The following is an excerpt from The Yomiuri Shimbun's new series, "Today's College Scene," which visits a different university each week
BEPPU, Oita--Beppu is one of the nation's most famous hot-spring resorts, with steam from the water being apparent throughout the city। But there is more to this city than its fame of old, as it has now become known as the home of a "global village."
About a 40-minute bus ride from the city center, Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU) sits on a vast hillside that overlooks Beppu Bay and the Kunisaki Peninsula।
When The Yomiuri Shimbun visited APU early last month, it was the last day of finals। In the cafeteria could be found many foreign students, including Md. Asaduzzaman, a 20-year-old sophomore from Bangladesh.
The young Muslim was eating chicken, as his religion forbids him from eating pork। The school canteen offers a number of halal items on its menu for students such as Asaduzzaman, allowing them to eat comfortably within Islamic Law.
Asaduzzaman is among about 2,800 foreign students studying at APU as of November। The institution is currently tied for first place with Waseda University in terms of number of foreign students.
As APU's foreign students come from 87 countries and territories around the world, the cafeteria offers more than 200 items to meet their needs। In addition to dishes suitable for Muslims, there is a wide variety of vegetarian food, as well as kimchi imported directly from South Korea.
"I'd like to apply to my home country the business knowledge that Japan has developed as an economic giant," Asaduzzaman said in fluent Japanese।
Although most courses at APU are available both in Japanese and English, all students are required to study one of the languages intensively for their first two years to develop a high level of communication in both tongues। As a result, students can be found studying at all hours at the campus library.
The university's dormitory houses about 1,200 foreign and Japanese students। One of the residents, Takeya Tsuji, shared with me one particularly interesting episode from his life with people from many different countries.
Last summer, the 20-year-old freshman got to know a student from another Asian country as they had decided to stay at school during the semester break। The two talked with each other regularly, but Tsuji remembers something his friend told him.
"I'd like to see my family, but at the same time I'd rather stay here than go home," the foreign student said with a sad look on his face।
The remark made Tsuji worry about the difficult situations facing the friend's home country। At the same time, however, he was glad his new friend had confided in him.
"I imagine it's pretty hard to find a place like this where you can spend so much time getting to know so many foreign students--APU isn't your typical Japanese university," Tsuji said। Now he has joined a club on the campus to promote awareness about the damage caused by the Agent Orange used by U.S. forces during the Vietnam War.
APU was established in the hope of having "foreign students account for half of the student body।" For the past nine years, the institution has welcomed students from 104 countries and territories. However, the institution says it has been facing increased competition from other foreign schools.
As the university looks outward, it also looks inward, maintaining close ties with the local community, which helped establish the school। APU also has been looking into ways to stimulate the local economy and has presented plans on how to boost tourism to Beppu.
APU students are also engaged in nearly 200 community activities every year। One of the biggest events is the Sento Taisai festival, which the school inaugurated in 2005. As suggested by the name "Sento," a play on words that translates as "the capital of hot springs," students carry a mikoshi portable shrine to visit every one of the city's eight major hot spring districts.
Hirotsugu Hosokawa, 22, served as the head of the organizing committee for the fourth annual Sento Taisai festival, held in November।
"Working with so many people to organize the festival helped me to realize what it is I want to do," the senior said।
Hosokawa will begin working next month at a travel agency in the Kansai region, and is determined to promote Beppu's rich hot springs and hospitality.
===
Profile of Ritsumeikan Asia पैसिफिक University
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University opened in 2000 after then Oita Gov। Morihiko Hiramatsu invited a new higher educational institution to be set up in the prefecture. The public and private sectors contributed to the establishment of the private institution--the Oita prefectural government and the Beppu municipal government donated the land for the campus and a total of 19 billion yen to cover the cost of construction, while the business community donated about 4 billion yen in scholarships for foreign students.
Aiming to foster an internationally-based workforce, APU consists of two schools--the College of Asia Pacific Studies and College of Asia Pacific Management, the latter of which will change its name next month to the College of International Management।
The school currently claims a student body of 5,900 students, 47 percent of whom are foreign students. About half of the faculty is non-Japanese, and includes APU President Monte Cassim, a Sri Lankan, who once studied in Japan.
(Mar। 12, 2009)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/language/20090312TDY14001.htm
Thursday, March 12, 2009
After diploma, now to Japan
Eighty-six Universiti Industri Selangor (Unisel) students who are under a special programme with Japan will receive their diplomas from Chancellor Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor today।
The Japanese Associate Degree-Unisel (Jad-Unisel) students will leave for Japan on March 21 to pursue a two-year degree programme।The group is the second batch of students under the programme who completed their diploma engineering courses at Unisel. The three-year courses are conducted in Japanese.Under Jad, Yayasan Pelajaran Mara provides scholarships to Bumiputera students to continue their studies in Japan.The first batch of 75 students have enrolled in 15 Japanese universities, including Kejo University, Kinki University, Meiji University, Tokai University, Tokyo Denki University, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo University of Technology and Waseda University.
Rosmah, wife of the deputy prime minister, is expected to be accompanied at the convocation by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Deputy Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Unisel Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Rosti Saruwono and Japanese ambassador to Malaysia Masahiko Horie.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/2502805/Article/index_html
The Japanese Associate Degree-Unisel (Jad-Unisel) students will leave for Japan on March 21 to pursue a two-year degree programme।The group is the second batch of students under the programme who completed their diploma engineering courses at Unisel. The three-year courses are conducted in Japanese.Under Jad, Yayasan Pelajaran Mara provides scholarships to Bumiputera students to continue their studies in Japan.The first batch of 75 students have enrolled in 15 Japanese universities, including Kejo University, Kinki University, Meiji University, Tokai University, Tokyo Denki University, Tokyo University of Science, Tokyo University of Technology and Waseda University.
Rosmah, wife of the deputy prime minister, is expected to be accompanied at the convocation by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Deputy Minister Datuk Saifuddin Abdullah, Unisel Vice-Chancellor Datuk Dr Rosti Saruwono and Japanese ambassador to Malaysia Masahiko Horie.
http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thursday/National/2502805/Article/index_html
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Institutional mergers, a revised student loan scheme and more performance-based funding are among changes an OECD review team has called on Japan to make to its tertiary education system.
The recommendations come less than four years after Japan reformed the system to give greater autonomy to the country's more than 4,000 tertiary institutions.But the review team's report published last week says Japan has yet to make the most of those reforms because institutions, including more than 700 universities, have not changed the way they operate and the country's Ministry of Education has yet to establish its role in steering, rather than running, the tertiary education system। "At the institutional level this tendency is exacerbated by the fact that Japanese universities do not yet have a pool of academic administrators with extensive management and financial experience to take on the strategic management of more autonomous and entrepreneurial university institutions," the report says। "The result of all of this is that the rhetoric of change has been accompanied by the reality of conservatism। This is creating a worrying policy vacuum, with an attention to means rather than ends।"The report recommends the momentum of the 2004 reforms should not be lost and there should be a formal evaluation of the reforms after not less than five years. It calls for increased public investment in tertiary education but in return for continuing consolidation of institutions, more performance-based funding, increased diversity in tuition fees and institution revenues, and more efficient management.With Japan's shrinking student population, the report says private tertiary institutions will be forced to merge or downsize and the public sector should also consider "voluntary consolidation". Already, 30% of Japan's private universities and 40% of its junior colleges do not fill their current enrolment caps.The report recommends that universities be permitted greater flexibility in setting tuition fees and that undergraduate courses be permitted to vary much more widely than at present. "In our view this would be a beneficial development since it would encourage differentiation among institutions much more effectively than existing competitive grant schemes, and it would promote some differentiation in the price of courses that is sensitive to instructional costs and returns to schooling. Both of these already exist within the private sector of Japanese higher education."In terms of helping students pay those fees, the report suggests replacing the current mortgage-like student loan system which requires regular set payments, to an income-contingent system along the lines of Australia's higher education contribution scheme. This would require repayment of loans only when the students' income reached a certain level. Japanese universities receive relatively little money from fund-raising and donations and the report recommends universities do more in this area. Tax incentives should be reviewed and universities permitted to invest such funds as they see fit.The OECD also highlights increases in women's participation and employment in tertiary education but notes this has largely been caused by widening job opportunities rather than by particular changes in the tertiary education system. "In a system where only a handful of universities are known to have childcare centres - Tokyo, Ochanomizu, Tsukuba, Nagoya and Tohoku - considerable opportunities for improvement with respect to gender equity remain," it says.The report urges Japan to do more to attract international students and faculty, including provision of more student accommodation. "Given the active recruitment activities of its main competitors, it makes sense for Japan to enter especially the upper end of the international graduate student market in a more direct and effective way.""In spite of the pace and scope of change in recent years, much remains to be done," it concludes.The review was based on information obtained from Japan, including a country visit in 2006, and is the latest in a series of OECD reviews of tertiary education in member nations. It was conducted by University of Liverpool Vice-chancellor and former Higher Education Funding Council for England Chief Executive Sir Howard Newby, OECD analyst Thomas Weko, University of Virginia professor and Dean of the Curry School of Education David Breneman, former President of the Lund Institute of Technology Thomas Johanneson, and University of Oslo professor and Director of the Higher Education Development Association Peter Maassen.
http://www.universityworldnews.com/article.php?story=20090305191501962
Monday, March 02, 2009
BEIJING, March 1 (Xinhua)-- China and Japan will launch a bilateral exchange program involving about 1,500 teachers over the next three years, said Japanese Foreign Minister Hirofumi Nagasone here Sunday।
He made the remarks while attending a gathering with several Chinese students and teachers, as well as representatives of Japan living in China। It was his last stop before concluding his China visit.
According to Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama, Japan would accept 1,000 Chinese teachers while sending 500 Japanese teachers to China।
As to bilateral exchanges of youth, Kodama said on Saturday that the two sides will work together to implement a youth exchange program involving about 4,000 young people this year.
Other than high-level exchanges between the two countries, people-to-people exchanges were also very important for developing bilateral relations, said Nagasone, who was in China for two days।
The two sides celebrated the "China-Japan Friendly Exchange Year of the Youth" last year।
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/01/content_10923638.htm
He made the remarks while attending a gathering with several Chinese students and teachers, as well as representatives of Japan living in China। It was his last stop before concluding his China visit.
According to Japanese Foreign Ministry spokesman Kazuo Kodama, Japan would accept 1,000 Chinese teachers while sending 500 Japanese teachers to China।
As to bilateral exchanges of youth, Kodama said on Saturday that the two sides will work together to implement a youth exchange program involving about 4,000 young people this year.
Other than high-level exchanges between the two countries, people-to-people exchanges were also very important for developing bilateral relations, said Nagasone, who was in China for two days।
The two sides celebrated the "China-Japan Friendly Exchange Year of the Youth" last year।
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-03/01/content_10923638.htm
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Students point way for foreign guests in Osaka slum
OSAKA--The dingy, tumbledown streets of the Airin district in the city's Nishinari Ward have long worn the poor face of an otherwise wealthy nation।
Thousands of day laborers, many of them elderly and homeless, endure grinding poverty here with occasional shifts on construction sites and other stints of hard labor।
One of Japan's biggest slums, however, has now found an unlikely and potentially lucrative source of revenue: young, foreign tourists looking for cheap accommodation and keen to see another side of the world's second-biggest economy।
To cope with the increase in curious visitors from abroad, a group of students has set up the Foreign Tourist Information Center, a makeshift tourist information center, to provide guidance to some of the more interesting sights in the neighborhood and beyond--including Tsutenkaku, a landmark tower in the Shinsekai district, and the electric town Nipponbashi।
The team of four to five volunteers from the tourism and geography seminar of professor Yoshihisa Matsumura at Hannan University created a temporary office in the remodeled warehouse of the budget lodging house, Business Hotel Chuo, in January। They will stay there throughout February to hand out pamphlets and maps with information about tourist attractions across Osaka.
Airin's many cheap lodging houses, which typically charge between 1,000 and 2,000 yen per night, were once almost exclusively the domain of struggling day laborers who came to the area for work।
At its busiest, in the mid-1980s, the number of day laborers residing in the Airin district stood at 25,000। Now there are just 3,500.
In 2005, 13 lodging house operators launched the Osaka International Guesthouse (OIG) Area organizing committee to devise ways to stay in business। Owing partly to the efforts of Hannan students, who designed a website in English, Chinese and Korean, the volume of foreign visitors to the area increased sharply from 10,000 a year to about 70,000. Most are backpackers who travel on their own.
More than 30 percent of foreign visitors said the area urgently needed a tourist information center, a joint survey conducted in 2006 by the OIG committee and Matsumura seminar found.
Jose Garcia Perez, a 22-year-old student from Barcelona, who visited the office, said, "I came to Osaka to see Osaka Castle but I'd like to visit the Nishinari neighborhood after hearing from the staff members about the area।"
"I hope tourists see the ordinary life of Osaka people, not only tourist spots such as Tsutenkaku and the Osaka Castle," said Ryoko Ishibashi, 20, one of the Hannan student volunteers.(IHT/Asahi: February 23,2009)
http://www।asahi।com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200902230049.html
Thousands of day laborers, many of them elderly and homeless, endure grinding poverty here with occasional shifts on construction sites and other stints of hard labor।
One of Japan's biggest slums, however, has now found an unlikely and potentially lucrative source of revenue: young, foreign tourists looking for cheap accommodation and keen to see another side of the world's second-biggest economy।
To cope with the increase in curious visitors from abroad, a group of students has set up the Foreign Tourist Information Center, a makeshift tourist information center, to provide guidance to some of the more interesting sights in the neighborhood and beyond--including Tsutenkaku, a landmark tower in the Shinsekai district, and the electric town Nipponbashi।
The team of four to five volunteers from the tourism and geography seminar of professor Yoshihisa Matsumura at Hannan University created a temporary office in the remodeled warehouse of the budget lodging house, Business Hotel Chuo, in January। They will stay there throughout February to hand out pamphlets and maps with information about tourist attractions across Osaka.
Airin's many cheap lodging houses, which typically charge between 1,000 and 2,000 yen per night, were once almost exclusively the domain of struggling day laborers who came to the area for work।
At its busiest, in the mid-1980s, the number of day laborers residing in the Airin district stood at 25,000। Now there are just 3,500.
In 2005, 13 lodging house operators launched the Osaka International Guesthouse (OIG) Area organizing committee to devise ways to stay in business। Owing partly to the efforts of Hannan students, who designed a website in English, Chinese and Korean, the volume of foreign visitors to the area increased sharply from 10,000 a year to about 70,000. Most are backpackers who travel on their own.
More than 30 percent of foreign visitors said the area urgently needed a tourist information center, a joint survey conducted in 2006 by the OIG committee and Matsumura seminar found.
Jose Garcia Perez, a 22-year-old student from Barcelona, who visited the office, said, "I came to Osaka to see Osaka Castle but I'd like to visit the Nishinari neighborhood after hearing from the staff members about the area।"
"I hope tourists see the ordinary life of Osaka people, not only tourist spots such as Tsutenkaku and the Osaka Castle," said Ryoko Ishibashi, 20, one of the Hannan student volunteers.(IHT/Asahi: February 23,2009)
http://www।asahi।com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200902230049.html
Monday, February 16, 2009
Kyoto Univ. opens industry-gov't-academia liaison office in London
Japan's Kyoto University held an opening ceremony Friday for its European liaison office in London to promote global cooperation among industry, government and academia.
The office is intended to reinforce collaboration with major universities in Britain and other European countries as well as to promote and implement joint research with international companies, the university said.
It is the university's first overseas industry-government-academia liaison office to which members of its staff are posted.
"Now is the age when it is important for academic and research organizations to exchange information," said Hiroshi Matsumoto, the university's president, at a press conference.
"We will send out activities of Kyoto University in English" with the launch of the office, Matsumoto said.
Kyoto University has made preparations for opening a similar liaison office in the United States, it said
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96B00IG1&show_article=1
The office is intended to reinforce collaboration with major universities in Britain and other European countries as well as to promote and implement joint research with international companies, the university said.
It is the university's first overseas industry-government-academia liaison office to which members of its staff are posted.
"Now is the age when it is important for academic and research organizations to exchange information," said Hiroshi Matsumoto, the university's president, at a press conference.
"We will send out activities of Kyoto University in English" with the launch of the office, Matsumoto said.
Kyoto University has made preparations for opening a similar liaison office in the United States, it said
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D96B00IG1&show_article=1
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Panel says spend more on universities
The government's advisory panel on education submitted its third report to Prime Minister Taro Aso on Monday, calling for a drastic increase in public subsidies to national and private universities।
The panel, the Meeting on Education Rebuilding, also recommended a ban on students bringing cell phones to primary and middle schools and reform of the board of education system।
In the report, the panel analyzed the current situation: Universities are dependent largely on private funds such as tuition fees for their operating budgets and because of this they tend to secure students for the sake of stable flow of funds, regardless of their scholastic ability, resulting in the degrading of the quality of students and education।
The panel emphasized the need to greatly beef up public subsidies for national university corporations and private universities।
However, the panel recommended the amount of funds injected into universities should depend on evaluations of the schools and their research programs, saying support and approval of taxpayers are essential।
On reforming the board of education system, the panel proposed that those in charge of personnel matters be hired from the private sector or chosen from among officials in fields not related to education, to avoid personnel affairs at boards of education being conducted on the basis of professional favoritism or personal ties।
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090210TDY02311.htm
The panel, the Meeting on Education Rebuilding, also recommended a ban on students bringing cell phones to primary and middle schools and reform of the board of education system।
In the report, the panel analyzed the current situation: Universities are dependent largely on private funds such as tuition fees for their operating budgets and because of this they tend to secure students for the sake of stable flow of funds, regardless of their scholastic ability, resulting in the degrading of the quality of students and education।
The panel emphasized the need to greatly beef up public subsidies for national university corporations and private universities।
However, the panel recommended the amount of funds injected into universities should depend on evaluations of the schools and their research programs, saying support and approval of taxpayers are essential।
On reforming the board of education system, the panel proposed that those in charge of personnel matters be hired from the private sector or chosen from among officials in fields not related to education, to avoid personnel affairs at boards of education being conducted on the basis of professional favoritism or personal ties।
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090210TDY02311.htm
Friday, January 30, 2009
Mie Prefecture set to start scholarship program for foreign nursing students
Mie Prefecture has finalized plans to provide scholarships to nursing students from foreign countries, the first such scholarship program in Japan.
The plan, which will commence at the beginning of fiscal 2009, will provide scholarships for tuition at universities such as the Mie Prefectural College of Nursing, and over 10 nursing vocational schools in the prefecture. An initial budget of 3 million yen will be earmarked for the program, subject to the approval of the prefectural assembly.
The program was created to address the problem of communicating with members of Mie Prefecture's many foreign communities. Medical facilities currently lack sufficient numbers of interpreters to communicate with patients who cannot speak Japanese, and the program is designed to help train medical professionals who can provide those patients with technical explanations in their mother tongue.
At present, the prefectural international affairs office sends volunteer interpreters to medical facilities that cannot communicate with their foreign patients. Such volunteers have been dispatched 24 times in fiscal 2008, as of Jan. 27. "People who can do interpreting at medical institutions are essential," the international affairs office said. "We hope that this scholarship will be used to give nursing students a good career."
The scholarship program will provide up to 600,000 yen for tuition to foreigners wishing to study nursing. After completing the scholarship program, recipients will be required to take up fixed-period employment with medical facilities in the prefecture, with proficiency in their mother tongue as a prime requirement. The program has targeted seven languages, including Portuguese, Spanish and English.
At the moment, there are no foreign nursing students in the prefecture to enter the scholarship program. However, the prefecture aims to lure prospective students to Mie's schools with the new policy.
"It's a good idea to support foreigners who harbor hopes of becoming a nurse here, and there's also great value in training people who can do medical interpreting," said Shinobu Ogawa, executive director of the Japanese Nursing Association.
Some 2।7 percent of Mie Prefecture's population is made up of foreigners, the third highest rate in the country.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090129p2a00m0na005000c.html
The plan, which will commence at the beginning of fiscal 2009, will provide scholarships for tuition at universities such as the Mie Prefectural College of Nursing, and over 10 nursing vocational schools in the prefecture. An initial budget of 3 million yen will be earmarked for the program, subject to the approval of the prefectural assembly.
The program was created to address the problem of communicating with members of Mie Prefecture's many foreign communities. Medical facilities currently lack sufficient numbers of interpreters to communicate with patients who cannot speak Japanese, and the program is designed to help train medical professionals who can provide those patients with technical explanations in their mother tongue.
At present, the prefectural international affairs office sends volunteer interpreters to medical facilities that cannot communicate with their foreign patients. Such volunteers have been dispatched 24 times in fiscal 2008, as of Jan. 27. "People who can do interpreting at medical institutions are essential," the international affairs office said. "We hope that this scholarship will be used to give nursing students a good career."
The scholarship program will provide up to 600,000 yen for tuition to foreigners wishing to study nursing. After completing the scholarship program, recipients will be required to take up fixed-period employment with medical facilities in the prefecture, with proficiency in their mother tongue as a prime requirement. The program has targeted seven languages, including Portuguese, Spanish and English.
At the moment, there are no foreign nursing students in the prefecture to enter the scholarship program. However, the prefecture aims to lure prospective students to Mie's schools with the new policy.
"It's a good idea to support foreigners who harbor hopes of becoming a nurse here, and there's also great value in training people who can do medical interpreting," said Shinobu Ogawa, executive director of the Japanese Nursing Association.
Some 2।7 percent of Mie Prefecture's population is made up of foreigners, the third highest rate in the country.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090129p2a00m0na005000c.html
Indonesian nurses to study Japanese before heading to Japan
Senior officials of Indonesia and Japan have "principally" agreed that Indonesian caregivers and nurses to work in Japan under an economic partnership agreement will study Japanese in Indonesia before leaving for Japan, a government official said Wednesday। Mohamad Jumhur Hidayat, chairman of the National Board for the Placement and Protection of Indonesian Overseas Workers, told Kyodo News that "at the operational level, both countries have agreed" on the new arrangement। Under the proposed new arrangement, the Indonesian nurses and caregivers will study Japanese in Indonesia for four months and in Japan for two months। The first batch of 205 Indonesian caregivers and nurses, who left for Japan in August last year, has studied the language in Japan for a total of six months। Hidayat said that the "expensive training" in Japan is the reason behind the proposed new arrangement। "Currently, for a total of six months, Japan must pay about 100,000 yen for each nurse or caregiver during their language training, but under the new arrangement, the budget can be cut to half," he said। "Hopefully, the negotiations among the ministers will be completed by March," Hidayat said। Under the agreement, the Japanese government is to accept 200 nurses and 300 caregivers each year।
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/090128/kyodo/d9603ad00.html
http://asia.news.yahoo.com/090128/kyodo/d9603ad00.html
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Strong yen hitting foreign students' pockets
OSAKA--Many foreigners studying in Japan are finding it increasingly difficult to pay admission fees and tuition for schools and universities due to the appreciation of the yen during the global recession।
The number of foreigners studying in the nation peaked at about 124,000 this academic year, but 90 percent of them are self-funded।
Finances are a serious concern for an increasing number of foreign students, especially privately financed students from China, Southeast Asian nations and South Korea, which has seen its won drop sharply against the yen।
Of 80 students from 10 nations studying at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, 44 students from China and South Korea were unable to pay their tuition for the autumn semester before the original due date of Oct. 20. Although the university extended the deadline by two months, 17 students were still unable to pay the fee, leading the university to further postpone the due date.
Among the cash-strapped students was Lee Yon Suk, 30, a South Korean studying at the university's Japanese Studies Department।
"I've pushed myself to the limit, and I don't know what more I can do if the yen stays high। I can't ask my parents for financial support because I don't want to be a burden on them," she said.
She scraped the tuition fee together by working part-time as a translator and doing other jobs.
In July, the government launched a program at the initiative of former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to increase the number of foreign students in the nation to 300,000, but it was not designed to provide urgent financial support। The program is overseen by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry.
Some universities and colleges are now working to help students in need, by extending due dates for tuition payments and offering financial support।
In January last year, 100 won was equivalent to about 11।2 yen but has since dropped dramatically, fetching just 6.61 yen on Friday. The value of other Asian currencies, such as the Indonesian rupiah and Thai baht, also has plunged against the yen.
Students receiving scholarships from the Japanese government obtain the money in yen, but half of the privately funded students do not receive any scholarships, according to a ministry estimate।
As the yen strengthens, the value of currency sent by students' parents and the money they saved before coming to Japan weakens, causing financial hardships for many students। Most students are already working the maximum 28 hours a week allowed on a student visa and therefore cannot earn some extra cash by working more.
Osaka University has received several inquiries from students who cannot afford to pay tuition and rent।
Oemry Ferensa, a 26-year-old Indonesian student who entered the university's Graduate School of Engineering last autumn, has not yet paid about 550,000 yen in entrance fees and tuition for the first semester। If he is still unable to pay by the end of February, he will have to leave the school.
The ministry provides 50,000 yen in monthly financial support to privately funded undergraduates and 70,000 yen to postgraduates। Although the budget for this support for fiscal 2009 has been expanded from the previous year to cover 12,470 students--an increase of 370 students--it is still not enough to support all the students in need.
The ministry's Office for International Student Exchange hopes the harsh financial climate will not discourage foreigners who want to study in Japan, nor the universities hoping to attract them।
The ministry hopes to expand its own financial support program for foreign students.
(Jan। 28, 2009)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090128TDY03102.htm
The number of foreigners studying in the nation peaked at about 124,000 this academic year, but 90 percent of them are self-funded।
Finances are a serious concern for an increasing number of foreign students, especially privately financed students from China, Southeast Asian nations and South Korea, which has seen its won drop sharply against the yen।
Of 80 students from 10 nations studying at Kyoto University of Foreign Studies, 44 students from China and South Korea were unable to pay their tuition for the autumn semester before the original due date of Oct. 20. Although the university extended the deadline by two months, 17 students were still unable to pay the fee, leading the university to further postpone the due date.
Among the cash-strapped students was Lee Yon Suk, 30, a South Korean studying at the university's Japanese Studies Department।
"I've pushed myself to the limit, and I don't know what more I can do if the yen stays high। I can't ask my parents for financial support because I don't want to be a burden on them," she said.
She scraped the tuition fee together by working part-time as a translator and doing other jobs.
In July, the government launched a program at the initiative of former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda to increase the number of foreign students in the nation to 300,000, but it was not designed to provide urgent financial support। The program is overseen by the Education, Science and Technology Ministry.
Some universities and colleges are now working to help students in need, by extending due dates for tuition payments and offering financial support।
In January last year, 100 won was equivalent to about 11।2 yen but has since dropped dramatically, fetching just 6.61 yen on Friday. The value of other Asian currencies, such as the Indonesian rupiah and Thai baht, also has plunged against the yen.
Students receiving scholarships from the Japanese government obtain the money in yen, but half of the privately funded students do not receive any scholarships, according to a ministry estimate।
As the yen strengthens, the value of currency sent by students' parents and the money they saved before coming to Japan weakens, causing financial hardships for many students। Most students are already working the maximum 28 hours a week allowed on a student visa and therefore cannot earn some extra cash by working more.
Osaka University has received several inquiries from students who cannot afford to pay tuition and rent।
Oemry Ferensa, a 26-year-old Indonesian student who entered the university's Graduate School of Engineering last autumn, has not yet paid about 550,000 yen in entrance fees and tuition for the first semester। If he is still unable to pay by the end of February, he will have to leave the school.
The ministry provides 50,000 yen in monthly financial support to privately funded undergraduates and 70,000 yen to postgraduates। Although the budget for this support for fiscal 2009 has been expanded from the previous year to cover 12,470 students--an increase of 370 students--it is still not enough to support all the students in need.
The ministry's Office for International Student Exchange hopes the harsh financial climate will not discourage foreigners who want to study in Japan, nor the universities hoping to attract them।
The ministry hopes to expand its own financial support program for foreign students.
(Jan। 28, 2009)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20090128TDY03102.htm
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
New teaching posts to be created to boost Japanese studies in U.K.+
The funding crisis affecting Japanese studies in Britain has been alleviated with the creation of 13 new teaching posts thanks to two charities।
The new lectureships and research positions, which are costing 2।5 million pounds ($3.25million) over a five-year period, will focus on the contemporary aspects of Japanese business and society in an effort to boost the subject's appeal and also cope with growing demand in that area.
The Nippon Foundation and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation decided to inject the funds after years of decline in Japanese studies।
Several Japanese courses have closed at Britain's universities over the last 10 years as it was a costly subject to teach relative to other languages। The Japanese courses also attract fewer students than more popular degrees, making the ratio of teachers to pupils higher and leading to a dearth in home-grown experts on Japan.
The creation of the new teaching posts, which were unveiled on Monday, means 11 universities can provide new courses spanning Japan's economy and management, modern and post-war history and the Japanese visual media।
Stephen McEnally, chief executive of the Sasakawa foundation, said in a statement, "All incumbents possess impeccable qualifications and this timely injection of young Japanese studies scholars into our universities will serve to guarantee a greater depth and diversity of scholarship and research at a time when it is most needed।"
The earl of St. Andrews said, "Japan matters because it is the second most powerful economy in the world। It is a major overseas investment and trade partner of the U.K."
Britain's policy makers, business leaders, scholars and its future leaders "must all be given the tools to better understand Japan's culture, its society and its language," he said।
Perhaps as a reflection of the claim that Japanese studies have been underfunded over the last few years, only three of the new lecturers are British।
Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of the Nippon Foundation, said, "The many viewpoints that the Sasakawa lecturers will bring to their posts will be a major driving force behind research into Japan at universities in the U।K."
The Sasakawa foundation is a charity established in 1985 with an endowment from the Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation, now the Nippon Foundation।
The Nippon Foundation is a private foundation funding three main areas of activity: overseas co-operative assistance, maritime development and domestic social welfare and volunteer support।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D95UUQBG0&show_article=1
The new lectureships and research positions, which are costing 2।5 million pounds ($3.25million) over a five-year period, will focus on the contemporary aspects of Japanese business and society in an effort to boost the subject's appeal and also cope with growing demand in that area.
The Nippon Foundation and the Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation decided to inject the funds after years of decline in Japanese studies।
Several Japanese courses have closed at Britain's universities over the last 10 years as it was a costly subject to teach relative to other languages। The Japanese courses also attract fewer students than more popular degrees, making the ratio of teachers to pupils higher and leading to a dearth in home-grown experts on Japan.
The creation of the new teaching posts, which were unveiled on Monday, means 11 universities can provide new courses spanning Japan's economy and management, modern and post-war history and the Japanese visual media।
Stephen McEnally, chief executive of the Sasakawa foundation, said in a statement, "All incumbents possess impeccable qualifications and this timely injection of young Japanese studies scholars into our universities will serve to guarantee a greater depth and diversity of scholarship and research at a time when it is most needed।"
The earl of St. Andrews said, "Japan matters because it is the second most powerful economy in the world। It is a major overseas investment and trade partner of the U.K."
Britain's policy makers, business leaders, scholars and its future leaders "must all be given the tools to better understand Japan's culture, its society and its language," he said।
Perhaps as a reflection of the claim that Japanese studies have been underfunded over the last few years, only three of the new lecturers are British।
Yohei Sasakawa, chairman of the Nippon Foundation, said, "The many viewpoints that the Sasakawa lecturers will bring to their posts will be a major driving force behind research into Japan at universities in the U।K."
The Sasakawa foundation is a charity established in 1985 with an endowment from the Japan Shipbuilding Industry Foundation, now the Nippon Foundation।
The Nippon Foundation is a private foundation funding three main areas of activity: overseas co-operative assistance, maritime development and domestic social welfare and volunteer support।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D95UUQBG0&show_article=1
Monday, January 26, 2009
Rules to be eased for foreign students
The government plans to simplify immigration screening procedures and extend the duration of stay for foreign students from fiscal 2009, Justice Minister Eisuke Mori said Friday।
The measures are part of the government's plan to increase the number of foreign students here to 300,000 by 2020, compared to 123,800 as of May 2008।
The Justice Ministry will also unify two categories of study status: shugaku for language and high school students; and ryugaku for university students।
This will allow language school students to attend universities without a change in status।(IHT/Asahi: January 24,2009)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200901240052.html
The measures are part of the government's plan to increase the number of foreign students here to 300,000 by 2020, compared to 123,800 as of May 2008।
The Justice Ministry will also unify two categories of study status: shugaku for language and high school students; and ryugaku for university students।
This will allow language school students to attend universities without a change in status।(IHT/Asahi: January 24,2009)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200901240052.html
Thursday, January 22, 2009
University to offer free tuition to students feeling the pinch
A university in Chiba Prefecture will offer free tuition to students who are feeling the pinch from the flailing economy।
Shukutoku University will allocate about 100 million yen per academic year over four years from this April to cover all or half of the school fees of students who cannot afford to pay, officials announced।
"This is probably the first time in Japan for a university to offer free tuition," said an official of the Association of Private Universities of Japan।
Under the financial aid system, up to 60 new students can receive a maximum of 1।4 million yen each in the first year to cover their tuition fees.
Up to 50 students, who are already at the university, will also be eligible for the exemption depending on their economic status। Students can repeatedly apply during the four years if their economic situation hasn't improved.
At the university, inquiries about tuition payments from students and parents have been increasing sharply since around last September। The school also has received many inquiries about scholarships from the parents of potential students.
Shukutoku University Admission Office: 043-265-6881 ।
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090121p2a00m0na021000c.हटमल
Shukutoku University will allocate about 100 million yen per academic year over four years from this April to cover all or half of the school fees of students who cannot afford to pay, officials announced।
"This is probably the first time in Japan for a university to offer free tuition," said an official of the Association of Private Universities of Japan।
Under the financial aid system, up to 60 new students can receive a maximum of 1।4 million yen each in the first year to cover their tuition fees.
Up to 50 students, who are already at the university, will also be eligible for the exemption depending on their economic status। Students can repeatedly apply during the four years if their economic situation hasn't improved.
At the university, inquiries about tuition payments from students and parents have been increasing sharply since around last September। The school also has received many inquiries about scholarships from the parents of potential students.
Shukutoku University Admission Office: 043-265-6881 ।
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090121p2a00m0na021000c.हटमल
Friday, January 16, 2009
Konnichiwa! Kolkatans line up to learn Japanese
Say "konnichiwa" - or hello - to the Japanese Language
Academy (JLA) which was set up 20 years ago at the Salt Lake suburb here by Kum Kum Nandy, who is also an Origami artist।The JLA has notched up a string of successes and has been among the few institutions at the forefront of this quiet linguistic boom sweeping the eastern part of India।
A California-based corporate house approached Nandy last month to teach 16 of its Indian employees Japanese twice a week, over the next six months।
All such institutes are meeting the demand for professionals familiar with Japanese। And the demand is high due to Japanese collaboration with India in making cars, electronic equipment and software।
Many of Nandy's students find regular placements in corporate and service sectors as interpreters, guides and translators, on a starting salary of about Rs।20,000 ($410) per month।
Now management trainees, software and IT professionals are also joining her courses along with school and college students, to master the nuances and the complexities of the Japanese language and enhancing their job prospects।
Corporates like the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Cognizant Technologies also prefer computer engineers who are well versed in Japanese। TCS reportedly gives generous waivers for the purpose and even reimburses fees।"One of the happiest and proudest moments of my life," recalls Nandy, "was when my student Jhimli Ghosh, a homemaker, cleared the first rung of the advanced level in a single attempt with only 380 hours of study, though a minimum of 600 hours are required।"Her oldest pupils include two retired professors, one of whom is a woman and is currently preparing for advanced level tests। The other had earlier completed a 10-month teachers' training programme in Japan on a scholarship।Recently, Nandy scripted and directed a skit, "Gakusei to Sensei" (Student and Teacher), entirely in Japanese, enacted by tiny tots in her summer classes। They conveyed the difficulties of mastering Japanese characters।The JLA, which has produced over 400 Japanese speakers since its inception, is recognised by the Japan Foundation for excellence, a distinction it shares with institutions like Viswa Bharati University, Jadavpur University, Rabindra Bharati University and the Ramakrishna Mission."Of course, without the support of the foundation it would have been difficult to conduct classes regularly," Nandy says.The Japan Foundation also provides books to the academy every year.The foundation has 20 overseas branches, including in India, to promote cultural, educational and academic activities on behalf of the Japanese government. It offers scholarships, teaching materials, student exchange programmes and guidance.Explaining the intricacies of learning Japanese, Nandy said it has three distinct scripts - Hiragana (traditional), Katakana, a repertoire of foreign words (in Japanese) and Kanji (pictogram), which denotes a single word with a single picture.The language has 46 syllables, each being made up of one consonant and one vowel. "There are a lot of similarities in sentence construction between Bengali, Hindi and Japanese," she says.The complete course comprises four levels, each lasting a year or more from the basic (easiest) through intermediate to advanced levels, making the students eligible for the Japanese language proficiency test (JLPT).The tests are conducted by the Japan Foundation.The highest level requires a through grasp of 2,000 Kanjis, 10,000 words and 900 hours of study, and the ability to read Japanese newspapers and novels like a native born।Initially 7,000 people took the JLPT, set up in 1984 in response to a growing demand for standardised Japanese language certification। In 2004, JLPT was offered in 40 countries, including Japan; 302,198 people took the test.In 2007, 430,137 candidates worldwide took the test - 110,937 for the highest level. Only about a quarter passed the highest level.In 2008, only eight out of 450 candidates who took the JLPT in eastern India sat for the highest level test; 86 appeared for the next level. Nandy said most candidates were between 19 and 25 years. The candidates included 16 from JLA."Very few are able to clear the two rungs of the advanced level in the first attempt," said Nandy. "They are meant for serious research, doctoral or technical work and require five to six years to complete."
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-75130.html
Academy (JLA) which was set up 20 years ago at the Salt Lake suburb here by Kum Kum Nandy, who is also an Origami artist।The JLA has notched up a string of successes and has been among the few institutions at the forefront of this quiet linguistic boom sweeping the eastern part of India।
A California-based corporate house approached Nandy last month to teach 16 of its Indian employees Japanese twice a week, over the next six months।
All such institutes are meeting the demand for professionals familiar with Japanese। And the demand is high due to Japanese collaboration with India in making cars, electronic equipment and software।
Many of Nandy's students find regular placements in corporate and service sectors as interpreters, guides and translators, on a starting salary of about Rs।20,000 ($410) per month।
Now management trainees, software and IT professionals are also joining her courses along with school and college students, to master the nuances and the complexities of the Japanese language and enhancing their job prospects।
Corporates like the Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) and Cognizant Technologies also prefer computer engineers who are well versed in Japanese। TCS reportedly gives generous waivers for the purpose and even reimburses fees।"One of the happiest and proudest moments of my life," recalls Nandy, "was when my student Jhimli Ghosh, a homemaker, cleared the first rung of the advanced level in a single attempt with only 380 hours of study, though a minimum of 600 hours are required।"Her oldest pupils include two retired professors, one of whom is a woman and is currently preparing for advanced level tests। The other had earlier completed a 10-month teachers' training programme in Japan on a scholarship।Recently, Nandy scripted and directed a skit, "Gakusei to Sensei" (Student and Teacher), entirely in Japanese, enacted by tiny tots in her summer classes। They conveyed the difficulties of mastering Japanese characters।The JLA, which has produced over 400 Japanese speakers since its inception, is recognised by the Japan Foundation for excellence, a distinction it shares with institutions like Viswa Bharati University, Jadavpur University, Rabindra Bharati University and the Ramakrishna Mission."Of course, without the support of the foundation it would have been difficult to conduct classes regularly," Nandy says.The Japan Foundation also provides books to the academy every year.The foundation has 20 overseas branches, including in India, to promote cultural, educational and academic activities on behalf of the Japanese government. It offers scholarships, teaching materials, student exchange programmes and guidance.Explaining the intricacies of learning Japanese, Nandy said it has three distinct scripts - Hiragana (traditional), Katakana, a repertoire of foreign words (in Japanese) and Kanji (pictogram), which denotes a single word with a single picture.The language has 46 syllables, each being made up of one consonant and one vowel. "There are a lot of similarities in sentence construction between Bengali, Hindi and Japanese," she says.The complete course comprises four levels, each lasting a year or more from the basic (easiest) through intermediate to advanced levels, making the students eligible for the Japanese language proficiency test (JLPT).The tests are conducted by the Japan Foundation.The highest level requires a through grasp of 2,000 Kanjis, 10,000 words and 900 hours of study, and the ability to read Japanese newspapers and novels like a native born।Initially 7,000 people took the JLPT, set up in 1984 in response to a growing demand for standardised Japanese language certification। In 2004, JLPT was offered in 40 countries, including Japan; 302,198 people took the test.In 2007, 430,137 candidates worldwide took the test - 110,937 for the highest level. Only about a quarter passed the highest level.In 2008, only eight out of 450 candidates who took the JLPT in eastern India sat for the highest level test; 86 appeared for the next level. Nandy said most candidates were between 19 and 25 years. The candidates included 16 from JLA."Very few are able to clear the two rungs of the advanced level in the first attempt," said Nandy. "They are meant for serious research, doctoral or technical work and require five to six years to complete."
http://www.newkerala.com/topstory-fullnews-75130.html
Students looking for stability in future employer
For university and post-graduate students expected to graduate in 2010, "stability" is now the most desirable trait in any potential employer, according to a poll conducted by Mainichi Communications।
The survey, which was released Wednesday, revealed company stability as the highest priority for the first time in the poll's six-year history, with 54।2 percent of respondents making it their top pick, a 7.1 point increase over last year's results. Respondents to this year's survey feel anxious over worsening corporate earnings stemming from the deepening economic downturn, and are becoming focused on stability and security as a result.
For the first five years that the survey was conducted, the main desirable trait in a potential employer was "a good company atmosphere," which this year fell 1।8 points to second spot. Coming in third was "a company with potential," which gained 1.1 points over last year's results.
The survey was conducted over the Internet from Dec। 26 to Jan. 4, and collected answers from 1,250 respondents.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090115p2a00m0na014000c.html
The survey, which was released Wednesday, revealed company stability as the highest priority for the first time in the poll's six-year history, with 54।2 percent of respondents making it their top pick, a 7.1 point increase over last year's results. Respondents to this year's survey feel anxious over worsening corporate earnings stemming from the deepening economic downturn, and are becoming focused on stability and security as a result.
For the first five years that the survey was conducted, the main desirable trait in a potential employer was "a good company atmosphere," which this year fell 1।8 points to second spot. Coming in third was "a company with potential," which gained 1.1 points over last year's results.
The survey was conducted over the Internet from Dec। 26 to Jan. 4, and collected answers from 1,250 respondents.
http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20090115p2a00m0na014000c.html
Monday, January 05, 2009
Japan to raise English fluency
The Japanese government has set an ambitious goal of making the Japanese fluent in English, by recommending that all English classes for those aged 16 to 18 are taught mainly in that language from 2013।
The inability of most Japanese to speak English, despite compulsory classes from the age of 13, is well known and a source of embarrassment for Japan।
In Stockholm last month, Professor Toshihide Masukawa, a co-winner of this year's Nobel Prize in physics, insisted on delivering his lecture in Japanese।
Despite being able to read scientific literature in English, the 68-year-old academic cannot communicate in English and is known to dislike the language। But one thing he regretted was not being able to converse with other Nobel laureates.
The revised curriculum guideline recently announced by the Education Ministry is aimed at avoiding such situations।
English teachers at senior high schools in Japan will teach their classes in English and limit the use of Japanese only to the explanation of complicated grammar।
Senior high school students will also be required to master 1,800 new English words, up from the present quota of 1,300, while those aged 13 to 15 at junior high school will have to learn 3,000 new words, an increase of 800।
The new quotas will put the Japanese on a par with the level of English taught at schools in China and South Korea।
Mr Tsutomu Shiozaki, head of a national federation of English teachers, welcomed the new guidelines।
'People say that if we teach entirely in English, students will not be able to follow the lessons। That's not true. Language is to be used. If we use it often, students' awareness will change,' he was quoted as saying by the Asahi Shimbun.
Mr Shiozaki is the headmaster of a senior high school which was one of several chosen by the ministry a few years ago to teach English classes entirely in English।
But for most of Japan's English teachers, the new curriculum guideline is bad news, especially for those in their 40s and 50s who generally do not speak English well and are often terribly embarrassed by their pronunciation।
Mr Yo Hamada, 26, an English teacher at a school in Yokote city, Akita prefecture in northern Japan, feels it is pointless to teach in English if the format of university entrance examinations remains unchanged।
At present, English classes at high school focus on helping students to pass these examinations, which test only reading and comprehension and include a listening section। This is why, while most Japanese leave school able to read and write English to some extent, few end up being able to speak the language.
'Unless the requirements of entrance exams are changed, in fact unless the whole system of English education is changed, I do not see the point of trying to teach in English। I myself am reluctant to do so,' said Mr Yo.
He is proficient in English, having attended graduate school at the Tokyo campus of an American university।
Professor Matsuo Kimura, an English language education expert at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, believes that with the right training, it is feasible to teach in English। But he stressed that an integrated English curriculum from primary to senior high school is necessary to produce students who can speak English.
'At present, such a curriculum does not exist,' he said।
From 2011, 11- and 12-year-old Japanese children in primary schools will spend an hour a week using simple English for 'international understanding'।
But many think that is not enough।
Getting the pronunciation right is a problem for most Japanese and when the typical Japanese speaks English, it is often barely intelligible to a foreigner।
Most Japanese learners use the Japanese script to notate English sounds - something which virtually guarantees that what comes out of their mouths resembles Japanese more than English।
'Unless the requirements of entrance exams are changed, in fact unless the whole system of English education is changed, I do not see the point of trying to teach in English। I myself am reluctant to do so.'
Mr Yo Hamada, an English teacher। Japan's high schools focus on helping students pass university entrance exams, which test reading and listening skills, but not speaking skills.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Asia/Story/STIStory_321075.html
The inability of most Japanese to speak English, despite compulsory classes from the age of 13, is well known and a source of embarrassment for Japan।
In Stockholm last month, Professor Toshihide Masukawa, a co-winner of this year's Nobel Prize in physics, insisted on delivering his lecture in Japanese।
Despite being able to read scientific literature in English, the 68-year-old academic cannot communicate in English and is known to dislike the language। But one thing he regretted was not being able to converse with other Nobel laureates.
The revised curriculum guideline recently announced by the Education Ministry is aimed at avoiding such situations।
English teachers at senior high schools in Japan will teach their classes in English and limit the use of Japanese only to the explanation of complicated grammar।
Senior high school students will also be required to master 1,800 new English words, up from the present quota of 1,300, while those aged 13 to 15 at junior high school will have to learn 3,000 new words, an increase of 800।
The new quotas will put the Japanese on a par with the level of English taught at schools in China and South Korea।
Mr Tsutomu Shiozaki, head of a national federation of English teachers, welcomed the new guidelines।
'People say that if we teach entirely in English, students will not be able to follow the lessons। That's not true. Language is to be used. If we use it often, students' awareness will change,' he was quoted as saying by the Asahi Shimbun.
Mr Shiozaki is the headmaster of a senior high school which was one of several chosen by the ministry a few years ago to teach English classes entirely in English।
But for most of Japan's English teachers, the new curriculum guideline is bad news, especially for those in their 40s and 50s who generally do not speak English well and are often terribly embarrassed by their pronunciation।
Mr Yo Hamada, 26, an English teacher at a school in Yokote city, Akita prefecture in northern Japan, feels it is pointless to teach in English if the format of university entrance examinations remains unchanged।
At present, English classes at high school focus on helping students to pass these examinations, which test only reading and comprehension and include a listening section। This is why, while most Japanese leave school able to read and write English to some extent, few end up being able to speak the language.
'Unless the requirements of entrance exams are changed, in fact unless the whole system of English education is changed, I do not see the point of trying to teach in English। I myself am reluctant to do so,' said Mr Yo.
He is proficient in English, having attended graduate school at the Tokyo campus of an American university।
Professor Matsuo Kimura, an English language education expert at Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, believes that with the right training, it is feasible to teach in English। But he stressed that an integrated English curriculum from primary to senior high school is necessary to produce students who can speak English.
'At present, such a curriculum does not exist,' he said।
From 2011, 11- and 12-year-old Japanese children in primary schools will spend an hour a week using simple English for 'international understanding'।
But many think that is not enough।
Getting the pronunciation right is a problem for most Japanese and when the typical Japanese speaks English, it is often barely intelligible to a foreigner।
Most Japanese learners use the Japanese script to notate English sounds - something which virtually guarantees that what comes out of their mouths resembles Japanese more than English।
'Unless the requirements of entrance exams are changed, in fact unless the whole system of English education is changed, I do not see the point of trying to teach in English। I myself am reluctant to do so.'
Mr Yo Hamada, an English teacher। Japan's high schools focus on helping students pass university entrance exams, which test reading and listening skills, but not speaking skills.
http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking+News/Asia/Story/STIStory_321075.html
Thursday, January 01, 2009
Workforce welcomes skilled foreigners
An increasing number of foreign university students are staying in Japan to work after they graduate, with Japanese firms regarding such hires as potential assets in their efforts to expand operations overseas।
While the current economic recession may slow the hiring of foreign graduates, observers believe the trend is likely to increase in the long run।
Siyana Samsudeen joined Fujitsu Ltd। in 2007 after graduating from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Oita Prefecture. The 26-year-old Sri Lankan holds the title of Bridge System Engineer, and liaises with Fujitsu's software development partners in China, India and other countries to ensure clients' requests are properly communicated.
"Bridge SEs will be needed more and more, so I think this job has good prospects for the future," she said।
Eugene Aksenov joined Fujitsu in 2007 after completing Tohoku University graduate school। Aksenov, a 26-year-old Australian national born in the former Soviet Union, works in the firm's Global Human Resources Management Division, providing clerical support for overseas branches.
"I hope to use my multilingual abilities to send messages abroad। One day, I want to work in an overseas branch myself," he said.
Kizo Tagomori, head of the firm's human resources recruitment center, said, "There's very little need for foreign staffers on the ground right now, but in five to 10 years there'll definitely be areas where they'll be useful।"
Such positions could include working in overseas branches to act as mediators with offices in Japan।
The number of foreign students who changed their resident status after receiving a job offer from a Japanese firm--as Justice Ministry Immigration Bureau regulations allow in certain cases--numbered 10,262 in 2007, up 24 percent from the previous year। The 2007 figure was double that of 2004, and triple that of 2002.
Prof। Mitsuhide Shiraki, the dean of Waseda University's Center for International Education, said: "The number of Japanese people in the workforce will soon be decreasing by 300,000 to 400,000 per year. For firms to secure skilled personnel, employing foreign graduates will be more and more important."
The government hopes to increase the number of foreigners studying at tertiary level in Japan from the current 120,000 to 300,000 by around 2020। A plan drawn up in July calls for improved housing and job seeking support services for foreign students, to be mainly provided via a designated group of 30 universities.
Major staffing agency Pasona Inc। this year launched a Web site designed specifically for foreign students, a further indication of the private sector's interest in foreign graduates.
However, some outstanding issues are yet to be addressed।
Tagomori noted the dissonance between firms' recruiting priorities and the admissions policies of Japanese universities। While firms seek graduates with math and science majors, most foreign students accepted by universities here are liberal arts students.
Shiraki said firms also need to work on their approach to potential foreign recruits, saying: "Japanese firms don't map out the possible career course of a potential employee। This doesn't suit the thinking of foreign graduates, who tend to have clear career goals such as focusing on research or developing their management skills."
Japanese firms engaging greater numbers of skilled foreign workers is a recent development, and the success of such partnerships can not yet be fully assessed।
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081229TDY07301.htm
While the current economic recession may slow the hiring of foreign graduates, observers believe the trend is likely to increase in the long run।
Siyana Samsudeen joined Fujitsu Ltd। in 2007 after graduating from Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Oita Prefecture. The 26-year-old Sri Lankan holds the title of Bridge System Engineer, and liaises with Fujitsu's software development partners in China, India and other countries to ensure clients' requests are properly communicated.
"Bridge SEs will be needed more and more, so I think this job has good prospects for the future," she said।
Eugene Aksenov joined Fujitsu in 2007 after completing Tohoku University graduate school। Aksenov, a 26-year-old Australian national born in the former Soviet Union, works in the firm's Global Human Resources Management Division, providing clerical support for overseas branches.
"I hope to use my multilingual abilities to send messages abroad। One day, I want to work in an overseas branch myself," he said.
Kizo Tagomori, head of the firm's human resources recruitment center, said, "There's very little need for foreign staffers on the ground right now, but in five to 10 years there'll definitely be areas where they'll be useful।"
Such positions could include working in overseas branches to act as mediators with offices in Japan।
The number of foreign students who changed their resident status after receiving a job offer from a Japanese firm--as Justice Ministry Immigration Bureau regulations allow in certain cases--numbered 10,262 in 2007, up 24 percent from the previous year। The 2007 figure was double that of 2004, and triple that of 2002.
Prof। Mitsuhide Shiraki, the dean of Waseda University's Center for International Education, said: "The number of Japanese people in the workforce will soon be decreasing by 300,000 to 400,000 per year. For firms to secure skilled personnel, employing foreign graduates will be more and more important."
The government hopes to increase the number of foreigners studying at tertiary level in Japan from the current 120,000 to 300,000 by around 2020। A plan drawn up in July calls for improved housing and job seeking support services for foreign students, to be mainly provided via a designated group of 30 universities.
Major staffing agency Pasona Inc। this year launched a Web site designed specifically for foreign students, a further indication of the private sector's interest in foreign graduates.
However, some outstanding issues are yet to be addressed।
Tagomori noted the dissonance between firms' recruiting priorities and the admissions policies of Japanese universities। While firms seek graduates with math and science majors, most foreign students accepted by universities here are liberal arts students.
Shiraki said firms also need to work on their approach to potential foreign recruits, saying: "Japanese firms don't map out the possible career course of a potential employee। This doesn't suit the thinking of foreign graduates, who tend to have clear career goals such as focusing on research or developing their management skills."
Japanese firms engaging greater numbers of skilled foreign workers is a recent development, and the success of such partnerships can not yet be fully assessed।
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081229TDY07301.htm
No. of foreign students reaches record 124,000+
The number of foreign students studying in Japan reached a record 123,829 in the current fiscal year, up 5,331 from fiscal 2007, a student support organization announced Thursday।
It is notable that the number of students studying at institutions to acquire language skills and professional techniques increased 3,354 from a year earlier, the Japan Student Services Organization said।
It said foreign students think such schools will lead them to good jobs।
Students from China led the wave of foreign students with 72,766, followed by South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, while Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Oita Prefecture accepted the largest number of foreign students at 2,644, the organization said।
Among the foreign students in Japan, 32,666 were enrolled in graduate schools, 63,175 in university undergraduate programs, junior colleges or higher professional schools and 25,753 in professional schools, according to the organization।
The government aims to accept 300,000 foreign students, earmarking about 43 billion yen in the fiscal 2009 budget to achieve the goal by enhancing the scholarship system for foreign students and other measures।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D959OMAO0&show_article=1
It is notable that the number of students studying at institutions to acquire language skills and professional techniques increased 3,354 from a year earlier, the Japan Student Services Organization said।
It said foreign students think such schools will lead them to good jobs।
Students from China led the wave of foreign students with 72,766, followed by South Korea, Taiwan and Vietnam, while Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Oita Prefecture accepted the largest number of foreign students at 2,644, the organization said।
Among the foreign students in Japan, 32,666 were enrolled in graduate schools, 63,175 in university undergraduate programs, junior colleges or higher professional schools and 25,753 in professional schools, according to the organization।
The government aims to accept 300,000 foreign students, earmarking about 43 billion yen in the fiscal 2009 budget to achieve the goal by enhancing the scholarship system for foreign students and other measures।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D959OMAO0&show_article=1
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Japanese colleges allowed to offer courses overseas
The education ministry has issued a notification to allow Japanese universities and graduate schools to offer their undergraduate and graduate courses overseas in an apparent move to support their extension abroad, ministry sources said Monday।
While no universities have concrete plans to go international at present, it will be possible for students to gain credits at Japanese colleges without visiting Japan।
So far, Japanese colleges have been required to establish local subsidiaries when they promote educational and research activities overseas।
In advancing overseas, colleges and graduate schools need to fulfill certain criteria in the number of teachers and in facilities, according to the sources at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94UIHBO0&show_article=1
While no universities have concrete plans to go international at present, it will be possible for students to gain credits at Japanese colleges without visiting Japan।
So far, Japanese colleges have been required to establish local subsidiaries when they promote educational and research activities overseas।
In advancing overseas, colleges and graduate schools need to fulfill certain criteria in the number of teachers and in facilities, according to the sources at the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D94UIHBO0&show_article=1
Japan welcomes Chinese students
There are a multitude of talented people among Chinese students, and if it had not been for the Chinese students, Japan could not have achieved so much in its education for overseas students, said a Japanese education ministry official in a recent interview with Xinhua। "Chinese students are often referred to as being well-grounded in their academic studies, outstanding in their theoretical level and fine in their personal qualities at universities here," said Yuichi Oda, who is in charge of student exchange programs in the higher education bureau of Japan's Education Ministry। In colleges of Japan's universities, students from China command a large share, and they have played an important role in Japan's higher education, he added. "In a sense, Japan's education for overseas students can not possibly make progress without the participation of those from China," the official said. Chinese students account for more than 60 percent of overseas students studying in Japan, a marked rise from some 20 percent in 1983, according to Oda. Chinese students began to study in Japan in 1972 when the two nations normalized their diplomatic relations, but the number remained small until 1978, he said. It hit a peak in 2005 when a total of 80,592 Chinese students were studying in Japan. "There have been an increasing number of Chinese students studying in Japan since 1979 when the Chinese government-funded student exchange programs were launched," said Oda. In July 2008, six Japanese government departments, including the education, foreign and justice ministries, launched a program aiming to attract 300,000 overseas students to Japan. Under the program, relevant authorities will simplify immigration procedures, facilitate the internationalization of universities and provide support for overseas students in their daily life and employment. "Japan heartily welcomes Chinese students to Japan and is looking forward to a greater number of Chinese students under the program," Oda said.Source:Xinhua
Thursday, November 20, 2008
Romania Japan studies head hailed
Kanji Tsushima was deeply moved when he heard that one of the students in his Japanese-language class 30 years ago in Bucharest had won two awards for her role in introducing his country's culture to Romania by translating modern literature.
"She was by far the most enthusiastic student in my class" from 1976 to 1978 at Dalles Popular University, said Tsushima, who was then a second secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Romania।
His former student is Angela Hondru, who now heads the Japanese Studies Department at Hyperion University in Bucharest।
At the time Hondru was a student, there was nobody available for Japanese-language training, so Tsushima accepted the headmaster's request to teach at Dalles Popular University, hoping at the height of the Cold War that people in the Eastern European country would grow interested in Japan।
"Ms। Hondru was so inquisitive about Japanese affairs. It seemed that she had fallen in love with Japan," recalled Tsushima, 65, who was ambassador to Romania from April 2006 to September 2008 before retiring from the Foreign Ministry last month.
Hondru won a Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation for fiscal 2008 in July and the Japan Foundation Award for Japanese Language for fiscal 2008 on Oct। 1.
"I would not have come this far without my affection and respect for Japanese culture," Hondru said। "I would like to see the recognition of my work by the Japanese government as encouragement to further advance my teaching and research activities."
The 63-year-old professor said she was fascinated by Japan when she saw displays of a picture scroll depicting the 11th-century novel "The Tale of Genji" and an India ink painting at a national art museum in Bucharest in 1975। At the time, she was teaching English to junior high and high school students.
Hondru took over Tsushima's post as an instructor at the university after the diplomat completed his second posting in Bucharest in 1978। Hondru wrote a textbook on the Japanese language in 1980 before visiting Japan for the first time that summer through a language training program.
While translating works by Japanese novelists, including Yukio Mishima, Haruki Murakami and Osamu Dazai, Hondru took the initiative in launching the Japanese Studies Department at Hyperion University in 1990 and setting up Japanese-language courses at junior high schools in 1992 and high schools in 1996, earning her the nickname "Mother of Japanese-language education in Romania।"
Hondru also trained Romanian experts on Japanese affairs who have assumed posts at the University of Bucharest, Hyperion University and other institutions in Romania.
Helped by the popularity of Japanese "manga" and "anime" among youths, the number of Japanese-language students in Romania totals about 1,600 today, with many of them starting out under the supervision of Hondru, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and Romanian Ambassador to Japan Aurelian Neagu।
Hondru counts among her former students Neagu's son, Andrei, who works for a Japanese company operating in Romania, Neagu's secretary, Silvia Cercheaza, and Diana Tihan, press and cultural attache at the Romanian Embassy in Tokyo।
Romanians have found incentives to learn Japanese since the country joined the European Union in 2007, which created business opportunities for Japanese companies. As of July, 18 Japanese manufacturers operate in Romania, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
"Mr। Tsushima planted the seed and professor Hondru grew it into a big tree," Neagu said. "This, I would say, is a beautiful 'sempai-kohai' (senior-junior) relationship" that has helped broaden ties between the two countries.
Neagu said Tsushima was also known for teaching kendo to Romanians during his stints there and for building strong ties with the local kendo federation।
Looking back at his diplomatic career, including 30 years of friendship with Hondru and kendo practitioners in Romania, Tsushima called on young Japanese diplomats and citizens to pursue powerful cultural diplomacy, especially when Japan's economic clout appears to be declining amid the rise of China, India and other emerging countries।
Recently, Hondru has expanded the scope of her studies into Japan's folklore, comparing ceremonial occasions such as weddings and funerals between Japan and Romania। She also conducts research on Japanese myths and "kagura," a sacred dancing style of Shinto origin that dates from early times.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081118f2.html
"She was by far the most enthusiastic student in my class" from 1976 to 1978 at Dalles Popular University, said Tsushima, who was then a second secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Romania।
His former student is Angela Hondru, who now heads the Japanese Studies Department at Hyperion University in Bucharest।
At the time Hondru was a student, there was nobody available for Japanese-language training, so Tsushima accepted the headmaster's request to teach at Dalles Popular University, hoping at the height of the Cold War that people in the Eastern European country would grow interested in Japan।
"Ms। Hondru was so inquisitive about Japanese affairs. It seemed that she had fallen in love with Japan," recalled Tsushima, 65, who was ambassador to Romania from April 2006 to September 2008 before retiring from the Foreign Ministry last month.
Hondru won a Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation for fiscal 2008 in July and the Japan Foundation Award for Japanese Language for fiscal 2008 on Oct। 1.
"I would not have come this far without my affection and respect for Japanese culture," Hondru said। "I would like to see the recognition of my work by the Japanese government as encouragement to further advance my teaching and research activities."
The 63-year-old professor said she was fascinated by Japan when she saw displays of a picture scroll depicting the 11th-century novel "The Tale of Genji" and an India ink painting at a national art museum in Bucharest in 1975। At the time, she was teaching English to junior high and high school students.
Hondru took over Tsushima's post as an instructor at the university after the diplomat completed his second posting in Bucharest in 1978। Hondru wrote a textbook on the Japanese language in 1980 before visiting Japan for the first time that summer through a language training program.
While translating works by Japanese novelists, including Yukio Mishima, Haruki Murakami and Osamu Dazai, Hondru took the initiative in launching the Japanese Studies Department at Hyperion University in 1990 and setting up Japanese-language courses at junior high schools in 1992 and high schools in 1996, earning her the nickname "Mother of Japanese-language education in Romania।"
Hondru also trained Romanian experts on Japanese affairs who have assumed posts at the University of Bucharest, Hyperion University and other institutions in Romania.
Helped by the popularity of Japanese "manga" and "anime" among youths, the number of Japanese-language students in Romania totals about 1,600 today, with many of them starting out under the supervision of Hondru, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and Romanian Ambassador to Japan Aurelian Neagu।
Hondru counts among her former students Neagu's son, Andrei, who works for a Japanese company operating in Romania, Neagu's secretary, Silvia Cercheaza, and Diana Tihan, press and cultural attache at the Romanian Embassy in Tokyo।
Romanians have found incentives to learn Japanese since the country joined the European Union in 2007, which created business opportunities for Japanese companies. As of July, 18 Japanese manufacturers operate in Romania, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
"Mr। Tsushima planted the seed and professor Hondru grew it into a big tree," Neagu said. "This, I would say, is a beautiful 'sempai-kohai' (senior-junior) relationship" that has helped broaden ties between the two countries.
Neagu said Tsushima was also known for teaching kendo to Romanians during his stints there and for building strong ties with the local kendo federation।
Looking back at his diplomatic career, including 30 years of friendship with Hondru and kendo practitioners in Romania, Tsushima called on young Japanese diplomats and citizens to pursue powerful cultural diplomacy, especially when Japan's economic clout appears to be declining amid the rise of China, India and other emerging countries।
Recently, Hondru has expanded the scope of her studies into Japan's folklore, comparing ceremonial occasions such as weddings and funerals between Japan and Romania। She also conducts research on Japanese myths and "kagura," a sacred dancing style of Shinto origin that dates from early times.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081118f2.html
Romania Japan studies head hailed
Kanji Tsushima was deeply moved when he heard that one of the students in his Japanese-language class 30 years ago in Bucharest had won two awards for her role in introducing his country's culture to Romania by translating modern literature.
"She was by far the most enthusiastic student in my class" from 1976 to 1978 at Dalles Popular University, said Tsushima, who was then a second secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Romania।
His former student is Angela Hondru, who now heads the Japanese Studies Department at Hyperion University in Bucharest।
At the time Hondru was a student, there was nobody available for Japanese-language training, so Tsushima accepted the headmaster's request to teach at Dalles Popular University, hoping at the height of the Cold War that people in the Eastern European country would grow interested in Japan।
"Ms। Hondru was so inquisitive about Japanese affairs. It seemed that she had fallen in love with Japan," recalled Tsushima, 65, who was ambassador to Romania from April 2006 to September 2008 before retiring from the Foreign Ministry last month.
Hondru won a Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation for fiscal 2008 in July and the Japan Foundation Award for Japanese Language for fiscal 2008 on Oct। 1.
"I would not have come this far without my affection and respect for Japanese culture," Hondru said। "I would like to see the recognition of my work by the Japanese government as encouragement to further advance my teaching and research activities."
The 63-year-old professor said she was fascinated by Japan when she saw displays of a picture scroll depicting the 11th-century novel "The Tale of Genji" and an India ink painting at a national art museum in Bucharest in 1975। At the time, she was teaching English to junior high and high school students.
Hondru took over Tsushima's post as an instructor at the university after the diplomat completed his second posting in Bucharest in 1978। Hondru wrote a textbook on the Japanese language in 1980 before visiting Japan for the first time that summer through a language training program.
While translating works by Japanese novelists, including Yukio Mishima, Haruki Murakami and Osamu Dazai, Hondru took the initiative in launching the Japanese Studies Department at Hyperion University in 1990 and setting up Japanese-language courses at junior high schools in 1992 and high schools in 1996, earning her the nickname "Mother of Japanese-language education in Romania।"
Hondru also trained Romanian experts on Japanese affairs who have assumed posts at the University of Bucharest, Hyperion University and other institutions in Romania.
Helped by the popularity of Japanese "manga" and "anime" among youths, the number of Japanese-language students in Romania totals about 1,600 today, with many of them starting out under the supervision of Hondru, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and Romanian Ambassador to Japan Aurelian Neagu।
Hondru counts among her former students Neagu's son, Andrei, who works for a Japanese company operating in Romania, Neagu's secretary, Silvia Cercheaza, and Diana Tihan, press and cultural attache at the Romanian Embassy in Tokyo।
Romanians have found incentives to learn Japanese since the country joined the European Union in 2007, which created business opportunities for Japanese companies. As of July, 18 Japanese manufacturers operate in Romania, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
"Mr। Tsushima planted the seed and professor Hondru grew it into a big tree," Neagu said. "This, I would say, is a beautiful 'sempai-kohai' (senior-junior) relationship" that has helped broaden ties between the two countries.
Neagu said Tsushima was also known for teaching kendo to Romanians during his stints there and for building strong ties with the local kendo federation।
Looking back at his diplomatic career, including 30 years of friendship with Hondru and kendo practitioners in Romania, Tsushima called on young Japanese diplomats and citizens to pursue powerful cultural diplomacy, especially when Japan's economic clout appears to be declining amid the rise of China, India and other emerging countries।
Recently, Hondru has expanded the scope of her studies into Japan's folklore, comparing ceremonial occasions such as weddings and funerals between Japan and Romania। She also conducts research on Japanese myths and "kagura," a sacred dancing style of Shinto origin that dates from early times.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081118f2.html
"She was by far the most enthusiastic student in my class" from 1976 to 1978 at Dalles Popular University, said Tsushima, who was then a second secretary at the Japanese Embassy in Romania।
His former student is Angela Hondru, who now heads the Japanese Studies Department at Hyperion University in Bucharest।
At the time Hondru was a student, there was nobody available for Japanese-language training, so Tsushima accepted the headmaster's request to teach at Dalles Popular University, hoping at the height of the Cold War that people in the Eastern European country would grow interested in Japan।
"Ms। Hondru was so inquisitive about Japanese affairs. It seemed that she had fallen in love with Japan," recalled Tsushima, 65, who was ambassador to Romania from April 2006 to September 2008 before retiring from the Foreign Ministry last month.
Hondru won a Japanese Foreign Minister's Commendation for fiscal 2008 in July and the Japan Foundation Award for Japanese Language for fiscal 2008 on Oct। 1.
"I would not have come this far without my affection and respect for Japanese culture," Hondru said। "I would like to see the recognition of my work by the Japanese government as encouragement to further advance my teaching and research activities."
The 63-year-old professor said she was fascinated by Japan when she saw displays of a picture scroll depicting the 11th-century novel "The Tale of Genji" and an India ink painting at a national art museum in Bucharest in 1975। At the time, she was teaching English to junior high and high school students.
Hondru took over Tsushima's post as an instructor at the university after the diplomat completed his second posting in Bucharest in 1978। Hondru wrote a textbook on the Japanese language in 1980 before visiting Japan for the first time that summer through a language training program.
While translating works by Japanese novelists, including Yukio Mishima, Haruki Murakami and Osamu Dazai, Hondru took the initiative in launching the Japanese Studies Department at Hyperion University in 1990 and setting up Japanese-language courses at junior high schools in 1992 and high schools in 1996, earning her the nickname "Mother of Japanese-language education in Romania।"
Hondru also trained Romanian experts on Japanese affairs who have assumed posts at the University of Bucharest, Hyperion University and other institutions in Romania.
Helped by the popularity of Japanese "manga" and "anime" among youths, the number of Japanese-language students in Romania totals about 1,600 today, with many of them starting out under the supervision of Hondru, according to the Foreign Ministry in Tokyo and Romanian Ambassador to Japan Aurelian Neagu।
Hondru counts among her former students Neagu's son, Andrei, who works for a Japanese company operating in Romania, Neagu's secretary, Silvia Cercheaza, and Diana Tihan, press and cultural attache at the Romanian Embassy in Tokyo।
Romanians have found incentives to learn Japanese since the country joined the European Union in 2007, which created business opportunities for Japanese companies. As of July, 18 Japanese manufacturers operate in Romania, according to the Japan External Trade Organization.
"Mr। Tsushima planted the seed and professor Hondru grew it into a big tree," Neagu said. "This, I would say, is a beautiful 'sempai-kohai' (senior-junior) relationship" that has helped broaden ties between the two countries.
Neagu said Tsushima was also known for teaching kendo to Romanians during his stints there and for building strong ties with the local kendo federation।
Looking back at his diplomatic career, including 30 years of friendship with Hondru and kendo practitioners in Romania, Tsushima called on young Japanese diplomats and citizens to pursue powerful cultural diplomacy, especially when Japan's economic clout appears to be declining amid the rise of China, India and other emerging countries।
Recently, Hondru has expanded the scope of her studies into Japan's folklore, comparing ceremonial occasions such as weddings and funerals between Japan and Romania। She also conducts research on Japanese myths and "kagura," a sacred dancing style of Shinto origin that dates from early times.
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20081118f2.html
Jobs forecast looks bleak for 2010 graduates
Students graduating from universities and other schools in spring 2010 face severely diminished employment prospects, according to an Asahi Shimbun survey of 100 large corporations.
Many employers plan to curb job offers for new graduates as the global financial crisis overshadows their earnings outlook।
The tough job environment will mark a reversal from the workers' market in recent years, when companies aggressively hired new recruits।
The Asahi Shimbun survey conducted from late October to early November found that 15 companies plan to reduce the number of new hirings in spring 2010 from the previous year.
Only two respondents plan to increase the number of new recruits।
The Asahi Shimbun annually conducts a similar survey around the end of March, when companies finalize their employment plans for the following spring।
While the findings of the latest survey cannot be compared directly with those studies, it marks the first time in seven years that more companies are reducing job offers than increasing them.
In the latest survey, as many as 39 companies said they have yet to decide on the plans for spring 2010, when current university juniors graduate, and 44 others said they plan to hire around the same number of new recruits।
Many of the companies that plan to reduce the number of new recruits cited deteriorating economic conditions।
An official at a chemical company said the company will take on fewer graduates due to the uncertain economic outlook।
An official at an electronics manufacturer said the company will have to cut down on new recruits if the current economic conditions continue।
Meanwhile, a company in the service industry said the firm will be adjusting the pace of employment to ordinary levels after years of expansion।
The number of companies reducing job offers will likely increase, however।
Some of the respondents that are still undecided about their 2010 hiring plans added that they are bracing for tough employment situations or that the best they can expect is to keep job offers around the same level as the previous year।
Still, a number of respondents said they planned to continue hiring new recruits in the medium to long term।
Many Japanese companies have disproportionately few employees in certain age brackets, because they squeezed hirings in the years after the collapse of the late 1980s asset-inflated economic boom।
An official at an electronics manufacturer said that even if the company decides to reduce the number of new recruits, an "extremely low figure" will be out of the question।
An official at a securities house said the firm needs a certain number of new recruits every year because the brokerage business depends on human resources।(IHT/Asahi: November 17,2008)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200811170090.html
Many employers plan to curb job offers for new graduates as the global financial crisis overshadows their earnings outlook।
The tough job environment will mark a reversal from the workers' market in recent years, when companies aggressively hired new recruits।
The Asahi Shimbun survey conducted from late October to early November found that 15 companies plan to reduce the number of new hirings in spring 2010 from the previous year.
Only two respondents plan to increase the number of new recruits।
The Asahi Shimbun annually conducts a similar survey around the end of March, when companies finalize their employment plans for the following spring।
While the findings of the latest survey cannot be compared directly with those studies, it marks the first time in seven years that more companies are reducing job offers than increasing them.
In the latest survey, as many as 39 companies said they have yet to decide on the plans for spring 2010, when current university juniors graduate, and 44 others said they plan to hire around the same number of new recruits।
Many of the companies that plan to reduce the number of new recruits cited deteriorating economic conditions।
An official at a chemical company said the company will take on fewer graduates due to the uncertain economic outlook।
An official at an electronics manufacturer said the company will have to cut down on new recruits if the current economic conditions continue।
Meanwhile, a company in the service industry said the firm will be adjusting the pace of employment to ordinary levels after years of expansion।
The number of companies reducing job offers will likely increase, however।
Some of the respondents that are still undecided about their 2010 hiring plans added that they are bracing for tough employment situations or that the best they can expect is to keep job offers around the same level as the previous year।
Still, a number of respondents said they planned to continue hiring new recruits in the medium to long term।
Many Japanese companies have disproportionately few employees in certain age brackets, because they squeezed hirings in the years after the collapse of the late 1980s asset-inflated economic boom।
An official at an electronics manufacturer said that even if the company decides to reduce the number of new recruits, an "extremely low figure" will be out of the question।
An official at a securities house said the firm needs a certain number of new recruits every year because the brokerage business depends on human resources।(IHT/Asahi: November 17,2008)
http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-asahi/TKY200811170090.html
Friday, November 07, 2008
Waseda Univ. extends tuition payment deadlines for foreign students
Waseda University announced Thursday it will extend for about three months tuition payment deadlines for its around 2,400 students from roughly 80 countries abroad enrolled in its undergraduate and graduate programs, saying the global financial crisis may be hitting their livelihood।
The major private university in Tokyo said 339 students from South Korea, for instance, have tuition payments in arrears, although the total includes those who had failed to make payments before the financial crisis started biting।
The South Korean won has depreciated particularly sharply against the Japanese yen, which makes yen-denominated payments more difficult for them। The university said it polled around 100 South Korean students and many of them said they have difficulty making ends meet and honoring tuition payments.
Also eligible for the extended deadlines are two students from Iceland, a country reeling from a massive outflow of bank deposits as the banking sector has collapsed।
The deadline is extended to January for the first semester and to July for the second semester, according to the university।
The university also announced that those enrolling in the 2009 school year after graduating from Japanese high schools outside Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures will be eligible for a grant of 400,000 yen per year, subject to meeting certain criteria such as household income levels।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D949DI000&show_article=1
The major private university in Tokyo said 339 students from South Korea, for instance, have tuition payments in arrears, although the total includes those who had failed to make payments before the financial crisis started biting।
The South Korean won has depreciated particularly sharply against the Japanese yen, which makes yen-denominated payments more difficult for them। The university said it polled around 100 South Korean students and many of them said they have difficulty making ends meet and honoring tuition payments.
Also eligible for the extended deadlines are two students from Iceland, a country reeling from a massive outflow of bank deposits as the banking sector has collapsed।
The deadline is extended to January for the first semester and to July for the second semester, according to the university।
The university also announced that those enrolling in the 2009 school year after graduating from Japanese high schools outside Tokyo and three neighboring prefectures will be eligible for a grant of 400,000 yen per year, subject to meeting certain criteria such as household income levels।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D949DI000&show_article=1
Medical school admission quotas to be expanded to record level
The education ministry announced Tuesday a plan to increase the total admission quotas of the medical departments at the nation's public and private universities to a record high 8,486 for school year a move intended to respond to the critical shortage of doctors।
The total represents an increase of 693 from a year earlier at 77 of the 79 institutions that have medical schools and the plan is expected to be finalized later this year। The previous record high was 8,280 in the academic year 1981.
Universities and colleges have also come up with incentives for prospective doctors to serve provincial areas by offering expanded scholarships and special admission quotas for students graduating from provincial high schools, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9484L9G0&show_article=1
The total represents an increase of 693 from a year earlier at 77 of the 79 institutions that have medical schools and the plan is expected to be finalized later this year। The previous record high was 8,280 in the academic year 1981.
Universities and colleges have also come up with incentives for prospective doctors to serve provincial areas by offering expanded scholarships and special admission quotas for students graduating from provincial high schools, according to the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D9484L9G0&show_article=1
Monday, November 03, 2008
After Merci, Pune may soon learn to say Arigato
Pune may soon be saying Arigato Gosaimasu in no uncertain terms as after France, it is Japan that has zeroed in on Pune as its prime destination to attract foreign students to their national universities। The embassy of Japan has recently asked Japan Students Service Organisation (JASSO) — a wing of Japan government’s ministry of education set up to assist international students — to concentrate on Pune.
“The number of students learning Japanese language in Pune is huge as compared to any other city in India, which can act as a potential student base for Japanese universities,” said Tomohiko Hikichi, deputy director, student and development department, JASSO।
He said development of Pune as an IT and automobile hub adds to its potential for Japanese universities to focus on Pune।
It may be recalled that during the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the head office of n+i, a consortium of 75 government-run engineering institutes, was shifted to Pune from Delhi.
Now, the Japan embassy also has recommended Pune as a perfect destination to attract students to their universities।
Hikichi was in the city on Saturday for the Japan Education Fair, jointly organised by JASSO and the Pune chapter of Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI), at Garware College। Around 1,000 city students visited the fair, which showcased 13 national universities from Japan.
“Considering the plus points of Pune, the embassy of Japan recommended JASSO to organise education fairs at Pune,” said Hikichi। This is the second year of the fair and the response so far is very good, he said. JASSO organises education fair in 20 cities of 10 Asian countries every year. Till 2006, Delhi was the only destination for JASSO in India to have education fair.
“Every year, around 2,000 students in Pune enroll for Japanese language classes। This is a huge number when compared to other parts of the country,” said Umesh Joshi, vice-president of MOSAI. “We requested JASSO to come to Pune and are glad they responded positively. It will help increase the number of students going to Japan for higher education,” said Joshi.
“So far, the number of Indian students going to Japan is very less — 480 last year — as compared to one lakh students of Chinese origin. There are very good opportunities in terms of employment after graduation in Japan. But many Indian students don’t know about it,” he said.
Hikichi pointed out that language was no barrier। “There are 30 universities in Japan which offer courses in English and there is no compulsion to learn Japanese. The Japanese government in fact encouraging universities to start delivering higher education in English,” he said.
Hikichi said the Japanese government had set the target of attracting 3 lakh international students to Japan till 2020। “We are definitely looking at India as one of the potential resource centres,” he said.
City to be the entry point to universities in Japan
Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI) has forwarded a proposal to Japan Students Service Organisation (JASSO) to make Pune a hub for conducting Entrance to Japanese Universities (EJU) tests।
“Presently, the EJU is conducted in Delhi। The examination is a gateway to Japanese universities for higher studies. Considering the students’ base in Pune, we have forwarded a proposal to JASSO to make Pune a centre for EJU,” said Joshi.
As a first step, MOSAI would start a training centre for students willing to take EJU examination। “We will start the training centre by January 2009. It has been observed that students find it difficult to clear EJU. The training centre will provide the required guidance,” he said.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/after-merci-pune-may-soon-learn-to-say-arigato/380247/
“The number of students learning Japanese language in Pune is huge as compared to any other city in India, which can act as a potential student base for Japanese universities,” said Tomohiko Hikichi, deputy director, student and development department, JASSO।
He said development of Pune as an IT and automobile hub adds to its potential for Japanese universities to focus on Pune।
It may be recalled that during the visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy, the head office of n+i, a consortium of 75 government-run engineering institutes, was shifted to Pune from Delhi.
Now, the Japan embassy also has recommended Pune as a perfect destination to attract students to their universities।
Hikichi was in the city on Saturday for the Japan Education Fair, jointly organised by JASSO and the Pune chapter of Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI), at Garware College। Around 1,000 city students visited the fair, which showcased 13 national universities from Japan.
“Considering the plus points of Pune, the embassy of Japan recommended JASSO to organise education fairs at Pune,” said Hikichi। This is the second year of the fair and the response so far is very good, he said. JASSO organises education fair in 20 cities of 10 Asian countries every year. Till 2006, Delhi was the only destination for JASSO in India to have education fair.
“Every year, around 2,000 students in Pune enroll for Japanese language classes। This is a huge number when compared to other parts of the country,” said Umesh Joshi, vice-president of MOSAI. “We requested JASSO to come to Pune and are glad they responded positively. It will help increase the number of students going to Japan for higher education,” said Joshi.
“So far, the number of Indian students going to Japan is very less — 480 last year — as compared to one lakh students of Chinese origin. There are very good opportunities in terms of employment after graduation in Japan. But many Indian students don’t know about it,” he said.
Hikichi pointed out that language was no barrier। “There are 30 universities in Japan which offer courses in English and there is no compulsion to learn Japanese. The Japanese government in fact encouraging universities to start delivering higher education in English,” he said.
Hikichi said the Japanese government had set the target of attracting 3 lakh international students to Japan till 2020। “We are definitely looking at India as one of the potential resource centres,” he said.
City to be the entry point to universities in Japan
Mombusho Scholars Association of India (MOSAI) has forwarded a proposal to Japan Students Service Organisation (JASSO) to make Pune a hub for conducting Entrance to Japanese Universities (EJU) tests।
“Presently, the EJU is conducted in Delhi। The examination is a gateway to Japanese universities for higher studies. Considering the students’ base in Pune, we have forwarded a proposal to JASSO to make Pune a centre for EJU,” said Joshi.
As a first step, MOSAI would start a training centre for students willing to take EJU examination। “We will start the training centre by January 2009. It has been observed that students find it difficult to clear EJU. The training centre will provide the required guidance,” he said.
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/after-merci-pune-may-soon-learn-to-say-arigato/380247/
KANAGAWA / School for Indian kids to open
A school will open in Midori Ward, Yokohama, in April to accommodate the children of Indians working in information technology businesses who live in and around the city।
A growing number of Indian IT firms have been setting up Japan bases in the city, particularly in the Minato Mirai district, and the municipal government's Economic and Tourism Bureau hopes to attract more Indian businesses by improving the education environment for Indian children।
The school will be run by the India International School in Japan (IISJ), a nonprofit organization that opened the first Indian school in Tokyo in 2004 with 27 students। It now has about 350 students.
The Tokyo-based NPO has rented from the Yokohama municipal government the 1,200-square-meter third floor of the defunct Kirigaoka No। 3 Primary School in Midori Ward for the new school.
Children of Indians working for Indian companies in Yokohama will be able to take classes from the kindergarten- to high school-level। Indian curricula will be used so that children will not have fallen behind in their studies when they return to India. English and high-level mathematics--characteristic of Indian education--will be taught by Indian teachers. The children will also have an option of taking a course of Japanese as a second language.
The city has succeeded in attracting high-growth Indian businesses, such as Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Technologies, both of which are among the top information technology companies in India. These two companies set up bases in the Minato Mirai district in 2002.
The number of Indians registered with the municipal government has been growing--about 1,300 compared with about 1,100 two years ago।
In 2006, Yokohama Mayor Hiroshi Nakada exchanged a memorandum with an NPO based in Singapore in connection with opening an Indian school in the city। However, the municipal government abandoned this plan as only about 20 students applied to enroll, only 10 percent of the planned number.
Assuming that the new school probably would have an enrollment of about 30 students in the first year, the IISJ plans to cut running costs by having teachers teach more than one subject.
V।B. Rupani, the school's vice principal, said he would use his connections to encourage Indian children to enroll at the school.
Citing the expectations of friends and colleagues in the school, he said he was determined to make the school a success and deepen relationships with the city।
Rupani, 61, is a former member of the board of directors of the Indian Merchants Association of Yokohama and the president of a trading firm।
For further information, in English only, call IISJ Tokyo School at (03) 3635-7850 .
(Nov। 1, 2008)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081101TDY15001.htm
A growing number of Indian IT firms have been setting up Japan bases in the city, particularly in the Minato Mirai district, and the municipal government's Economic and Tourism Bureau hopes to attract more Indian businesses by improving the education environment for Indian children।
The school will be run by the India International School in Japan (IISJ), a nonprofit organization that opened the first Indian school in Tokyo in 2004 with 27 students। It now has about 350 students.
The Tokyo-based NPO has rented from the Yokohama municipal government the 1,200-square-meter third floor of the defunct Kirigaoka No। 3 Primary School in Midori Ward for the new school.
Children of Indians working for Indian companies in Yokohama will be able to take classes from the kindergarten- to high school-level। Indian curricula will be used so that children will not have fallen behind in their studies when they return to India. English and high-level mathematics--characteristic of Indian education--will be taught by Indian teachers. The children will also have an option of taking a course of Japanese as a second language.
The city has succeeded in attracting high-growth Indian businesses, such as Tata Consultancy Services and Wipro Technologies, both of which are among the top information technology companies in India. These two companies set up bases in the Minato Mirai district in 2002.
The number of Indians registered with the municipal government has been growing--about 1,300 compared with about 1,100 two years ago।
In 2006, Yokohama Mayor Hiroshi Nakada exchanged a memorandum with an NPO based in Singapore in connection with opening an Indian school in the city। However, the municipal government abandoned this plan as only about 20 students applied to enroll, only 10 percent of the planned number.
Assuming that the new school probably would have an enrollment of about 30 students in the first year, the IISJ plans to cut running costs by having teachers teach more than one subject.
V।B. Rupani, the school's vice principal, said he would use his connections to encourage Indian children to enroll at the school.
Citing the expectations of friends and colleagues in the school, he said he was determined to make the school a success and deepen relationships with the city।
Rupani, 61, is a former member of the board of directors of the Indian Merchants Association of Yokohama and the president of a trading firm।
For further information, in English only, call IISJ Tokyo School at (03) 3635-7850 .
(Nov। 1, 2008)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081101TDY15001.htm
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Counseling for the job hunt
Foreign students in Japan can find it hard to secure work after graduation, so some companies are finding business opportunities in helping them hone their job-hunting skills। Pasona, a major employment agency, announced Oct. 14 that it has contracted with Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo to give career counseling to its 40-plus foreign third-year students, most of whom are studying liberal arts and economics.
Pasona will coach students on how to write their resumes, prepare them for job interviews and brief them on the Japanese and global job market, according to Kinuko Yamamoto, senior managing director at Pasona Group Inc।
"It's becoming more common for universities to outsource career-counseling services," Yamamoto said। "Universities are even supporting students long after graduation, so they will remain loyal to their alma mater and potentially come back as donors."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20081028a1.html
Pasona will coach students on how to write their resumes, prepare them for job interviews and brief them on the Japanese and global job market, according to Kinuko Yamamoto, senior managing director at Pasona Group Inc।
"It's becoming more common for universities to outsource career-counseling services," Yamamoto said। "Universities are even supporting students long after graduation, so they will remain loyal to their alma mater and potentially come back as donors."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20081028a1.html
Foreign students to fill the halls
Rie Yoshinaga had a wide range of colleges to choose from।
Globalization: Of the 6,000 students at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Kyushu, nearly half come from abroad, as does the faculty। Classes are taught both in English and Japanese.
Having studied at a high school in Canada for 10 months, Yoshinaga, an 18-year-old native of Oita Prefecture in the northeast of Kyushu region, is perhaps more globally minded than many of her peers। She says she seriously considered applying for Australian universities — one of the closest English-speaking countries to Oita — until she realized there was an international university right in her hometown।
Yoshinaga is now a freshman at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), whose 99,000-sq।-meter hilltop campus commands a panoramic view of Beppu Bay, and where nearly half of the 6,000 students come from abroad, representing 87 countries. Half of the faculty are foreigners, and classes are taught both in English and Japanese. Proficiency in Japanese is not required for international students seeking admission, but once they get in, international and domestic students undergo intensive language training in the two languages, so that when they graduate, they should all have perfect bilingual — or trilingual, depending on their native tongue — capabilities.
"I found this university attractive because, while it is located in Japan, it is international," Yoshinaga said, noting that she had no interest at all in other Japanese universities। "I thought that, if I studied here, I could study Japan and its relations with other countries, including the rest of Asia, whereas if I went to Australia, I would be looking at Asia from an Australian perspective."
In the eight years since its establishment, APU has built a solid reputation for providing a multicultural and multilingual learning environment for all its students — a rare example among Japanese universities, where foreign students are a tiny minority and often segregated into their own programs separate from local students। APU has also breathed new life into a dying onsen (hot-spring) town, by providing a yearly inflow of 6,000 young students who spend their cash locally, and through joint research projects with local governments and industries.
Universities such as APU are becoming increasingly popular in Japan as the population rapidly grays and the pool of college-age students shrinks। To survive, some universities are trying to attract more foreign students. The Japanese government decided in July to make the recruitment of foreign students a "national strategy," committing itself to raising the number of foreign students from the current 118,000 to 300,000 by 2020 in hopes of improving the level of research at universities and attracting talent from overseas. To that end, Japan plans to ease immigration procedures, increase the number of classes taught in English and promote September admissions.
"The environment surrounding higher education is rapidly changing, and competition among universities is becoming stiff worldwide," said Hiroshi Ota, an associate professor at Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University who researches the internationalization of colleges around the world। "It's like what's happening to (Japanese players and) the Major League Baseball. Unless Japanese universities make themselves globally competitive, their researchers will be recruited overseas at high salaries and Japanese universities will be left out in the cold."
Ota cites the emergence of global university rankings in recent years as a major factor fueling competition — and a sense of urgency — among Japanese schools। According to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2008 announced Oct. 10, the University of Tokyo, regarded as Japan's equivalent to Harvard or Yale, was ranked 19th, down two places from last year.
Perhaps more disappointing for Japan's academic community, only three other universities — Kyoto University, Osaka University and the Tokyo Institute of Technology — cracked the top 100, while many colleges in the United States and the United Kingdom filled out the list.
In response, University of Tokyo Vice President Makoto Asashima said the latest THE-QS rankings do not reflect the "rapid changes" the university has implemented in the last few years to make itself more international। In the rankings, Japanese universities scored especially poorly in the ratios of international staff and students to local ones. But in 2005, the university set up an international relations division, whose staff has grown to 31 people. They have been coordinating international academic projects and student/ researcher exchange programs, Asashima said, noting that the university is doling out more scholarships and building new dorms to house 400 foreign students and researchers.
Ota of Hitotsubashi University also says such rankings are not comprehensive in their measurements। For one thing, the THE-QS evaluates the quality of research, not the quality of education or instruction, he says.
Ranking issues aside, Japan still can do a lot more to make its colleges attractive to students of all nationalities, experts say। A key indicator of a college's competitiveness is its ability to get its graduates good jobs. Japan has not been very aggressive in hiring foreign college graduates, though the trend is shifting.
Nearly 10 percent of 3,244 companies surveyed last year by the semigovernmental Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training report that they have hired foreigners who studied at Japanese universities in the last three years, a majority of which said they did so because they wanted to tap "excellent resources regardless of their nationality." Eighty percent of companies with experience hiring international students said they would like to hire such candidates again.
Still, job seekers' needs are surely not being fully met (see sidebar)। According to a June 2007 report compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, while nearly 40 percent of foreigners who have graduated from Japanese universities hope to find employment in Japan, only 25 percent have landed such positions. Pasona's own research of foreign students turning up at the company's job fair shows more and more are interested in finding work in Japan or with Japanese companies, company officials said.
Besides the current dearth of solid opportunities for foreign graduates in Japan, there are questions about schools themselves relying on such students to keep up enrollment। APU president Monte Cassim warns that universities should not look at foreign students merely as a marketing strategy.
"The presidents of many universities I have talked to around the world see internationalization of higher education in the context of finding new student markets," said Cassim, a Sri Lankan native who came to Japan as a student more than 35 years ago। "But if your only goal is to find new markets, why run a university?
"To me, the mission of universities is to find middle-to-long-term solutions to problems in society, and to keep sending out a message about what kind of society we should have। Without such a vision or an aspiration, universities would wander away from the right path."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20081028a1.html
Globalization: Of the 6,000 students at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Kyushu, nearly half come from abroad, as does the faculty। Classes are taught both in English and Japanese.
Having studied at a high school in Canada for 10 months, Yoshinaga, an 18-year-old native of Oita Prefecture in the northeast of Kyushu region, is perhaps more globally minded than many of her peers। She says she seriously considered applying for Australian universities — one of the closest English-speaking countries to Oita — until she realized there was an international university right in her hometown।
Yoshinaga is now a freshman at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University (APU), whose 99,000-sq।-meter hilltop campus commands a panoramic view of Beppu Bay, and where nearly half of the 6,000 students come from abroad, representing 87 countries. Half of the faculty are foreigners, and classes are taught both in English and Japanese. Proficiency in Japanese is not required for international students seeking admission, but once they get in, international and domestic students undergo intensive language training in the two languages, so that when they graduate, they should all have perfect bilingual — or trilingual, depending on their native tongue — capabilities.
"I found this university attractive because, while it is located in Japan, it is international," Yoshinaga said, noting that she had no interest at all in other Japanese universities। "I thought that, if I studied here, I could study Japan and its relations with other countries, including the rest of Asia, whereas if I went to Australia, I would be looking at Asia from an Australian perspective."
In the eight years since its establishment, APU has built a solid reputation for providing a multicultural and multilingual learning environment for all its students — a rare example among Japanese universities, where foreign students are a tiny minority and often segregated into their own programs separate from local students। APU has also breathed new life into a dying onsen (hot-spring) town, by providing a yearly inflow of 6,000 young students who spend their cash locally, and through joint research projects with local governments and industries.
Universities such as APU are becoming increasingly popular in Japan as the population rapidly grays and the pool of college-age students shrinks। To survive, some universities are trying to attract more foreign students. The Japanese government decided in July to make the recruitment of foreign students a "national strategy," committing itself to raising the number of foreign students from the current 118,000 to 300,000 by 2020 in hopes of improving the level of research at universities and attracting talent from overseas. To that end, Japan plans to ease immigration procedures, increase the number of classes taught in English and promote September admissions.
"The environment surrounding higher education is rapidly changing, and competition among universities is becoming stiff worldwide," said Hiroshi Ota, an associate professor at Tokyo's Hitotsubashi University who researches the internationalization of colleges around the world। "It's like what's happening to (Japanese players and) the Major League Baseball. Unless Japanese universities make themselves globally competitive, their researchers will be recruited overseas at high salaries and Japanese universities will be left out in the cold."
Ota cites the emergence of global university rankings in recent years as a major factor fueling competition — and a sense of urgency — among Japanese schools। According to the Times Higher Education-QS World University Rankings 2008 announced Oct. 10, the University of Tokyo, regarded as Japan's equivalent to Harvard or Yale, was ranked 19th, down two places from last year.
Perhaps more disappointing for Japan's academic community, only three other universities — Kyoto University, Osaka University and the Tokyo Institute of Technology — cracked the top 100, while many colleges in the United States and the United Kingdom filled out the list.
In response, University of Tokyo Vice President Makoto Asashima said the latest THE-QS rankings do not reflect the "rapid changes" the university has implemented in the last few years to make itself more international। In the rankings, Japanese universities scored especially poorly in the ratios of international staff and students to local ones. But in 2005, the university set up an international relations division, whose staff has grown to 31 people. They have been coordinating international academic projects and student/ researcher exchange programs, Asashima said, noting that the university is doling out more scholarships and building new dorms to house 400 foreign students and researchers.
Ota of Hitotsubashi University also says such rankings are not comprehensive in their measurements। For one thing, the THE-QS evaluates the quality of research, not the quality of education or instruction, he says.
Ranking issues aside, Japan still can do a lot more to make its colleges attractive to students of all nationalities, experts say। A key indicator of a college's competitiveness is its ability to get its graduates good jobs. Japan has not been very aggressive in hiring foreign college graduates, though the trend is shifting.
Nearly 10 percent of 3,244 companies surveyed last year by the semigovernmental Japan Institute for Labor Policy and Training report that they have hired foreigners who studied at Japanese universities in the last three years, a majority of which said they did so because they wanted to tap "excellent resources regardless of their nationality." Eighty percent of companies with experience hiring international students said they would like to hire such candidates again.
Still, job seekers' needs are surely not being fully met (see sidebar)। According to a June 2007 report compiled by the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, while nearly 40 percent of foreigners who have graduated from Japanese universities hope to find employment in Japan, only 25 percent have landed such positions. Pasona's own research of foreign students turning up at the company's job fair shows more and more are interested in finding work in Japan or with Japanese companies, company officials said.
Besides the current dearth of solid opportunities for foreign graduates in Japan, there are questions about schools themselves relying on such students to keep up enrollment। APU president Monte Cassim warns that universities should not look at foreign students merely as a marketing strategy.
"The presidents of many universities I have talked to around the world see internationalization of higher education in the context of finding new student markets," said Cassim, a Sri Lankan native who came to Japan as a student more than 35 years ago। "But if your only goal is to find new markets, why run a university?
"To me, the mission of universities is to find middle-to-long-term solutions to problems in society, and to keep sending out a message about what kind of society we should have। Without such a vision or an aspiration, universities would wander away from the right path."
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20081028a1.html
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Japanese Language Proficiency Test
OCTOBER 28, 2008 09:12
Universities around the world are in intense competition to attract foreign students, with a soaring number of students going abroad to study in this global era। The United States is the most favored destination. Though many want to return home after finishing their studies, some remain in America to contribute to its economic and scientific development. Drawing the world`s best and brightest students plays a key role in advancing a country. In the past, the United States attracted 60 percent of overseas students, but now faces a decline in university enrollment as higher education undergoes rapid globalization.
Attracting foreign students is more than recruiting talented scholars because it generates a profitable industry। When attracting overseas students, their spending on tuition fees, living expenses and visits by their families benefits the host country’s service revenues. Universities can enhance their image while earning profits from tuition. For this reason, a number of governments are keen to treat higher education as an industry. A case in point is Goethe House, or Campus France.
Japan is far ahead of other Asian countries in attracting foreign students। In 1983, then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone unveiled a plan on admitting 100,000 foreign students. Twenty five years later, that number has risen to 120,000. One problem, however, is that Chinese students accounted for 74 percent and Korean students 14 percent of Japan’s foreign students. The language barrier made it difficult to evaluate a student’s scholastic ability. To resolve the problem, Japan adopted two languages for use in administering the Japanese Language Proficiency Test for those who want to attend university in Japan.
In the face of declining student enrollment and growing financial difficulty, Korean universities is trying to attract foreign students। The number of overseas students reached 63,952 in April this year. The government announced the “Study Korea” project aimed to attract 100,000 foreign students by 2010. Korea has a similar problem with Japan in that most foreign students are from China attracted mainly by relatively cheap tuition. The Lee administration should pay attention to the Japanese government’s diversification of its language test to attract more foreign students.
Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee, (।com">shchung@donga।com)
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=100000&biid=2008102877588
Universities around the world are in intense competition to attract foreign students, with a soaring number of students going abroad to study in this global era। The United States is the most favored destination. Though many want to return home after finishing their studies, some remain in America to contribute to its economic and scientific development. Drawing the world`s best and brightest students plays a key role in advancing a country. In the past, the United States attracted 60 percent of overseas students, but now faces a decline in university enrollment as higher education undergoes rapid globalization.
Attracting foreign students is more than recruiting talented scholars because it generates a profitable industry। When attracting overseas students, their spending on tuition fees, living expenses and visits by their families benefits the host country’s service revenues. Universities can enhance their image while earning profits from tuition. For this reason, a number of governments are keen to treat higher education as an industry. A case in point is Goethe House, or Campus France.
Japan is far ahead of other Asian countries in attracting foreign students। In 1983, then Prime Minister Yasuhiro Nakasone unveiled a plan on admitting 100,000 foreign students. Twenty five years later, that number has risen to 120,000. One problem, however, is that Chinese students accounted for 74 percent and Korean students 14 percent of Japan’s foreign students. The language barrier made it difficult to evaluate a student’s scholastic ability. To resolve the problem, Japan adopted two languages for use in administering the Japanese Language Proficiency Test for those who want to attend university in Japan.
In the face of declining student enrollment and growing financial difficulty, Korean universities is trying to attract foreign students। The number of overseas students reached 63,952 in April this year. The government announced the “Study Korea” project aimed to attract 100,000 foreign students by 2010. Korea has a similar problem with Japan in that most foreign students are from China attracted mainly by relatively cheap tuition. The Lee administration should pay attention to the Japanese government’s diversification of its language test to attract more foreign students.
Editorial Writer Chung Sung-hee, (।com">shchung@donga।com)
http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=100000&biid=2008102877588
Monday, October 27, 2008
JAPANESE SCHOOLS MUST ATTRACT FOREIGN TALENT
As the world's best and brightest minds become a global commodity, U.S. and European universities are vying for the top students from abroad.
Universities in the United States are the most popular destination for elite students from China and other Asian countries. For Japanese universities to catch up with their U.S. and European counterparts, a drastic reexamination of policies on foreign students is necessary.
The government has outlined measures to increase the number of students from abroad from the current 120,000 to 300,000 a year by 2020.
If undergraduate and graduate schools are increasingly globalized and, consequently, research at those institutions is further invigorated, it will help advance the nation's science and technology as well as make Japanese industry more competitive in the global marketplace.
Among Western countries, the United States accommodates about 580,000 students from overseas, while France and Germany, both non-English speaking nations, accept about 250,000. The figures far surpass Japan's 120,000 foreign students.
The number of students accepted from abroad can be judged as a barometer of the attractiveness of universities of each country.
Under the measures to increase the number of students from overseas to 300,000, the government will select 30 universities as the hub of globalization of the nation's higher education system. These schools will award diplomas for courses with classes basically taught only in English and heighten educational standards by hiring more non-Japanese faculty.
Last year, the government began an educational program under the government-initiated Career Development Program for Foreign Students from Asia.
Under the program, universities and participating companies offer specialized educational classes that meet corporate needs, including business Japanese classes and practical training at companies, and students who take the classes are generally hired by the participating companies.
We believe further strengthening such industry-university cooperation also is necessary.
Another important part of the government's measures include promotion of Japanese language education overseas and centralization of international contacts for those who wish to study in Japan.
Deeper discussions should be held immediately to bring such ideas to fruition।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93KL6O80&show_article=1
Universities in the United States are the most popular destination for elite students from China and other Asian countries. For Japanese universities to catch up with their U.S. and European counterparts, a drastic reexamination of policies on foreign students is necessary.
The government has outlined measures to increase the number of students from abroad from the current 120,000 to 300,000 a year by 2020.
If undergraduate and graduate schools are increasingly globalized and, consequently, research at those institutions is further invigorated, it will help advance the nation's science and technology as well as make Japanese industry more competitive in the global marketplace.
Among Western countries, the United States accommodates about 580,000 students from overseas, while France and Germany, both non-English speaking nations, accept about 250,000. The figures far surpass Japan's 120,000 foreign students.
The number of students accepted from abroad can be judged as a barometer of the attractiveness of universities of each country.
Under the measures to increase the number of students from overseas to 300,000, the government will select 30 universities as the hub of globalization of the nation's higher education system. These schools will award diplomas for courses with classes basically taught only in English and heighten educational standards by hiring more non-Japanese faculty.
Last year, the government began an educational program under the government-initiated Career Development Program for Foreign Students from Asia.
Under the program, universities and participating companies offer specialized educational classes that meet corporate needs, including business Japanese classes and practical training at companies, and students who take the classes are generally hired by the participating companies.
We believe further strengthening such industry-university cooperation also is necessary.
Another important part of the government's measures include promotion of Japanese language education overseas and centralization of international contacts for those who wish to study in Japan.
Deeper discussions should be held immediately to bring such ideas to fruition।
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D93KL6O80&show_article=1
Pachinko academy draws in students
A stroll around Shinjuku Station will reveal plenty of pachinko parlors emitting noises of rapidly firing steel balls to the sound of pounding dance tunes। Such clamor is music to the ears of Ei Yoshida, president of G&E Business School — a pachinko academy to learn all there is to know about what is basically an upright pinball game.
“Our students either want to change their career,” says Yoshida from his third floor office on Shinjuku-dori Avenue, “or they are already working in pachinko and need to learn more।”
Established in 2006, G&E Business School annually instructs 200 students, aged between 19 and 25, to work in this massive industry। Although it has recently been facing a downturn, the industry still remains highly dynamic.
Classes include such subjects as programming of the machines, selecting background animations, marketing and management. Live machines in rows make the classroom look like a real parlor.
“When the students are finished here,” Yoshida says, “they go on to work at companies that produce the machines or in pachinko advertising।” The G&E brochure shows photos of graduates who have moved on to such heavyweight machine manufacturers such as Sankyo and Sammy. The president who, two decades ago, worked as a low-level employee at a parlor, sees pachinko as a business that is very unique to Japan’s landscape.
“As long as the site is 50 meters away from a school or hospital,” he says, “a parlor can be established anywhere।”
To play is easy। Players turn the machine’s dial to launch dozens of balls upward. The silver spheres then tumble downward through mazes of nails and into certain slots or gates that can yield many more balls. The machines are set at one of six cycles, each of which generates a different rate of payout.
Patrons cannot convert the balls to currency inside the parlor। (Only electronics, toiletries, and other small items are available for exchange.) Obtaining cash is done via a middleman at a satellite office away from the parlor. This extra step, by law, makes this form of gambling — a word Yoshida does not prefer — technically legal.
The origins of pachinko probably date back to a horizontal board game imported by an Osaka company from the United States in 1924। In 1948, the first parlor opened in Nagoya following the enactment of the Entertainment Establishments Control Law, under which the game was classified as a form of amusement rather than gambling.
The industry employs 300,000 people at its 14,000 parlors and in 2006, generated 25 trillion yen in turnover। This figure eclipses those of the lotteries, boat racing, horse racing, and other types of gambling combined. Maruhan, Japan’s largest hall operator which also dabbles in bowling and food services, collected revenues of 1.8 trillion yen for the term ending March 31, 2008. Last year, Forbes included two pachinko company presidents, Kunio Busujima of Sankyo and Han Chang-Woo of Maruhan, in their list of “Japan’s 40 Richest.”
While the industry is a sizeable force, overall revenue is down from its peak of 30 trillion yen in 1995। Yoshida, however, does not foresee a problem. “Before, without making much effort,” he says, “a parlor could make money. But now, a person not making any effort is losing business. It’s the basics of capitalism. There is a lot of competition.”
Along these lines, the industry is attempting to rid itself of the seedy, gang-ridden reputation it has acquired over the years and woo women into its halls by providing a clean and pleasant environment। Brand-name goods are increasingly being offered as prizes, and the romantic Korean drama “Fuyu no Sonata,” a large hit with Japanese women, has had its characters appear as background images on numerous machines by maker Kyoraku in recent months.
Yoshida hopes to soon expand his school to include branches in the cities of Nagoya and Osaka। “When I started in pachinko,” he says, “people thought I was entering the world of gangsters. But this is now a legitimate business.”
http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/pachinko-academy-draws-in-students
“Our students either want to change their career,” says Yoshida from his third floor office on Shinjuku-dori Avenue, “or they are already working in pachinko and need to learn more।”
Established in 2006, G&E Business School annually instructs 200 students, aged between 19 and 25, to work in this massive industry। Although it has recently been facing a downturn, the industry still remains highly dynamic.
Classes include such subjects as programming of the machines, selecting background animations, marketing and management. Live machines in rows make the classroom look like a real parlor.
“When the students are finished here,” Yoshida says, “they go on to work at companies that produce the machines or in pachinko advertising।” The G&E brochure shows photos of graduates who have moved on to such heavyweight machine manufacturers such as Sankyo and Sammy. The president who, two decades ago, worked as a low-level employee at a parlor, sees pachinko as a business that is very unique to Japan’s landscape.
“As long as the site is 50 meters away from a school or hospital,” he says, “a parlor can be established anywhere।”
To play is easy। Players turn the machine’s dial to launch dozens of balls upward. The silver spheres then tumble downward through mazes of nails and into certain slots or gates that can yield many more balls. The machines are set at one of six cycles, each of which generates a different rate of payout.
Patrons cannot convert the balls to currency inside the parlor। (Only electronics, toiletries, and other small items are available for exchange.) Obtaining cash is done via a middleman at a satellite office away from the parlor. This extra step, by law, makes this form of gambling — a word Yoshida does not prefer — technically legal.
The origins of pachinko probably date back to a horizontal board game imported by an Osaka company from the United States in 1924। In 1948, the first parlor opened in Nagoya following the enactment of the Entertainment Establishments Control Law, under which the game was classified as a form of amusement rather than gambling.
The industry employs 300,000 people at its 14,000 parlors and in 2006, generated 25 trillion yen in turnover। This figure eclipses those of the lotteries, boat racing, horse racing, and other types of gambling combined. Maruhan, Japan’s largest hall operator which also dabbles in bowling and food services, collected revenues of 1.8 trillion yen for the term ending March 31, 2008. Last year, Forbes included two pachinko company presidents, Kunio Busujima of Sankyo and Han Chang-Woo of Maruhan, in their list of “Japan’s 40 Richest.”
While the industry is a sizeable force, overall revenue is down from its peak of 30 trillion yen in 1995। Yoshida, however, does not foresee a problem. “Before, without making much effort,” he says, “a parlor could make money. But now, a person not making any effort is losing business. It’s the basics of capitalism. There is a lot of competition.”
Along these lines, the industry is attempting to rid itself of the seedy, gang-ridden reputation it has acquired over the years and woo women into its halls by providing a clean and pleasant environment। Brand-name goods are increasingly being offered as prizes, and the romantic Korean drama “Fuyu no Sonata,” a large hit with Japanese women, has had its characters appear as background images on numerous machines by maker Kyoraku in recent months.
Yoshida hopes to soon expand his school to include branches in the cities of Nagoya and Osaka। “When I started in pachinko,” he says, “people thought I was entering the world of gangsters. But this is now a legitimate business.”
http://www.japantoday.com/category/lifestyle/view/pachinko-academy-draws-in-students
Chinese, Korean to be added for intl students' test
Chinese and Korean languages will be added to the current examination to evaluate the academic abilities of foreign students who would like to study in Japan, the Education, Science and Technology Ministry said।
The plan, which the ministry agreed on Saturday, aims to promote the early realization of the government's effort to increase the number of international students in Japan to 300,000। It takes into account the fact that Chinese and South Korean students account for nearly 90 percent of those taking the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU). The ministry hopes to further increase the number of students from both countries.
Although the examination has been available only in Japanese and English, the overwhelming majority of students taking the test are Chinese and South Korean। Of 19,206 students who took the examination in June 2008, Chinese students accounted for 74 percent and South Korean students 14 percent.
The ministry also decided to adopt the two languages to evaluate the students' basic scholastic abilities beyond the language barrier, according to the sources.
(Oct। 27, 2008)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081027TDY03302.htm
The plan, which the ministry agreed on Saturday, aims to promote the early realization of the government's effort to increase the number of international students in Japan to 300,000। It takes into account the fact that Chinese and South Korean students account for nearly 90 percent of those taking the Examination for Japanese University Admission for International Students (EJU). The ministry hopes to further increase the number of students from both countries.
Although the examination has been available only in Japanese and English, the overwhelming majority of students taking the test are Chinese and South Korean। Of 19,206 students who took the examination in June 2008, Chinese students accounted for 74 percent and South Korean students 14 percent.
The ministry also decided to adopt the two languages to evaluate the students' basic scholastic abilities beyond the language barrier, according to the sources.
(Oct। 27, 2008)
http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/national/20081027TDY03302.htm
Sunday, August 03, 2008
More than 10,000 foreign students find jobs in Japan
TOKYO, July 29 (AP) - (Kyodo)—The number of foreign students who graduated from Japanese colleges and graduate schools and found jobs in Japan came to 10,262 in 2007, up 24 percent from the previous year and exceeding the 10,000 line for the first time, the Justice Ministry's Immigration Bureau said Tuesday।
The number stayed below 3,000 until 2000, and a bureau official attributed the increase partly to expansion in employment in information technology-related fields।
Among the 10,262, students from Asian countries accounted for 97 percent, with those from China at 7,539, followed by those from South Korea at 1,109, Taiwan at 282, Bangladesh at 138 and Vietnam at 131, according to the bureau।
Some 120,000 foreign students are currently studying in Japan. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology came out with a plan Tuesday to help them find jobs in Japan after graduation.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D927GU5O2&show_article=1
The number stayed below 3,000 until 2000, and a bureau official attributed the increase partly to expansion in employment in information technology-related fields।
Among the 10,262, students from Asian countries accounted for 97 percent, with those from China at 7,539, followed by those from South Korea at 1,109, Taiwan at 282, Bangladesh at 138 and Vietnam at 131, according to the bureau।
Some 120,000 foreign students are currently studying in Japan. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology came out with a plan Tuesday to help them find jobs in Japan after graduation.
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D927GU5O2&show_article=1
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