Monday, October 30, 2006

Why is Ijime(bullying) outstanding in Japan?

In my previous English lesson, my teacher asked me why ijime(bullying) appears to be prominent in Japanese schools. It is one of the preparation for an upcoming Eiken(Society for Testing English Proficiency) 1st grade interview test. I think it a frequently and polularly asked question from non-Japanese people. I would like to share my view on it.

Recently, a news report said, a school boy killed himself on the ground that his school teacher played a significant role to trigger other student's bullying. The school's principal seemed to admit the case. It is, not to mention, an unbelievable and unforgivable incident if it truly happened.

One of the reasons, in my view, that we've got so many ijime-related incidents is that Japan is a monoethnic and monoculutural society, therefore, people here tend to be embarrassed with what is different from others. Some people say it comes from the fact that Japanese people have tradiitonally relied their living upon agriculture. It means to harvest crops is required to unite and cooperate each other. This is why they've counted on team work and excluded what's seemed different. I consent to this notion somewhat.

Another reason is that people are inclined to have a group from several people. These gropes are very exclusive, therefore, some people especially who can't make clear themselves tend to feel lonely and be bullied.

More than that, mass media's behavior is also problematic. They too much focus on this kind of accidents. If they report about these incidents as a headline, they will spread all over the world immediately. It gives an impression for the rest of the world to connect Japanese with bullying.

To cope with this issue, Japanese society needs training to accept various kinds of views. In other words, we should have a mindset of diversity. I don't think it is easy to do as a matter of reality, but we can and must do it for fruitful, prosperous and cooperative future.

Friday, October 27, 2006

English-language boot camp in OSAKA

As is often said that, generally speaking, Japanese are not good at speaking English, despite their enthusiasm for leaning. However, it is true that quite a few Japanese are very good commanders of English, but it is also the case that many of learners do not have confident to speak English in front of native speakers or they seem to believe they cannot deal with that language well from the very beginning.

To overcome these situations, Osaka education authorities decided to ship their teachers to English teachers boot camp, where ALTs(Assistant Language Teachers) are their instructors, the October 27th issue of ASAHI Online reported. According to the article, about 600 teachers will have attended by the end of fiscal 2007.

One of my extended family members is an English teacher for junior high school, but I've heard that he recently started to listened to an NHK radio course because he cannot speak English well and would be tested in the near future. Unfortunately, I think it is a matter-of-fact.

This is why such a drive must have a good impact on English education in Japan, but in addition that, in my view, what material would students learn is also important. Though I don't know how English is now taught at a junior or senior high school, I recommend them to use material that would attract students' attention. In other word, as a rule, the text books they use are too boring, stuff and stodgy. For example a piece of article of TIME, an American weekly newsmagazine, that include Ichiro or Matsui or some outstanding Japanese must be more intriguing even if it is too difficult for them to read without a dictionary. However, you can learn real English and students can sense how those people are described by top-notch writers of native English speakers.

Anyway, I hope Osaka's education body's approach should expand to all across the country and contribute to boosting this country's competitiveness in an Interatnaional arena.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

Must-see comedy for IRAQI

When you are mope and sullen, how do you cope with that?
You may eat what you like or do shopping, or call your friends, or possibly write a blog...
One of the easiest and cheapest way is laughing out loud. Even in a war-torn country like Iraq, or because of such a tragedy, laughing may attract people's attention. These are pieces of a newscast parody by an Iraqi comedian who delivers so-called Must-see comedy in his country.

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In a recent episode, the host, Saaed Khalifa, reported that Iraq's Ministry of Water and Sewage had decided to change its name to simply the Ministry of Sewage - because it had given up on the water part.

In another episode, he jubilantly declared that "Rums bin Feld" had announced American troops were leaving the country on 1/1, in other words, on Jan. 1. His face crumpled when he realized he had made a mistake. The troops were not actually departing on any specific date, he clarified, but instead leaving one by one. At that rate, it would take more than 600 years for them to be gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~(quote)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You can read the whole story by clicking this address. I found it profound in his following sentence, "We need fun in our lives because of our tragic circumstances".
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/10/24/africa/web.1024comedy.php

Monday, October 23, 2006

Gender Equality

Yesterday, I read a very sad story about abused women in India, where economic growth has been spiraling skyward these days. An article in the October 22nd issue of the International Herald Tribune titled, "Indian brides pay a high price" reported that "Violent dowry harassment is an increasingly visible phenomenon in India".

According to the article, as their lifestyles are becoming westernized, dowry comes to be used as a convenient tool to get what they want ---- such as a color TV, a motorcycle and a refrigerator. I am astonished to see some grooms even resort to violence with their brides complaining their dowry is too little.

'"People are getting more greedy and aggressive in their dowry demands," said Jha, of the Delhi Commission for Women. "You might expect that as the country becomes more and more Westernized, this traditional practice would be dying out, like other traditions, but actually the reverse is true. The old habits remain,"' the article said. Very unfortunately almost all the victims are women.

However, I found an intriguing take on Islam with an article written by Nicholas D. Kristof, a NY Times columnist and Pulitzer Prize winning journalist specializing in East Asia. He said on the report of the October 16th issue of the International Herald Tribune that Islam itself may face a Reformation, such as what Christianity experienced in the 16th century.

"I've written often about the honor killings and other abuses suffered by women and girls in some Muslim countries and many Westerners think Islam is inherently misogynistic. But Muslim women themselves naturally resent that kind of Western paternalism, for they want opportunities and equality ― and yet they frequently don't want to discard their faith(or even their head scarves), " he wrote.

Another interesting episode he quoted is that the Proohet Muhammad's youngest and ostensibly most beloved wife, who is thought to be the first Islamic feminist, once said, "In the name of God, I have seen the Prophet saying his prayers while I was there." This message no doubt contradicts the well-known statement, which is considered to be said by Muhammad, that man's prayers are ineffective if a woman, dog or donkey passes in front of the believer.

Kristof concluded that Islam is much more complex than the headlines might suggest. I completely abide by that. Then, what teachings represent true Islam?

Friday, October 20, 2006

Dwindling Birth Rate(3)

So, how should we cope with this conundrum?

What in my view is important is to make them stop abortion from a religious perspective. As an ordained minister of a religious organization called "Seicho-No-Ie," which is based on Japan and spread now over about 30 countries worldwide, I want to focus on preserving life. We consider an embryo and a fetus as an independent human being. In Japan, about 300,000 fetuses are said to be aborted in a year, while the number of new born babies is about 1 million in 2005. Therefore, if there is no aborted children in Japan, birth rate problems should be resolved.

Secondly, to enlighten general public is necessary. If you want to return home early to hold a quality time like having a dinner with your wife and children, you cannot do this without understanding of your boss. Fortunately, I can go back home relatively early and have a good relation with my famliy. However, I think many of executive workers themselves did not participate in child-rasing, some of them may still think only women should do domestic affairs. Therefore, we have to make an atmosphere that children should be raised by the whole society as well as their father and mother.

As a matter of course, some financial support by government is also needed. Tax deduction to child-raring families should be effective as well as increasing lump-sum birth allowance.

Last but not least, it is a good idea to set up father and mother classes where parents can learn how cheerful child raring and how to take care of them. Those participants can exchange information on child raring and get in touch with each other after the classes.

In Seicho-No-Ie, we have thousands of father and mother classes all around Japan sponsored respectively by Seicho-No-Ie Brotherhood Association, men's organization, and Seicho-No-Ie White dove Association, an organization of women.

If people take the problem more seriously, I think there are many things to do.

Monday, October 16, 2006

Dwindling Birth Rate-(2)

The reasons why I think the birth rate in Japn is declining are ―

First of all, women's role in Japan has fairly been diversified these days. For example, some women choose to be single while working all their life, or much more married women tend to work. I think working women feel independent and satisfied with not only serving as housewives but also as career women. They may want more offspring than they have now, but they may hesitate because of dreading to lose the position at work.

Secondly, there is a fact that much less fathers engage in child-raring. Despite women's view toward child-rasing having dramatically changed, men's view to child-raring seemed not to be changed like as women's. Quite a few men have to work late everyday because the number of full-fledged employees has been decreasing due to recent layoffs, while the workload has not changed or even been expanding. This is why they cannot spend quality time if they want. This may discourage women from bearing more babies.

Lastly, financial problem should also be counted. Increasing number of people now work as a part timer, they are financially unstable and end up avoiding bringing up children. More than that, educational cost is skyrocketing by leaps and bound.

I suppose what so many factors are combined makes the problem diffiult to solve, even though we all know we must do something. Well, how should we deal with this situation?
(continued)

Friday, October 13, 2006

Smoking Habbit

Smoking is one of the most nuisance in the world to me. Especially in a restaurant, when someone next to me starts to smoke I am always irritated by that and feel like running away from the site. This idea is totally agreed with my English teacher, therefore, we choose a cafe as a lesson place where non-smoking room is completely separated. But smoking advocates say that they have a right to smoke. They may want to have a puff for a change or as an escape, I accept their insistence and think they have a point to some degree.

However in Japan, some smokers light a cigarette while walking the road. It not only makes passers hassle but also brings them danger especially in a case where passers are children. I sometimes witness that the edge of lit cigarette is about to touch an eye of a small child. Therefore, some municipals including Shibuya-ku(ward) where I work for ban smoking while walking, though, unfortunately, it hasn't worked out so far.

On the whole, however, I feel our society is heading to the direction in which smoking in public places is restricted. I have heard that even pubs in England (or Ireland?) are prohibited from smoking. I welcome this tendency, but I am looking forward to a day when smoking is barred in all public sites all across our country.

October 11th issue of International Herald Tribune had an article titled, "With a shrug, the French ponder new smoking ban". The article says that French offices, stores, schools, hospitals, cafes, bars and restaurants will be designated as a place that you cannot have a puff. I suppose there are hefty resitance from those who love smoke, but I hope tihs trend will spread all around the world as soon as possible.

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

Dwindling Birth Rate-(1)

The September 3rd issue of "International Herald Tribune," referred to a dwindling birth rate in Europe. According to the article, the fertility rate in countries like Czech Republic, Slovenia, Latvia and Poland is a very low one of 1.2, which is way below the rate of 2.1 necessary to keep current population. Greece, Italy and Spain are also suffering from low fertility rate of 1.3, the article says.

The only exception is France, with a rate of 1.8. The article says, "France has long encouraged larger families through incentives, from direct per-child payments to allocations for clothing and school supplies, and it recently offered women €750, or $960, a month for a year if they had a third child. Austrian women have been offered €450 a month for three years for a first birth."

As for Japan, its total fertility rate has been dwindling in the past 20 years like so many European countries. Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that the rate for 2005 declined to 1.25. It has a big impact on Japanese livelihood and economy. Because it means decreasing younger labor population and increasing social welfare spending. I would like to raise some reasons why Japanese women tend to give birth to less children.
(continued)

Saturday, October 07, 2006

Ethanol-driven car

I am taking an English lesson every Tuesday for an hour at a cafe. My teacher is a kind, gentle and modest American now living in Japan and married a Japanese woman. In the lessons, we often discuss about preserving global environment. The other day, he provided me with a piece of information concerning ethanol-driven car. The artcle's title is "More Brazil cars run on alcohol," sponsored by BBC online.

"Brazil's carmakers sold more vehicles adapted to run on alcohol last year than conventional petrol-driven models, motor industry figures show," said the article and was followed by the next passage "In all, 866,267 flex-fuel cars were sold in Brazil in 2005 against just 328,379 the year before, the Brazilian motor manufacturers' association Anfavea said."

I think it is a great step in an effort to improve global environment. Because ethanol is extracted from sugar-cane, consequently, there is no emission of carbon dioxide. However, my idea on this issue is that it is useful as an alternative energy for the time being, but there is a dangerous possibility that it can reduce sugar-cane fields as a source of food. I mean Brazil is a very large country and I see there is no such peril so far because sugar-cane is mainly planted in kind of offshore, deserted areas. But especially when people see it benefit from economical point of view, big industries like conglomerates may buy a lot of fields for sugar-cane, and it may end up depriving people in poverty countries of their foods. This is why I cannot 100% agree with the idea of using bioehanol as means of fuel, though it is effective for the time being.

Monday, October 02, 2006

Divorce Card?

I know there are various kinds of card such as ― greeting card, wedding card, congratulatory card and so on. But I hadn't heard about "Divorce Card" until I found this word on the Business English Conversation program broadcasted by NHK radio. NHK is a Japanese public broadcaster.

According to the Japanese instructor and the American assistant on the progam, Divorce Card was modeled on the wedding card but was not welcomed by people back in early '70, even though the message was friendly and sympathetic. However, with the upsurge in divorce rate these days, as people come to be able to deal with divorce calmly, it seems accepted.

However, I think, rather than writing a divorce card, you would be happy if you write your joy or gratitude to your spouse or partner. This must keep your relationship from being in danger. We tend not to realize how we are blessed until something wrong happens. Therefore, I want to thank all people, things and circumstances that surround me even though they don't seem to be friendly to me. Because, in the long run, I believe it surely makes me benefit in a sense.

Anyway, let us use positive and bright words as much as possible everyday!

Here is my favorite book that I really recommend you to read. OPEN THE DOOR OF YOUR LIFE is full of brilliant and spiritual words written by Reverend Seicho Taniguchi, the President of Seicho-No-Ie, originally in Japanese and translated into English by SNI International Headquarters.