Nipponica

According to the complaint, in 2023, when the man was still a student, he visited hospitals in Kobe and Chiba Prefecture to look for a job, but his teacher and others pointed out that he was not allowed to do that during his on-the-job training period. He was told, "We have to punish you somehow" and "Will you waste a year?" suggesting that he would have to repeat the year. He was then demanded to apologize in front of all his classmates and submit a letter of reflection.

Preventing students from job hunting seems completely backwards.

According to the results for the 2023 school year, an average of 50.6% of third-year high school students achieved the standards, led by Toyama Prefecture where 61.4% of students hit the mark. In contrast, Miyagi with 39.6% was the only prefecture where this was under 40%. The national average for the ratio of third-year junior high school students meeting the standards was 50%, led by the city of Saitama with 88.4% followed by Fukui Prefecture with 83.8%. The lowest of these figures was claimed by Saga Prefecture with 30.1%.

Not exactly breaking news that English education is not exactly a priority for Japanese students, but there was a nugget of new info (for me, at least).

The national standards aim for students to achieve a level equivalent to at least the A1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR), an international index of language proficiency, by the end of junior high school, corresponding to Grade 3 of Japan's own English test, Eiken, and A2 level (Grade Pre-2 of Eiken) by the end of high school.

Since I am not in the JET/ALT world, I never realized that there was a specific CEFR level that students are expected to meet. Obviously makes sense, but A2 is still nothing compared to the JLPT 2 (B1-B2) level that is expected of foreigners at the minimum for Japanese level in the workplace.

The Mainichi Newspapers Co. will start delivering a newsletter in Japanese titled "Mainichi Shimbun nyusu de manabu eigo" (Learning English through Mainichi Shimbun news) on July 24. It will feature a selection of Mainichi Shimbun articles that have English translations -- in other words, the Japanese originals of The Mainichi's English-language pieces.

The survey was conducted from April to May. It was initially anonymous, but was later switched to a named format. Valid responses in the latter format totaled 64,829, with 24,343 from junior high students, 7,286 from high school students and 33,200 from parents and guardians.

Asked whether the 12 single-gender prefectural high schools should become coed, 56% of junior high children said, "either is fine," while opposing views were neck and neck, with 18% saying the schools should be coed and 19% responding they shouldn't.

In contrast, 57% of high schoolers opposed coeducation across the board, with only 7% in favor and 33% indifferent. The most common answer for opposing coed school was that "both coeducational and single-gender schools should be options," cited by 35%.

This seems like a strange result and am curious about more detailed reasons that students and guardians resist coed schools and if those opinions are skewed towards one gender over another.

Fifteen students at a metropolitan high school in Tokyo’s Ota Ward complained of burning lips and other problems after eating a spicy brand of potato chips on Tuesday, according to the Metropolitan Police Department.

National breaking news. Never eat chips from a stranger.

The National Center for University Entrance Examinations will prohibit the use of smart glasses, a type of electronic device that takes the form of a pair of eyeglasses, starting from next January’s Common Test for University Admissions.

Kotera is specifically accused of allegedly assaulting a first-year junior high school player (then 12 years old) on the team by punching him dozens of times in the face and stomach and stepping on his face and chest between around 11 p.m. on May 11 and 5 a.m. the next day, causing him to suffer a sprained neck and other injuries that would take up to a week to heal.

Absolutely disgraceful.

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced in March 2023 that Japan would seek to accept 400,000 international students by 2033. Speaking at a meeting of the government’s Council for the Creation of Future Education, Kishida emphasized that “it is important to make further investments in people to realize a new form of capitalism.” In other words, the goal of accepting 400,000 foreign students can be regarded as part of his "new capitalism" policy.

In a related development, in February this year, the Kishida government decided to expand employment opportunities for foreign students who graduate from certified vocational schools in Japan by granting them a residency status equal to university graduates.

Interesting article that goes into the history of the Japanese government's push for more international students beginning in the 1980s. These various government programs, including the one that originally brought me to the country (Global 30), are something that I would like to cover more of and how these targets of hundreds of thousands of international students just don't mesh with the graduation prospects these students would likely have. More to come.

The boy was taking a class shortly before 11 a.m. Friday at a swimming pool in a nearby junior high school as his elementary school's swimming pool could not be used due to an equipment failure, the education board of the city of Kochi said.

A very sad story and disappointing that the 3 teachers on site did not notice the boy drowning.

The SDF has acknowledged that the force's Sapporo Provincial Cooperation Office was involved in such activities, describing them as being "unique to Sapporo." Children's cafeterias are eateries or facilities that provide free meals to kids including those from families that have trouble putting food on the table.

Under an April 2003 notice from the vice defense minister, the then Defense Agency (now the Defense Ministry) stated that recruitment activities targeting junior high school students were to be carried out through their parents or school officials in charge of career guidance. One expert who spoke with the Mainichi Shimbun pointed out that if the Sapporo office were recruiting children directly, they may be running afoul of the notice.

The SDF is really taking this strategy from the US military in American schools. Can think of several shadow recruitment events that occurred in my schools in the past.