A survival skill in shrinking Japan: Learn English

Japanese billionaire Hiroshi Mikitani decided two years ago that the employees at his company, Rakuten Inc., should work almost entirely in English. The idea, he said, was a daring and drastic attempt to counter Japan's shrinking place in the world. "Japanese people think it's so difficult to speak English," Mikitani said. "But we need to break the shell."

German customs demand $475,000 for Japanese musician's violin

German customs seized a $1.2 million violin from a Japanese professional musician and are demanding she pay almost $475,000 to get it back, reports said on Wednesday. Belgium-based Yuzuko Horigome was transiting through Frankfurt Airport last week after performing in Japan, the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper said. When she tried to walk through the green gate for travelers arriving in the EU with nothing to declare, customs officers stopped her and said she needed to pay 190,000 euros in duty on her 1741 Guarnerius violin.

Airport Automated Face Recognition Tests Begin

A facial recognition test program began at automated gates for immigration at Narita and Kansai airports on Monday. In the tests, the faces of incoming and outbound travellers will be automatically checked against passport photographs at the immigration gates. The tests target Japanese travellers and are intended to improve the performance of the automated gate system. One such gate is installed at each of four international airports--Haneda, Narita, Central Japan and Kansai. The system has so far checked travellers’ fingerprints for identification.

Low Number of Babies Born in Japan Recorded

Fewer babies were born in Japan in the last year than any other on record, pulling down its population for the third year in a row, according to government statistics released this week. As of the end of March, Japan had more than 260,000 fewer people than a year earlier, the biggest drop of the Japanese population yet, according to Japanese media. The baby bust has continued year after year despite Japanese efforts to nudge up the numbers: The government has doled out payments for couples with children and subsidized daycare. Japanese towns publicly herald the number of local births in city signs. Engineering students even crafted a cooing robotic baby years ago in hope of setting biological clocks ticking.

4 Held Over Software to Copy DVDs

Four employees, including one executive, of a Tokyo-based publisher were arrested Tuesday for allegedly selling a DVD-copying guidebook bundled with software able to remove DVDs' copy protection. The Metropolitan Police Department arrested Yoshiaki Kaizuka, 43, an executive of Chiyoda Ward publisher Sansai Books Inc., and three other company employees on suspicion of violating the Unfair Competition Prevention Law, and sent papers on the firm to the Tokyo District Public Prosecutors Office. According to a senior police official, these are the nation's first arrests over the distribution of software to remove copy protection.

Expected Workforce in 2030 to Fall by 8.45M

The number of employed people may drop by as much as 8.45 million by 2030 from the 2010 figure of 62.98 million, according to a labor ministry panel of experts studying the country's employment policy. In its report unveiled Monday, the panel emphasized the need for the government to help women and young people find and secure jobs because the decline in employees is likely to hinder the nation's economic growth. The estimate of a maximum contraction of 8.45 million was made on the basis of assumptions that economic growth will remain at zero percent and the number of working women and elderly will remain unchanged through 2030.

Female Cops in Japan Hits Record High

The number of female police officers in Japan has hit a record high of 17,686, with women making up 6.8 percent of all police officers across the country as of April this year, a National Police Agency (NPA) report has shown. The record figures were reported in the nation's White Paper on Police 2012, which was released on July 24. Since 2002, over 1,000 female police officers have been hired each year as part of a bid to revitalize and enhance police forces across the nation. The NPA said it will seek to expand recruitment of female officers. "Female officers' abilities are utilized in investigations into sex crimes and spousal violence cases, as well as in supporting the victims of those crimes," the white paper said.

Married Women in Japan Want to Work

Married women want to work, according to a government survey that will form the basis for a 2012 white paper on children, child rearing and mothers. The survey results, released early, show an astounding 86 percent of women want to continue working after having children, though most find it almost impossible to do so. Only 11.6 percent indicated they do not wish to seek employment. Most women said they wanted to start working again as soon as possible after giving birth, though they were keenly aware of the importance of being with their young children. The largest percentage of mothers, 23.8 percent, said they wanted to start work again as soon as possible. Another 22.1 percent said they would prefer to wait until their children enter kindergarten or nursery school, and another 20 percent said they would like to start after their children enter elementary school.

Trying to Look Pretty is the Trend for Young Japanese Men

Young Japanese men are starting to resemble their female counterparts when it comes to the pursuit of beauty, with the nation awash in salons dedicated to male grooming and products such as hair removal creams, electric nose-hair trimmers and face-firming masks targeting the image-conscious man. Men in their 20s and 30s today were teenagers when the now-common expression "ikemen" - meaning a good-looking man - was a new buzzword. The advent of the term and a social phenomenon lionizing ikemen have given males of this particular age group a belief that looking pretty is pretty cool. At the same time, gaining a more attractive look is a way to compensate for a lack of self-confidence.

Japanese men getting fatter, women thinner

Japan is facing a queer problem - men are getting fatter by the year while women are getting thinner. Latest estimates released by the country's cabinet office on Wednesday says that 31.2% men aged 20-60 years are presently obese (body mass index over 25) as against 25.3% in 1995. In comparison the ministry of health, labour and welfare's 2010 National health and nutrition survey found that 29% of women in the 20s were too thin (body mass index less than 18.5). In fact just five years before (2005), 21.9% women in their 20s were found to be too thin. (India Times, May 26) Source: http://newsonjapan.com/html/newsdesk/article/96558.php

The Worldwide Triumph of English

By GWYNNE DYER LONDON — The second president of the United States, John Adams, predicted in 1780 that "English will be the most respectable language in the world and the most universally read and spoken in the next century, if not before the end of this one." It is destined "in the next and succeeding centuries to be more generally the language of the world than Latin was in the last or French is in the present age." It was a bold prediction, for at that time there were only about 13 million English-speakers in the world, almost all of them living in Britain or on the eastern seaboard of North America. They were barely 1 percent of the world's population, and almost nobody except the Welsh and the Irish bothered to learn English as a second language. So how is Adams' prediction doing now?

EU and Japan to Make the Internet Safer for Children

Europe and Japan will work together on a strategy to make the Internet safer for children and teenagers. The new strategy was announced by Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes on Wednesday. On Thursday, she met with Tatsuo Kawabata, Japanese minister for Internal affairs and Communications to discuss how the European Union and Japan could collaborate on such plans. Although the strategy is for industry self regulation, the digital agenda spokesman said in an email that the European Commission would intervene if self regulation does not deliver. However "a regulation-only approach would fail," he said. Apple, BSkyB, Dailymotion, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Netlog, Nintendo, Nokia, Research In Motion, Samsung and Vodafone have all signed up to the initiative, which aims to improve content for children and create a safer online environment.

Bank lending growing fast in Tohoku region

Bank lending is growing faster in the Tohoku region than in other parts of the country, according to data released by the Bank of Japan. At the end of March, the lending balance in the Tohoku region was 4 percent higher than a year earlier, against the national average increase of 0.9 percent, the central bank said Wednesday. Tohoku municipalities are increasingly borrowing money to fuel reconstruction following the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, said an official at the bank's Sendai branch. By contrast, the Kinki region has recorded 44 consecutive monthly falls.

Sumida River to light up with LED fireflies

By MAAYA KONAGAI Staff writer Japan isn't a difficult place to live. If you want to eat Mexican food, there are Mexican restaurants. If you want to buy brand-name British clothes, there are shops and websites that deliver. So Tokyo Hotaru Festival asks the question: What does Tokyo, where you can get anything, really need now? The answer, organizers say, has to do with a return to the past. Long ago, the Sumida River, which runs through Tokyo's east end, was one of the life sources of the community. The Hotaru Festival will try to draw attention to an effort by locals to beautify the river and its precincts. As May 5 is Children's Day in Japan, there will be a lot of activities for families to do by the river.

Fortunetelling addiction spreads among the insecure

Chiyoko Osaki married a man after a fortuneteller said he was a good match. The marriage soon fell apart. She initially turned to her parents and friends for advice on building a solid future and career, but she soon found herself returning to the soothsayer. Although counselling is available from both public and private organizations, many people in these unpredictable economic times are looking to divination for solutions to their problems, as well as specific advice for marriage, work and future plans. As could be expected, the number of problems concerning fortunetelling has also risen Many people become addicted to fortunetelling because they have been exposed to it through TV shows and magazines since they were very young, said Hiroshi Watanabe, a lawyer. He has handled cases involving fortunetelling and fraudulent sales of goods or services claimed to bring supernatural benefits to the purchaser. Fortune tellers have long been working on the streets of Japan. But with the nation’s economy still sputtering along, the Internet has become inundated with sites providing fortunetelling services over the phone or through e-mail.

Maid cafe waitresses show off their scientific know-how

Girls dressed in French maid outfits running craft classes on soldering, of all things, might seem like something out of Japanese anime. But this is Akihabara, Tokyo's "Electric Town," and home to all things anime and "otaku," meaning geeks. The workshops are the brainchild of electronics parts retailer Wakamatsu Tsusho Co. Akihabara has long been home to many electronics parts shops. But nowadays, it also serves as "ground zero" for otaku culture and attracts thousands of enthusiasts of anime, videogames, cosplay and other pop culture trends. Wakamatsu came up with the idea of craft classes run by waitresses in maid costumes to revive interest in the science behind electronic gadgets. The company, established 36 years ago, hosted a free craft session in March at Akihabara Network & Embedded Technology Center, Akiba NET-kan, in the Sotokanda area of Chiyoda Ward. In addition to Wakamatsu Tsusho workers and specialists close to Japan's leading semiconductor manufacturer, Renesas Electronics Corp., it included Erika Kurosaki and Shion Arimura from Togenkyo maid cafe as instructors to offer tips on soldering. Twelve people, ranging from a 6-year-old girl, who is set to attend elementary school this spring, to a 62-year-old man, joined the session. After they were given basic tips on soldering, they worked on a heart-shaped circuit board to complete an LED flasher that plays music.

Scam websites on the rise across Japan

Online scams in which victims are deceived into taking part in long friendly e-mail conversations that eventually cause them to lose money are increasing rapidly across Japan. The websites, many of which are paid online dating or job-hunting sites that are based on e-mail exchanges, have been collectively labeled "sakura (decoy) websites" due to the means their operators use to scam their victims. When people register to one of these websites, they are later approached by a "user" of the website, who is actually a decoy. In a series of e-mails, the victims are tricked into endless "friendly" talks. The victims are not aware at the time that the more e-mails they exchange with the decoy, the more money they are later demanded to pay for using the websites. Among common deception techniques "sakura websites" use is making people believe that those they exchange e-mail with wish to befriend them or that they have enough money to invest in their businesses or projects if they become acquainted. That tricks them into sending as many e-mails as possible, which the operators of the scam websites make money from.

Japanese computer programming language Ruby approved as global standard

The computer programming language Ruby, invented by a Japanese, has been approved by the International Organization for Standardization as a global standard, the government's Information-technology Promotion Agency said Monday. Ruby, conceived by software engineer Yukihiro Matsumoto in 1993, is a scripting language that executes tasks for software and runs on Unix, Dos, Windows and Mac operating systems. Matsumoto, a fellow at Network Applied Communication Laboratory Ltd., said he welcomes the decision and hopes for the further spread of the programming language.                                      Source: http://mdn.mainichi.jp/mdnnews/news/20120403p2g00m0dm049000c.html

Japan wages rise 1st time in 9 mths, overtime pay up

Wages in Japan rose in February from a year earlier for the first time in nine months, while overtime pay climbed for the fifth straight month, partly helped by more working days in the month than last year, government data showed on Tuesday. Overtime pay, a barometer of strength in corporate activity, climbed 3.4 percent in February from a year earlier, the fastest pace of growth since the same month last year, the Labour Ministry said. Average cash earnings stood at 265,497 yen ($3,200) in February, up 0.7 percent from a year earlier, following a revised 0.9 percent fall in January. Total working hours rose 3.0 percent from a year earlier, the highest increase since March 2010. Declines in wages after last year's earthquake have been gradually stabilising and analysts expect the economy will recover this year, helped by reconstruction demand and receding concerns over the global economy. (Reuters, Apr 03)

IELTS SPEAKING PRACTICE 9

PART 1

                The examiner asks the candidate about him/herself, his/her home, work or studies and other familiar topics.

Entertainment ·         Do you prefer relaxing at home or going out in the evening? Why? ·         When you go out in the evening, what do you like to do? ·         How popular is this with other people in your country? ·         Is there any kind of entertainment you do not like? Why? Why not?