Recently in Current Events Category

We now have 40 students in the class, but two people didn't come today. The system for putting your homework in the correct folder based on your student number helped a lot. I will probably use it again when I have homework that I want you to write by hand.

I should have posted something last week about the textbook, but I forgot. Sorry, but make sure you buy the textbook before next class. One other thing I forgot to do was to show you the e-mail example that I want you to use. You can donwload a copy mailsample.pdf and this is (mailsample1.pdf) and example of how I will correct it.

The homework for next week is to do the reading on page 8 and then pick one of the examples from 2A on page 9 to write and article like the one in 2B. It should be 200 words. Use this e-mail address camps(at).joyworld.com and e-mail me any questions that you might have.

For the final class we had a good cross section of topics. One was about the company that is using a biomass boiler to run the kilns to dry larch lumber. I mentioned that I had read an article about a town in Alaska that is using one for the schools. I will see if I can find it again.

I enjoyed this class and learning about a lot of different things from you. I am sure you will enjoy having Paul as your teacher and teaching him about Japan.

Update:
I am not sure how many people will come back and take a look here, but I know someone who has bought the newspaper log maker. I will keep you posted on what she thinks of it.

I found this article about Sovereign Wealth Funds this morning and Mutsumi put the Japanese name in last week's comments.

I will be posting somethings later, but don't forget we have reset the rotation for the news articles.

Update:
This article has to do with the demographics issue we have talked about before, but related to university education.

Update:
This is more of reminder for me than for you. On Sunday there was a news item on TV about a new bicycle law which will prohibit parent's (mostly mothers) from carrying two children on a bike. Did anyone else see the program or read anything about it?

It was an interesting mix of topics again this week. Kumiko talked about a new type of store that will be opening in Sapporo in May. It will only sell sample sizes of products. There are several restrictions, but it still sounds interesting. Another topic from Shiho was about the increase in flour prices and how some restaurants and bakeries are switching to flour made from Hokkaido wheat. My question was, "Will the JA or government let the farmers plant more wheat to meet the demand?" Maybe Zenta can post answer or let us know next week. Mutsumi brought a 3-parter about tourism in Tokachi. There were some really interesting numbers, from the increase in the number of foreign tourists to the average amount of money that a Taiwanese tourist spends in the area. The biggest problem seems to be not having the kind of attractions that keep people in the area longer. I have several ideas if there are any venture capitalists out there who want help put my plan into action.

When we were talking about the new store that is coming to Sapporo, we also talked about the Costco in Sapporo. I am definitely interested in visiting there the next time I go to Sapporo.

We had a range of topics this week and several of them about Obihiro were very interesting. I am planning to go downtown and try the new bus service. Maybe I can just make trips from the station to the FujiMaru.

A questions come up about the Superdelagtes and the link should give all the information that you want. I did have the history right and the superdelegate was created after the 1968 election. For all the details follow the link.

We only had three people tonight, but there is a cold going around that may have taken a few people out. We talked about the articles I linked to and spent quite a bit of time on the Super Tuesday topic. There were a lot of questions about the system and my thoughts on Hillary and Obama. I also ranted a little about the phone call that I had gotten from a Kachimai reporter in the morning.

The rotation of headlines worked pretty well and we will try again for next week. You need to just move ahead a day from last week. For example, Kumiko will have Friday next week.

As always check back here for updates throughout the week.

Update:
A few weeks ago we were talking about families and the government's attempt to increase the number of children. This article looks at the problem in developed countries.

Update 2:
Why can't Obihiro be considered for something like this.

Well, we covered a lot of ground tonight and now it is hard to remember what exactly we talked about. We did decide to do the headline idea I suggested in last week's post and this is the order, but I will assign Zenta and Shiho their days.

1. Wednesday Mutsumi


2. Thursday Kumiko


3. Friday Shinji


4. Saturday Kazuyo (She will be absent next week)


5. Sunday Zenta


6. Monday Shiho

The idea is to pick one of the major stories from the front pages of the Kachimai, Doshin or one of the national papers. It would be best if the article has something to do with Obihiro, Tokachi, or Hokkaido.

I will also keep my eyes open for other big items. Of course, next week is Super Tuesday (Wednesday here) in the States, so there might be some interesting articles about the presidential race. We did talk about Barack Obama and people had some questions about his early life. This link will give some the information that you asked for.

The say there is no such thing as bad press and this article makes it seem like it's true, but then you get something like this. I guess this on top of everything else will make people think twice before buying something from China.

How did you like the surprise? I really enjoyed hearing that kind of news. I think we should start the class with a local news round up and each person needs to present a one of the headlines for the week from the Kachimai or Doshin. We have six people so we can one person for everyday of the week and we can rotate every week, so you don't have the same day all the time. What do you think? Post your opinions in the comments section.

I forgot to post this link to some comments about whaling and whale meat.

Update:
I guess I had better start studying Japanese again.

Also has anyone been watching the morning NHK series on local government finances? On Tuesday they talked about the expensive sewer systems towns put in (Memuro) and today it was about the ski resorts and amusement parks that towns built. It is amazing how the city officials hid the red ink.

Update 2: This is an interesting podcast on the Moriya weapons procurement scandal, but it is too long to listen to in class. Go to about 13:30 into the podcast. There is also the tapescript here. I will try to post some questions over the weekend or on Monday.

Update 3:
You may remember when we were talking about the Toya Summit a few weeks ago that I said I would probably be receiving a visit from the police as we got closer to the summit. Well, it has happened already. This morning a police officer arrive at my door saying he was here to do a routine update of the register. The problem is this was the first time and there was nothing in his book. We have lived here over 14 years and they are just getting around to putting us in the book. I guess it just takes time.

Update 4:
Just in case you have been checking back to see if I put up any questions. I haven't had time to come up with any questions, so I would like you to think up three questions you would ask to check someone's comprehension of the listening.

There wasn't much local news to talk about tonight. I guess Tokachi is just too boring. I asked you to come up with sports metaphors that are used in politics. This is an interesting article about this point. We did talk about how the Toya Summit might improve the Hokkaido economy, but people seemed pretty skeptical. We also talked about the role of the media in sensationalizing murders and other crimes.

Finally we listened to a short clip about Prime Minister Fukuda's trip to China. You can read the tapescript here.

Check back for links and to be afraid to post some of your ideas in the comments.

Update: Here is more on the whaling.

This article has a strong connection with Hokkaido even though it isn't mentioned. My question is why does the national government need to be involved with this type of activity?

I have a surprise for you, but you will need your dictionaries for the next class.

We talked a little bit about Shinji's trip to Australia and it is too bad about the weather. With the two bad days they lost two nights of hotel time that they had paid for. It is times like that you wish you had travel insurance.

After talking about the trip we talked about what happened in Iowa and the possibilities for New Hampshire. Finally, we talked about the article I linked to and a lot of interesting points came up. One of them was that the writer needed a better editor. People had a hard time getting the author's point.

At the end of class I left you with a question to think about for next week. "Why do people think the Toya Summit is going to give a boost to Hokkaido's ecomony?" The Japan Times had this article. but I don't think it gives a really good answer.

This article might be a good topic for our first class. You have ideas please put them in the comments

We talked about some local news items and one that I hadn't heard of was the doping case for the draft race horses. The races have been getting such good publicity that this has to hurt a little. There were a few other things, but nothing that was too spectacular.

I only linked to the article on the working poor and we talked about how the problem is affecting not just workers in Japan, but other countries, too. One of the suggestions was increasing the minimum wage, but some economist say that it actually ends up hurting the poor.

After that I asked you to predict what the big stories would be in 2008. There was a large variety of ideas and many of them seem possible. Shinji mentioned a book about a Brazilian man who can predict the future. Hopefully, he will put more information in the comments.

For tonight's class you had to pick the 5 biggest news stories of 2007 in Japan and discuss why you thought they were important.

Shinji and Shiho

1. Pension


2. Food Scandal


3. Oil prices


4. Abe resignation


5. Moriya Scandal

Kazuyo and Kumiko

1. Pension


2. Moriya Scandal


3. Food Scandal


4. Abe resignation


5. Oil prices

1. Food Scandal


2. Pension


3. Cell Research


4. JOY's 30th


5. Oil Prices

Next week we will be talking about holiday related news so keep your eyes open for interesting stories.

Update:

I found this article about the working poor. I caught part of the tv show that they mention.

A small class that last couple of weeks. I don't know if it is because people are sick or busy with work. Today we talked about some general news items and then looked at the articles I linked to last week. There weren't any good ideas for how Obihiro can attract the type of families mentioned in the article. It seems to come down to lack of job opportunities. Obihiro needs to broaden its economic base, if it ever wants to attract more people.

At the end I mentioned that this time of year there are always a lot of seasonal news stories that run every year. This morning when I turned on the news there was one I mentioned. It was about the number of people who are planning to go overseas during the holidays. If I understood it correctly the number isn't as large as last year. One thing I didn't mention was the announcement of the participants in the Kouhaku show on New Year's Eve. Keep your eyes and ears open for other ones this week.

Check back here for more updates.

We had a small turnout tonight so it was lucky that we had Yasuko from Urashima-san's News 5 class join us. We talked about the articles posted by Kazuyo and Zenta. Yasuko actually used the Tamiflu last year when she was sick and she said it was effective. Two people in the class have had their flu shot. I keep thinking about getting one, but haven't yet.

In addition, to those articles we also talked about the price increases and the problems facing the medical system in Japan. There were several unfavorable comments about doctors and the lack of trust.

As usual keep checking back for links and post any ideas that you might have for topics.

Update:
This article is kind of long, but there is some interesting information about the structure of the American family and about city planning.

This one is related in a way to the article I linked to earlier. I remember driving through Taisho on the way to the airport last week and it looked like there are many empty apartments in a public housing building near the elementary school. I wonder if the city is having a hard time finding people who want to live in them. The building looked pretty new and I am sure the rent is really cheap. Anybody know if that is the case?

This week's homework is for you to find some articles that you would like to discuss. If it is online, put the url in the comments. I will tell you a little bit more about my trip at the beginning of class next week.

I just came across this article and it doesn't make things look to good for medical services in different parts of Japan.

Kazuyo was kind enough to share part of her prize with her classmates.

Take a look at this and tell me why Memphis, Tennessee? You can put your answers in the comments.

I found a couple more articles for next week and they should be enough to keep us talking awhile. The first one is about gender roles and the other about tourists visiting Japan.

We are now at an even eight, which will make pair work much easier. We listened to a part of the interview that I linked to last week. I have part of a podcast that I want you to listen to next week. To prepare you should look around for some information on Prime Minister Fukada.

These are some articles that I think are interesting.
New approach to rural revitalization
Japanese in their 30s are losing the plot
It's a Fat World
PCs being pushed aside in Japan

Of course there may be some more, so check back before Friday.

Here is an editorial from the Japan Times on the Ozawa maneuvers.

We tried something a little different tonight and I hope you found it interesting. It did give you a lot of talking time. I will give a few links to some of the things we talked about in class.

I mentioned the book >The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. There was also the blog posting by James Fallows. I found it, but it took a little while. I also mentioned the book Freakonomics and that the authors had a blog.

These links are just for some background, so check back here for topics for next week's class.

Update:
This is something that I will have deal with the next time I go on a foreign trip. I am not sure if Noriko experienced it when she went to the States last time.

I was very happy when the public baths or hot springs I visited instituted this policy.

I just had my last city planning committee meeting today, so this article caught my eye.

Also this morning I heard this interview with James Fallows about China.

update:
I know I promised not post anything after Friday, but thismay be good news for those of us who want more international flights out of Chitose.

This class was one of the liveliest that we have had so far. I hope that people will continue to jump in with their opinions and ideas.

Meat Hope is back in the news this week. I wonder how much longer they can survive.

Education concerns are also back in the news. I wonder how long it will be before there are classes on Saturday again?

I spoke with a friend who is in the car business yesterday and I asked him if he thought you would have to pay taxes on biodiesel that you made for you own use. He didn't seem to think you would. Does anyone have a friend who works in the tax office?

We did things a little differently tonight. At first I had you talk with a partner about what you thought were the top thee news stories of the previous week. From there we talked about the different ones.

For example, there was the WBC Flyweight championship fight issue and the suspension of Daiki Kameda. Also people talked about the murder by the religious group in Nagano. There was also the kidnapping case of the junior high girl. Then there was also a more local story about the opening of a section of the expressway between Shimizu and Tommau.

Speaking of local news this is something we might want to talk about next week. This article is from the Washington Post, so you may have to register first before you can read it.

I just came across this article which I think is an extremely important topic.

This may be good news for Japanese retirees looking for property in the U.S. With the burst of the housing bubble in many markets and a strong yen there will be some real bargains. I am not sure if that will be true in Hawaii, the most popular

I just stumbled across this on another blog and it seems like an interesting concept. It also reminds of somethings I read in a book about early Meiji labor markets. I will have to dig through my grad school books and see if I can find that information.

I gather from people's comments that I have overwhelmed you with the number of articles that I have linked to the past two weeks. You don't need to read them all that carefully, but look them over and try to think of how you would like to discuss the article. By looking over the article you can find the key vocabulary to use in the discussion. It might help you to find a similar article in Japanese and read it also.

Remember if you have topics you would like to discuss you can put links in the comments.

Update:
Would you like to live in a place like this?

It seemed a little strange to have so many people for this class after last semester with such a small number. We started off with introductions, but many of you had been in Urashima-san's News English class.

We talked about three different topics and I had handouts for each one. I will try to post links to articles about topics that I would like to talk about for the next class. If you find anything interesting you should put the link in the comments.

Here is an article (long) about the Minamata Disease. In reading the article think about what the government should and can this type of environmental problem happen again?

This article about immigration is an interesting one and I would like you to think about what the government should do. Should they open up the country to more immigration or keep things the way they are? (Sorry this article seems to have disappeared from the site.)

This article is an interesting take on the limits of people power and why it didn't work in Burma.

This article about the changes in cell phone charges and handset subsidies is interesting. What are you going to do?

I hope some people will check this before the next class. This is an interesting article that has a lot of the current buzz words used in discussing international relations.

I may come across some other articles to talk about so keep checking back. Also don't be afraid to post your own ideas in the comments.

What do you think the budget priorities should be?

This was the last class for this day and time slot. From next term we will be meeting on Tuesdays from 7:00 and it looks like it is going to be a more popular day and time because we have 5 people signed up already. I have a few new ideas that I want to try and with a larger class we will be able to several other things. I look forward to experimenting next term.

Well, we ended up with three people tonight because Zenta was able to make it for the last part of the class. He was able to get an earlier train from Sapporo. We talked about a variety of topics, but the main thing was the resignation of Prime Minister Abe and his possible successor. We discussed several possible scenarios and it will be interesting to see which one happens.

This coming Friday is our last class, so keep checking back here for some possible topics for discussion.

Update:
It looks like none of my scenarios are going to come true.

Food is a topic everyone is interested in.

One more article about the resignation of Prime Minister Abe, but it is much broader.

This is one story that we follow closely at JOY.

Thank goodness for observers! I would have been all alone tonight, if it hadn't been for one observer. We talked about a variety of issues, but spent a long time talking about work-life balance. We talked about the idea of doing a job that you love and not doing something just because it gives you security.

I wanted to talk about this and get everyone's opinion.

This article has a little bit to do with the city committee that I am on.

Finally, there is this bit of news. I doubt much will come of it, but we can hope that the people involved will be punished if they are found to be guilty.

Update: With Prime Minister's sudden announcement we have one more topic to discuss on Friday.

It was nice that Shiho could join us this week and maybe she can do a make up class again before the term is over. Remember that this class will be switching to 7:00 on Tuesday starting in October. Hopefully, the time change will be mean that we will get a few more people.

As usual check here for updates during to week.

Update: We talked about the people who use the 24 hour internet cafes as their places to sleep, but I wonder if these people are in the same age group?

Three people tonight! It was a real crowd. We talked about Shinji's trip to Hong Kong and then some of the other big news stories that occurred during the vacation.

This story is right up Zenta's alley, but will it have an impact on what he does and this one is somewhat related.

The main news this coming week will be the new Abe cabinet. I will link to a few articles here, but take a look at the Japanese language press and get their take on it.

Update:
This article gives a nice explanation about the source of some of the financial problems that came up during the break and this one talks about the challenges facing the Bank of Japan.

This article is about Prime Minister Abe's new cabinet.

What do you think of this problem? Maybe it isn't one, but the press thinks it is unique.

Well, Zenta had some company this evening for the first time in weeks. Kazuyo from Urashima-san's News 4 class was here for a make up class. We covered a variety of topics, but there were several lulls in the conversation. Hopefully, after the break Shinji can make it back and few other people will start doing make up classes. As I mentioned in class, I am seriously thinking about moving this class to Tuesday night. It could be in the early slot, but most likely it will be from 8:30.

Well, it was one more week of just Zenta and I because Shinji wasn't able to get out of the hospital has he had planned. I think he will be getting out on Monday.

Zenta and I talked about a variety of topics, from the up coming election, to different wheat varieties. Check back here for possible discussion topics for this coming Friday.

I forgot to post this link to an article that I brought up in class.

Tonight and next week it is only going to be Zenta because Shinji had to have back surgery. Any Step 5 or News English students who would like to do a make up class this would be a good time.

In tonight's class we looked at Zenta's photos from his stay in Pullman, Washington. I had forgotten what a beautiful place it is.

I thought I had posted something after last week's class, but something went wrong. I noticed when I came to post a link but couldn't find the entry.

This article about a change in the Japanese banking scene might be interesting.

How many Japanese automakers do you think there will be in 5 to 10 years.

This article is a good summary of the bid-rigging problem in Japan. I think another sign of bid-rigging they don't mention is how well the projects are spread around between big and small firms.

Zenta was back tonight, so we got some information about the issue of using Tokachi flour for cakes and pastries. He also gave a little bit of insight into the subsidies issue. This article focuses on the American problem.

We talked about the breaking Hokkaido food company scandal and it sounds like it could grow into something bigger. We continued talking about the pension about the pension problem and this article seems to offer some hope for people who can't find their old pension books (like me) and don't have other records.

Zenta couldn't make it tonight because he was on a business trip, but Miho was here to check out the class. She is thinking she might join us. We got to know a little bit about her and Shinji told here a little about himself.

As usual we covered a wide variety of topics and keep checking here for topics that we might discuss this coming Friday.

One of the topics we discussed was the change in taxes. The income taxes have been lowered, but the city and prefectural residency taxes have been increased. This editorial about devolution calls for even more changes.

We also talked about bioethanol and this editorial says there needs to more efficient use of farmland.

As we get closer to the election in July we will be seeing more articles like this one. I am not too sure how interested you are in this topic, but we can speak about it briefly this coming Friday.

It was only Shinji and I tonight because Zenta had to see off someone at the airport. We talked about a variety of topics, but never got around to the ones I linked to last week. There is one topic I want to talk about next week related to Obihiro. Please remind me if I forget. Also check back here for links to topics that we might talk about on Friday.

How times have changed! A few years ago university grads were glad to have a job, but according to this article they are getting pickier.

Shinji might find this topic interesting because I know that he is a sushi lover.

This article about changes to the university system is interesting because I have been teaching part-time at Chikudai for the last couple of years.

Of course, we need to talk about this.

The tax bills have come in the mail recently, so it might be a good idea to talk about the changes to the taxation system.

We talked about several of the items I linked to last week and then about alternative heating and cooling systems.

There will several possible topics for this week and I will start making a list of articles to look at. So stop by throughout the week to take a look.

This article is an opinion piece about the poverty problem in Japan. I am interested in hearing if you agree with the author's points.

This issue in this article doesn't affect Hokkaido people too much because not as many people ride bicycles, but it does touch on the amakudari issue that we have spoken about a few times.

This article has depressing numbers about the fishing problem.

The next article is probably of more interest to Zenta, but I would like to hear his opinion. Also he can share with us a little more about the research set up in Pullman.

After our large class last week we were back to just the three of us this week. We spent a lot of timing talking about food and food culture related to the article I linked to last week about the decline in the percentage of people eating fish. I think it would be interesting to study the evolution of Japanese food culture. Zenta made a very good point that most Japanese people have traditionally eaten very basic foods because they had no choice. There wasn't much available.

Update: I had planned to talk about his scandal last week, but we didn't get around to it. This article also has some information on the pension fiasco. I will keep my eyes open for more on this.

I don't know what happened. I posted something on Monday, but it seems to have disappeared. I guess I will put things up again if I can find them.

Zenta brought up the topic of FTAs and this podcast talks about the pros and cons (the first part). I think this editorial in the Japan Times about the decline in the number of Japanese students studying overseas was interesting. Take a look and see if you agree with their conclusions.

If you come across anything interesting post a comment and let me know.

Update: We talked about the carry trade a little bit last week and this article is about how it is putting the international financial system at risk.

Update: This is a column about organic farming and composting. It might be something interesting to talk about seeing how we live in an important agricultural area and I enjoy composting.

We talked about the Golden Week holidays, but of course Zenta couldn't go very far because his wife was expecting a baby. We talked a little bit about flower viewing parties and I mentioned that I hadn't seen any stories about the drunken revelries that they usually show this time of year. I am sure there have been problems, but I wonder if the media has decided to down play the events in an attempt to discourage the behavior. This a link to an article from last year, but I haven't found one for this year so far.

I forgot to link to the explanation of meme. If you have any questions after reading this we can talk about it on Friday.

This is a possible topic for this week.

We talked about the new law outlining the procedures for referendum on revisions the constitution before Golden Week. This editorial in the Japan Times gives a good run down of what the law includes and what they think the weaknesses are.

Being a good American who likes his holidays, I bolted for home as soon as class was over and didn't think about posting anything until today. There wasn't a lot happening in the news over the holiday, but the predictable departure traffic jams and the infamous U-Turn. We seemed to miss the rush on way to Hokodate and missed the U-Turn crush because we stayed home during the latter part of the break. Keeping checking back here for some topics that we might talk about this coming Friday.

Also don't forget you can post discussion ideas in the comments and I can look for some English articles related to them.

We listened a little bit to a discussion of the gubernatorial elections and if you want to here the whole thing go here. You can get the tapescript here After that we talked about the Constitutional Reform. It is important to understand the difference between referendum and proposition. They are very similar, but it seems the major difference is the direction. The referendum originates with the legislature and propositions originate with citizens.

We also talked about the shooting of the mayor in Nagasaki and the shootings in Virginia. At the end we also talked about Alaska.

Update: The selection of Lake Toya as the site for the G8 summit was just announced, so we will talk about that. On the business front this might be an interesting topic.

We had one visitor and one person gone because of a cold. One of the problems with a small class is no one can get sick or go on business trip!

We talked about the election a little and next week we will listen to a discussion of what it might mean for the up coming elections in July. We also talked a little about finances and how personal financial management needs to be taught in school or at home. This article (you may have to register to read it, but it is free) in the Washington Post covers the topic pretty well.

Some topics for the next class might be the new bus/train that they are experimenting with in Hokkaido. The other news would be on the constitutional reform.

Like this week I will try to give some of the key vocabulary you will need to discuss this topic.

Update: Of course with what happened in Nagasaki we will want to talk about that. This article might help. There is also the incident in America and your can read about it here.

As I mentioned in class, we haven't had a class like this at JOY in over twenty years. I also mentioned that Friday night might not be the best day of the week for it and there is a small chance that we will move to Tuesday. We will see how things go.

We talked about two main topics; Yubari and amakudari. You can read more about them here, here and here. If there are topics that you would like to discuss you can put a link in the comments or send me an e-mail. I would like to continue the discussion during the week in the comments section. Maybe some of the Step 5 or News English students will join in.

Update: I am thinking of talking about the elections and what impact you think the results might have on the upper house elections this summer.

Update: This link will take you to some information about he debt problems of communities in Japan.