Transport authorities launched a full-fledged investigation Sunday into the derailment of a bullet train on the Akita Shinkansen Line in Daisen, Akita Prefecture, on Saturday afternoon.
It's a dangerous, unpredictable world. Twice in January Chinese warships in the East China Sea challenged Japan's Maritime Self Defense Forces patrols in a manner deemed threatening. And on Feb. 12 came North Korea's nuclear test.
Here's an open secret: Japanese men have a bad international reputation on the romance front.
SELLING WOMEN: Prostitution, Markets and the Household in Early Modern Japan, by Amy Stanley. University of California Press, 2012, 282 pp., $49.95 (hardcover) In the vast cultural landscape, Japan fascinates the mainstream with manga and anime, the martial arts, Zen and kimono. Of course, ...
Kenta Maeda shook off worries about his form with five shutout innings as Japan beat China 5-2 in first-round Pool A of the World Baseball Classic on Sunday at Fukuoka Dome. Japan improved to 2-0 following a tough win over Brazil in Saturday evening’s ...
This year marked the fifth anniversary of the collapse of English language school giant Nova, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Oct. 26, 2007. Under the guidance of Nagoya-based G.Communication, the cram school and restaurant operator that initially bailed out the company, Nova was ...
Now fraught with job insecurity and low pay, there was a time when the work was steady and salaries were high for those who taught English in Japan. One only has to contrast the birth of the eikaiwa (English conversation) business in the late ...
Ask any ordinary person what significance Oct. 26 holds and you might find them struggling for an answer, but for many involved in Japan’s beleaguered English teaching industry, it was the day the nation’s premier operator fell into administration and took much of the ...
The collapse of the Geos eikaiwa (English conversation school) chain earlier this year came as a cruel blow to an industry still struggling to restore its credibility years after Nova’s high-profile implosion. Since the Nova bankruptcy of 2007, the financial situation at the major ...
Teaching English is hilarious! At least, it is now: A new Web TV show starting Thursday will attempt to show the lighter side of eikaiwa, as Japan newbie Tom Kellerman (Jonathan Sherr) finds his feet in the world of “English Teachers.” “It’s part drama, ...
Re: “Eikaiwa on the ropes after fall of Geos” (Zeit Gist, May 4) by Richard Smart: Thank you very much for printing the story regarding the Geos bankruptcy. As a former Geos teacher, I was glad to see that you told the other side ...
RICHARD SMART Special to The Japan Times A chain of English conversation schools is closed down. Thousands of employees are left worrying whether they will get paid or keep their jobs. Students are told refunds will not be given on advance payments for lessons. ...
Elise Ferreira Translator (Dutch) Learning English allows people to travel the world and enjoy other cultures more. Language schools are useful, but with the way the schools are now, private lessons may be a better way for students to reach their goals. Jonas Ronneguard, ...
Too big, too fast, and with too little quality — that’s the consensus view of many industry analysts on former language-school market leader Nova Corp., whose collapse left over 420,000 students and 4,000 non-Japanese instructors without an “eikaiwa” home. The Nova affair has already ...
Globalization, the Internet and increased mobility have made the planet a smaller place. The world is now often referred to as a global community, and its lingua franca is undoubtedly English. It is the official language of air traffic control and the de facto ...
While exact figures are unavailable, but it is fair to assume that a large number of foreigners who work in Japan will spend at least some of their time teaching in a language school. But should you lose yourself in the facelessness of a ...
When news of the tsunami disaster in south Asia began to filter through on Dec. 26, there was good reason for friends and employers of the many English-language teachers in Japan to fear the worst. Each winter, hundreds of foreigners in Japan choose the ...
