Japan Education News

Japan's universities and research institutes have long had to make do with few philanthropic donations. Strict laws governing university finances, and the lack of a philanthropic tradition, have discouraged the gifts that serve Western institutions so well. But change is coming. This week, the University of Tokyo unveils the country's first institute named after a foreign donor: the Kavli Institute for the Physics and Mathematics of the Universe. The announcement adds Norwegian philanthropist Fred Kavli's name, along with a US$7.5-million endowment, to one of Japan's most successful institutes. (nature.com)

Japanese teenagers are pretty glum: Half of them feel they have no special talent, three-out-of-five feel useless and a third feel alone, according to a 2009 Japan Youth Research Institute survey. Kumi Imamura is trying to solve this chronic lack of self-esteem with "Katariba," a nonprofit organization that strives to create an environment in which young people feel they are capable of anything. Imamura and her team run high school workshops, where volunteer university students explain how they overcame difficulties, realized an ambition or decided upon a career. "Young Japanese people think that even if they do something, nothing will ever change," says Yuta Yamauchi, Katariba public relations officer. "We try to create an opportunity for them to gain self-confidence and believe they can achieve things." (Asahi)

The number of bullying cases recognized by public and private elementary, junior high and high schools nationwide in the 2010 academic year rose 6.7 percent from a year earlier to 77,630, according to an education ministry survey. It was the first increase in five years. The number of such cases had been falling since the 2006 school year, when the ministry began collecting such data. An education official said the number rose as teachers became better at recognizing bullying. (Japan Times)

The Foreign Ministry is inviting prominent overseas bloggers and tweeters to visit areas devastated by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. The ministry launched the initiative to revive tourism in Tohoku's disaster zone and wants the foreign guests to write about the progress that has been made in rebuilding its devastated communities so the world will know the area is still an appealing holiday destination. At the ministry's invitation, Spanish blogger Roger Ortuno Flamerich came to Japan in December, followed by Louisa Liu Chu, 45, a food blogger from Chicago, and Khaled Hamza, 48, editor-in-chief of the official website of the Muslim Brotherhood from Egypt, who arrived here on Jan. 31. (Japan Times)

A recent education ministry survey of third-year middle school students nationwide found most students have an ambivalent and contradictory attitude toward English. Of the 3,225 students surveyed, most felt English was important to study, but few wanted a job requiring English. The disjuncture between what they consider important and what they want for themselves is puzzling and disappointing. In the survey, 85 percent agreed English was important and 70 percent - up from 47 percent in 2003 - agreed that knowing English would give them an edge in finding a job in the future. Clearly, English is perceived as integral to internationalizing Japan and the world. However, despite students' increasing awareness of the importance of English, the percentage of students who said they did not want to get a job requiring English increased six percentage points to a whopping 43 percent. (Japan Times)

I have been studying academic juku (for-profit supplementary schooling) for many years and have visited over 50 individually operated juku throughout Japan. I have been thrilled by the dedication of charismatic educators, and dismayed by the relentless focus on standardized test results and by the lack of a diversity of offerings beyond the narrow confines of the curriculum in an era of hypereducation. In January, thousands of students in Japan sat for the central university entrance examination (center shiken or center test). For ambitious students, the exam is merely a requirement to check off on their way to the entrance examinations for specific fields of study that follow later. For others, the exam is a convenient way to avoid multiple examinations. The exam is one of the ultimate goals that supplementary education through primary and secondary schooling focuses on. (Japan Times)

The government has agreed on a final draft plan for a new preschool child care program designed to combine kindergartens with day care centers. The scheme is designed to reduce the number of children on day care center waiting lists, and the target year for its introduction is fiscal 2015. The government will cover the projected cost of the new program by allocating more than 1 trillion yen in the fiscal 2015 budget to its implementation. It intends to cover about 700 billion yen with revenue expected to be earned through an increase of the consumption tax rate. The hike is part of a government plan to reform the social security and tax systems. (Yomiuri)

Third year university student Saki Fujii flips through a meticulously kept diary of her six-month job hunt and eyes the busy week of interviews ahead -- another step on the treadmill for one of Japan's would-be workers. The 22-year-old knows her best hope of finding a full-time position is by doing exactly the same thing as those before her, in an unending round of interviews, job seminars and employment fairs. "I don't think it's necessarily a good thing that everyone takes part in the job hunt," she says. "With so many students looking to be recruited at the same time, we can't really expect to be employed at the company we want to work at." She is following in the footsteps of generations before her -- but a few corporate exceptions are now beginning to offer a different path. Like most of her fellow students at the prestigious Waseda University, Fujii's school life was one long slog of exam cramming. (mysinchew.com)

Non-Japanese applicants hoping to become certified nurses could see the government's notoriously rigorous exams get easier with the inclusion of English-language tests and a new set of communication exams based on basic Japanese. Non-Japanese hoping to become care workers took the certification test for the first time Sunday, while those aspiring to become certified nurses have been applying for the exam since fiscal 2008. But the low pass rate is prompting the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry to consider changing the system. (Japan Times)

The government has turned down a request by the Fukushima prefectural government to make medical care free for prefectural residents aged 18 and under. Tatsuo Hirano, state minister for disaster reconstruction and disaster management, met with Fukushima Gov. Yuhei Sato at the Fukushima prefectural office Saturday to tell him of the government's decision. "It's necessary to handle this issue carefully because it affects the basis of the medical system," Hirano said. "It would be difficult to implement." (Yomiuri)

Municipalities are carrying out tests for radioactive substances on ingredients used in school lunches, but parents are worried whether their children are adequately protected as the tests are conducted in various ways. According to data compiled by the Fukushima prefectural board of education, 33 of the 59 municipalities in the prefecture test school lunches for radiation. Using two radiation measuring instruments, the Koriyama municipal government checks school lunches only once a week, although ingredients left over from lunches on the other four school days also are tested. This means that some tests are carried out after the schoolchildren have eaten their lunch. (Yomiuri)

Seventy percent of middle school students think English ability would be useful for obtaining a job in the future, but only 11 percent want to get a job that requires English, according to an education ministry institute survey. The survey, conducted by the Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Ministry's National Institute for Educational Policy Research in November, covered 3,225 third-year middle school students nationwide. Eighty-five percent said they think, "It is important to study English" or "It is rather important." (Yomiuri)

More than 40 percent of the national universities are warming to the University of Tokyo plan to shift the start of the undergraduate academic year from spring to fall, a survey found. Major private institutions, including Waseda University, Keio University and Ritsumeikan University, have also shown willingness to ponder the move, which a University of Tokyo panel recently advocated to bring the system in sync with international norms. The survey, conducted by Kyodo News between Monday and Wednesday, covered the presidents of all 81 national universities except the University of Tokyo and graduate schools unaffiliated with universities, as well as 12 major private universities. The response rate was 100 percent. (Japan Times)

The government said Wednesday it will launch a 24-hour "patrol" service to help the elderly become more self-reliant by facilitating in-home nursing care. The service, to get under way with the April 1 start of the new fiscal year, will be covered by public nursing care insurance. The government also aims to curb the ballooning costs of nursing care by allocating extra funds to welfare facilities that discharge residents to receive services at home and to caregivers who offer rehab services to prevent ailments from getting worse. Services at nursing homes are more costly than those provided at home. (Japan Times)

A fire broke out at an Osaka elementary school Tuesday morning after a string of explosions in a science room, prompting 250 students and teachers to evacuate, but no injuries were reported, police and firefighters said. The explosions at 10:45 a.m. gutted almost all of the 30-sq.-meter room at Kiyoe Elementary School in Suminoe Ward before the fire was put out an hour later, the authorities said. They were trying to identify the cause of the blasts, which prompted the dispatch of some 30 fire engines and a helicopter. (Japan Times)

The Ishinomaki municipal board of education and the principal at Okawa Primary School in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture, have admitted responsibility for events that led to the deaths of up to 84 people killed by the Great East Japan Earthquake. The board had been reexamining evacuation measures taken by the school after 74 students and 10 teachers were killed or went missing as a result of the March 11 tsunami. During a meeting with parents on Sunday, the board for the first time admitted there were problems with the school's evacuation instructions and apologized for the lack of guidance to students during the disaster. Since March 11, parents of children who died had accused the school of being irresponsible and complained that education authorities had failed to provide adequate explanations regarding the tragedy. (Yomiuri)

The health ministry is drawing up a plan to reduce the smoking rate in Japan to around 10 percent, almost half the 23.4 percent in 2009, officials said Monday. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry aims to insert the numerical target into its fiscal 2013-2022 health promotion plan, and in its basic plan for anticancer programs for the next five years, they said. It is expected that smokers who want to quit will reach around 40 percent in the upcoming survey, due partly to price hikes, and that the reduction target will be set on the assumption all of them will quit. (Japan Times)

The cosmopolitan cities of Shanghai and Hong Kong are attracting motivated Japanese women who are disillusioned by the hidebound culture of the business world at home. Many Japanese women trying their luck there are apparently enjoying successful careers, or at least having a good time preparing for one. Yoshie Nagashima, 39, decided to take a chance in China nine years ago when she was working for a major Japanese electronics maker. In Japan, she was frequently accused of being too pushy, and whenever she received a favor from her boss it invited jealousy from her male colleagues. (Japan Times)

If you miss the punch line to a Japanese joke, don't feel bad. It's simply unrealistic to use something as elusive as humor to measure your ability to understand a foreign language. On the other hand, knowing what makes people laugh is a great incentive for language study. Years ago, I found the lessons in my university's Japanese textbook rather dull, and set out to supplement them with more amusing materials. I was reminded of those efforts last August, when I read the お悔やみ (okuyami, obituary) of veteran TV entertainer Takehiko Maeda (前田武彦), who had passed away at the age of 82. (Japan Times)

National universities are evenly split over an autumn enrollment system proposed by the University of Tokyo, with about half considering a similar change to their calendars but others skeptical whether it would fit Japanese society. The survey was conducted after recent reports the University of Tokyo, also known as Todai, plans to shift the enrollment of its undergraduate students from spring to autumn. Among 36 institutions that have started or will start discussions on introducing autumn enrollment was Tsukuba University, which said the change will be crucial to securing excellent students and faculty members from overseas to improve the university's education and research capabilities. (Yomiuri)