Let's Japan.org Debunking Eikaiwa and Ramblings in Japan

How did this get past the editors?

Regarding the Aug. 15 editorial "Dangerous revisionist sentiment": Little did I imagine that I would come across such an odious article. I totally agree with Toshio Tamogami, who has been bravely trying his best to convince the mentally retarded aliens who read The Japan Times that Japan was not at all to blame for World War II. The left is looking for ways to disgrace Japan, and The Japan Times is part of the left.

The legal woes of former NOVA president Nozomu Sahashi aren't about to let up. While a decision on his current trial is due to be handed down on August 26, the trustees overseeing NOVA's bankruptcy have sued him for aggravated breach of trust, seeking ¥2.1 billion (roughly $22.6 million USD) in damages over the sale of videophone units by Ginganet, a company in which Sahashi was the sole share holder, to NOVA.

The truth about cheap highway tolls:

Last weekend we visited my wife’s family in Iwate prefecture 530 km (320 miles) north of Tokyo and paid only 1,700 yen ($17) one-way in tolls, much cheaper than the 10,000 yen that it would have cost on a weekday. The shinkansen (bullet train) would have set the four of us back almost 35,000 yen.

In Japan, that test is supposed to be TOEIC, the Test of English for International Communication, which turns 30 this year. The Japan Times has a two-part series on the test, starting with a brief history.

It's getting close to Obon, so it's time for a ghost story.

Yano Research has released its latest survey of the foreign language market, which shows that the market is still in decline.

The two key findings are:

The Yomiuri shimbun and other news agencies are reporting that president of G.communication, Masaki Inayoshi, has failed to report ¥500 million (about $5.2 million USD) in income. The unreported income comes from him selling 230 shares in G.communication in 2007. Inayoshi reported the sales of some shares in 2006, which led the National Tax Agency to believe that his failure to report the income this time was intentional.

The Yomiuri Shimbun, via Yahoo!, has a story about the dark underbelly of ALT dispatch companies as English will become a compulsory subject in the fifth and sixth grades in 2011.

For example, schools have to deal with the constant turnover of ALTs. One BOE member in Saitama related that he is on his 4th ALT quit since April. This revolving door of teachers is not conducive to learning.

The Japan Times has a good summary of the issues surrounding the changes to the visa renewal process starting in April 2010. I blogged about this a while back, but the Japan Times column covers some of the implications of having to enroll in an insurance scheme in order for foreigners to renew their work visas.

This should be a story about a candidate for the Darwin Awards:

With a belly full of food and sake, Armand Nelson Schneider just wanted to get rid of his nausea and empty his stomach before hopping on a train back to his study-abroad home in Yokohama, Japan.

Schneider, 22, was throwing up over the platform when a high-speed commuter zoomed into the station and smashed into him.

The eco-point program is now officially underway with the government accepting applications:

Under the Eco-point system, those who buy designated energy-saving appliances between May 15 and March 31 will be eligible for the points, with one Eco-point worth roughly ¥1.