Painting Competition on Hiroshima Nagasaki Day

There are many people in your country and around the world who have studied in Japan. They have established alumni associations in their country or across national borders and are fostering friendship and collaboration among those with the same experience of having studied in Japan. In fact, there are already more than 270 such organizations in over 90 countries.

These alumni associations also play a major role in promoting understanding of Japan. We urge you to contact the alumni association in your country. You can find a list of alumni associations and contact information at the following.

http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/en/ath/
ath0201e.html

Ikebana class

Congratulations to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan for launching a new email magazine. We sincerely hope that this email magazine will not only enable the graduates from the Japanese universities to acquaint themselves with the activities of the Japanese universities alumni associations in different countries but also to visualize what's going on in Japan and the changes that have taken place since they left Japan after completion of their higher studies.

Bangladesh nationals graduated from the Japanese Universities has formed an association, the Japanese Universities Alumni Association in Bangladesh (JUAAB) on 29 September 2000 with a view to forging and fostering the bonds of friendship and amity not only among the JUAAB members but also between the peoples of Bangladesh and Japan. The JUAAB members had to spend a valuable part of their life in Japan for pursuing higher studies that enabled them to perceive the social, cultural and moral heritage of the Japanese people along with their academic pursuit. So, the JUAAB members are the most effective agents for the exchange of academic knowledge, socio-cultural practices and aged-old heritage of Bangladesh and Japan.

JUAAB has been organizing courses on Japanese language and culture, and Ikebana; providing counseling services to the persons interested to go to Japan for higher studies; organizing seminars and essay competitions on topics having mutual interest of Bangladesh and Japan; arranging Japanese Language Proficiency Tests; organizing art competition, seminar and rally on the Hiroshima- Nagasaki Day; organizing Bengali speech contest by the Japanese as well as by the foreigners other than the Japanese on the International Mother Language day; organizing cultural programs combining the Bangladeshi, Japanese and non-Japanese foreigners; participating in Japan Trade Fair; arranging orientation programs for the Monbukagakusho recipients before their departure for Japan.

The Japanese Universities Alumni Associations of the South Asian countries viz. Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka have established the South Asian Associations of the Japanese Universities Alumni Associations (SAFJUAA) on 29 March 2005 with the objective of maintaining links with the Japanese Universities Alumni Associations of the South Asian Countries, and interacting with their members for carrying out activities of mutual interests and benefits.

The following URL may be visited for perusal of the JUAAB activities:
http://www.juaab.org/

Try Your Hand at Origami

How about showing some Origami to friends and family back home when you tell them about Japan? You most likely saw some Origami when you were in Japan.

Origami is a Japanese art that has been passed down since ancient times. Even today, Japanese children, especially girls, play by making various Origami pieces such as cranes, samurai warrior helmets, trick boats and dolls. There is also a practice in Japan of folding cranes, which are a symbol of longevity in Japan, and stringing them together into colorful chains. Called Senbazuru, which literally means "a thousand cranes," the Senbazuru are delivered to people who are ill as prayer for speedy recovery.

Japanese Origami is said to have its beginnings in the 8th century when aristocrats began wrapping gifts with paper. They noticed that creases were formed on paper when folded and began decorating the wrappings by folding it beautifully. More than 200 years ago in 1797, Hiden Senbazuru Orikata (Secret to Folding One-thousand Cranes), which is said to be the world's oldest book of Origami, was published in Japan. The Senbazuru introduced here were interconnected cranes made by making incisions and folding a single piece of paper. It is said that changes, such as in the quality of the paper, resulted in the current way of making Senbazuru.

A website called Web Japan that provides general information on Japan has a corner named "Virtual Culture: Exploring Origami" where you can find easy instructions on making Origami. It includes a page where you can download paper for Origami-making. There is also an Origami Gallery that introduces many new Origami pieces. Why not visit the page and try your hand at making some Origami?
(http://web-japan.org/kidsweb/virtual/origami2/index.html)

The number of Origami enthusiasts around the world is increasing, so much so that the word Origami has become universally accepted. People around the globe who have fallen in love with the structural possibilities and geometric structure of Origami are creating and researching new Origami designs. If you want to learn more about Origami, why not look for such a group near you?

You can find the websites of Origami enthusiasts and research groups in various countries from the following.
(http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/mm/jan-2008/en/linkorigami.html)

A traveling exhibition hosted by the Nippon Origami Association and sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Agency for Cultural Affairs has already been held 12 times to date in various parts of Japan. Called the World Origami Exhibition, works from more than 20 countries have been submitted to this exhibition.

The theme of this year's exhibition is scheduled to be The World Heritage. The Japan Origami Contest, which is held at the same time, is seeking Origami works. Why not submit your original piece there? Details will be published on the Nippon Origami Association website in the future, so keep an eye out for it.
(http://www.origami-noa.com/index_e.htm)

Chinese dragon
by Chung Foo Cheong (Hong Kong)

Please visit the following URL for events related to Japan scheduled to be held overseas in 2008.
http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/en/eventinfo/event_info-map.html

You can also check what's going on at the websites of Japanese embassies and consulates. Please access the one in your area through the following URL.
http://www.mofa.go.jp/about/emb_cons/mofaserv.html

Career Development Program for Foreign Students from Asia

The Career Development Program for Foreign Students from Asia began last year. It is a very useful program for foreign students from Asia, etc. who would like to work for Japanese companies. Comprised of two projects (Foreign Students' High Specialty Practice Operation and Foreign Students' High Achievement Practice Operation), the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) and the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) are collaborating to increase the number of talented individuals coming to Japan to study as well as to expand opportunities for foreign students to play active roles in Japanese and Japan-affiliated companies. Industry and academia are working as one to provide a consistent human resources development program, from the recruitment and selection of foreign students and the provision of specialized and Japanese language training to support in job placement.

The Foreign Students' High Specialty Practice Operation is available only to full-time students who have preliminarily been accepted to enroll in a department or graduate course at a university designated by METI and MEXT. Of them, students who participate in this program are those who have been chosen by a university selected to participate in the program. At the same time, they must have also been accepted to receive the Japanese Government (Monbukagakusho) Scholarship. Students who participate in the program not only study the courses that are ordinarily related to acquiring a degree but also a curriculum related to this program. It includes an industry-academia collaborative educational program that is executed by the university in a respective field of specialty and an educational program consisting of business-level Japanese, etc. An example of industry-academia collaborative specialized education is the Automotive Industry Super Engineer Development Program that is introduced in this issue. Here, students acquire specialized knowledge related to automobiles and the automotive industry. The programs might require more work than that for other students, but we believe that participants will be able to experience a fulfilled life as a student.

Program for learning business Japanese
(Automotive Industry Super Engineer Development Program)

There are probably people around you who are aiming to come to Japan to study. Why not let them know about the Foreign Students' High Specialty Practice Operation?

Meanwhile, the Foreign Students' High Achievement Practice Operation is for foreign students from Asia, etc. who are currently enrolled in a Japanese university at the undergraduate or graduate level and aim to join a Japanese company. It is executed in nine regions across Japan on a region by region basis. A secretariat established by a consortium of a university and companies and other organizations in a region provides an educational program that includes business-level Japanese language training. For example, WIL, a non-profit organization, acts as the secretariat for the Kanto region. (See the inaugural issue of the email magazine for current foreign students distributed on November 15, 2007 for details. http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/mm/Nov-2007/en/index.html.)

For more information, please refer to the official website of the Career Development Program for Foreign Students from Asia Project Support Center http://www.ajinzai-sc.jp/ (Japanese only).

Automotive Industry Super Engineer Development Program

The Automotive Industry Super Engineer Development Program is jointly executed by the Chubu Productivity Center and the Nagoya Institute of Technology, together with Toyota Motor Corporation and 34 other companies in the Chubu region related to automotives, and the Japan Auto Parts Industries Association. The objective of this program is to nurture human resources who can take on an active role as an executive in the future at an automobile manufacturing base located in their home country, and furthermore, to develop human resources who can play a central role in the automotive industry developing its business on a global scale.

About 10 students per year will be participating in this program, which began last year. The students, selected from among applicants, will be participating in this program for a total of two years. Participants for up to the 2008 academic year have already been selected. The next call for applications will be for the 2009 academic year. The recruitment of applications is scheduled to be carried out through universities in Asia with ties to the Nagoya Institute of Technology. Visit the Nagoya Institute of Technology website (http://eng.nitech.ac.jp/)
(http://www.nitech.ac.jp/o_kokusai/engineer/index.html) (Japanese only) for further details regarding this program.

The objective of this special program for foreign students that is provided through industry-academia collaboration is as follows:

• To foster wide-ranging and deep understanding of automobiles and the automotive industry
• To cultivate managerial knowledge
• To develop hands-on capabilities backed by on-site sense.

The Nagoya Institute of Technology is located in the Chukyo region where there is a concentration of companies in the automotive industry. Therefore, many of our laboratories carry out research in various fields in collaboration with automotive-related companies. We also newly established the International Automotive Engineering Education Research Center. We also set up many related courses for foreign students, while collaborating with many companies. The content of our educational program is "overview of automotive engineering," which covers a wide range of topics from various new technologies to world strategies, and "automotive engineering particulars" in which the students learn in depth about themes related to their major field of study.

Our master of techno-business administration is the first independent master's course in a Japanese national university specializing in the management of technology (MOT). The Nagoya Institute of Technology's Techno Business School is, in a sense, the engineering version of an MBA offered by a liberal arts business school. Foreign students participating in our program will be able to acquire a superior sense of management through a curriculum that utilizes MOT-related course subjects offered by the master of techno-business administration and the master of socio-engineering (management field).

The secret to the strength of Japan's automotive industry is said to be in its production processes. Our program provides a hands-on educational experience that enables foreign students to exhibit future leadership in on-site management and improvements as an executive at a manufacturing base.

A major attraction of our program can be said to be having the opportunity to come in contact with the spirit of manufacturing that has been passed down in the Chukyo region, an area that has brought about global leaders such as Toyota Motors, and being able to directly experience what goes on at site, etc. where Kaizen improvements are being lead.

The Nagoya Institute of Technology has been developing a curriculum called Plant-head Development. This curriculum is being effectively utilized in the program for foreign students. A Japanese student in the same laboratory as the foreign student provides support as a teaching assistant.

In addition to such a curriculum, a dedicated coordinator is in place to provide fine-tuned support that enables participating students to take part in an internship that proves highly satisfactory to both the intern and the company taking them on. In terms of job placement support for foreign students, we also plan to establish lectures within the university that will provide such support as well as provide personalized career counseling by job-placement coordinators.

Foreign students take a total of 12 Business Japanese and Japanese Business courses during the course of two years. There are currently two classes being held a week with a total of four classes being offered.

In Business Japanese classes, the initial focus is on learning basic skills, such as Japanese conversation at the office and on the phone or standard expressions used in business letters. The content gradually moves on to a more practical and comprehensive nature. An example is theme-based information gathering. Here, a student decides his or her theme, visits a business to carry out interviews, analyzes the information collected, and presents the results. This makes it possible for the student to develop the Japanese language and problem solving skills required in the business scene.

In Japanese Business classes, students first learn basic matters related to systems in place at Japanese companies, such as employment and human resources development, as well as those related to corporate cultures and climates. Furthermore, students learn skills that can be utilized on the business stage through visitor sessions, where students get a chance to hear directly from those on the forefront, and project-based learning. In project-based learning, for example, a student may draft a plan and give a presentation under the setting of product development.

I have spent many years providing job placement support and Japanese language guidance to foreign students. During that time, I have seen several foreign students with excellent specialized knowledge and character at a disadvantage in finding jobs at Japanese companies due to insufficient Japanese-language communication skills. In the case of a foreign student, filling out so-called "entry sheets," or written interview questions in Japanese, and speaking in Japanese at job interviews can both be major hurdles to overcome. Drafting reports and participating in discussions at meetings can be difficult even for newly-employed Japanese employees. They become even harder for foreign students for whom Japanese is not a native language. Students may also be placed in an unfavorable position if there are problems in daily communication skills at the office.

With such points in mind, I would like to advance this program with the objective of having students acquire practical and high-level communication skills in Japanese. We want to nurture foreign students who can play active roles at Japanese companies on a level that is on par with Japanese employees.

The first three days of the New Year have passed, and the people who flocked back to their hometowns to be with family have returned to the cities. What kind of New Year's holiday did you spend? We are sure that some of you are fondly remembering the Oshogatsu you spent while in Japan.

Here is a notice to former foreign students. The Follow-up Research Fellowship for Former International Students in Japan is currently accepting applications. This is the fellowship we introduced to you in the inaugural issue of this email magazine. The deadline for applications is January 31. Please visit the Japan Student Services Organization (JASSO) website for details.(http://www.jasso.go.jp/exchange/tanken_e.html).

In November, we distributed the inaugural issue of the email magazine for current foreign students. Past issues of our email magazines can be read online at the Study in Japan Comprehensive Guide website. Please tell your friends about it if they are interested in Japan or studying in Japan. (http://www.studyjapan.go.jp/en/mail/index.html)

We plan to distribute our next email magazine in March. Please look forward to it!