Welcome to Black Tokyo! This should go without saying but I’m gonna say it anyway: #3 Learn that Japanese!
I studied French for 2 years in JHS, 4 years in HS and 2 years in University, and if you asked me right now how to say anything in French except “Would you like to do the nasty with me [...]

A video conference was held yesterday between college students of Japan and the United States. The event clearly exposed the difference between Japanese students, who have few hopes of politics, and their American counterparts, who have strong expectations for change. Some Japanese students reacted enviously to U.S. participants who repeatedly said that with participation, politics [...]

It’s that time again! Those planning on taking the JLPT test or interesting in improving your Japanese should check out PlaySay. Click on the BT PlaySay link to test it out! PlaySay can be downloaded to ANY MP3 device. The picture above and below show PlaySay on an iPod. (Pix credit to Japan Newbie)

PlaySay is [...]

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 [...]

 
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 [...]

Anyone else with knowledge of this subect feel free to share your thoughts!
It’s been six months now since I’ve made the change from the relatively controlled environment of the eikaiwa to Japanese public schools. It’s been a really eye-opening experience. Kids misbehave in every classroom, but never have I seen such blatant disrespect for teachers while [...]