gifu said...

gifu at 05:49 PM JST - 29th July

The reaction from my Japanese university colleagues? I bet if the foreigners are blond and speak English, they will be welcome. But only small numbers of Westerners want to study in Japan. If the foreign students are Chinese or other Asians (= the ones who really do want to come…

Posted in Japan to accept 300,000 students from abroad at 05:49 PM JST - 29th July
gifu at 09:24 PM JST - 12th July

I don't understand the criticism of Japan. They are being criticised for not using their taxpayers' money to donate to a communist dictatorship that won't even tell them what it did with the Japanese citizens it kidnapped? If some police state ever kidnaps me from my own country and makes…

Posted in Japan's abduction strategy baffles counterparts at 6-party NK talks at 09:24 PM JST - 12th July
gifu at 06:54 PM JST - 8th July

Well, I do notice that it is my least intelligent students who tend to end up becoming teachers.... Thsi guy ain't alone.

Posted in Shimonoseki educator apologizes for colonial rule remark at 06:54 PM JST - 8th July
gifu at 09:30 AM JST - 28th June

Both Shimakura and Shimoseki do not exist. Any opinions about their existence are contrary to factual history.

Posted in Japan's colonial rule of Korea not fact, says city education board head at 09:30 AM JST - 28th June
gifu at 07:42 PM JST - 16th June

I don't understand all these sudden reactions to the Beijing Olympics. The International Olympic Committee chooses to have the Olympics in a terribly polluted city that is the capital of a Communist dictatorship and people seem surprised that it is terribly polluted and that it has a government with a…

Posted in Australia pulls some athletes from Olympic opening ceremony at 07:42 PM JST - 16th June
gifu at 09:37 PM JST - 29th May

Some of the posters here do not appreciate that to many people in Asia and Japan, this anthem is linked to the WWII dictatorship. It is entirely different from singing "O Canada" or "Advance Australia Fair", which are anthems about the country itself. The man was not making a stand…

Posted in Guilty ruling upheld for ex-teacher who urged parents not to stand for anthem at 09:37 PM JST - 29th May
gifu at 09:17 PM JST - 27th May

Whew, do these bureaucrats have any connection with kids and education at all?

(1) Stop kids having mobiles-- ok, just allow them to have the same phones for old geezers, that allow them to make emergency calls or call home (2 buttons only, no dial).

(2) Ban email on mobiles?…

Posted in Panel proposes restricting cell phone use by schoolchildren at 09:17 PM JST - 27th May
gifu at 05:52 PM JST - 20th May

It's not just history. A lot of my students lack basic geographic knowledge of the region. Most can't find Micronesia on a map (= ex-Japanese colonies, very close Pacific neighbours) or even the Ogasawara Islands (Japanese since the Meiji era). These came up in a discussion with my 3rd year…

Posted in 'What are Nazis?' Today's kids can't handle movie subtitles at 05:52 PM JST - 20th May
gifu at 03:46 PM JST - 18th May

Regarding my comments about European and American nurses--I did not mean to say that they do not work hard at their professions. But I doubt many of them have grown up without electricity, have gone to bed hungry, or have had to deal with the kind of official corruption and…

Posted in Japan to accept 1,000 Indonesian nurses, caregivers over next 2 years at 03:46 PM JST - 18th May
gifu at 01:42 PM JST - 17th May

I came to Japan from a Third World country, so I may have a different perspective than some posters. I think this is a great opportunity for everyone. Yes, they will probably be underpaid compared to Japanese, and yes, certain Japanese will be unpleasant to them. But for these women…

Posted in Japan to accept 1,000 Indonesian nurses, caregivers over next 2 years at 01:42 PM JST - 17th May