losing his job and moving from Tokyo. But his wife was very supportive, he said, telling him that a college education would open a whole new world to him in the long run.

Now studying at the university, Myo says he couldn't be happier.

"I was worried I wouldn't be able to keep up with the classes, and I do need to work on my writing [Japanese]. But it's so much fun to learn about politics, economics and human rights," he said. "I also feel Japanese students are very fortunate, living in peace and studying whatever they like. That's such a privilege."

Another student admitted through the program is a 23-year-old Vietnamese man, whose parents are Indochinese refugees. He said through the university's public relations office that he felt the urge to study more at a trading firm where he worked after high school because he realized he had a lot to learn if he wanted to improve his business performance.

The man, who has requested to remain anonymous, also said he hoped to establish a trading firm in Vietnam that would do business with Japan.

The university exempts the two students from tuition and provides a monthly stipend of 80,000 yen each. They also have the choice of living in the university dormitory free of charge.

The stipend comes from a fund, which reached 8.6 million yen as of the end of March through donations from several Osaka-based firms and university professors and employees. The university plans to continue accepting a maximum of two refugees a year.

"We hope to nurture people who can contribute to the good of the world," said Kohei Asano, the university's vice president. "We'd like to give opportunities to refugees, who can't get an education because of financial difficulties or lack of educational records from their home countries. But in addition, we hope sitting in a classroom with refugee students will lead other students to think about problems in the world and what they can do about them."

According to the UNHCR, the program has drawn interest from other universities, including Aoyama Gakuin University, which concluded a similar agreement at the end of July to start a program next April.

"Many refugees manage to learn Japanese although they have a hard time here," Yuki Moriya, public information officer at the UNHCR office in Japan, said. "We'd like to see more universities follow Kwansei Gakuin University's path. If refugees who study here someday go back to their countries, they would definitely be a great bridge between their countries and Japan."

Japan is said to lag behind in refugee-related policies. The number of cases in which applicants were given refugee status under the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law is 410 out of 4,882 applications since 1982, when the system was put into effect, until the end of 2006, according to government statistics.

Although Myo held a grudge against the Japanese government after being arrested, he is now grateful for the opportunity to study in Japan.

"In the future, I want to work for an international organization and try to eliminate problems that create refugees in the first place, like poverty and political instability," he said.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071101TDY16001.htm

Close to 3 million taking Japanese lessons overseas

Some 2.98 million people were studying Japanese in 133 countries and regions in 2006, up 26.4 percent from 2003 and almost attaining the government's target of raising the number to 3 million by 2010, the Japan Foundation said Wednesday.

The number of institutions teaching the language increased 11.6 percent to 13,639, with six countries — Montenegro, Oman, Qatar, Uganda, Gabon and Central African Republic — newly confirmed to have offered Japanese courses. The number of Japanese-language teachers grew 33.8 percent to 44,321.

Of the 2,979,820 people around the world learning the language, the largest number — 910,957, or 30.6 percent of the total — were in South Korea. China had 684,366, outpacing Australia to move into second place from third since a previous survey three years ago, the foundation said.

Students of the language decreased 4.1 percent in Australia to 366,165, falling to third place, while in the U.S. the number fell 15.9 percent to 117,969.

The most recent survey was conducted between October 2006 and last March by distributing questionnaires to 27,644 educational institutions around the world.

Of 41,530 teachers, excluding those in Taiwan, 69.5 percent were people whose mother tongue is not Japanese.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071101f5.html

Univ of Tokyo, Yale set up joint program on Japanese studies

NEW YORK — The University of Tokyo and Yale University announced Wednesday that they are launching a joint program to promote Japanese studies in the United States.

The initiative, titled the "Todai-Yale Initiative for Japanese Studies and Related Humanities and Social Sciences" will bring researchers from Japan to the Yale campus, where they will "both further their own research and contribute to the field of Japanese studies on campus," the universities said in a statement. Todai is a Japanese acronym for the University of Tokyo.

http://www.japantoday.com/jp/news/420907

Universities shore up Asian legal footing

Japanese universities are stepping up their cooperation with universities in other Asian nations in studying legal systems in the region and helping produce legal experts in these countries.

The moves are aimed at helping Japan's Asian neighbors improve their legal systems to complement their efforts to create market economies and expedite the democratic process.

The Japanese universities also hope to better advocate themselves as conduits for academic and personnel exchanges, given the growing importance of this nation's ties with these new economic powers.

On Oct. 19, Nagoya University held its annual Tokyo Forum at the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo, showcasing the university's support for improving the legal systems in Asian nations.

Students learning Japanese at the law department of the National University of Mongolia joined the forum by video-phone. They gave a simple greeting in Japanese.

The students belong to the Japanese legal education research center, which was set up by Nagoya University's Center for Asian Legal Exchange with a subsidy from the Japanese government. Similar centers were recently set up in Vietnam, Uzbekistan and Mongolia with the objective of nurturing experts of Japanese laws--in Japanese.

Since 1998, Nagoya University has accepted students from Asian countries to contribute to the development of legal professionals. However, after some students told the university they could not learn the ins and outs of Japan's legal system if they studied Japanese laws in English, the university decided two years ago to get the ball rolling on the first research center.

At the Tokyo forum, former Vietnamese Justice Minister Nguyen Dinh Loc heaped praise on Nagoya University's project. "The center will help nurture people who are knowledgeable not only about Japanese law, but also Japanese society."

The university hopes the students at the centers will go on to serve pivotal roles in administrative and legal organs in their countries.

"As ties with Asian countries become ever more important, the university can distinguish itself from other universities by serving as a go-between with aspiring legal professionals in Asia," said Masaki Nakamura of the university's Center for Asian Legal Exchange.

Hitotsubashi University's Graduate School of Law has dipped its toes in the water by starting cooperation with Renmin University of China and Busan National University in Busan, South Korea, from this academic year. The tie-up aims to foster study of legal systems in the three countries as well as devising research education program for graduate school students and young researchers.

Seigo Mori, dean of Hitotsubashi University's Graduate School of Law, said, "If possible, we hope this leads to the formulation of a common legal system and interpretation in East Asia."

Although the East Asian economic community is still at the drawing-board stage, Hokkaido University has launched a study with experts from China, South Korea and Taiwan to propose a set of common rules for a common market.
(Oct. 30, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071030TDY04301.htm

Waseda University to accept 8,000 foreign students in 5 years

Waseda University, one of Japan’s best-known private universities, is going cosmopolitan.
President Katsuhiko Shirai said the university plans to increase the number of foreign students to 8,000 in five years, up from the current 2,400.

The university plans to double the percentage of foreign teachers to 20 percent and increase the number of classes conducted in English. The university plans to increase the capacity of dormitories to 5,000 students, from the current 1,000, which include Japanese.

Waseda, which marks its 125th anniversary on Sunday, already has a relatively multicultural campus among Japanese universities.

As of May 1, 2006, 2,190 foreign students were studying at Waseda, second only to 2,197 at the University of Tokyo, according to the Japan Student Services Organization.
(IHT/Asahi: October 18,2007)
http://mengho.wordpress.com/2007/10/18/waseda-university-to-accept-8000-foreign-students-in-5-years/

Egypt, Japan make 2008 'year of science cooperation'

Egypt and Japan have designated 2008 as a year of science and technology cooperation.
Hany Helal, Egypt's minister of higher education and scientific research, announced the plan at the fourth annual meeting of the Science and Technology in Society Forum in Kyoto, Japan, last week (7–9 October).

The Japan–Egypt Year of Science and Technology 2008 will form part of Egypt's decade of science and technology (see Egypt designates a 'decade of science'), and is a bilateral initiative from the Japanese and Egyptian ministries of higher education and scientific research.

The initiative will establish cooperative networks between Egyptian and Japanese scientists and their educational and technological institutions, including Japan's Society for Promotion of Science and the Egyptian Academy of Scientific Research and Technology.

The two countries will organise science conferences and workshops, and exchange staff on joint research projects. Possible topics include preventing and monitoring industrial pollution, and renewable energy technology.

As part of the initiative, Japanese clean energy know-how will help construct a wind farm and a solar energy facility south of Cairo.

A joint programme will train Egyptians in enhanced industrial productivity, with Japanese experts educating Egyptian industrialists about technological upgrades.

The two countries will also set up a Japanese science and technology university in Alexandria.

The Egypt–Japan University will foster technological and scientific innovation in the African and Arab region by offering undergraduate and postgraduate science and technology degrees, including information and communications technologies, new materials courses and renewable energy technology.

Magdi Tawfik Abdelhamid, a researcher at Cairo's National Research Centre who obtained his PhD from the Japan-based Gifu University, told SciDev.Net that cooperation between the two countries "is part of Japan's efforts to strengthen dialogue with African countries before the 2008 Tokyo International Conference on African Development.""Science cooperation will ensure Africa benefits from agricultural and rural development and new technologies, especially information, communications and energy technologies, as well as enhancing the quality of science and mathematics education," he said.
http://www.scidev.net/gateways/index.cfm?fuseaction=readitem&rgwid=2&item=News&itemid=3983&language=1

Johnson & Johnson Launches Global Diabetes Institute to Provide State-of-The- Art Education, Training to Health Professionals

Institutes to Operate in Countries Around the World; First Centers to Open in Japan, U.S., France and ChinaKenneth P. Moritsugu, M.D., Former Acting Surgeon General, Appointed to Lead Global Effort

October 16, 2007: 02:12 PM EST

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J., Oct. 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Johnson & Johnson today announced the establishment of the Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute (JJDI) to transform diabetes care by providing comprehensive training on the latest practice standards, new diabetes tools and technologies and reimbursement solutions to physicians, nurses, physician assistants and diabetes educators around the globe.

Former Acting U.S. Surgeon General and public health expert, Kenneth P. Moritsugu, M.D., M.P.H., will serve as the Institute's chairman.

The Institute is part of a new effort to address the growing epidemic of diabetes, which now affects more than 180 million people worldwide and is predicted to double to 360 million people by 2030. Toward this end, Johnson & Johnson affiliates will invest the necessary resources to open and operate new state-of-the-art instructional facilities worldwide, starting with Japan in 2007 and the U.S., China and France by mid-2008.

"In sheer numbers and the costs in human suffering and money spent on health care, diabetes has reached crisis proportions around the globe," said Dr. Moritsugu, who has type I diabetes and is an advocate for improved diabetes care. "At a time when the annual direct health care costs for diabetes worldwide are estimated to be at least $232 billion, new strategies are needed to raise the level of care for people with diabetes, including stepped-up education and hands-on training of health professionals working at the local level."

Don Casey, Johnson & Johnson company group chairman, said the Institute is a response from the Company to this challenge. "Through this Institute, Johnson & Johnson is determined to arm those on the front lines in delivering diabetes care with the latest information and practical skills so they can help their patients live healthier, longer lives," Casey noted.

Developed in consultation with leaders of international diabetes organizations and public health institutions including the American Association of Diabetes Educators, the Association de Langue Francaise pour L'Etude du Diabete et des Maladies Metaboliques, the Japan Diabetes Society, the Japan Diabetes Education and Care Association, and leading endocrinologists and authorities from China, the new Johnson & Johnson Diabetes Institute will provide training each year for thousands of physicians, nurses, and other health providers worldwide.

In each country, the curriculum will be customized to reflect the needs of patients and providers and entails several days of country-specific skills training and education in diabetes care from a faculty of nationally recognized diabetes experts.

In general, courses will emphasize innovative practice models and ways to use existing diabetes tools and technologies in real time to solve patient problems. While the curriculum will vary by country, course examples include guidelines and standards of care, in-person product training, insulin pump therapy, communicating with patients and families, new tools and technologies, blood glucose pattern management and software solutions and reimbursement for diabetes care.

"With diabetes reaching epidemic proportions in the United States and in the rest of the world, there is a critical need for diabetes educators and other health care professionals to provide education and care to people with and at risk for diabetes. However, the level of knowledge required to maintain job skills at peak intensity is growing and becoming progressively more complex.

Changes in health care delivery require diabetes educators to acquire a host of new skills and become familiar with latest diabetes tools and technologies," said Lana Vukovljak, MA, MS, CEO of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE).

"The American Association of Diabetes Educators supports J & J's Diabetes Institute initiative as it will provide diabetes educators and other health care professionals with the opportunity to stay current and be better prepared to help fight the epidemic."

Dr. Moritsugu joined the Johnson & Johnson Family of Companies on October 1 and will serve as Chairman of the Institute, with responsibility for overseeing the Institute and developing other innovative programs and strategies that will help Johnson & Johnson and the health care community better address the delivery of diabetes care around the world. Born in Hawaii, Dr. Moritsugu achieved Admiralty status within the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, was the Federal representative to numerous national health care agencies and consulted with several international organizations and governments.

Before serving as Acting Surgeon General in 2006, Dr. Moritsugu was the Deputy Surgeon General and the principal assistant and advisor to the U.S. Surgeon General. Having completed residencies in internal medicine and in preventive medicine, Dr. Moritsugu is also Board Certified in preventive medicine and holds Fellowships in the American College of Preventive Medicine, the Royal Society of Health, and the Royal Society of Medicine.

About Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is the world's most comprehensive and broadly based manufacturer of health care products, as well as a provider of related services, for the consumer, pharmaceutical, and medical devices and diagnostics markets. The more than 250 Johnson & Johnson operating companies employ approximately 120,000 men and women in 57 countries and sell products throughout the world.

http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/prnewswire/NYTU12616102007-1.htm

Hiroshima Univ. to support cash-strapped high achievers

Hiroshima University announced Tuesday it would start a scholarship for students who have good academic records but are likely to forego a college education for financial reasons.

Students who are awarded the scholarship will be exempt from admission fees and tuition and receive 100,000 yen per month.

Due to widening economic disparities, whether a child can receive a college education largely depends on the parents' economic situation. However, such complete support for financially challenged students is unusual for a national university, according to the Education, Science and Technology Ministry.

According to the university, students who scored 90 percent or more at the national center test for university admissions are eligible to apply for the scholarship. Other conditions include the parents' income level and the size of the family.

Student from families of three who attend the university while living away from home are eligible to apply for the scholarship if the family's annual income is 2.65 million yen or less.

Among those who passed the university's entrance examination for this academic year, 44 students scored 90 percent or more in the national center test, the university said.

The university's admission fee is 282,000 yen, and tuition is 535,800 yen per year.

An official at the university's student support center said, "Don't give up on your college education because of financial reasons."

For more information, call the support center at (082) 424-6163.
(Oct. 17, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20071017TDY02202.htm

HAMAMATSU, Shizuoka Prefecture: Foreign students get a helping hand

A college research center has developed a teaching program specifically designed to help Brazilian children living in Japan. The material can be easily downloaded from the Internet free of charge.

The Enshuhama Elementary School in Hamamatsu, where nearly a quarter of the students have foreign citizenship, is already trying the kanji and math teaching programs that were developed by the Center for Multilingual Multicultural Education and Research at the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies, based in Fuchu, Tokyo.

The material is used in after-school lessons offered at the elementary school. The tool can be downloaded from a computer and adapted to suit the language level of each student.

"There are many teachers who have a hard time trying to teach foreign students," Seiko Shaku, principal at Enshuhama Elementary said. "Sometimes the homeroom teacher is saddled with too much responsibility. I think the teaching material will come as a boon for the teachers."

Enshuhama Elementary has 417 students, of whom 96 are foreign nationals.

During regular school hours, the foreign children are "taken out" of their regular classes and receive extra training as a group to strengthen their Japanese.

In addition to these lessons, the school hosts optional after-school study sessions twice a week.
One afternoon, Keiko Sakurai was teaching an after-school math class for first-graders, using the material from the Tokyo University of Foreign Studies.

She put up pictures of apples on the black board, following the textbook.

"How many apples do we get when we add four apples and five apples together?" she asked.
"We get nine apples!" the children chirped.

The students write their answers on answer sheets that were also downloaded from the Center Website at http://www.tufs.ac.jp/blog/ts/g/cemmer/index.html.

The students are solving math problems and learning how to add. But at the same time they learn how to count in Japanese, using the correct quantifier attributed to different things in Japanese. They also learn how to use the appropriate particles in a sentence by speaking out loud.

The text was developed by researchers who specialize in teaching foreign children, in collaboration with Japanese language teachers.

For math, for example, the idea is taught and outlined using easy Japanese that meets the student's speaking level.

Later on, appropriate Japanese expressions can be added on. The basic rule is "content first, Japanese later."

Illustrations and gadgets are used to visually stimulate the students, to fill in gaps and send information that can't be explained through words alone.

"In this class we aim at getting the children to solve math problems by reading the Japanese instructions," Sakurai said. "The program is perfectly suited for children who are able to read and write hiragana characters."

Besides Hamamatsu, schools in Ueda, Nagano Prefecture, and Ota, Gunma Prefecture, are also looking into introducing the teaching material at their schools. Both cities have large Brazilian communities.

Masaaki Takahashi, who heads the center, commented that product development was a two-way street. "We hope to continue refining the program by reflecting comments and input from the actual classrooms," Takahashi said.(IHT/Asahi: October 16,2007)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200710160093.html

Japanese Ambassador Designate Keen On Malaysia-Japan University

KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 11 (Bernama) -- The setting up of a Malaysia-Japan International University of Technology is among the aspirations of Japanese ambassador designate to Malaysia, Masahiko Horie.

Horie, who arrived here 10 days ago, said if realised, the university will focus mainly on engineering, management, machinery, industrial management and electronics."I would like to see the establishment of the Malaysia-Japan International University of Technology during my tenure in the country," he told reporters at his official residence here today.

Horie said what makes the university different from its counterparts within the nation will be its method of teaching and training which will be based on the Japanese methods of excellence and quality.

"During my three-year tenure in Qatar, I was asked by the Emir to help establish a Japanese school based on elements of the Japanese methods of education. Even then the school isn't fully established. These things take time," he said.However, he added that he was confident of laying the groundwork for the university in the near future because unlike Qatar, Malaysia already has many people who are able to speak Japanese.

On Japan-Malaysia relationship, Horie said it is no longer a donor-recipient kind of relationship like what it was once 20 years ago."This relationship has evolved, transformed and changed completely today. Today Malaysia has very succesful economic development, is a mature and developed country which has led to equal partnership between our two nations," he said.

The partnership lies not only on economic terms but also on regional and maritime security, political as well as environmental issues, according to Horie.Japan also supports Malaysia's peacekeeping operations which are good for Asean's regional stability, especially those against terrorism and piracy, he said.

On environmental issues, Horie stated that he would like to propose a trilateral cooperation between Japan, Malaysia and Madagascar on forest conservation as he respects Malaysia's success on the subject.He said his hopes include strengthening and expanding the economic relations between the two countries by promoting direct investment and industrial cooperation, especially with the economic partnership agreement that was signed between two countries last year.

Horie, who is replacing Tadashi Imai, will hand his appointment credentials to Yang di-Pertuan Agong Tuanku Mizan Zainal Abidin after the Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations.Prior to his appointment here, Horie, 61, was the ambassador to Qatar from 2004 to 2007, director-general of international affairs for the Japan Defence Agency and chairman for the Tokyo Defence Forum.
http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v3/news_lite.php?id=289689

It's cheaper to do MBA in Japan

PUNE: Japan, the second-largest economy in the world, could be a cheaper destination to do your MBA than Pune. Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI) vice-president Umesh Joshi narrated this story to demolish myths about Japan being an expensive destination for higher studies. Under a student exchange programme between Japan and China, for the same cost while Japan could send one student to China, the latter sent three students.

“On an average, with a partial scholarship, it should cost between Rs 3-4 lakh annually for an Indian student to study in Japan. This is at a par with the cost of higher education in the UK, for instance,” he said. This year, two students from Pune have received full scholarship for tuition and living expenses. In an attempt to tap into the rapidly growing base of students aspiring for international degrees, the Japan Student Services Organisation (JSSO), a facilitation organisation for overseas students, is making its maiden two-city India visit.

After its first halt in Pune, it is headed for Delhi. Incidentally, Mombusho refers to a prestigious scholarship given to international students by the Japanese government and the association, MOSAI, comprises those Indians who have received that scholarship.

“India sends between 300-500 students annually to Japan, of the 1.20 lakh overseas students who go there. Most of the Indian students go for language studies, which is a pity since the country has more to offer in high tech areas, than just language studies,” Mr Joshi stated. He added that MOSAI will offer round-the-year counselling and information to students wanting to explore Japan as an educational destination.

There is a practical, long-term reason for Indian students to study in Japan, Mr Joshi remarked, given the level of investment being made by that country in core projects in India. Japanese companies, which will invest in India under those programmes, will naturally prefer Indians who have studied there, understand their culture and are familiar with the language.

A course of study in Japan more or less guarantees a job with a Japanese company in India and for the Indian, it is a benefit since s/he learns tremendous self discipline.

“This is an introduction to Japan and educational opportunities available there, from the humanities to engineering, medicine, MBA, chemistry, life sciences... We have 18 Japanese universities that participated in this fair, of which five offer post-graduate courses only in English,” Mr Joshi said.

MOSAI had expected up to 500 student visitors at its day-long exhibition, but by lunch time, the number had crossed 1,000 students enthusiastically looking for options to the “traditional” overseas education destinations of the US, UK, Australia, Germany, France and Russia.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/News/News_By_Industry/Services/Its_cheaper_to_do_MBA_in_Japan/articleshow/2438009.cms

Education fair unveils academic avenues in Japan

Pune, October 4 The Land of the Rising Sun is opening out its doors to aspiring students and researchers from India. At the Japan Education Fair held at the Abasaheb Garware College on Thursday, some 19 universities from Japan offered students information on courses, scholarships and entrance procedures in fields as varied as dentistry, fine arts, international relations, atomic energy and so on.

The Japan Education Fair, supported by the Ministry of Education in Japan, was organised jointly by the Japanese Student Services Organisation (JASSO) and the Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI). “Of the total 1,20,000 international students pursuing higher education in Japan, only 525 are from India, plus some 116 more who are studying the Japanese language. We want to increase this number further,” said JASSO executive director Sadayoshi Takagawa, speaking to reporters.

“The year 2007 has been declared as the Indo-Japanese Friendship Year by both the Indian and Japanese governments. With Japan’s investments in India at $ 2 lakh crore, there will be a world of opportunities opening up for students in terms of employment opportunities in both countries,” said MOSAI vice-president Umesh Joshi.

Students interested in studying in Japan would need to go through the examination for Entrance to Japanese Universities (EJU) held twice a year at New Delhi, which is on the lines of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) for the United States. Knowledge of the Japanese language, which could earlier have served as an obstacle for some, is now no longer a must.

“Many universities now offer their courses in English, and even the (EJU) is conducted in both English and Japanese. Moreover, most universities even offer introductory courses in Japanese to the students,” said Takagawa.

Full scholarships are also awarded to students on the basis of a merit list drawn up after the EJU examination. “A full scholarship is up to $ 2000 a month, which is equivalent to the amount earned by fresh graduates in Japan when they begin working,” said Takagawa. Apart from those awarded by JASSO, scholarships are also offered by the Japanese Embassy in India and individual Japanese universities. For researchers, fellowships like the Mombusho scholarship are also available for pursuing postdoctoral research.

“Japan also assists its alumni in various ways even after they graduate, keeping them posted on latest developments in Japan and often inviting them back for continuing their education,” Takigawa said.

While Pune was the first choice for the Japan Education Fair in India, the Fair will be carried forward to New Delhi on Saturday. “For students in Pune, MOSAI will be setting up a facilitation centre at our office in Tilak Road, where students can get detailed information about courses in Japan, scholarships, and even on Japan in general,” said Joshi.

http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/Education-fair-unveils-academic-avenues-in-Japan/224478/

City Base for promoting Japanese

PUNE: Sample this. Over 2,600 people from the city, majority of them students, appear in the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) annually. This makes it the country’s largest pool of Japanese language learners in the four proficiency levels that the JLPT offers.

Bigger cities like Delhi and Bangalore account for far less candidates at 800 and 600 respectively each year. Pune has close to 22 amateur as well as professional bodies, including the odd individual tutor, offering courses in Japanese.

It is but natural that the Japanese Student Services Organisation (Jasso) — a body of Japan’s ministry of education entrusted with the task of promoting Japanese education world-wide — is looking at Pune as a crucial base for promoting higher education offered by Japanese universities. Assisting Jasso in this effort is the Mombusho Scholars Association of India (Mosai), a motley group of 1,200-odd people who have bagged the Mombusho scholarship (regarded as the Japanese equivalent of the US’ Fulbright scholarship) since the 1960s.

"Pune has 12 Mombusho scholars," Mosai vice-president Umesh Joshi told TOI on Wednesday. On Thursday, the city will host over 19 premier universities from Japan, a mix of national as well as private varsities, for the first ever ‘Japan education fair’ (supported by the Japanese government) at the Abasaheb Garware College from 11 am to 5 pm.

"The universities will not only showcase the wide array of courses in fields ranging from arts, science and commerce to professional engineering and medicine, but also make presentations on scholarships other than Mombusho," said Joshi. "At the lower end, the scholarships are up to 6 lakh Japanese yen (Rs 3 lakh) per annum, inclusive of cost for modest living and learning," Joshi said. The higher-end scholarships cover 100 per cent expenses and can go up to 50 lakh yen per annum.

Jasso itself offers special scholarships to students clearing the Examination for Japanese Universities (EJI), an equivalent of the Graduate Record Examinations (GRE). That apart, private universities are not to be left behind on this front, said Joshi. He said the present level of students going from India to Japan for higher studies was much less compared to those reaching the Land of the Rising Sun from the US and Europe.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/City_base_for_promoting_Japanese/articleshow/2427156.cms

Blogging in Japan

Blogging in Japan. The BIG internet trend in Japan that matters to Australian exporters Several interesting facts about blogging in Japan...

Technorati's "State of the Blogosphere" reports that in April 2007, 37% of all posts to weblogs (aka "blogs") in the world are in Japanese. English language posts to blogs come in second with 36%. These statistics are based on raw numbers, not adjusted for population differences. In the blogosphere, 127 million Japanese are out-posting the entire English speaking world! If you are curious, worldwide there are about 1.5 million posts to blogs in all languages everyday.

Ubiquitous high speed mobile phone access to the internet in Japan means that a significant percentage of blogs are accessed from mobile phones. In September 2006, data from online market research firm, Impress R&D, indicated that 26% use moblogs ("mobile blogs"). Using mobile phones to talk on crowded public transport in Japan is seen as extremely anti-social.

Instead, everyone seems to be checking their own and others' blogs. Almost three-quarters (74%) of Japanese internet users surveyed by Edelman, said that they read blogs at least once a week. Comparable figures for the UK are just 23% and the USA, 27%. According to the same research, 18–24 year olds read blogs five or more days every week. Females are just as likely to read blogs as males, but when the do, they are more frequent readers of blogs compared to males. In Edelman's research, "influencers" (defined as people who are socially and politically active in their communities) are, not surprisingly, more frequent bloggers in all countries surveyed.

However, in Japan more than 90% of "influencers" also said that they read others' blogs. The comparable figures in the UK and USA are only in the 34%–35% range. The different cultural motivations of bloggers in Japan, the topics about which they post, and the degree of anonymity that they prefer, makes the Japanese version of the blogosphere quite different to the English language one. Many Japanese posts relate to everyday topics such as pets, music and childcare issues, but there are blogs for virtually everything else under the sun as well.

Typically Japanese posts read like personal diary entries rather than as being self-promotional or supporting a particular line. The number of female internet users in Japan outnumbers males for all age groups up until 40-somethings, and only then do males gain the upper-hand, 50.7% to 49.3%. In a recent study by Nikkei Research, more than half of all Japanese females in their teens and twenties acknowledge that what they read in blog helps form their purchase decisions across a broad range of products.

Types of product purchase decisions most influenced what they read in blogs relate to books, food items, and home electronics. Female consumers also read blogs for information relating to music CDs and DVDs, cosmetics, fashion and accessories. If you are an Australian exporter for whom the reputation of your product or service in the Japanese market matters to you, next time that you are talking to your distributor or reseller in Japan, why not ask what they are doing to build a profile for you in the Japanese blogosphere. If your product is ultimately more like to be purchased by female consumers, all the more urgency.

If you have Japanese language skills at your disposal, why not dive in to see what you can do for yourself. PS. In 2006, spending in Japan for traditional advertising media fell by approximately 2%. Spending on internet advertising increased by 29.3%.

Sources: Nikkei Research DataSignal, Technorati, Edelman, Impress R&D Ian Brazier,Trade Commissioner, Tokyo Japan

Chinese schools cozy up to universities here

Chinese academic institutions have surpassed their U.S. counterparts in signing partnership pacts with Japanese universities and other educational bodies.

The education ministry noted a record 13,484 agreements aimed at facilitating exchanges of students and scholars as of Oct. 1, 2006, up about 2,100 from 2004.

The number of Japanese institutions signing pacts with Chinese academic bodies surged 25 percent to 2,565, accounting for 19 percent of the total. There were 2,298 pacts with U.S. institutions and 1,467 with South Korean entities.

China surpassed the United States for the first time on record, which the ministry has been keeping since fiscal 1992.

The education ministry believes China's efforts to boost the number of its universities and promote their activities on the back of its rapid economic growth are driving the trend.

"As relations with China are becoming increasingly important in political, economic and all other areas, ties developed by the young generation will become valuable assets for both countries in the future," an official with Keio University in Tokyo said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20071002a5.html

Tokai tasked with continuing education reforms

Reforming the education system, a focus of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's administration, remains a goal for new education minister Kisaburo Tokai.

"I was told by Prime Minister (Yasuo) Fukuda to rebuild the education system," the 59-year-old Lower House member from Hyogo Prefecture said Wednesday. "As education is a pillar supporting a nation, I support this direction." The ministerial post, which Tokai assumed on Tuesday, is the lawmaker's first in a 21-year career.

Begun under Abe, the Education Rebuilding Council has emerged as a major force behind the push to reform the public education system. Among other things, the 17-member panel has proposed increasing class hours by 10 percent at public elementary and junior high schools and augmenting ethics education. The council will continue to discuss further reform measures under Fukuda.

Tokai also said he wants to bolster the number of teachers.

"It's important for teachers to have more time to spend with students. Now teachers are burdened with paperwork. By increasing their numbers, we can create an environment where teachers concentrate on education activities," he said in an interview in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Having more teachers will also help identify signs of bullying in the classroom, he said.

The Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry is requesting an allocation of ¥50.4 billion from the Finance Ministry over three years starting in fiscal 2008 to hire 21,362 new teachers — or about 7,000 each year.

"I'll endeavor to secure the budget," in spite of government attempts to trim fiscal spending, Tokai said.

Although a supporter of the ERC's plan to boost ethics education, Tokai is less enamored of the voucher system expected to be proposed by the panel in its third report in December. Under that plan, the government would provide coupons to help students pay for a private education. Critics say the system would intensify the already excessive competition between public and private schools.

"The government has to secure equal compulsory education opportunities for children," Tokai said. "Children in (rural) areas have little freedom to select schools (because of the scarcity of private institutions). So I'm not entirely supportive of introducing a voucher system without first solving this problem."

Tokai has taken a cautious line on the contentious subject of textbook screening.

In March, the education ministry caused a stir in Okinawa when it asked publishers of high school history textbooks to remove references to the Imperial Japanese Army's role in forcing civilians to commit mass suicide during the Battle of Okinawa in the closing days of the war.

"(Ministers) shouldn't say anything" about the screening process because the panel, which is made up of academics and schoolteachers, checks textbook drafts and judges whether the drafts have errors and inappropriate descriptions, he said at a news conference Tuesday.

"I think (the screening) should be done more carefully in dealing with (the descriptions), taking into account the feelings of the people in Okinawa," he said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070928f1.html

LONDON (Kyodo) In response to concerns about a lack of funding for Japanese studies at British universities, a major cash injection will be announced next month in the form of new teaching posts.

In October, the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation and the Nippon Foundation will announce which universities have successfully won grants from a special fund that will be used to establish 13 full-time teaching and research posts.

Over the last 10 years, several university departments have closed, leading to concerns that experts and research are at critically low levels.

The government recently stepped in to boost funding for strategically important "minority" subjects, including Japanese, but critics believe it didn't go far enough.

The foundations have decided to provide some £2.5 million (about ¥575 million) over five years. The new posts, a combination of lectureships and postdoctoral fellowships, will be up and running next year. The foundations hope to fund postgraduate study in the future.

Eager to broaden the scope of Japanese studies, the new posts will focus on aspects of contemporary Japan, covering such fields as politics, economics, international relations, culture, media and society.

This could be a reflection of a belief running through the academic community that an increasing number of young people are interested in modern-day Japan via their exposure to "manga" (comic books), design, music, fashion and the like.

"This is going to be one of the largest injections of recurrent external funding that Japanese studies in this country has ever received," said Stephen McEnally, chief executive of the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation. "We need to safeguard our next generation of Japan experts.

"The result of the cuts in funding has been a perceived decline in the number of early and midcareer academics working in Japanese studies as more and more British scholars seek research opportunities and work in countries overseas where provision for Japanese is much more generous," he said.

The foundations hope the cash injection will provide a long-term and sustainable future for Japanese studies.

Experts have said the current situation has reached a crisis and fear Britain's diplomatic and economic relations will be jeopardized if the erosion continues.

Some universities have cut back and closed down departments because they say there is not enough demand for Japanese and Japanese studies, a claim denied by academics who say the number of applications is rising.

According to one informed source, demand for places at one university course outstripped supply this year. The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation says that this year saw a 40.9 percent rise in undergraduate applications compared with 2006. And demand could well grow as 10,000 children are studying Japanese in schools.

Experts argue the cutbacks are a result of the subject being more expensive to teach per head than more popular languages, such as French and German — which have a higher number of students per teacher and are therefore more cost effective — and this is not taken into account when the government allocates funding to the universities.

Moreover, academics believe it is unfair that Japanese is classified in the same way as French and German when it comes to allocating funds for overseas study trips.

The quality of research has also suffered in Japanese departments because they generally have a small number of staff who must still carry out the same administrative responsibilities as larger departments. This has resulted in some of the Japanese departments failing to attract government funds for additional research.

McEnally expressed hope the new posts will allow the universities to mount courses that until now have been unavailable.

The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation was established in 1985 with an endowment from the Tokyo-based Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation. It gives grants to activities and projects that serve to enhance mutual understanding between Britain and Japan.

The Tokyo-based organization, now called the Nippon Foundation, is a private grant-making entity established in 1962. It funds assistance for humanitarian activities both at home and abroad, and for global maritime development.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070928f3.html

EDUCATIONAL RENAISSANCE / China magnet for foreign students

BEIJING--Students don't go to China just for language training anymore, nor is it any longer a nation that sends more students abroad than it takes in. In 2005, China for the first time saw the number of foreign students studying in the country--more than 140,000--surpass that of Chinese students heading overseas, at about 120,000.

The number of foreign students studying in China exceeded 160,000 last year, coming from 184 countries and territories. Forty percent of them came to the country for reasons other than language training. South Korea was the top source of foreign students with 57,000, followed by Japan with 18,000 and the United States with 11,000. Vietnam and Indonesia sent 7,000 and 5,000 students, respectively.

Daisuke Yamada, 21, of Waseda University's School of Political Science and Economics, was one of three Japanese students who completed a one-year course at Beijing University's School of International Studies this summer to earn "double degrees" from the two institutions.
At Waseda University's office next to Beijing University, the three students talked about the courses they took and described one course that compared political systems, in which the lecturer criticized the democratic system over and over again.

For example, one time the lecturer said: "When three candidates run for an election, one of them can win it by gaining just over 33.3 percent of the votes, but more than half of the voters cast ballots for the other two. As such, elections cannot always reflect public opinion."

The instructor usually ended up by criticizing the United States, concluding that as long as China can make the rule of law function correctly, it can rectify social misconduct--even without a "U.S.-imposed" democratic system--and achieve modernization. The Chinese Communist Party is required to control the nation, according to the lecturer's view.

"This is [a viewpoint] you can never learn in Japan," said Yamada.

The three Japanese students faced a high level of study on the courses they took. During the first semester, it was difficult for them to catch up with their Chinese classes but they were also given an assignment to summarize a 600-page Chinese-language textbook about disarmament in two weeks.

Because each room in their dormitories housed four to six people, the occupants find it difficult to study there. Therefore, the Chinese students go to the library at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. to secure seats, while also reciting English passages on the campus. Yamada and his two friends said the attitude of their Chinese counterparts made them realize what a university should be like.

On the other hand, China is now attracting more and more skilled workers, just like the United States, mainly thanks to an increase number of foreign enterprises opening up for business.
Microsoft Corp. has set up a laboratory in Zhong Guan Cun, Beijing, known as "the Silicon Valley of China." As the firm's largest lab, bigger than those in Britain, China, India and the United States, the facility has about 300 researchers.

The lab accepts 200 to 300 interns every year--mainly postgraduate students. Currently, Mizuki Oka of Tsukuba University is one such intern.

Majoring in computer science at the institution's Graduate School of Systems and Information Engineering, she started a six-month internship at the lab in April.

Oka, 27, who is taking advantage of one of the world's most advanced research environments in the field of computer graphics, said, "All the researchers and Chinese interns here are top-class people, and their arguments are really exciting."

The driving force for Oka to head for Beijing was when she read a paper written by Xu Yingqing, 47, a project leader at the lab who also serves as her mentor now.

The report discussed the technology to allow harmonious color blending in computer graphics. "I was impressed to realize computer graphics can involve a type of sensitivity like coloring," she recalled.

Because Oka's performance was highly appreciated, she was chosen as one of the 10 "best interns" who were invited to a party that Microsoft founder Bill Gates held in June at his home in Seattle.

Currently, Oka is studying how graphic information can be used as passwords. "In the scientific research field, what kind of human network you have can serve as a factor to open the door for your success," she said. "I'd like to maintain the relationships I have built here and also expand them after returning to Japan."
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20070913TDY14001.htm

Japanese Universities Will Be Harder to Graduate From

Japanese universities will become easier to get into and harder to graduate from.

The Japanese media reported on Tuesday that the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture’s Central Advisory Council, which is preparing reforms in university education, will request universities to strengthen their requisites for graduation.

The council is planning to request universities to administer a graduation exam, and the government to draft a set of abilities university students must acquire before graduating.
According to this plan, universities will not only hold graduation exams, but also set new goals and grading standards for classes, and come up with methods to assess the achievements of their students.

The set of abilities will include knowledge to learn basic information regarding a specific field of study and to connect it to history or society, the ability to speak, read, and write in Japanese or foreign languages, the attitude required for team work and morals, and creative thinking skills to solve problems using all these aforementioned skills.

The Japanese media commented that while the number of university students is on the rise, the quality of university education has been falling. They say that the council came up with this request because it is worried that the credibility of Japanese universities will fall if no changes are made.

Due to the low birth rate and relaxing of regulations, practically all high school graduates get into universities. The number of university applicants and the number of entrants are almost the same and this will make it hard to distinguish students upon admission. The recruiters criticize that a university graduation degree is meaningless. Universities accepted 698,000 or 90.5 percent of 772,000 applicants in 2007. In 2006, some 40 percent of four-year universities could not find enough entrants and 32 percent of applicants were admitted after just handing in thesis papers and without an entrance exam or interview.

The Economic Advisory Council, as well as the Ministry of Education, Science, Sports, and Culture, is voicing concerns about the need to upgrade the quality of university education, especially when facing Japan’s low birth rate.
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?biid=2007091246248

Education panel eyes standards for graduates

A subcommittee of the Central Council for Education, an advisory panel to the education, science and technology minister, on Monday compiled a draft proposal on the minimum level of academic ability university students will be required to achieve before graduation, according to sources.

With the number of children nationwide continuing to decrease, universities are expected to start fighting each other for high school graduates, leaving aspirant students able to enter university without difficulty as long as they are not too selective in their choice of university.
In such circumstances, the council wants to maintain the quality of a bachelor's degree at a certain level, the sources said.

University authorities will be required to strictly assess students to ensure that they are not allowed to graduate unless they have met certain standards, the sources said.
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070911TDY02008.htm

Univ. of Air to go digital in fiscal 2011

The University of the Air, which allows students to receive university-level education programs via TV and radio at home, aims to stop using the current CS broadcasting system and shift to BS digital broadcasting in fiscal 2011, in a bid to increase opportunities for people seeking higher education, according to sources.

By switching over to BS digital broadcasting, which has grown to more than four times the level of the spread of CS services, the university intends to narrow regional disparities in education, as well as meet the various demands of people who seek lifelong learning and specific courses to obtain certifications, the sources said.

The Education, Science and Technology Ministry, which oversees the university, made a budgetary request of 50 million yen for the next fiscal year to conduct research on how to launch a system that will enable the university to use BS digital broadcasting and how to set up transmission facilities. The ministry plans to complete installing the system in fiscal 2011.

Currently, the university's students take courses through three channels: CS digital broadcasts by Sky Perfect TV, terrestrial TV and FM radio broadcasts, and cable television services. CS digital broadcasting allows students anywhere in the nation to receive the courses, while terrestrial TV and radio broadcasts are available only in limited areas of the Kanto region.
(Sep. 5, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070905TDY02010.htm

Mitsui to donate 50 million yen to Brazilian schools in Japan

Amid the financial difficulties faced by many Brazilian schools in Japan, Mitsui & Co., one of the nation's leading trading firms, is to provide a total of 50 million yen in school materials this year to 10 of the schools, more than doubling the funds and number of schools the firm has supported annually.

Ten schools in seven prefectures, including Escola Nectar in Aichi Prefecture, Colegio Pitagoras Brazil-Hamamatsu in Shizuoka Prefecture, and Colegio Latino de Shiga in Shiga Prefecture, were declared eligible for the 5 million yen support.

The funds will be used to repair school facilities, set up a prefabricated library and purchase school buses, computers, books and science lab materials.

As a part of corporate social responsibility programs, Mitsui has provided books and other necessary materials worth 5 million yen each to four Brazilian schools in the nation annually since fiscal 2005.

"Visiting Brazilian schools, we became aware that we needed to fund more schools rather than just a select few for a long period because there are so many in need," said Toshio Shibasaki, Mitsui's senior philanthropy specialist.

Since establishing a subsidiary in Brazil in 1938, Mitsui has imported metals and foods. Because the firm's investments in Brazil as well as imports from the nation are expected to grow in the future, the firm decided to help the Brazilian schools struggling financially to educate the children of Brazilian workers.
(Sep. 5, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070905TDY02002.htm

Vietnam students to join new Japan exchange program

Over 300 Vietnamese students will travel to Japan, study Japanese and connect with other regional youth during a new scholastic exchange program this year.

Students from several other East Asian countries will also attend the program.The Japan-East Asia Network of Exchange Students and Youths Program (JENESYS) will offer participants a chance to visit famous Japanese sites and enjoy home-stays with Japanese families, according to the cultural affairs office at the Japanese Embassy in Hanoi.

Four of the selected Vietnamese students will engage in a 12-month exchange while the 330 others will participate in 10-day programs.

The first batch of students was expected to begin the program in March of 2008, according to the office.

Initiated by the Japanese government, JENESYS receives 35 billion yen (US$284.14 million) in annual public funding.

Some 6,000 youths from East Asia Summit member countries will be invited to join the program annually over the next five years.

Reported by T.Hang – Compiled by Luu Thi Hong

http://www.thanhniennews.com/education/?catid=4&newsid=31634

Foreign grads find Japan good for jobs

More foreign students graduating from Japanese universities and graduate schools are sticking around to work in Japan, immigration statistics show.

A record number of 8,272 foreign students obtained work permits in 2006 for jobs in Japan, a rise of about 40 percent from the previous year.

Of those, 96 percent were from Asian nations.

Immigration officials said the trend likely reflects the fact that Japanese businesses are expanding operations in China and aim to take advantage of their language skills and specialized training.

The foreign-student-to-worker trend is likely to continue, they said.

Work permits are granted only after foreign students are hired by companies.

The number of foreign students changing to work visas had stayed at between 2,000 and 4,000 annually since 1994, when the Justice Ministry started tracking the data.

But in 2004, that figure surged to more than 5,000, jumping to 5,878 in 2005 and reaching 8,272 in 2006.

By nationality last year, the largest group was Chinese at 6,000, up 43 percent from the previous year.

This was followed by 944 South Koreans and 200 Taiwanese.

By industry, 21 percent were employed in business and trade, while 13 percent worked in the computer industry.

Thirty-two percent said their jobs involved translation and interpretation, followed by information processing and sales.(IHT/Asahi: August 24,2007)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200708230319.html

4 Kansai schools turning easy profit / Entrance examination system using 'center test' lines universities' pockets

Four prestigious private universities in the Kansai region earned a total of 1.28 billion yen from entrance examination fees from applicants who only submitted their results of the national unified entrance examination for the 2007 academic year.

Although the universities each have independent entrance examinations, they have adapted their systems to judge applicants solely by results achieved in the National Center Test for University Admissions. Students can choose to sit exams under either system.

The four are Kwansei Gakuin University based in Hyogo Prefecture, Kansai University in Osaka Prefecture, and Doshisha University and Ritsumeikan University in Kyoto Prefecture. The quartet is known as "Kan-kan-do-ritsu," based on the first Chinese character of the institutions' names.

This entrance examination system has encouraged many high schools to exaggerate the number of their students who achieve success in the exams.

The figure shows that the system is of huge financial benefit to the universities.

However, less then 10 percent of successful applicants who used the system have entered the four universities, indicating that the high schools might have urged many--possibly reluctant--students to sit the exams in a bid to pad the schools' purported success rate.

If an applicant has a high score in the national center test, he or she will likely be accepted by multiple universities. However, several high schools across the nation were found to have abused this system, including Osaka Gakugei High School in Osaka, which urged one student to apply to 73 of the universities' departments and faculties in 2006. The student received 50,000 yen and an expensive wristwatch from the school after passing all the exams.

For the 2007 exams, the four universities received 74,845 applications for 2,572 places. Although the universities approved 22,827 applications, only 2,082 students actually entered the universities--an entry rate of 9.1 percent.

Ritsumeikan University received the most applications, with 33,742 applications for 1,565 places. The university approved 12,286 students, but only 1,250 entered the educational establishment.

Kansai University received 19,653 applications, Kwansei Gakuin University, 16,766, and Doshisha University, 4,684. Entry rates were 5.7 percent, 10.6 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively.

Students who take exams at the four universities likely also sit examinations for national and public universities, and other famous private universities. Judging from independent examination figures, many students decline acceptance offers, but the entry rate is steady at more than 20 percent.

Under the national test system, students benefit from being able to apply to multiple universities by sitting only one test. Universities also benefit by securing students without incurring costs associated with organizing tests and marking scores.

Moreover, large profits are derived from the examination fees: The four universities collected between 15,000 yen to 18,000 yen from each student, totaling a hefty 1.28 billion yen.

However, the universities are obliged to pay commission to the National Center for University Entrance Examinations, which conducts the national test, of just 570 yen per student--totaling 42.6 million yen. The universities thus pocket a profit of more than 1.2 billion yen.
(Aug. 24, 2007)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20070824TDY02011.htm

India, Japan push ties among academia

Twelve major universities of Japan had a dialogue with the top brass of Indian universities, Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) and Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) here Tuesday to strengthen educational linkages between the two countries.

The meeting, coinciding with the high-profile visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe here, was called to identify common research interests and to work towards increasing the volume of faculty and student exchanges by the two sides.Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh, who attended the event along with Abe, sought Tokyo's assistance towards setting up a new IIT in India. He also called for regular interactions among the academia of the two countries.

Abe, who arrived on a three-day visit to India with a 200-plus business team of top corporate leaders and a delegation of senior representatives of Japanese universities, emphasised on greater people-to-people contact.

The relations and contacts between the institutions of higher learning in the two countries must be stepped up, the Japanese prime minister said.

Minister of State for Commerce Ashwani Kumar received Abe, who arrived here from Indonesia with his wife Akie. He will be given a ceremonial welcome at the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhavan Wednesday after which he is scheduled to address a joint session of parliament, hold bilateral talks with his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh and interact with business leaders of the two sides.He is scheduled to visit Kolkata Thursday.

http://www.calcuttanews.net/story/275503

China-Japan Student Conference opens in Beijing

BEIJING -- Fifty-five college students from China and Japan gathered here on Friday to discuss China-Japan relations, protection of intellectual property rights and catering culture through the weekend.

The 30 Chinese and 25 Japanese students from 24 universities, including the Peking University, Tsinghua University, the University of Tokyo and Waseda University, were attending the annual China-Japan Student Conference.

They were grouped into five teams to study bilateral relations, enterprises, international issues, education and culture of the two countries, and were required to submit research papers.

"Similarities connect the friendship of Chinese and Japanese students," said Michigami Hisashi, cultural attache of the Japanese Embassy in China, adding a badminton match between students of the two countries would be held on the sidelines as part of the 2007 Japan-China Cultural and Sports Exchange Year.

"The conference has proved to be an effective platform for students to conduct face-to-face communication, understand traditions and culture of the two countries, and promote an active China-Japan non-governmental exchange," Yang Xiaofang, head of the Chinese student delegation, told Xinhua.

Yang Xiao, one of the chief organizers of the conference, said participants, who were also opinion leaders of the future, expressed hope that the final report of their research during the conference could be a real advisor of the development of the two societies.

Initiated in 1987 by Japanese student volunteers and jointly sponsored by Japan's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its diplomatic association, the China-Japan Student Conference has been held 25 times both in China and Japan over the past two decades.
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2007-08/18/content_6032614.htm

Rural universities feel pinch of lower enrollments

Hagi International University in Yamaguchi Prefecture filed for court protection from creditors in June 2005, owing ¥3.7 billion after the number of freshmen enrollments and students declined sharply.

"There was no other choice" than to initiate bankruptcy procedures, said Masanori Hatachi, 69, president of the institution now renamed Yamaguchi University of Human Welfare and Culture.
Hagi International, formerly a two-year college, had difficulty attracting enough students after it changed to a four-year university in 1999.

In its first year as a four-year school, only around 200 freshmen enrolled — far short of its annual quota of 300. After freshmen enrollment dropped to some 100 the following year, the school started to recruit students from China, only to learn, to its discredit, that many of those who came on student visas jumped ship to go after illegal jobs.

The enrollment number continued to decrease, and in April 2006 only three new students joined the university.

Hagi International's case is part of a situation that few developed countries have so far experienced. Japanese universities, especially in rural areas, are making desperate efforts to attract students amid the decline in the youth population brought on by the falling birthrate.

Some are going bust, while others are restructuring, or seeking mergers to survive.

Japan's 18-year-old population, which peaked at 2.05 million in fiscal 1992, dropped to only 1.37 million in fiscal 2005, and is projected to fall to 1.24 million in fiscal 2008. Meanwhile, a policy of deregulation since the 1990s has allowed more colleges and departments to start up, with the number of private universities rising from 379 in fiscal 1992 to 559 this year, a 147 percent increase.

Such a loss of students has resulted in serious cash flow woes for private universities, 70 percent of whose total revenues come from tuition fees.

Observers said Hagi International lacked attractive programs. Its remote location was also a major disadvantage as many local high school graduates leave the region for urban institutions.

Universities in Tokyo enjoy relatively high enrollment-to-quota ratios, at 117.65 percent, as do those in Osaka-Kyoto, at 112.03 percent. In other words, they enroll more students than the original places allocated.

But the ratio in the Chugoku region, which includes Yamaguchi Prefecture, is only 88.71 percent, according to a survey by the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan, an organization that monitors the management of private colleges and related issues.

In April, Hagi International made a fresh start under its new name and with financial support from Hiroshima Prefecture-based construction firm Shiomi Holdings Corp.

"In the aging Japanese society, demand for care for the elderly is growing," Hatachi, its president, said of the prospects for the school's welfare-focused programs. All the same, only 24 new students enrolled this year — far below the quota of 140.

Hagi International is one of three universities in Japan that went bust in recent years due to falls in the number of students enrolled.

In January 2003, Risshikan University in Hiroshima Prefecture became the first to fail since World War II. Tohwa University, a private engineering college in Fukuoka Prefecture, is scheduled to shut down at the end of fiscal 2009.

In response to these developments, the central government and university groups are mapping out guidelines under which they will regularly check the financial health of academic institutions and advise them or encourage mergers if necessary.

"It is a sick industry, because the youth population in Japan is declining," said Susumu Hiruma, a spokesman for the Promotion and Mutual Aid Corporation for Private Schools of Japan.

According to the organization, 221 of the 559 operators of private four-year universities in Japan saw their freshmen enrollment fall below their quotas for fiscal 2007, a situation roughly unchanged from the previous year. It also said 138 of the operators were in the red in 2005.

Hiruma pointed out that universities, if they want to keep up enrollment, need to offer programs that students want. "Their success depends on customer satisfaction," he said.

But Hiruma, who compiles data on college finances, also noted that "cost-cutting is everything," because Japan's declining population will inevitably erode the revenues of the nation's universities. An obvious "polarization of universities" between winners and losers has emerged, he added.

Makiko Yoshimura, a credit analyst at Standard & Poor's in Tokyo who covers college finance, said the "shakeout of four-year universities and colleges is unavoidable and more schools, especially in rural areas, may go under."

"Universities rich in cash can invest in teaching staff and facilities, while cash-strapped ones are forced to cut expenses, which erodes their academic research programs," she said.

Yoshimura pointed out that some universities are making efforts to diversify their income sources and raise funds, for example by renting part of their property in Tokyo and its neighborhoods where land prices have been picking up in recent years.

She also suggested that some universities may be able to hike tuition fees, while offering financial help for excellent students.

Other universities are merging to remain competitive.

Keio University, one of Japan's top institutions, and Kyoritsu University of Pharmacy have agreed to merge in 2008, which will result in Keio adding a new pharmacy department.

"Their marriage is a success," Standard & Poor's Yoshimura said. "Keio has had medical and nursing programs except for pharmacy — one of the areas with growing demand amid the graying of Japan's population. Now Keio has a rich portfolio in the health-care field."

However, Yoshimura warned that not all university mergers will be ideal ones like Keio and Kyoritsu's, as the number of such tieups increase.

"The key is brand values the universities have nurtured for a long time," she said, noting that talks for a merger that might end up in ruining the brand image of the institutions are doomed to end in failure.

Japanese universities also have to compete with overseas institutions as more Japanese look for academic opportunities outside the country.

Yuichiro Anzai, president of Keio University, expressed concern that Japanese universities may not be able to remain Asia's top institutions for much longer because of insufficient funding from corporations and the government.

"Japanese universities still stand at the top level in Asia in terms of academic research, educational quality and their cutting edge in medical fields. However, China and South Korea are catching up with help from the government and companies," he said.

In 2003, the most recent data available for an international comparison, Japan's public expenditures on education stood at a mere 0.5 percent of gross domestic product.

The figure is less than a half the average of 1.1 percent among members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The ratio stands at 1.2 percent in the U.S., 1.1 percent in France and 0.6 percent in South Korea.

Last year, Keio set up an international public relations section to promote the research programs of the university in its bid to attract students and scholars from overseas.

Some say that universities should look at potential new demand at home.

"The Japanese educational market is very large and attractive," said Kirk R. Patterson, dean of the Japan campus of Temple University, adding that there are huge untapped educational needs among people like the so-called freeters and others hoping to upgrade their skills and move into new careers, as well as women who want to re-enter the labor market after raising children.

While Japanese universities have traditionally defined their markets as people in the 18-22 age bracket, they can start to consider corporations as new customers, because the companies need customized training programs to help their employees upgrade skills, Patterson said.

"Each university needs to have a clear sense of its mission and to clearly identify its comparative advantage and its market niche. Universities can no longer try to meet the needs of all students," he said.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20070817a2.html

Japan to enhance language education for non-Japanese

Japan's Agency for Cultural Affairs has decided to strengthen measures to help foreign residents learn Japanese, and plans to boost the number of language coordinators in local communities, agency officials said Wednesday.

The agency has begun studying concrete measures at the Japanese language education subcommittee set up within its Council for Cultural Affairs, eyeing to implement them in fiscal 2009, starting in April 2009.

An increase in foreign residents in Japan has heightened conflicts between some foreigners and local Japanese people, primarily due to the lack of language skills among foreign residents, according to the officials.

Foreign residents tend to become isolated or fail to follow the rules set out by local municipalities such as rules on garbage disposal, they said.

Against this backdrop, a group consisting of 22 municipalities, such as Hamamatsu, Shizuoka Prefecture, where foreign residents account for a considerable portion of the local population, has called on the government to strengthen language education for foreigners.

The language coordinators are likely to engage in activities such as providing teaching skills to language instructors, encouraging companies where foreign residents work to provide opportunities to learn Japanese, as well as offering consultation about daily life.

An agency official said, "It is desirable that the coordinators be able to have a certain level of language skills, and commit to the work as full-time professionals on a long-term basis."
The agency is thus planning to recruit the coordinators from those who have passed the Japanese language teaching competency test.

Currently, language teaching is mainly organized by citizens' organizations, which largely depend on volunteer instructors and do not have a systematic teaching curriculum, and most of the coordinators are part-timers and volunteers, according to the officials.

After the immigration law was revised in 1990, foreigners of Japanese descent have been allowed to immigrate to Japan for the purpose of settlement or work, and the number of immigrants from such areas as South America has been increasing.

In 2006, a record high of 2.08 million people registered as foreign residents in Japan.
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070815/kyodo/d8r1f1k80.html

(Korea) National English Proficiency Tests to Debut in 2009

A new government-administered test of English proficiency for students will be introduced during the second half of 2009, and for adults in 2011, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Education & Human Resources Development on July 31.

The move comes as an effort to meet growing demands for qualified English proficiency tests, as scores on such tests are widely reflected in school admission, university graduation, civil servant appointment, certificate acquirement, employment and promotion.

Some 2.69 million Koreans took various kinds of English proficiency tests in 2006, 76 percent of them taking foreign-developed exams such as the TOEFL and TOEIC. In comparison, domestic tests including PELT, TESL, TEPS, ESPT and MATE have been unsuccessful in attracting as much applicants.

Against this background, the government plans to spend about 21.5 billion won ($23.32 million) in the next four years to develop the first government-administered English tests in Korea. The aim is to create a comprehensive and qualified exam which would be internationally recognized, and to enhance domestic capacity for English education and assessment.

The new tests involve speaking, listening, reading and writing exams, which will be conducted through the internet. The ministry is considering classifying the tests into 10 levels according to the test takers' proficiency, from Level 1 for primary first to third graders to levels 8 to 10 for adults.

The ministry will establish a tentatively named ‘Korea English Proficiency Evaluation Foundation’ this year to develop and oversee the tests. The foundation will be jointly run by interested universities, the Korea Institute of Curriculum & Evaluation(KICE) and the public Educational Broadcasting System(EBS), under the finance of the government.

A preparation committee for the foundation will also be set up this year under KICE. The committee will conduct researches on English proficiency tests of other countries, develop an assessment framework, create evaluation and management methodologies, and secure budgets and legal grounds.

With the new development, the ministry seeks to reduce dependency on foreign English proficiency tests and prompt schools to improve their English education. Government endeavors are expected to see further facilitation once the bill on the Special Law on English Education Promotion, submitted earlier by the ministry, passes the National Assembly.

http://english.moe.go.kr/main.jsp?idx=070101&brd_no=30&cp=1&pageSize=10&srchSel=&srchVal=&brd_mainno=542&mode=v