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May 03, 2024
 

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MATTER OF COURSE

Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Apr 10, 2003
Can our kids get a healthy meal for less?
Would you pay 2,500 yen for a simple lunch on a battered tin tray? Of course not. For that kind of money, you could get a three-course luncheon served on fine china. But believe it or not, 2,500 yen is the cost of the lunch my kid eats at school every day. It's no wonder so many local governments have turned to minkan itaku (outsourcing) to cut school lunch costs.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Mar 13, 2003
Don't wait till bullying hits close to home
This is the column I thought I'd never have to write. It's about how my son was bullied at school.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Feb 11, 2003
Finally, anti-tobacco lessons come to schools
Every time our family sits down in a restaurant in Japan, my 11-year-old sniffs the air with disgust. He waves a hand through the cigarette haze and glares at the smokers all around us. "What's the matter with these people?" he growled when we went out for a meal the other day. "Didn't anyone ever teach them that smoking is bad for you?"
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jan 13, 2003
Learning from living things, often the hard way
Since I write this column at home, school holidays are always a problem. It's impossible to get any work done with my kids hanging around. One day during the recent winter holidays, I complained about feeling pressured. The deadline for today's column was looming, but I didn't even have a topic.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Dec 16, 2002
Will dramatic arts take a backseat?
Two months ago, my 8-year-old came home from the Japanese elementary school he attends and told me about the play his grade would do at the upcoming gakugeikai (drama festival).
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Nov 22, 2002
Are our schools ready for a big one?
Every few months, I have the same nightmare: A major earthquake strikes Tokyo when my kids are at school. The city is in ruins. There's no electricity, the phones are out and the trains have stopped. I run through the streets, unable to find my children, until I wake up in a cold sweat.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Nov 8, 2002
Fishing for parental help on field trips
For me, a major benefit of moving to Japan was not having to chaperone school field trips anymore.
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.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Number of vacant homes in Japan hits record high of 9 million
A vacant house in Tokyo is seen demolished in January 2020.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Saudi Arabia steps up Gaza-related arrests as Israel ties edge closer
The arrests for Gaza-related posts indicate Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman’s regime will take a hard line against citizens not toeing the line when it comes to normalizing ties with Israel.
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.

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