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May 05, 2024
 

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Walt Gardner
For Walt Gardner's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2016
Caution on reforming university course offerings
Liberal arts majors often become the best software developers and technology employees because their critical thinking skills allow them to see the bigger picture.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 26, 2016
Taking the right steps to stop school bullying
When and how school officials intervene holds the key to putting an end to the issue of bullying.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 17, 2016
Why Japanese students excel at mathematics
American education officials are turning to Japan in their quest to raise U.S. students' math standards.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 19, 2016
Tokyo needs to make the most of child care
Japan has a unique opportunity to combine the benefits of child care with those of preschool.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2016
The need for effective English teachers
Japanese students' ability to speak English is abysmal. Improvement will require finding native speakers as teachers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 30, 2016
Bring English immersion to Japanese classrooms
Japanese students would benefit greatly from the total immersion approach to learning English.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 23, 2016
Professionalize pre-kindergarten education
Pre-kindergarten education and educators should taken more seriously because they provide children with invaluable skills that last a lifetime.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 19, 2016
Women in college leadership roles are still rare
Tradition dies hard when it comes to promoting women to head universities.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 26, 2016
Striking a balance on free speech at schools
The freedom that teachers have to express their opinions on controversial issues is far more limited than that of students in both the U.S. and Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 16, 2016
Youthful voter turnout is unpredictable
The sheer newness of being able to vote too often fades unless it is underpinned by a deep sense of civic duty.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 9, 2016
Recruiting foreign students to study locally
A perfect storm of demographics and economics has caused universities in both Japan and the U.S. to aggressively woo students from abroad.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 20, 2016
Helping foreign students to learn Japanese
The education ministry's proposal to establish hub schools where foreign students can learn Japanese is a good idea, but the plan will hinge on getting good teachers.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jun 4, 2016
Vocational universities won't solve all woes
The government's initiative to create vocational universities can play an important part of the overall strategy to make tertiary education and training more useful, but it's important not to place unrealistic hopes on both.
COMMENTARY / Japan
May 29, 2016
Birthrates in Japan and U.S. cause for concern
Since public schools in Japan are funded on a per-pupil basis, the continuous decline in the birthrate means they will be hard pressed to maintain their level of services.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 29, 2016
Digital textbooks are accompanied by caveats
It's only a matter of time before the days of students lugging around backpacks full of heavy books are over.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 25, 2016
Poverty-performance link warrants closer look
Recent studies call into question the belief that absolute poverty rates are the sole consideration in determining student performance.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 12, 2016
English skills gap between jurisdictions not new
What is lost in the debate on English skills in both Japan and the U.S. are the reasons why scores progress, decline or remain flat.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 5, 2016
Time to include teachers in textbook selections
Teachers are professionals who are less likely to be swayed by special interest groups. It's time to give them a louder voice in the textbook selection process.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 26, 2016
The right way to teach patriotism at school
No country is without its faults, and acknowleding them is the first step toward creating meaningful patriotism rather than blind nationalism.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 17, 2016
No excuse for Japan's increasing truancy rate
In so many other countries around the world schooling is denied those who genuinely want an education. Yet in Japan and the U.S., where education is a right, truancy persists.
Japan says Biden's description of nation as xenophobic is 'unfortunate'
The National Diet building in Tokyo
With eye on China, defense chiefs agree to bolster interoperability
From left: U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Australian defense chief Richard Marles, Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara and Philippine Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro hold a joint news conference in Honolulu on Thursday.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
Japan drops to 70th in press freedom rankings
A businessman reads a newspaper outside a train station in Tokyo.
Traders spooked by intervention risk trim record yen shorts
Traders edged back from record bets on yen weakness this past week, in a period that included a likely bout of intervention by Japan to prop up the currency.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

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