Hokkaido professors receive cash, gift certificates from PhD recipients

Thursday 23rd April, 08:51 AM JST

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Latest 15 of 36 Total Comments Show All

sharky1 at 03:47 PM JST - 23rd April

You normally pay for services after they are rendered. Consequently, they were paid after the recipients had their sheepskins in hand.
Molenir at 03:54 PM JST - 23rd April

All I'll say about this, is that at the very least, it gives an appearance of impropriety.
jkoffman at 04:01 PM JST - 23rd April

This should be listed under crime, very naughty professors!
Badsey at 05:01 PM JST - 23rd April

I lose respect for people that prostitute themselves. Furthermore, I would want all the teachers that were most meaningful in my life and the art at my PhD disquisition.
Nessie at 05:25 PM JST - 23rd April

I received ¥30,000 cash and an expensive silver pen from a high school after working there for three years. Is this a crime too? I did pass many students. Woooo! I'm a criminal!

Dis, you clearly are not understanding the tit-for-tat potential. If students had given you 30,000 yen in cash, yes it would have been wrong to accept. It's called professional ethics.
Badsey at 06:07 PM JST - 23rd April

if PhDs are going for 75,000¥ -I would like to have 2 please.
BTADT at 07:23 PM JST - 23rd April

Hey, you have to do it right pals. Take out a humongous student loan, rent an office, hire a few grad students to do all your research for you, including yet not limited to typing, revising, and editing your thesis, and you will have a doctorate in no time which will result in you possibly winning a few awards, landing a cushy job, paying off your loans, and playing by the seaside with your beautiful family!!!! Hey wait; if the loan was replaced with a grant, you will already be functioning like most senior members of faculty in almost every credible academic institution in the world….
Nessie at 07:35 PM JST - 23rd April

That's just the completion fee, Badsey. Additional charges may accrue.
Nessie at 07:37 PM JST - 23rd April

Is there even a graduate school of science? I thought the grad schools there were more specific -- like graudate school of engineering, etc.
Potsu at 09:35 PM JST - 23rd April

Hell,Japanese PhD's aren't taken seriously in the business world anyway,most people know they're just handed out so Japan can give this image of being a developed country no matter what and keep up in the ranking stakes.Just read a thesis here,the quality sometimes borders on ridiculous.
timeon at 12:58 AM JST - 24th April

Nessie, what's more specific in engineering more than science?
GW at 11:38 AM JST - 25th April

for the folks who say wheres the evidence, come on, there are slews of stories of tests being sold/bought, donations being paid behind closed doors then donors kids get accepted into same Uni, it happens very frequently, any of you recall the Uni in Kyushu I think it was that for years had altered test scores & lots of people who failed, passed & those that didnt pay were failed.

This happens all to often in Jpn, especially at grad levels & above.
tokyocrawler at 04:02 PM JST - 26th April

now I know why I failed my Ph.D course....I forgot to give my professor a cash sweetner...damn, if only I had read Japan Today more often
jonnyboy at 07:16 PM JST - 27th April

i'm always wary of excessive gift giving. people like to create the illusion that gifts are given as a gesture of affection, but in reality reciprocation is always expected. yes, you'll be hard pushed to find people that will admit it, but actions speak louder than words. the receiving of gifts ties you into relationships with expectations
cleo at 07:27 PM JST - 27th April

people like to create the illusion that gifts are given as a gesture of affection

In Japan they're given more as a gesture of respect and/or obligation and the idea of reciprocation is understood (the gift is itself in reciprocation of benefits already received, or in anticipation of some benefit one hopes to receive). The receiving of gifts does assume some kind of obligation, but it's not necessarily the same as a bribe.

For example when you move into a new house, you give gifts to the neighbours in anticipation of their accepting you into their community. There's no sense of affection towards people you're meeting for the first time.