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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 11, 2012

Childbirth in Japan: Plan, prioritize for a smooth delivery

Emotions during pregnancy and childbirth run the gamut, from excitement and trepidation to joy and even fear. Foreign women who find themselves pregnant in Japan may experience additional stress as they cope with cultural differences, language issues and being away from their own families. Add in talk...
COMMENTARY
Oct 31, 2005

Students need analytical skills

One characteristic of Japanese universities is that they provide highly specialized education for undergraduate students. This is partly because high-school students receive a high level of science education. In fact, their knowledge level in math and physics is one of the highest in the world. Thus,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 27, 2003

Canine care groups life spirits of sick and needy

There was a buzz of excitement in the pediatrics ward at St. Luke's International Hospital in Tokyo. Children were milling around in their pajamas with impish gleams in their eyes. Soon, they were all jostling near the door to the playroom, the little ones standing on tiptoes to peek inside.
JAPAN
Jan 19, 2001

Firms demand English speakers

Kyodo News Service Keizo Mori is one of many old-style Japanese corporate warriors trying to keep up in an internationalized work environment where mastering English has become key to climbing the promotion ladder.
Reader Mail
Feb 26, 2009

Abolish English entrance exams

Gregory Clark is wrong about the possible solutions to Japan's English problem. Japanese university students are usually motivated only for the first three months of study. After that, overwhelmed by the large number of courses covering a hodgepodge of different materials, influenced by the emphasis...
Japan Times
Special Supplements / TICAD 8 Special
Aug 26, 2022

Pikotaro takes ‘PPAP’ schtick to Africa to battle COVID

The eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development will be held in Tunisia from Aug. 27 to 28. Since 1993, the Japanese government has been leading this conference, which is hosted with the United Nations, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Bank and the African Union Commission....
JAPAN
Dec 30, 2020

Tokyo’s pandemic border policy highlights insecure status of foreign residents

Chaos, lack of debate and fears of public backlash are thought to have been behind unequal treatment of foreign nationals residing in Japan.
Reader Mail
Nov 29, 2019

Education reform requires quality English speakers

The Nov. 17 edition carried a couple interesting letters concerning the futility of English-language reform in Japanese education. David John's "English reform an exercise in nothingness" and Clifford H. Clarke's "Education reform needs deeper look" both state the necessity of reform beginning with the...
JAPAN
Mar 29, 2013

LDP takes aim at English education, seeks to boost TOEFL levels

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party is on a quest to reform the educational system in order to foster global talent to reverse the nation’s declining competitiveness on the world stage, and English-language studies have been especially targeted for improvement.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 26, 2012

Fight with leukemia reveals marrow-match difficulties

Last January, British national Aidan O'Connor, 46, purchased an old townhouse in the heart of historic Sasayama, a town known for its wild boar cuisine and large chestnuts.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 28, 2006

The rules of the road

Obtaining a driver's license can be an expensive and frustrating experience, and doing so in Japan is no different in that regard. But for many foreign residents in Japan, transferring their home license into a Japanese one can be a fairly simple and inexpensive procedure, while for others it's an advisable...
JAPAN / Explainer
Jul 21, 2022

As cases surge across Japan, here’s what you need to know if you catch COVID-19

With the peak of the last wave coming more than five months ago, some might struggle to remember the protocols to follow if they become infected with COVID-19.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 3, 2021

JO1 to the world: A new stage for J-pop

The 11-member act signals the rise of reality TV talent competitions geared toward the social media age.
Rugby / ADDING THE EXTRAS
May 1, 2020

Rule change leaves trio of naturalized Top League players in limbo

The group, which includes two players who have represented Japan in sevens, is petitioning the Japan Rugby Football Union to recognize their status as local players.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 27, 2020

Kim rumors rekindle fears of a ‘weak’ North Korea

Instability in North Korea could spark a clash between the U.S. and China over the future of the northern half of the peninsula.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 29, 2019

Japan's immigration chief optimistic asylum and visa woes will improve in 2020

With Japan expecting to welcome a record 40 million visitors in 2020, including for the Summer Games, immigration authorities are strengthening security to manage the influx and prevent abuse of their policies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2018

Japan firms welcome skilled foreign workers; majority open to more open immigration system: poll

Most companies support loosening the country's immigration system to cope with labor shortages, but they favor skilled workers, not an influx of unskilled laborers, a poll shows.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / LAW OF THE LAND
Mar 11, 2018

Schools plus rules equals Japan minus two

Having experienced schools around the world, why do Colin P.A. Jones' daughters rank Japan's bottom of the class?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics / ANALYSIS
Sep 20, 2017

Trump's fire and brimstone U.N. speech hands Abe a win on North Korea, but will victory be pyrrhic?

Experts warn that Trump's threat could reinforce Pyongyang's belief that nuclear weapons remain the sole means of securing the regime's safety.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Oct 19, 2016

How the U.S. military spies on Okinawans and me

Documents reveal that the U.S. Marine Corps is amassing information on Okinawan anti-base protesters as well as journalists.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 23, 2015

Rejuvenate Japan's industrial might with the humanities

Japanese manufacturers are failing to keep up with the global competition, and the narrow education their employees receive is a primary cause.
Reader Mail
May 10, 2014

Vested interests in the test world

Regarding the May 4 editorial "Test problems here and abroad": The fraudulent visa application problems caused by a couple of criminal schools on the other side of the planet is just a tempest in the TOEIC cup with scant or zero relevance to foreign-language education in Japan.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
May 6, 2013

Plan to introduce TOEFL to universities has its merits

The media and kyōiku senmonka (教育専門家, pundits on education) have been voicing the pros and cons of the idea put forward by the Jiminto (自民党, the Liberal Democratic Party) to make TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language) mandatory for entrance exams at all Japanese universities.
Reader Mail
Apr 28, 2013

If they like it, they will learn

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has announced that the TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) would be adopted in Japanese education. Considering Japan's focus on international personnel development, TOEFL could be one of the scales to assess whether Japanese people are competent enough with English...
Reader Mail
Apr 4, 2013

Readers earn the better scores

The March 31 Japan Times editorial, "Testing English versus teaching it," has it right: Money should be invested in teaching English, not testing it.
A man walks past a television showing a news broadcast featuring a photo of U.S. soldier Travis King, who ran across the border into North Korea while part of a tour group visiting the Demilitarized Zone on South Korea's border, in Seoul, on Aug. 16.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 28, 2023

U.S. soldier in American custody after release from North Korea

U.S. Army soldier Travis King was released by Pyongyang more than two months after he sprinted across the border from the South in July.
A U.S. Air Force B-52 strategic bomber is escorted by South Korean F-35s during a joint military exercise over the Korean Peninsula that also involved Japan's Air-Self Defense Force.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2023

Japan, U.S. and South Korea patrol the skies together

The three countries have historically engaged in bilateral exercises with the United States, but this trilateral exercise in the air is a notable first.
Ground Self-Defense Force troops conduct a military drill on the uninhabited island of Irisuna in Okinawa Prefecture in November.
JAPAN / Politics
Jul 12, 2024

Japan’s new defense white paper delivers strongest words yet on Taiwan

Tokyo pins the blame squarely on China's large-scale military exercises around the democratically ruled island for continued tensions in the region.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers