Alice Gordenker - The Japan Times

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Alice Gordenker

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Alice Gordenker

Alice Gordenker writes the "So, What the Heck is That?" column, providing in-depth, carefully researched explanations of the things foreigners find so puzzling about Japan. Her work has been modified as a textbook for Japanese university students called "Surprising Japan" (Shohakusha, 2012).

For Alice Gordenker's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Oct 25, 2002

Shared research yields ideas for schooling

When we first enrolled our son in Japanese school, there were occasions when he came home earlier than I'd expected. The first time, I happened to be at home. "Why were you dismissed early?" I asked my son. "I don't know," he shrugged. "The teacher said something, but I didn't understand."

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Oct 11, 2002

Chant away to calculation competence

You will never guess what I've been doing the past two weeks. I, an Ivy League graduate, at the ripe age of 44, have been learning my times tables. That's right, multiplication. Now, before you write me off as a failure of American higher education, let me stress that I've been doing this in Japanese. I'm memorizing the kuku, Japan's distinctly rhythmic way of chanting the times tables.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Sep 27, 2002

It really is sink or swim in Japanese schools

Life is never dull when your children attend local school in a foreign country. My kids have been in Japanese school for two years, but things still catch me by surprise. My daily thrill, if you can call it that, is reviewing the stacks of purinto (handouts) from the school. I never know quite what I'm going to find.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Sep 13, 2002

School selection comes to Japan at last

In many countries, parents have a choice of public schools. Not Japan. Here, you get just one choice: Send your child to the closest public school, or pay a lot of money for private school. But this is changing. School choice is coming to Japan.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Aug 30, 2002

Staying cool at school becomes a hot topic

It sure is hot in Japan. My kids had to sweat through weeks of heat before they were finally released for summer vacation in the third week of July. They go back to school next Monday, and I feel sorry for them. It's likely to be hot and humid for a few more weeks.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Aug 16, 2002

Better off sleeping than working out?

Here's a fun exercise: Ask Japanese adults how they spent their childhood summers. They'll almost always mention rajio taiso, the morning exercises they did in neighborhood groups during the school holiday. Then ask if their own children participate. Chances are their kids sleep in rather than get up to exercise.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Aug 2, 2002

School trips help cut the apron strings

My son is leaving home. I've always known, of course, that the day would come when he'd strike out on his own. But I never imagined it would happen when he was only 11 years old. Or that he'd make his big break to a mountain in Japan.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jul 19, 2002

Painting in the park is a lesson in creativity

One morning in June, my kids left for school without their usual leather backpacks. Instead, they each carried a knapsack with a water bottle, a ground cloth and a handful of my sentakubasami. Clothespins? Yup. Standard equipment for the Zenko Shasei Taikai (All-School Sketch Festival).

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jul 5, 2002

Bringing our schools out into the open

I'm pretty happy with the Japanese elementary school my children attend. But I have to say one thing: I hate the building itself. It's the standard four-story concrete block. Drab, institutional and uninviting. What I dislike most is that it's closed off from the surrounding neighborhood, hidden away behind high walls and locked gates. Like a prison.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jun 14, 2002

Furigan fears prompt school safety drills

Journalists who write columns love to tie up their topics with current events. Still, I never thought I'd write about the World Cup soccer finals. I don't follow the sport, and I didn't see any connection between my education column and the international tournament. Until I saw the handout my kids brought home from school. Among the crumpled math papers and school lunch menus in my sons' backpacks was a letter to parents from the assistant principal. Dated just before the World Cup kickoff, the letter described the emergency procedures to be used if soccer riots broke out and asked for our cooperation in keeping the children safe from furigan (hooligans).

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

May 31, 2002

Encouraging kids to think for themselves

"Is it really OK for school to be this much fun?"

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

May 17, 2002

Language help lets foreign students fit in

You'd think my sons were the first gaijin kids ever to attend a Japanese elementary school, judging from the surprised responses we get from people. But there are lots of foreign children in Japanese schools, and their numbers are growing. Unfortunately, most schools aren't equipped to teach newcomers the Japanese they need in order to learn and become part of the school community.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

May 3, 2002

When one-size-fits-all schooling doesn't fit

There's a boy in our building who doesn't go to school. Ever. Nine-year-old Kenji missed 40 days of school last year, then refused to go back at all after the spring break. He says that he "can't breathe" at school and that his stomach hurts whenever he's in the building.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Apr 19, 2002

Perfect parenting . . . it's all in the labeling

Here's what mid-April in Japan means to me: The cherry blossoms have come and gone, the kids are back in school and mothers all over the country are suffering writer's cramp from labeling school gear.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Apr 5, 2002

No more Saturdays, no more cappuccino

When the new school year begins on April 8, all Japanese public schools will be on a five-day school week for the first time ever. For my kids, that means no more school on Saturdays. For me, it means no more cappuccino.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Mar 22, 2002

Students give seniors a rousing send-off

My first-grader sighed at the dinner table the other night. "Sakamoto-kun is graduating soon," he said sadly. Who? I had never heard of anyone by this name. "He's one of the sixth-graders," my son explained. "He showed me a magic trick and helps me at school."

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Mar 8, 2002

Getting used to accentuating the negative

Whatever you do, don't say anything nice about your child at parents' meetings

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Feb 22, 2002

The serious business of clubbing together

My 10-year-old is in the school basketball club but is thinking about switching to another club. He's been agonizing over this decision, which tells you something about the importance of school clubs in Japan.

Japan Times

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Feb 8, 2002

It's time to say: Let's talk about sex, babies

In all my years of studying Japanese, I never learned the word I need right now. How do you say "nocturnal emission"? I need to know because my 10-year-old son is starting sex education at school, and I haven't told him that part of "the facts of life." His Japanese is pretty good, but I think he'll understand the lesson better if I explain it to him in English first. And give him the Japanese words he'll be hearing.

LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE

Jan 25, 2002

Students sweat out a spell of high pressure

It's been strangely quiet lately in the sixth-grade classrooms at my children's school. When I looked in the other day, nearly half the seats were empty. I couldn't understand why. A flu epidemic? Then I remembered. It's juken season -- entrance examination time.

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

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.

Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree

By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

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