Japanese is the sixth most spoken language in the world.
This site provides worksheets and information for teachers and students of Japanese language and culture.

Did you know that the Japanese also has a lot of local dialects. These dialects are called hogen. Despite the different accents throughout the country, however, people all over Japan can understand each other. Take a look through the various posts to inspire and encourage kids to learn more about Japan and its people.

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Japan’s border security continues to remain a critical issue. In the recently released Annual Report of the Japan Coast Guard two particular themes are highlighted. The first is a section dedicated to describing recent threats to Japan’s territory, saying unlawful activities and roaming by Chinese and Taiwanese ships have “breached Japan’s sovereignty.” The second issue discussed at length is that of the Somali pirates and Japan’s involvement in international efforts.

One of the most sensitive issues for Japan’s border security, revolves around the claim of sovereignty by Japan, China and Taiwan over the Japan-administered Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. Two Chinese survey ships were spotted in Japan’s territorial waters in December and a coast guard patrol boat collided with a Taiwanese sports fishing boat near the uninhabited islets in June, straining Taipei-Tokyo ties.

The annual report reiterates that the coast guard will handle future intrusions “firmly and quickly” to protect Japan’s rights. It also says China’s natural resources development in the East China Sea has been monitored “to protect Japan’s maritime interests.”

Significantly, the report also reviews the coast guard’s efforts off Somalia to fight pirates, saying officers have been aboard two Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyers since March on antipiracy duties. There is discussion which includes a proposal to assisting human resources development in Somalia and surrounding countries to curb piracy, touching on the success the coast guard achieved in fighting pirates in the Malacca Strait.

On the antipiracy law now before the Diet, a coast guard official said it would sufficiently enhance the rules of engagement for Japanese forces.

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The pressure was too much? Scandal again. Another resignation! This time its the leader of the Democratic Party of Japan. Yesterday, Ichiro Ozawa surprised the political world by announcing his resignation as DPJ president to take responsibility for the political fundraising scandal involving his chief aide. But considering the number of scandals involving corruption in Japan perhaps it is not such a surprise!

Ozawas resignation comes at a critical time for the government and opposition parties. This is because there is an election looming.

Ozawa’s secretary, Takanori Okubo, was charged in March with violating the Political Funds Control Law.
Ozawa’s political fund management body, for which Okubo was the chief accountant, allegedly accepted illicit donations from scandal-tainted Nishimatsu Construction Co. Japanese law prohibits corporate contributions to individual lawmakers. Since Okubo’s arrest, Ozawa has stressed his innocence.

Before Okubo’s arrest, the DPJ was enjoying considerable popularity. The Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso comparatively was faced with low support rates. In March, however, their situations reversed. Opinion polls taken by various media companies showed a majority of the public did not support Ozawa’s decision to stay on.

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Japan has agreed to add two P-3C patrol aircraft to the antipiracy mission off Somalia. It will be the first time for P-3C planes to be dispatched on an overseas mission.

The mission will involve about 150 personnel, including the air crews and Ground Self-Defense Force personnel who will guard the airport, according to the ministry. In addition, the Air Self-Defense Force will transport personnel and necessary supplies to the airport.

The P-3C aircraft will complement two MSDF destroyers that have been conducting escort missions for Japan-linked commercial ships in the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden, patrolling a vast area off the Horn of Africa.

The two planes will search for pirate boats and provide information to the destroyers, Japan-related ships and other countries’ military vessels navigating the high seas. So far the destroyers have escorted 44 vessels between late March, when they began their mission, and last Wednesday.

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I am heartened to look back through the archives of the BBC and see that in the late nineties the miners in northern england were retrained as sushi chefs! Solway Foods took former miners from the colliery and taught them how to work with raw fish, rice and seaweed to contribute to the sudden popularity in Japanese food in the UK over 10 years ago. We need business leaders to start looking for opportunities!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/zeetzjones/442805346/

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This time they want the UN to apologise for condemning the regimes rocket launch on April 5 2009. North Korea’s foreign ministry has demanded that the 15-member UN council immediately apologise for “infringing” the country’s sovereignty and retract “all its resolutions and decisions” against the North. If an apology is not issued then NK has threatened that the diplomatic stakes will be raised. A spokesman from North Korea has said that this will possibly include both nuclear and ballistic missile tests.

So why is NK playing so difficult ? Why is it drawing so much attention to itself?

North Korea’s behaviour is nothing new. And the international community has had to respond in kind. There have been numerous occasions which have resulted in highend diplomatic crises. In 1993-4, tensions reached boiling point when the Clinton administration threatened miltary strikes if Pyogyang did not shut down its nuclear power plants. In 1998, North Korea launched a Taepodong missile eastward over Japan. In 2002, there were accusations made that North Korea was part of an ‘axis of evil’.

Whilst the axis of evil is out and Obama in – North Korea is not giving up its calculating ways! And with a new administration in Washington, the rise of China and the failure of world markets, its prime time to continue to take the region to the brink. North Korea must remind the world that it is a force to be reckoned with.

Outcome of negotiations with North Korea affects all its neighbors. In fact, the outcome of the negotiations with North Korea affect the region, more than the US and yet North Korea seems to enjoy involving the US as a key player. So will the UN say sorry ? Will NK take the world community to the brink? How much more ping-pong diplomacy do we endure? No doubt the usual will occur and North Korea will not lose face.

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The eyes of the world are firmly on Mexico as the source of the Swine-flu – as it has been named. But many in the pork industry are asking if the outbreak could be renamed the ‘Mexican’ influenza. Already there are predictions that a sharp decline in pork chops and pork products in general is imminent. No doubt the importing of pork from various North and South American countries will be under discussion. Significantly, medical authorities have tried to emphasize that it is not through eating properly cooked pork that swine flu is contracted.

Muslim and Jewish communities have also voiced their sensitivities regarding the given name – swine-flu. In Israel the Deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman said the reference to pigs is offensive to both religions and “we should call this Mexican flu and not swine flu.” Both Judaism and Islam believe that pigs are unclean and as such it is not a meat that is consumed.

But it looks like the name wont be changed and has even caused a bit of diplomatic concern. On Tuesday, Mexico’s ambassador to Israel lodged a complaint to the Israeli Foreign Ministry protesting against the suggestion that the name ‘Mexican Flu’ be used to describe the viral illness. I found another post that discusses similar issues. And it suggests that any changes to the name is like putting lipstick on the pig . So, whilst a shame for those in the pork industry, it looks like it is going to remain ‘Swine – Flu” for the duration of this global spread.

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Previously known as the Japan Defense Agency, the Ministry of Defense came into being on January 9 2007. It is based in Ichigaya, Tokyo and offers tours of the site for those interested in looking at the honour parade and memorial hall. The tours are a good way of promoting Japan’s military position to a society grounded for past half century in the ideals of pacifism.

The way that Japan has refocused the national attitudes and security policy to justify a more active global and regional military position over the past decade is most interesting and very appealing. The public have been treated to a defense force that is promoted partly through manga. It is a manner which appears very comfortably Japanese.

The images of one of the strongest military forces in the world in cartoon form makes me smile. How can one see military or war in anything but a gentle manner when faced with such cartoons. But even more convincing is the site established by the Ministry of Defense for kids. The cartoons here are specifically appealing to small kids and puzzles and games to download.

The section of the MOD site is called ‘kids world‘. Its an interesting trend that is not in the least worrying but more intriguing as to the necessary or appropriate steps that should be taken to promote the Ministry of Defense in Japan.

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Japan has long demanded the return of four islands held by Russia. The history of the four islands has been contentious. At the end of the war Japanese citizens were deported back to the mainland and the dispute over the territory has remained unresolved. Today there are 30,000 Russians that live on the islands.

The islands are surrounded by rich fishing grounds and are thought to have both oil and gas reserves. But in Japan underlying concerns have remained over the stationing of Russian forces so close to its air and maritime space.

The issue of these island has been highly prominent in Japan’s media. Last week, the issue re-appeared in the Mainichi Shimbun. This time however, the talk was not nationalistic but rather cooperative. There were suggestions made that Japan should promote a strategy of bilateral cooperation over the territories. It was argued that there could be scope for cooperation over energy, the environment and the development of north east Siberia. This compromise is unusual.

The plan that has been proposed by one of PM Aso’s top aides is controversial within Japan. Furthermore, it has also not been approved by Russia. But in any case, there are a few questions that come to mind –
firstly, whether Aso can run the risk of implementing this kind of regional strategy so close to a general election?
secondly, whether bilateral cooperation as a strategy over this territory is possible given the mutually strong nationalistic feelings over the territories?

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