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A very interesting post on the fate of the Japanese language!
[1] The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English [ja], the latest book by Japanese novelist and essayist [2] Minae Mizumura [????] [en], roused debate among many Japanese bloggers recently over the fate of their national language. In this essay, the writer, [...]

Japanese universities look abroad in hopes of upping their sagging enrollments

Rie Yoshinaga had a wide range of colleges to choose from.

Globalization: Of the 6,000 students at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University in Kyushu, nearly half come from abroad, as does the faculty. Classes are taught both in English and Japanese. TOMOKO OTAKE PHOTOS

Having studied at a high [...]

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Part 5: Reading about Ato’s experiences made me remind myself that I’m getting p - a - i - d, PAID. Now mind you that I am thankful considering the state of the economy and all but I just had to spell it out. The bottom line is that I refuse to get stressed over what’s going on in my [...]

Part 4: Actually, I was thinking about it over lunch and I take it back; every Japanese teacher I work with is more or less cool (except for one who’s an a-hole by birth) it seems.
But I re-iterate my other words: there’s very little a foreign teacher can walk into a classroom and do to [...]

Part 3: Due to all of this drama, I’ve been (quietly) asking around and I think the PTA may be at fault!
You see, I had a class of about 40 this morning and there were at least three conversations going on in which the students’ backs were turned to me and I had to shout [...]

Part 2: If you think the figurine above is shocking, read what Ato had to deal with at his new school:
“And so it begins…

I’ve been fortunate enough to spend the first two weeks of this semester at a school that’s been refurbished within the last couple years or so, which means the facilities are up [...]