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November 22, 2024
 

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Alice Gordenker

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Alice Gordenker
Alice Gordenker writes the "So, What the Heck is That?" column, providing in-depth, carefully researched explanations of the things foreigners find so puzzling about Japan. Her work has been modified as a textbook for Japanese university students called "Surprising Japan" (Shohakusha, 2012).
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Oct 25, 2002
Shared research yields ideas for schooling
When we first enrolled our son in Japanese school, there were occasions when he came home earlier than I'd expected. The first time, I happened to be at home. "Why were you dismissed early?" I asked my son. "I don't know," he shrugged. "The teacher said something, but I didn't understand."
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Oct 11, 2002
Chant away to calculation competence
You will never guess what I've been doing the past two weeks. I, an Ivy League graduate, at the ripe age of 44, have been learning my times tables. That's right, multiplication. Now, before you write me off as a failure of American higher education, let me stress that I've been doing this in Japanese....
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Sep 27, 2002
It really is sink or swim in Japanese schools
Life is never dull when your children attend local school in a foreign country. My kids have been in Japanese school for two years, but things still catch me by surprise. My daily thrill, if you can call it that, is reviewing the stacks of purinto (handouts) from the school. I never know quite what I'm...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Sep 13, 2002
School selection comes to Japan at last
In many countries, parents have a choice of public schools. Not Japan. Here, you get just one choice: Send your child to the closest public school, or pay a lot of money for private school. But this is changing. School choice is coming to Japan.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Aug 30, 2002
Staying cool at school becomes a hot topic
It sure is hot in Japan. My kids had to sweat through weeks of heat before they were finally released for summer vacation in the third week of July. They go back to school next Monday, and I feel sorry for them. It's likely to be hot and humid for a few more weeks.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Aug 16, 2002
Better off sleeping than working out?
Here's a fun exercise: Ask Japanese adults how they spent their childhood summers. They'll almost always mention rajio taiso, the morning exercises they did in neighborhood groups during the school holiday. Then ask if their own children participate. Chances are their kids sleep in rather than get up...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Aug 2, 2002
School trips help cut the apron strings
My son is leaving home. I've always known, of course, that the day would come when he'd strike out on his own. But I never imagined it would happen when he was only 11 years old. Or that he'd make his big break to a mountain in Japan.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jul 19, 2002
Painting in the park is a lesson in creativity
One morning in June, my kids left for school without their usual leather backpacks. Instead, they each carried a knapsack with a water bottle, a ground cloth and a handful of my sentakubasami. Clothespins? Yup. Standard equipment for the Zenko Shasei Taikai (All-School Sketch Festival).
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jul 5, 2002
Bringing our schools out into the open
I'm pretty happy with the Japanese elementary school my children attend. But I have to say one thing: I hate the building itself. It's the standard four-story concrete block. Drab, institutional and uninviting. What I dislike most is that it's closed off from the surrounding neighborhood, hidden away...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jun 14, 2002
Furigan fears prompt school safety drills
Journalists who write columns love to tie up their topics with current events. Still, I never thought I'd write about the World Cup soccer finals. I don't follow the sport, and I didn't see any connection between my education column and the international tournament. Until I saw the handout my kids brought...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 31, 2002
Encouraging kids to think for themselves
"Is it really OK for school to be this much fun?"
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 17, 2002
Language help lets foreign students fit in
You'd think my sons were the first gaijin kids ever to attend a Japanese elementary school, judging from the surprised responses we get from people. But there are lots of foreign children in Japanese schools, and their numbers are growing. Unfortunately, most schools aren't equipped to teach newcomers...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
May 3, 2002
When one-size-fits-all schooling doesn't fit
There's a boy in our building who doesn't go to school. Ever. Nine-year-old Kenji missed 40 days of school last year, then refused to go back at all after the spring break. He says that he "can't breathe" at school and that his stomach hurts whenever he's in the building.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Apr 19, 2002
Perfect parenting . . . it's all in the labeling
Here's what mid-April in Japan means to me: The cherry blossoms have come and gone, the kids are back in school and mothers all over the country are suffering writer's cramp from labeling school gear.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Apr 5, 2002
No more Saturdays, no more cappuccino
When the new school year begins on April 8, all Japanese public schools will be on a five-day school week for the first time ever. For my kids, that means no more school on Saturdays. For me, it means no more cappuccino.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Mar 22, 2002
Students give seniors a rousing send-off
My first-grader sighed at the dinner table the other night. "Sakamoto-kun is graduating soon," he said sadly. Who? I had never heard of anyone by this name. "He's one of the sixth-graders," my son explained. "He showed me a magic trick and helps me at school."
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Mar 8, 2002
Getting used to accentuating the negative
Whatever you do, don't say anything nice about your child at parents' meetings
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Feb 22, 2002
The serious business of clubbing together
My 10-year-old is in the school basketball club but is thinking about switching to another club. He's been agonizing over this decision, which tells you something about the importance of school clubs in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Feb 8, 2002
It's time to say: Let's talk about sex, babies
In all my years of studying Japanese, I never learned the word I need right now. How do you say "nocturnal emission"? I need to know because my 10-year-old son is starting sex education at school, and I haven't told him that part of "the facts of life." His Japanese is pretty good, but I think he'll...
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Jan 25, 2002
Students sweat out a spell of high pressure
It's been strangely quiet lately in the sixth-grade classrooms at my children's school. When I looked in the other day, nearly half the seats were empty. I couldn't understand why. A flu epidemic? Then I remembered. It's juken season -- entrance examination time.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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