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December 22, 2024
 

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For language learners under 40 in Japan, AI tools such as ChatGPT are now preferred over in-person classes or radio language programs.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2024
AI services growing in popularity among younger language learners in Japan
The number of people using AI language tools grew by more than 80% in 2024, a recent survey showed.
Japanese companies lack the agility needed for the digital transformation, a new report says.
BUSINESS / Economy
Nov 15, 2024
Japan ranked 31st in digital competitiveness, 92nd for English skills
In the 2024 EF English Proficiency Index, Japan was ranked 92nd, down from 87 the previous year. It was its worst showing yet.
Yamakawa Shuppansha president Takeshi Nozawa holds the publisher's textbook on Japanese history — used in high schools across Japan — alongside the new English version in Tokyo on May 23.
JAPAN / Society
Aug 13, 2024
Publisher finds surprise audience after translating history textbooks
The English versions of Yamakawa Shuppansha's iconic textbooks appear to be popular among Japanese businesspeople looking to discuss history with their overseas peers.
While the education ministry recently introduced a new subject called “logic and expression” in its new curriculum guidelines, experts say that many teachers, in practice, are still focusing on grammar acquisition.
JAPAN / Society
Jun 19, 2024
Japan study downplays complex grammar in improving English writing skills
English learners are better off focusing on making good arguments, according to the Kobe University research.
The Japanese government updated its English education guidelines in 2017 to emphasize communication over grammar and memorization. Public school teachers are incredibly busy, however, which means schools haven’t been able to implement changes uniformly. Private and alternative schools are attempting to remedy this.
LIFE / Language / Longform
May 27, 2024
The language of opportunity: Bilingual education is on the rise in Japan
Stuck with a reputation for poor English, Japan is pushing its next generation to be bilingual. Privately run schools are seeing the benefits.
An education ministry survey has shown that the English proficiency of public junior and senior high school students in Japan is continuing to improve.
JAPAN
May 9, 2024
Japanese students' English proficiency is improving
The levels of English skills greatly varied depending on the region, according to the education ministry.
Only about 2% of Japan's annual output of 700,000 manga volumes are released in English, according to a startup working to translate manga using artificial intelligence.
BUSINESS / Companies
May 8, 2024
Japanese startup to use AI to translate manga
With its technology, Orange aims to produce 500 English-language manga per month.
When Fighters interpreter Shinju Sakuma set her mind on becoming a language liaison in sports, she picked a sport she enjoyed watching and an employer who thinks outside the box.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Feb 26, 2024
Rookie female interpreter provides voice for foreign baseball stars in Japan
Shinju Sakuma, who will graduate from Rikkyo University in Tokyo this spring, is believed to be the first female interpreter in NPB history.
Gunma Bank's video message in English is geared toward those from overseas who are flocking to Japan to buy up stocks, bonds and real estate as the nation’s assets emerge from decades of slumber.
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 22, 2024
English video shows Japanese regional banks opening up to overseas investors
Foreigners are flocking to Japan to buy up stocks, bonds and real estate as the nation’s assets emerge from decades of slumber.
Foreign investors are seeking more English-language disclosure from companies listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
BUSINESS / Markets
Feb 6, 2024
Foreign investors want more English info from TSE firms
The TSE plans to make Prime firms release key information in Japanese and English simultaneously.
The Tokyo Stock Exchange will require all companies listed on its prime section to publish key information simultaneously in English and Japanese.
BUSINESS / Markets
Jan 18, 2024
Tokyo bourse to make simultaneous English disclosure mandatory for top firms
A reform panel has cited foreign investors as saying that a lack of English disclosure is one of the reasons for staying away from Japan's stock market.
The "wolf warrior" metaphor is used for Chinese diplomats who are known for aggressively making their country’s case on the world stage.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 16, 2024
Doves, pandas and dragons: Decoding the global political zoo
Animal metaphors help us reflect on the rich and varied landscape of foreign policy discourse.
Global Indian International School (GIIS) Tokyo opened in 2006 with 60 students and has now grown to over 1,300, the majority of whom are Japanese.
JAPAN / Society
Dec 28, 2023
How Japan's international school landscape is evolving
With lower tuition than legacy international schools, new affordable facilities are catering to the growing communities of non-Japanese Asian communities.
If we let writers and translators be replaced by AI tools such as ChatGPT, we lose control over language and how it shapes us.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2023
When we abandon language to AI, we abandon our humanity
Not only does AI threaten writers' and translators' jobs, giving it control over how we shape and are shaped by language is detrimental to who we are.
As technology and politics increasingly force society to determine truth from fiction, Merriam-Webster's dictionary has selected the word "authentic" as word of the year.
WORLD / Society
Nov 28, 2023
Merriam-Webster crowns 'authentic' as word of the year
The winner beat "deepfake," "rizz" and "coronation" for honors as the word that most often sent people to the dictionary.
Yogendra Puranik, the first person from India to win elected office in Japan, at the Indian cultural center he manages in Tokyo's Edogawa Ward in October 2022.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 6, 2023
Japan needs Indian migrants. How can it attract them?
India can help fill the domestic labor gap, but for migrants to succeed, Japan must embrace a genuinely intercultural approach.
Small-cap shares listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange are undervalued because many don’t have enough information in English, according to a top-performing Japanese small-cap fund.
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2023
Top Japan fund bets on English disclosure to lift small-cap shares
An improvement in transparency may help revive foreign demand that drove Japan’s stock market to multi-decade highs earlier this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 16, 2023
In her own words: A Hiroshima bomb survivor learns English to tell her story
While talks by hibakusha have become a regular feature of Hiroshima's memorial sites, Teruko Yahata stands out for her presentations in English.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy
May 11, 2023
BOJ adjusts English translation under Gov. Kazuo Ueda, hinting at new policy era
The bank has adopted a new word in English to describe its stance of continuing with large-scale monetary easing, while the original Japanese word remains unchanged.
Nippon Steel alleges undue White House influence on doomed deal review
U.S. President Joe Biden delivers remarks on the economy at the Brookings Institution in Washington on Dec. 10.
Record 78% of people in Japan feel anxious, government survey finds
The public opinion survey on people's lives, conducted by the Cabinet Office, found that 28.1% of respondents think that their standard of living is at a lower-middle level among the general public — the highest percentage to give that response in 35 years.
Police raided suspect's home to arrest him after fatal Kitakyushu stabbing
Broken window glass is seen at Masanori Hirabaru's house in Kitakyushu's Kokuraminami Ward.
Taiwan lawmakers brawl over bills that would 'damage democracy'
Lawmakers from the Democratic Progressive Party and opposition party Kuomintang brawl in parliament in Taipei on Friday.
Mother hopes for reunion with daughter ensnared by Tokyo host clubs
The Kabukicho district in Tokyo, where the daughter of a woman in her 60s fell deeply into the host club culture.
Casual workouts, cool living, ‘complete’ food: Japan’s health trends of 2024
In 2024, efficiency trumped effort among Japan's fitness-focused aspirants.
The mighty Mekong River's growing plastic problem
A group of elephant keepers in Chiang Saen, Thailand, remove plastic waste from the Ruak River, a tributary of the Mekong River, as a pair of Asian elephants bathe behind them.
Japanese officials inspect Yokota Air Base over PFAS concerns
The Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo in September 2019. An inspection of the base by Japanese government officials on Friday came amid public pressure to investigate suspected links between the use of PFAS-containing firefighting foam by the U.S. base and contamination of soil and groundwater in western Tokyo.
Crime numbers rise in Japan for second straight year
A police officer stands in front of the residence of a man alleged to have stabbed two junior high school students in Kitakyushu.

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