http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/japanhighereducationoutlook/
19 February 2010
Follow Japan HEO at Yahoo MyBlogLog
Do any of you still yahoo? Then join the community.
http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/japanhighereducationoutlook/
http://www.mybloglog.com/buzz/community/japanhighereducationoutlook/
RSS and Atom feeds of Google blog search for Japan HEO
More information for the technically inclined. The feed of a google blog search is one way to keep up to date on what is posted here.
The RSS feed for Japan HEO blog search can be followed and subscribed to at:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&q=blogurl:http://japanheo.blogspot.com/&scoring=d&ie=utf-8&num=10&output=rss
The Atom feed for Japan HEO blog search can be followed and subscribed to at:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&q=blogurl:http://japanheo.blogspot.com/&scoring=d&ie=utf-8&num=10&output=atom
The RSS feed for Japan HEO blog search can be followed and subscribed to at:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&q=blogurl:http://japanheo.blogspot.com/&scoring=d&ie=utf-8&num=10&output=rss
The Atom feed for Japan HEO blog search can be followed and subscribed to at:
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch_feeds?hl=en&q=blogurl:http://japanheo.blogspot.com/&scoring=d&ie=utf-8&num=10&output=atom
Google Search Summary of Japan HEO
Taking a tech approach, if you click on this url, you will get about ten pages of results showing how Google search maps this blog. Since the word 'google' has even become a verb, this might be a different way of giving a retrospective about the publication.
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=blogurl:http://japanheo.blogspot.com/&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d
http://blogsearch.google.com/blogsearch?hl=en&q=blogurl:http://japanheo.blogspot.com/&ie=UTF-8&scoring=d
TEFL Forum Retrospective at JHEO
Japan Higher Education Outlook first started publishing articles that were related to English Language Teaching/Teaching English as a Foreign Language with a piece on the work conditions and terms of employment for foreign nationals at universities.
It then ran a ten-part series about the reasons English (EFL) fails in Japan (published all together in one article). Also available for download in .pdf here.
This transformed into the TEFL Forum section of the Japan Higher Education Outlook. If you click on the link below, you will get a list of much of the content of the TEFL Forum over the past year. Most of this content is now available at the related online publication, ELT in Japan.
http://japanheo.blogspot.com/search?q=TEFL+Forum:
Note: Scroll below this post to view the list of TEFL Forum articles.
Or visit the ELT in Japan site to view even more ELT-related content.
It then ran a ten-part series about the reasons English (EFL) fails in Japan (published all together in one article). Also available for download in .pdf here.
This transformed into the TEFL Forum section of the Japan Higher Education Outlook. If you click on the link below, you will get a list of much of the content of the TEFL Forum over the past year. Most of this content is now available at the related online publication, ELT in Japan.
http://japanheo.blogspot.com/search?q=TEFL+Forum:
Note: Scroll below this post to view the list of TEFL Forum articles.
Or visit the ELT in Japan site to view even more ELT-related content.
Japan Higher Education Outlook Looks Back
Japan Higher Education Outlook has been in existence for over two years now. So it might be a good time to look back on some of the original content.
Here is a list of key feature articles that appeared here. These are articles that are for the most part exclusive of the ones that appeared under the 'TEFL Forum' title series.
But first, here are a few comments on some of the news and trends analyzed in the past two years of articles:
-Instead of getting more universities into the world's top 30, Japan's one top 20 university, Tokyo U., dropped out of the top 20.
-The new research university being founded in Okinawa has faltered, hitting budget limitations due to the ongoing fiscal crisis of the national government.
-The often-predicted demographic disaster awaiting Japan's large HE sector still awaits--offset by the fact that more and more young women are continuing onto four-year programs and graduate school.
-Meanwhile, the lines drawn across terms like 'university', 'college' and 'special training school/college' are being blurred: Two-year colleges have got into vocational programs and four-year programs in order to stay in business. It also seems that 'special training colleges' will hook up with universities and colleges because they need students, but their administrations have something the universities need as well: management skills in running vocationally relevant programs that lead to graduates getting certifications, qualifications, careers.
-And while the continuance rate from senior high to universities and colleges hasn't hit 60%, it is rising and for many students there are more and more ways to get into the programs of their choice (most students choose 2 or 3 institutions to apply for).
-And the top-rated universities like Toudai have more applicants than ever because many are hopeful that the demographic decline favors their chances to win the placement lottery. .
Links and introductory excerpts have been dug out from the archives for your convenience.
Original feature articles at JHEO:
1. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2009/12/profile-of-japans-top-university-u-of.html
16 December 2009
Profile of Japan's top university--U. of Tokyo (Toudai)
Recently Toudai dropped out of the THES-QS top 20 ranking of universities worldwide. I thought this would be a good time to run an alternative version of an earlier piece on the University of Tokyo.
---------------------------
Is University of Tokyo Japan's only world-class university?
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
It is unique and elite
When the university system of Japan is compared internationally, one institution is most often cited as Japan's best example of a 'world-class' university. This is, of course, the University of Tokyo (Toukyou Daigaku' or 'Toudai' for short). Toudai is perhaps most famous for graduating and networking elite bureaucrats and politicians, including prime ministers; however, the supposed lock on leadership in top government has waned over the past two decades. For example, this century's most popular prime minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, and many of his advisors were graduates of the private elite Keio University.
2. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2009/04/end-of-japans-national-development-and.html
10 April 2009
The End of Japan's National Development State for Higher Education
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
Introduction
Japan's vast higher education system has around 5,000 institutions, with the count still growing. This includes a tertiary level of about 1,300 government-certified, degree-awarding colleges and universities. Seven hundred forty-five of these are designated as 'daigaku'--a term which refers to any institution that has received government sanction to award four-year degrees equivalent to a baccalaureate. These four-year universities along with junior and technical colleges enroll close to three million undergraduate students, including about 120,000 foreign nationals, the vast majority of whom are from China.
3. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/10/demographic-disaster-for-higher-ed-in.html
27 October 2008
Demographic Disaster for Higher Ed in Japan? Parts II-III
by Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui
Introduction
In early September 2006, I gave a presentation at a conference in Langkawi, Malaysia. The conference, which focused mostly on educational management issues in higher education, was hosted by the South East Asian Association for Institutional Research (SEAAIR) and the Open University of Malaysia. My talk was titled, "Japan's Tertiary Education System: Developments in the Koizumi Era of Reform".
In the resulting paper (which was published in the proceedings of the conference), I attempted to sum up twenty years of university reform with the following:
Those two prior decades of changes in tertiary education leading
up to the creation of the NUCs [Japan's 87 national universities
were re-chartered as 'national university corporations' in 2003-4]
comprised many profound developments....:
-the establishment of a handful of new research universities and
institutes, decision-making at which flows from a central
administration....
-the expansion of graduate program and their enrollments,
including American-style professional schools of business,
law, and accounting;
-growth in doctoral and post-doctoral programs....
-a steady increase in the number of international students
hosted, to over 120,000 annually, about 25% enrolled in
graduate schools;
-more public funding of the entire tertiary sector...with a
target of 1% of GDP;
-increased funding for research (including more basic
research) to compensate for its decline in private industry...
with a target of 7-8% of annual national budgets, and a
national goal approaching 3% of GDP for ALL scientific R&D
(with national government spending accounting for 1% of GDP);
-legislative and regulatory changes that allowed the national
universities to tie up with other entities to pursue research and
expand course offerings....
-parallel changes that allowed national university academics
to serve on the boards of NPOs and for-profit corporations;
-internal and external systems of evaluation, independent of
national government certification....
4. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/04/japans-tertiary-education-system.html
18 April 2008
Japan's Tertiary Education System: Developments in the Koizumi Era of Reform
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
With this first JPN HEO blog post of April 2008, I am using this forum to publish an article that was delivered as a paper at the SEAAIR conference in Langkawi, Malaysia, in September 2006. It will serve as something of a retrospective on happenings in higher education during the Koizumi years of 2000-6 and the preceding years that set up the reforms of what now could be called a political era for Japan.
News posts on the demographic crisis and reasons for the failure of English education will follow in the remaining days of April.
Japan's Tertiary Education System: Developments in the Koizumi Era of Reform
by Charles Jannuzi
Abstract
This paper will survey the major developments and changes that have taken place during the past decade in Japan's tertiary education system and put them into international (comparative) and historical perspectives. It also will attempt to assess critically the impact of major reforms on the national and public universities (and the response of the more numerous private universities to these reforms as well). For example, as of 1 April 2004, Japan's 87 national universities were 'denationalized' and incorporated into 'autonomous institutions'(or 'juridical persons') giving them, at least in theory, wider discretionary powers over personnel management, teaching and research assignments, program and curriculum development. The new status was supposed to result in more local autonomy within each institution over the allocation of money for their mandated missions in teaching, conveying public services to their regions, and conducting basic and applied research in science and technology. Have such top-down reforms proven effective, and have their effects matched the government's stated intentions? It is the author's contention that, not only are the reforms a classic case of reform over-reach, but that Japan's overbuilt university system will face demographic, financial and socio-cultural crises that the current Koizumi era of reform, now coming to its close, has utterly failed to address.
5. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/03/teaching-as-foreign-national-at.html
10 March 2008
Teaching as a Foreign National at Japanese Universities: Shifting Terms of Institutional Status, Employment, Work Conditions and Related Concerns
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
Introduction
The Japanese tertiary system consists of some 1250 national, public, and private four- and two-year institutions. At these degree-awarding universities and colleges, the terms 'foreign lecturer' or 'foreign instructor' refer to any non-Japanese personnel teaching below the status of professor. Most typically though the terms refer to full-time foreign language teachers who are 'native speakers' of the language they teach.
The vast majority of these foreign nationals teach English as a foreign language (EFL), but the number teaching other important languages, especially Asian ones, such as Mandarin Chinese, has also risen significantly during the past two decades. The non-Japanese teaching EFL in Japan are often assigned general English classes as part or all of their teaching duties. General English refers to service course English required as part of general education requirements of tertiary education.
6. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/03/from-university-research-centers-to.html
02 March 2008
From university research centers to international research hubs?
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
In the post-bubble Japan of the 1990s, the private sector's ability to finance scientific research and development went into stagnation and then decline. So from 1995 on the government has pursued an expanded role in the management and funding of scientific R&D at annual levels that equal or exceed 1% of GDP. In great part this has been through the dominant role of its super-ministry, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and its five-year 'Science and Technology Basic Plans'.
In order to increase public subsidy of scientific research-- while at the same time forcing research universities and research institutes to compete for funds--MEXT established a 'Centers of Excellence' program. However, this turned out to be a fairly diffuse program, paying for the construction of dozens of new research facilities all over the country at the former national universities and a handful of elite private ones. While this did a lot to help refurbish the appearance of the visibly deteriorated national universities, its actual boost to important scientific results is questionable.
7. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/02/demographic-disaster-for-higher-ed-in.html
10 February 2008
Demographic Disaster for Higher Education in Japan? Part I
by Charles Jannuzi
Introduction
This will be a three-part series for the Japan HEO Blog. This first installment will be a short introduction of the series and then follow with an analysis of Anglophone news coverage of Japan. This is, after all, an English-language blog on Japan.
Part two will consist of analysis of recent articles which appeared in the FT, New York Times, Guardian and Kyodo News Service which have covered the 'demographic disaster' that is supposed to be looming over higher education in Japan. Going straight to the strong points of the argument for a disaster scenario for HE in Japan, I will try to point out some of the flaws and gaps in the analysis.
The third and final part, which will most likely appear late in March 2008 (when the single correspondent of the Japan HEO Blog doesn't have to teach classes), I will put forth a different analysis in an attempt to answer the puzzling question, "Why, if high school graduate and university-eligible populations are in steady and unrecoverable decline, is Japan building still yet more universities?" Does someone in the HE sector here know something that everyone else doesn't? Or are they delusional?
8. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/02/extended-look-at-academic-freedom-in-he.html
03 February 2008
Academic freedom in Japan's higher education--a more in-depth look
by Charles Jannuzi
Introduction
Many attempts at analyzing the nature of government in post-war Japan tend to emphasize continuity with 'old' Japan and its conservative nationalism. However, such analysis does not insightfully refer to tendencies that are ancient or even old by historical standards. Instead, any connection with past rule has to be made with early modern Japan, from the start of the Meiji era (1868) to the start of the second world war.
Sweeping political, social and cultural changes in the last half of the 19th century opened up Japan to outside ideas, knowledge and technology. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 was actually a political revolution which swept away most elements of the old shogunate government and its prestige culture. New factions of elites capable of leadership and rule emerged during a time of great social unrest and change.
9. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/02/pork-barrel-boondoggle-in-ryukyu.html
03 February 2008
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology: Pork barrel boondoggle in the Ryukyu Islands?
by Charles Jannuzi
Introduction
In December 2006, the Japanese government (at the ministry level) decided to put the construction and certification of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) on a privileged fast track. The OIST was conceived in the 1990s and put forward as an official proposal in June 2002 to help mark the 30th anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa from US control to become the 48th prefecture of Japan. Its proponents within the national government and in Okinawa had hoped that the proposed institute would open for teaching and research by September 2006--or earlier. That target has long been been missed, and efforts to speed up the process have been clouded by serious oversight issues involving the specification of research program, taught curriculum, and codes and regulations. Construction of the campus, currently in progress, could also cause considerable environmental destruction because of its location in what is now a communal forest near the coast.
10. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/02/japan-aims-for-world-class-universities.html
03 February 2008
Japan aims for 'world class' universities
by Charles Jannuzi
Introduction
The government of Japan is pushing for a consolidation and revitalization of the university system, formulating specific targets. Of the hundreds of universities here, 30 are supposed to emerge competitively as truly 'world-class' institutions. From amongst this group of 30, a very select group of five are supposed to attain a top 30 global ranking. And at the top of this super group of five, one of these must make it into the global top 10.
Here is a list of key feature articles that appeared here. These are articles that are for the most part exclusive of the ones that appeared under the 'TEFL Forum' title series.
But first, here are a few comments on some of the news and trends analyzed in the past two years of articles:
-Instead of getting more universities into the world's top 30, Japan's one top 20 university, Tokyo U., dropped out of the top 20.
-The new research university being founded in Okinawa has faltered, hitting budget limitations due to the ongoing fiscal crisis of the national government.
-The often-predicted demographic disaster awaiting Japan's large HE sector still awaits--offset by the fact that more and more young women are continuing onto four-year programs and graduate school.
-Meanwhile, the lines drawn across terms like 'university', 'college' and 'special training school/college' are being blurred: Two-year colleges have got into vocational programs and four-year programs in order to stay in business. It also seems that 'special training colleges' will hook up with universities and colleges because they need students, but their administrations have something the universities need as well: management skills in running vocationally relevant programs that lead to graduates getting certifications, qualifications, careers.
-And while the continuance rate from senior high to universities and colleges hasn't hit 60%, it is rising and for many students there are more and more ways to get into the programs of their choice (most students choose 2 or 3 institutions to apply for).
-And the top-rated universities like Toudai have more applicants than ever because many are hopeful that the demographic decline favors their chances to win the placement lottery. .
Links and introductory excerpts have been dug out from the archives for your convenience.
Original feature articles at JHEO:
1. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2009/12/profile-of-japans-top-university-u-of.html
16 December 2009
Profile of Japan's top university--U. of Tokyo (Toudai)
Recently Toudai dropped out of the THES-QS top 20 ranking of universities worldwide. I thought this would be a good time to run an alternative version of an earlier piece on the University of Tokyo.
---------------------------
Is University of Tokyo Japan's only world-class university?
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
It is unique and elite
When the university system of Japan is compared internationally, one institution is most often cited as Japan's best example of a 'world-class' university. This is, of course, the University of Tokyo (Toukyou Daigaku' or 'Toudai' for short). Toudai is perhaps most famous for graduating and networking elite bureaucrats and politicians, including prime ministers; however, the supposed lock on leadership in top government has waned over the past two decades. For example, this century's most popular prime minister of Japan, Junichiro Koizumi, and many of his advisors were graduates of the private elite Keio University.
2. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2009/04/end-of-japans-national-development-and.html
10 April 2009
The End of Japan's National Development State for Higher Education
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
Introduction
Japan's vast higher education system has around 5,000 institutions, with the count still growing. This includes a tertiary level of about 1,300 government-certified, degree-awarding colleges and universities. Seven hundred forty-five of these are designated as 'daigaku'--a term which refers to any institution that has received government sanction to award four-year degrees equivalent to a baccalaureate. These four-year universities along with junior and technical colleges enroll close to three million undergraduate students, including about 120,000 foreign nationals, the vast majority of whom are from China.
3. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/10/demographic-disaster-for-higher-ed-in.html
27 October 2008
Demographic Disaster for Higher Ed in Japan? Parts II-III
by Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui
Introduction
In early September 2006, I gave a presentation at a conference in Langkawi, Malaysia. The conference, which focused mostly on educational management issues in higher education, was hosted by the South East Asian Association for Institutional Research (SEAAIR) and the Open University of Malaysia. My talk was titled, "Japan's Tertiary Education System: Developments in the Koizumi Era of Reform".
In the resulting paper (which was published in the proceedings of the conference), I attempted to sum up twenty years of university reform with the following:
Those two prior decades of changes in tertiary education leading
up to the creation of the NUCs [Japan's 87 national universities
were re-chartered as 'national university corporations' in 2003-4]
comprised many profound developments....:
-the establishment of a handful of new research universities and
institutes, decision-making at which flows from a central
administration....
-the expansion of graduate program and their enrollments,
including American-style professional schools of business,
law, and accounting;
-growth in doctoral and post-doctoral programs....
-a steady increase in the number of international students
hosted, to over 120,000 annually, about 25% enrolled in
graduate schools;
-more public funding of the entire tertiary sector...with a
target of 1% of GDP;
-increased funding for research (including more basic
research) to compensate for its decline in private industry...
with a target of 7-8% of annual national budgets, and a
national goal approaching 3% of GDP for ALL scientific R&D
(with national government spending accounting for 1% of GDP);
-legislative and regulatory changes that allowed the national
universities to tie up with other entities to pursue research and
expand course offerings....
-parallel changes that allowed national university academics
to serve on the boards of NPOs and for-profit corporations;
-internal and external systems of evaluation, independent of
national government certification....
4. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/04/japans-tertiary-education-system.html
18 April 2008
Japan's Tertiary Education System: Developments in the Koizumi Era of Reform
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
With this first JPN HEO blog post of April 2008, I am using this forum to publish an article that was delivered as a paper at the SEAAIR conference in Langkawi, Malaysia, in September 2006. It will serve as something of a retrospective on happenings in higher education during the Koizumi years of 2000-6 and the preceding years that set up the reforms of what now could be called a political era for Japan.
News posts on the demographic crisis and reasons for the failure of English education will follow in the remaining days of April.
Japan's Tertiary Education System: Developments in the Koizumi Era of Reform
by Charles Jannuzi
Abstract
This paper will survey the major developments and changes that have taken place during the past decade in Japan's tertiary education system and put them into international (comparative) and historical perspectives. It also will attempt to assess critically the impact of major reforms on the national and public universities (and the response of the more numerous private universities to these reforms as well). For example, as of 1 April 2004, Japan's 87 national universities were 'denationalized' and incorporated into 'autonomous institutions'(or 'juridical persons') giving them, at least in theory, wider discretionary powers over personnel management, teaching and research assignments, program and curriculum development. The new status was supposed to result in more local autonomy within each institution over the allocation of money for their mandated missions in teaching, conveying public services to their regions, and conducting basic and applied research in science and technology. Have such top-down reforms proven effective, and have their effects matched the government's stated intentions? It is the author's contention that, not only are the reforms a classic case of reform over-reach, but that Japan's overbuilt university system will face demographic, financial and socio-cultural crises that the current Koizumi era of reform, now coming to its close, has utterly failed to address.
5. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/03/teaching-as-foreign-national-at.html
10 March 2008
Teaching as a Foreign National at Japanese Universities: Shifting Terms of Institutional Status, Employment, Work Conditions and Related Concerns
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
Introduction
The Japanese tertiary system consists of some 1250 national, public, and private four- and two-year institutions. At these degree-awarding universities and colleges, the terms 'foreign lecturer' or 'foreign instructor' refer to any non-Japanese personnel teaching below the status of professor. Most typically though the terms refer to full-time foreign language teachers who are 'native speakers' of the language they teach.
The vast majority of these foreign nationals teach English as a foreign language (EFL), but the number teaching other important languages, especially Asian ones, such as Mandarin Chinese, has also risen significantly during the past two decades. The non-Japanese teaching EFL in Japan are often assigned general English classes as part or all of their teaching duties. General English refers to service course English required as part of general education requirements of tertiary education.
6. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/03/from-university-research-centers-to.html
02 March 2008
From university research centers to international research hubs?
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
In the post-bubble Japan of the 1990s, the private sector's ability to finance scientific research and development went into stagnation and then decline. So from 1995 on the government has pursued an expanded role in the management and funding of scientific R&D at annual levels that equal or exceed 1% of GDP. In great part this has been through the dominant role of its super-ministry, the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) and its five-year 'Science and Technology Basic Plans'.
In order to increase public subsidy of scientific research-- while at the same time forcing research universities and research institutes to compete for funds--MEXT established a 'Centers of Excellence' program. However, this turned out to be a fairly diffuse program, paying for the construction of dozens of new research facilities all over the country at the former national universities and a handful of elite private ones. While this did a lot to help refurbish the appearance of the visibly deteriorated national universities, its actual boost to important scientific results is questionable.
7. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/02/demographic-disaster-for-higher-ed-in.html
10 February 2008
Demographic Disaster for Higher Education in Japan? Part I
by Charles Jannuzi
Introduction
This will be a three-part series for the Japan HEO Blog. This first installment will be a short introduction of the series and then follow with an analysis of Anglophone news coverage of Japan. This is, after all, an English-language blog on Japan.
Part two will consist of analysis of recent articles which appeared in the FT, New York Times, Guardian and Kyodo News Service which have covered the 'demographic disaster' that is supposed to be looming over higher education in Japan. Going straight to the strong points of the argument for a disaster scenario for HE in Japan, I will try to point out some of the flaws and gaps in the analysis.
The third and final part, which will most likely appear late in March 2008 (when the single correspondent of the Japan HEO Blog doesn't have to teach classes), I will put forth a different analysis in an attempt to answer the puzzling question, "Why, if high school graduate and university-eligible populations are in steady and unrecoverable decline, is Japan building still yet more universities?" Does someone in the HE sector here know something that everyone else doesn't? Or are they delusional?
8. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/02/extended-look-at-academic-freedom-in-he.html
03 February 2008
Academic freedom in Japan's higher education--a more in-depth look
by Charles Jannuzi
Introduction
Many attempts at analyzing the nature of government in post-war Japan tend to emphasize continuity with 'old' Japan and its conservative nationalism. However, such analysis does not insightfully refer to tendencies that are ancient or even old by historical standards. Instead, any connection with past rule has to be made with early modern Japan, from the start of the Meiji era (1868) to the start of the second world war.
Sweeping political, social and cultural changes in the last half of the 19th century opened up Japan to outside ideas, knowledge and technology. The Meiji Restoration of 1868 was actually a political revolution which swept away most elements of the old shogunate government and its prestige culture. New factions of elites capable of leadership and rule emerged during a time of great social unrest and change.
9. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/02/pork-barrel-boondoggle-in-ryukyu.html
03 February 2008
The Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology: Pork barrel boondoggle in the Ryukyu Islands?
by Charles Jannuzi
Introduction
In December 2006, the Japanese government (at the ministry level) decided to put the construction and certification of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology (OIST) on a privileged fast track. The OIST was conceived in the 1990s and put forward as an official proposal in June 2002 to help mark the 30th anniversary of the reversion of Okinawa from US control to become the 48th prefecture of Japan. Its proponents within the national government and in Okinawa had hoped that the proposed institute would open for teaching and research by September 2006--or earlier. That target has long been been missed, and efforts to speed up the process have been clouded by serious oversight issues involving the specification of research program, taught curriculum, and codes and regulations. Construction of the campus, currently in progress, could also cause considerable environmental destruction because of its location in what is now a communal forest near the coast.
10. http://japanheo.blogspot.com/2008/02/japan-aims-for-world-class-universities.html
03 February 2008
Japan aims for 'world class' universities
by Charles Jannuzi
Introduction
The government of Japan is pushing for a consolidation and revitalization of the university system, formulating specific targets. Of the hundreds of universities here, 30 are supposed to emerge competitively as truly 'world-class' institutions. From amongst this group of 30, a very select group of five are supposed to attain a top 30 global ranking. And at the top of this super group of five, one of these must make it into the global top 10.
18 February 2010
FACTOIDS: Basic fact sheet on education in Japan, with links
Quick overview of education in Japan
Basic figures
Number of schools in Japan (2008 school year): total 59,554 (kindergarten 13,626, elementary school 22,476, junior high school 10,915, high school 5,242, secondary school 37, special-needs school (school for the blind, the deaf, and the handicapped) 1,026, technical college 64, junior college 417, university 765, special training school 3,402, miscellaneous (vocational) school 1,584)
Number of students (2008 school year): total 19,747,083 (kindergarten 1,674,172, elementary school 7,121,761, junior high school 3,592,406, high school 3,366,460, secondary school 17,849, special-needs school (school for the blind, the deaf, and the handicapped) 112,334, technical college 59,446, junior college 172,726, university 2,835,242, special training school 657,406, miscellaneous (vocational) school: 137,281)
Number of teachers (2008 school year): total 1,327,731 (kindergarten: 111,228, elementary school 419,312, junior high school 249,509, high school 241,213, secondary school 1,369, special-needs school (school for the blind, the deaf, and the handicapped) 68,675, technical college 4,432, junior college 10,524, university 169,912, special training school 41,684, miscellaneous (vocational) school 9,873)
Annual cost of attending school per student (2006 school year): kindergarten (nonprivate 251,324 yen / private 538,406 yen), elementary school (nonprivate 334,134 yen / private 1,373,184 yen), junior high school (nonprivate 471,752 yen / private 1,269,391 yen), high school (nonprivate 520,503 yen / private 1,045,234 yen)
Share of public spending on education (2003 school year):
Share of total public spending: 9.8%,
Share of GDP: 3.5%
Number of international students in Japan (2009 school year): 132,720 as of May 1, 2009 (up 7.2% from 2008).
Number of people studying Japanese language (JSL, JFL): 166,631 in Japan (as of November 2008), 2.98 million in 133 countries (as of 2006)
Links to the latest, more detailed information:
- Education in Japan
- Go to “Education”, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- Rates of advancement to high school and university
- Go to Japan Statistical Yearbook (Chapter 22 Education), Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
- Go to “Statistical Abstract”, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- Go to “Gakko kihon chosa (Report on Basic Survey on Schools)”, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japanese)
- Number of schools, students and teachers
- Go to “Japan Statistical Yearbook (Chapter 22 Education)”, Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications
- Go to “Statistical Abstract”, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- Go to “Gakko kihon chosa (Report on Basic Survey on Schools)”, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japanese)
- International comparison of educational achievement
- Go to “Japan's Education at a Glance”, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- Go to “Programme for International Student Assessment”, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development
- Cost of attending school
- Go to “Kodomo no gakushuhi chosa (Survey of Children’s Educational Costs)”, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (Japanese)
- Public and private expenditure on education
- Go to “Japan's Education at a Glance”, Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology
- International students in Japan
- Go to “Statistics”, Japan Student Services Organization
- Japanese language education (JSL, JFL)
- Go to “Japanese Language Policy”, Agency for Cultural Affairs
- Go to “Japanese-Language Education Overseas”, Japan Foundation
FACTOID: Japan second lowest among OECD in educational spending
Spending is low. Government spending is particularly low. Families/households have to compensate and bear a much larger share in Japan. That might be o.k. if the tax burden was lessened proportionately. At any rate, the new DPJ government has pledged to help, either through direct subsidy or indirectly.
See these two articles (excerpt below the links):
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-2nd-lowest-among-28-oecd-nations-in-education-spending
http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20090909D09JF373.htm
excerpt----
Japan 2nd lowest among 28 OECD nations in education spending
Japan had the second-smallest expenditure on education in 2006 among the 28 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of the ratio of such state spending to gross domestic product, the OECD announced Tuesday. The nation’s ratio continued to hover at a low level, 3.3%, which has not changed much since 1992, while the survey also showed that spending by Japanese households with kindergarteners or college students is much larger than other countries.
end of excerpt----
See these two articles (excerpt below the links):
http://www.japantoday.com/category/national/view/japan-2nd-lowest-among-28-oecd-nations-in-education-spending
http://www.nni.nikkei.co.jp/e/fr/tnks/Nni20090909D09JF373.htm
excerpt----
Japan 2nd lowest among 28 OECD nations in education spending
Japan had the second-smallest expenditure on education in 2006 among the 28 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in terms of the ratio of such state spending to gross domestic product, the OECD announced Tuesday. The nation’s ratio continued to hover at a low level, 3.3%, which has not changed much since 1992, while the survey also showed that spending by Japanese households with kindergarteners or college students is much larger than other countries.
end of excerpt----
How Japan fell behind in supercomputing
One hindrance has been the controversy of Japan favoring vector over scalar technologies. But the biggest blow was NEC's withdrawal from the largest super-computing project, with Hitachi soon following suit.
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090520/full/news.2009.495.html
excerpt----
Scientists at RIKEN, Japan's premier research institute, are reeling from the unexpected news that corporate electronics giants NEC and Hitachi have pulled out of the country's next-generation supercomputing project. NEC, which posted a net loss of ¥300 billion (US$3.1 billion) for the financial year ending in March 2009, said last week that it could not support the investment needed to take the supercomputer's design to the manufacturing phase.
It is a blow for a country struggling to retain its reputation as a leader in computer technology. It is also a setback for vector computing, which has been struggling to retain its slim presence in the supercomputing world. As originally conceived, the machine would have incorporated both vector and scalar technologies.Getty
Japan had aimed to start operating its next-generation supercomputer next year and complete it by 2012. Designed to run at 9 petaflops, or 1015 floating point operations per second, Japan hopes the device will regain the title of world's fastest computer — currently held by an IBM-built machine at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, nicknamed Roadrunner.
end of excerpt----
See link above to read full article.
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090520/full/news.2009.495.html
excerpt----
Scientists at RIKEN, Japan's premier research institute, are reeling from the unexpected news that corporate electronics giants NEC and Hitachi have pulled out of the country's next-generation supercomputing project. NEC, which posted a net loss of ¥300 billion (US$3.1 billion) for the financial year ending in March 2009, said last week that it could not support the investment needed to take the supercomputer's design to the manufacturing phase.
It is a blow for a country struggling to retain its reputation as a leader in computer technology. It is also a setback for vector computing, which has been struggling to retain its slim presence in the supercomputing world. As originally conceived, the machine would have incorporated both vector and scalar technologies.Getty
Japan had aimed to start operating its next-generation supercomputer next year and complete it by 2012. Designed to run at 9 petaflops, or 1015 floating point operations per second, Japan hopes the device will regain the title of world's fastest computer — currently held by an IBM-built machine at Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, nicknamed Roadrunner.
end of excerpt----
See link above to read full article.
How Japan fell behind in stem cell research
Because of Pres. GW Bush's reluctance to open up stem cell research to include human embryos, the worry in the US was that Japan would get ahead in this research. However, Japan seems to have slipped behind the competition in this crucial area. This article at the link below explains why. First, a key quote. Then see the link for the rest of the article if it interests you.
excerpt----
Upon first inspection, the laws that were set in the country in 2001 were fairly permissive. Researchers could use home-grown embryonic stem cell lines, or they could import them. However, there was a catch. The teams conducting such investigations needed to get approval for their studies, from both local institutions and Science Ministry commissions. This was a real stumbling block. In addition, they had to conduct their experiments in separate facilities from teams conducting work on other types of stem cells, Nature News reports.
end of excerpt----
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Japan-Finally-Eases-Stem-Cell-Regulations-119884.shtml
Also, another article at Nature News:
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090821/full/4601068a.html?s=news_rss
excerpt----
Upon first inspection, the laws that were set in the country in 2001 were fairly permissive. Researchers could use home-grown embryonic stem cell lines, or they could import them. However, there was a catch. The teams conducting such investigations needed to get approval for their studies, from both local institutions and Science Ministry commissions. This was a real stumbling block. In addition, they had to conduct their experiments in separate facilities from teams conducting work on other types of stem cells, Nature News reports.
end of excerpt----
http://news.softpedia.com/news/Japan-Finally-Eases-Stem-Cell-Regulations-119884.shtml
Also, another article at Nature News:
http://www.nature.com/news/2009/090821/full/4601068a.html?s=news_rss
China surges past Japan in supercomputing
One of the rankings we watch and cite regularly here at Japan HEO is the top500 list of supercomputers. In the latest rankings (published Nov. last year), Japan failed to place a supercomputer in the top 30. The highest rank for Japan is 31. Meanwhile, China gets one into the top 5. The US still dominates. Here is the top 50 list. See the link for the entire list.
http://www.top500.org/list/2009/11/100
Rank Site Computer/Year Vendor Cores Rmax Rpeak Power
1 Oak Ridge National Laboratory
United States Jaguar - Cray XT5-HE Opteron Six Core 2.6 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 224162 1759.00 2331.00 6950.60
2 DOE/NNSA/LANL
United States Roadrunner - BladeCenter QS22/LS21 Cluster, PowerXCell 8i 3.2 Ghz / Opteron DC 1.8 GHz, Voltaire Infiniband / 2009
IBM 122400 1042.00 1375.78 2345.50
3 National Institute for Computational Sciences/University of Tennessee
United States Kraken XT5 - Cray XT5-HE Opteron Six Core 2.6 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 98928 831.70 1028.85
4 Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ)
Germany JUGENE - Blue Gene/P Solution / 2009
IBM 294912 825.50 1002.70 2268.00
5 National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin/NUDT
China Tianhe-1 - NUDT TH-1 Cluster, Xeon E5540/E5450, ATI Radeon HD 4870 2, Infiniband / 2009
NUDT 71680 563.10 1206.19
6 NASA/Ames Research Center/NAS
United States Pleiades - SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon QC 3.0 GHz/Nehalem EP 2.93 Ghz / 2009
SGI 56320 544.30 673.26 2348.00
7 DOE/NNSA/LLNL
United States BlueGene/L - eServer Blue Gene Solution / 2007
IBM 212992 478.20 596.38 2329.60
8 Argonne National Laboratory
United States Blue Gene/P Solution / 2007
IBM 163840 458.61 557.06 1260.00
9 Texas Advanced Computing Center/Univ. of Texas
United States Ranger - SunBlade x6420, Opteron QC 2.3 Ghz, Infiniband / 2008
Sun Microsystems 62976 433.20 579.38 2000.00
10 Sandia National Laboratories / National Renewable Energy Laboratory
United States Red Sky - Sun Blade x6275, Xeon X55xx 2.93 Ghz, Infiniband / 2009
Sun Microsystems 41616 423.90 487.74
11 DOE/NNSA/LLNL
United States Dawn - Blue Gene/P Solution / 2009
IBM 147456 415.70 501.35 1134.00
12 Moscow State University - Research Computing Center
Russia Lomonosov - T-Platforms T-Blade2, Xeon 5570 2.93 GHz, Infiniband QDR / 2009
T-Platforms 35360 350.10 414.42
13 Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ)
Germany JUROPA - Sun Constellation, NovaScale R422-E2, Intel Xeon X5570, 2.93 GHz, Sun M9/Mellanox QDR Infiniband/Partec Parastation / 2009
Bull SA 26304 274.80 308.28 1549.00
14 KISTI Supercomputing Center
Korea, South TachyonII - Sun Blade x6048, X6275, IB QDR M9 switch, Sun HPC stack Linux edition / 2009
Sun Microsystems 26232 274.80 307.44 1275.96
15 NERSC/LBNL
United States Franklin - Cray XT4 QuadCore 2.3 GHz / 2008
Cray Inc. 38642 266.30 355.51 1150.00
16 Oak Ridge National Laboratory
United States Jaguar - Cray XT4 QuadCore 2.1 GHz / 2008
Cray Inc. 30976 205.00 260.20 1580.71
17 Sandia National Laboratories
United States Sandia/Cray Red Storm - Cray XT3/XT4 / 2009
Cray Inc. 38208 204.20 284.00 2506.00
18 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Saudia Arabia Shaheen - Blue Gene/P Solution / 2009
IBM 65536 190.90 222.82 504.00
19 Shanghai Supercomputer Center
China Magic Cube - Dawning 5000A, QC Opteron 1.9 Ghz, Infiniband, Windows HPC 2008 / 2008
Dawning 30720 180.60 233.47
20 University of Edinburgh
United Kingdom HECToR - Cray XT4, 2.3 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 22656 174.08 208.44
21 Swiss Scientific Computing Center (CSCS)
Switzerland Monte Rosa - Cray XT5 SixCore 2.4 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 22032 168.70 211.51 713.00
22 SciNet/University of Toronto
Canada GPC - iDataPlex, Xeon E55xx QC 2.53 GHz, GigE / 2009
IBM 30240 168.60 306.03 869.40
23 Government
United States Cray XT5 QC 2.4 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 20960 165.60 201.22
24 ERDC DSRC
United States SGI Altix ICR 8200 Enh. LX, Xeon X5560 2.8Ghz / 2009
SGI 15360 160.20 172.03 774.50
25 New Mexico Computing Applications Center (NMCAC)
United States Encanto - SGI Altix ICE 8200, Xeon quad core 3.0 GHz / 2007
SGI 14336 133.20 172.03 861.63
26 Computational Research Laboratories, TATA SONS
India EKA - Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c, Xeon 53xx 3GHz, Infiniband / 2008
Hewlett-Packard 14384 132.80 172.61 786.00
27 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
United States Juno - Appro XtremeServer 1143H, Opteron QC 2.2Ghz, Infiniband / 2008
Appro International 18224 131.60 162.20
28 Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif - Centre Informatique National de l'Enseignement Superieur (GENCI-CINES)
France Jade - SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon quad core 3.0 GHz / 2008
SGI 12288 128.40 146.74 608.18
29 DOE/NNSA/LANL
United States Cerrillos - BladeCenter QS22/LS21 Cluster, PowerXCell 8i 3.2 Ghz / Opteron DC 1.8 GHz, Infiniband / 2009
IBM 14400 126.50 161.86 276.00
30 National Institute for Computational Sciences/University of Tennessee
United States Athena - Cray XT4 QuadCore 2.3 GHz / 2008
Cray Inc. 17956 125.13 165.20 888.82
31 Japan Agency for Marine -Earth Science and Technology
Japan Earth Simulator - SX-9/E/1280M160 / 2009
NEC 1280 122.40 131.07
32 IDRIS
France Blue Gene/P Solution / 2008
IBM 40960 119.31 139.26 315.00
33 ECMWF
United Kingdom Power 575, p6 4.7 GHz, Infiniband / 2008
IBM 8320 115.90 156.42 1329.70
34 ECMWF
United Kingdom Power 575, p6 4.7 GHz, Infiniband / 2009
IBM 8320 115.90 156.42 1329.70
35 DKRZ - Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum
Germany Power 575, p6 4.7 GHz, Infiniband / 2008
IBM 8064 115.90 151.60 1288.69
36 JAXA
Japan Fujitsu FX1, Quadcore SPARC64 VII 2.52 GHz, Infiniband DDR / 2009
Fujitsu 12032 110.60 121.28
37 US Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
United States SGI Altix ICE 8200 Enhanced LX, Xeon Nehalem quad core 2.8 GHz / 2009
SGI 10752 109.30 120.42 475.00
38 Joint Supercomputer Center
Russia MVS-100K - Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c/BL2x220, Xeon 54xx 3 Ghz, Infiniband / 2009
Hewlett-Packard 11680 107.45 140.16
39 HLRN at Universitaet Hannover / RRZN
Germany SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon QC E5472 3.0 GHz/X5570 2.93 GHz / 2009
SGI 10240 107.10 120.73
40 HLRN at ZIB/Konrad Zuse-Zentrum fuer Informationstechnik
Germany SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon QC E5472 3.0 GHz/X5570 2.93 GHz / 2009
SGI 10240 107.10 120.73
41 Total Exploration Production
France SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon quad core 3.0 GHz / 2008
SGI 10240 106.10 122.88 442.00
42 Government Agency
Sweden Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c, Xeon 53xx 2.66GHz, Infiniband / 2007
Hewlett-Packard 13728 102.80 146.43
43 Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Science
China DeepComp 7000, HS21/x3950 Cluster, Xeon QC HT 3 GHz/2.93 GHz, Infiniband / 2008
Lenovo 12216 102.80 145.97
44 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
United States Hera - Appro Xtreme-X3 Server - Quad Opteron Quad Core 2.3 GHz, Infiniband / 2009
Appro International 13552 102.20 127.20
45 Information Technology Center, The University of Tokyo
Japan T2K Open Supercomputer (Todai Combined Cluster) - Hitachi opteron QC 2.3 GHz Myrinet 10G / 2009
Hitachi 15104 101.74 138.96 831.50
46 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft MPI/IPP
Germany VIP - Power 575, p6 4.7 GHz, Infiniband / 2009
IBM 6848 98.42 128.74 1095.00
47 Institute of Physical and Chemical Res. (RIKEN)
Japan RIKEN Intergrated Cluster of Clusters, Xeon X5570 2.93GHz, Infiniband DDR / 2009
Fujitsu 9048 97.94 106.04
48 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
United States Chinook - Cluster Platform 4000 DL185G5, Opteron QC 2.2 GHz, Infiniband DDR / 2008
Hewlett-Packard 18176 97.07 159.95
49 EDF R&D
France Frontier2 BG/L - Blue Gene/P Solution / 2008
IBM 32768 95.45 111.41 252.00
50 IT Service Provider
Germany Cluster Platform 3000 BL2x220, E54xx 3.0 Ghz, Infiniband / 2009
Hewlett-Packard 10240 94.74 122.88
http://www.top500.org/list/2009/11/100
Rank Site Computer/Year Vendor Cores Rmax Rpeak Power
1 Oak Ridge National Laboratory
United States Jaguar - Cray XT5-HE Opteron Six Core 2.6 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 224162 1759.00 2331.00 6950.60
2 DOE/NNSA/LANL
United States Roadrunner - BladeCenter QS22/LS21 Cluster, PowerXCell 8i 3.2 Ghz / Opteron DC 1.8 GHz, Voltaire Infiniband / 2009
IBM 122400 1042.00 1375.78 2345.50
3 National Institute for Computational Sciences/University of Tennessee
United States Kraken XT5 - Cray XT5-HE Opteron Six Core 2.6 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 98928 831.70 1028.85
4 Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ)
Germany JUGENE - Blue Gene/P Solution / 2009
IBM 294912 825.50 1002.70 2268.00
5 National SuperComputer Center in Tianjin/NUDT
China Tianhe-1 - NUDT TH-1 Cluster, Xeon E5540/E5450, ATI Radeon HD 4870 2, Infiniband / 2009
NUDT 71680 563.10 1206.19
6 NASA/Ames Research Center/NAS
United States Pleiades - SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon QC 3.0 GHz/Nehalem EP 2.93 Ghz / 2009
SGI 56320 544.30 673.26 2348.00
7 DOE/NNSA/LLNL
United States BlueGene/L - eServer Blue Gene Solution / 2007
IBM 212992 478.20 596.38 2329.60
8 Argonne National Laboratory
United States Blue Gene/P Solution / 2007
IBM 163840 458.61 557.06 1260.00
9 Texas Advanced Computing Center/Univ. of Texas
United States Ranger - SunBlade x6420, Opteron QC 2.3 Ghz, Infiniband / 2008
Sun Microsystems 62976 433.20 579.38 2000.00
10 Sandia National Laboratories / National Renewable Energy Laboratory
United States Red Sky - Sun Blade x6275, Xeon X55xx 2.93 Ghz, Infiniband / 2009
Sun Microsystems 41616 423.90 487.74
11 DOE/NNSA/LLNL
United States Dawn - Blue Gene/P Solution / 2009
IBM 147456 415.70 501.35 1134.00
12 Moscow State University - Research Computing Center
Russia Lomonosov - T-Platforms T-Blade2, Xeon 5570 2.93 GHz, Infiniband QDR / 2009
T-Platforms 35360 350.10 414.42
13 Forschungszentrum Juelich (FZJ)
Germany JUROPA - Sun Constellation, NovaScale R422-E2, Intel Xeon X5570, 2.93 GHz, Sun M9/Mellanox QDR Infiniband/Partec Parastation / 2009
Bull SA 26304 274.80 308.28 1549.00
14 KISTI Supercomputing Center
Korea, South TachyonII - Sun Blade x6048, X6275, IB QDR M9 switch, Sun HPC stack Linux edition / 2009
Sun Microsystems 26232 274.80 307.44 1275.96
15 NERSC/LBNL
United States Franklin - Cray XT4 QuadCore 2.3 GHz / 2008
Cray Inc. 38642 266.30 355.51 1150.00
16 Oak Ridge National Laboratory
United States Jaguar - Cray XT4 QuadCore 2.1 GHz / 2008
Cray Inc. 30976 205.00 260.20 1580.71
17 Sandia National Laboratories
United States Sandia/Cray Red Storm - Cray XT3/XT4 / 2009
Cray Inc. 38208 204.20 284.00 2506.00
18 King Abdullah University of Science and Technology
Saudia Arabia Shaheen - Blue Gene/P Solution / 2009
IBM 65536 190.90 222.82 504.00
19 Shanghai Supercomputer Center
China Magic Cube - Dawning 5000A, QC Opteron 1.9 Ghz, Infiniband, Windows HPC 2008 / 2008
Dawning 30720 180.60 233.47
20 University of Edinburgh
United Kingdom HECToR - Cray XT4, 2.3 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 22656 174.08 208.44
21 Swiss Scientific Computing Center (CSCS)
Switzerland Monte Rosa - Cray XT5 SixCore 2.4 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 22032 168.70 211.51 713.00
22 SciNet/University of Toronto
Canada GPC - iDataPlex, Xeon E55xx QC 2.53 GHz, GigE / 2009
IBM 30240 168.60 306.03 869.40
23 Government
United States Cray XT5 QC 2.4 GHz / 2009
Cray Inc. 20960 165.60 201.22
24 ERDC DSRC
United States SGI Altix ICR 8200 Enh. LX, Xeon X5560 2.8Ghz / 2009
SGI 15360 160.20 172.03 774.50
25 New Mexico Computing Applications Center (NMCAC)
United States Encanto - SGI Altix ICE 8200, Xeon quad core 3.0 GHz / 2007
SGI 14336 133.20 172.03 861.63
26 Computational Research Laboratories, TATA SONS
India EKA - Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c, Xeon 53xx 3GHz, Infiniband / 2008
Hewlett-Packard 14384 132.80 172.61 786.00
27 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
United States Juno - Appro XtremeServer 1143H, Opteron QC 2.2Ghz, Infiniband / 2008
Appro International 18224 131.60 162.20
28 Grand Equipement National de Calcul Intensif - Centre Informatique National de l'Enseignement Superieur (GENCI-CINES)
France Jade - SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon quad core 3.0 GHz / 2008
SGI 12288 128.40 146.74 608.18
29 DOE/NNSA/LANL
United States Cerrillos - BladeCenter QS22/LS21 Cluster, PowerXCell 8i 3.2 Ghz / Opteron DC 1.8 GHz, Infiniband / 2009
IBM 14400 126.50 161.86 276.00
30 National Institute for Computational Sciences/University of Tennessee
United States Athena - Cray XT4 QuadCore 2.3 GHz / 2008
Cray Inc. 17956 125.13 165.20 888.82
31 Japan Agency for Marine -Earth Science and Technology
Japan Earth Simulator - SX-9/E/1280M160 / 2009
NEC 1280 122.40 131.07
32 IDRIS
France Blue Gene/P Solution / 2008
IBM 40960 119.31 139.26 315.00
33 ECMWF
United Kingdom Power 575, p6 4.7 GHz, Infiniband / 2008
IBM 8320 115.90 156.42 1329.70
34 ECMWF
United Kingdom Power 575, p6 4.7 GHz, Infiniband / 2009
IBM 8320 115.90 156.42 1329.70
35 DKRZ - Deutsches Klimarechenzentrum
Germany Power 575, p6 4.7 GHz, Infiniband / 2008
IBM 8064 115.90 151.60 1288.69
36 JAXA
Japan Fujitsu FX1, Quadcore SPARC64 VII 2.52 GHz, Infiniband DDR / 2009
Fujitsu 12032 110.60 121.28
37 US Army Research Laboratory (ARL)
United States SGI Altix ICE 8200 Enhanced LX, Xeon Nehalem quad core 2.8 GHz / 2009
SGI 10752 109.30 120.42 475.00
38 Joint Supercomputer Center
Russia MVS-100K - Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c/BL2x220, Xeon 54xx 3 Ghz, Infiniband / 2009
Hewlett-Packard 11680 107.45 140.16
39 HLRN at Universitaet Hannover / RRZN
Germany SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon QC E5472 3.0 GHz/X5570 2.93 GHz / 2009
SGI 10240 107.10 120.73
40 HLRN at ZIB/Konrad Zuse-Zentrum fuer Informationstechnik
Germany SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon QC E5472 3.0 GHz/X5570 2.93 GHz / 2009
SGI 10240 107.10 120.73
41 Total Exploration Production
France SGI Altix ICE 8200EX, Xeon quad core 3.0 GHz / 2008
SGI 10240 106.10 122.88 442.00
42 Government Agency
Sweden Cluster Platform 3000 BL460c, Xeon 53xx 2.66GHz, Infiniband / 2007
Hewlett-Packard 13728 102.80 146.43
43 Computer Network Information Center, Chinese Academy of Science
China DeepComp 7000, HS21/x3950 Cluster, Xeon QC HT 3 GHz/2.93 GHz, Infiniband / 2008
Lenovo 12216 102.80 145.97
44 Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory
United States Hera - Appro Xtreme-X3 Server - Quad Opteron Quad Core 2.3 GHz, Infiniband / 2009
Appro International 13552 102.20 127.20
45 Information Technology Center, The University of Tokyo
Japan T2K Open Supercomputer (Todai Combined Cluster) - Hitachi opteron QC 2.3 GHz Myrinet 10G / 2009
Hitachi 15104 101.74 138.96 831.50
46 Max-Planck-Gesellschaft MPI/IPP
Germany VIP - Power 575, p6 4.7 GHz, Infiniband / 2009
IBM 6848 98.42 128.74 1095.00
47 Institute of Physical and Chemical Res. (RIKEN)
Japan RIKEN Intergrated Cluster of Clusters, Xeon X5570 2.93GHz, Infiniband DDR / 2009
Fujitsu 9048 97.94 106.04
48 Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
United States Chinook - Cluster Platform 4000 DL185G5, Opteron QC 2.2 GHz, Infiniband DDR / 2008
Hewlett-Packard 18176 97.07 159.95
49 EDF R&D
France Frontier2 BG/L - Blue Gene/P Solution / 2008
IBM 32768 95.45 111.41 252.00
50 IT Service Provider
Germany Cluster Platform 3000 BL2x220, E54xx 3.0 Ghz, Infiniband / 2009
Hewlett-Packard 10240 94.74 122.88
TEFL Forum: "ELT in Japan" Issue #1 in downloadable form - bonus article
'ELT in Japan' Issue #1 (Dec. 2009) in PDF - Bonus Article
ELT in Japan Issue #1 featured seven articles.
Here is a bonus article that is longer than a typical ELT-J piece. It provides more background, graphics and resources to two of the features of issue #1. They are:
1. Writing Systems: Positive transfer or negative interference for EFL learning?
and
2. Do Japanese EFL students need katakana eigo to learn and to read English?
The bonus article is available at the link below in read-only .pdf which you can also download and read in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
An abstract is also provided here.
Katakana eigo is a Japanese term referring to English rendered into a written form that uses one of the two syllabaries of written Japanese. On the one hand, it aids a legitimate process: the borrowing and subsequent nativization of terms from English into Japanese. On the other hand, its use in EFL teaching and learning (because of its cross-lingual, L2 to L1 orientation) may well hinder literacy and language development in the L2. In this paper, the author looks at why katakana eigo is used in the EFL learning in Japan. The reasons center most on teachers' and learners' responses to the complex nature of the writing system of English. The author then goes on to cover katakana eigo in relation to the pedagogical stances possible. Finally, the author lists and describes methods and activities that could help to make katakana eigo and other such graphic translation 'crutches' unnecessary in the EFL classroom in Japan (and in other countries where non-alphabetic writing systems are used.
Can Native Literacy Practices Impact EFL Learning? The Example of JapanHere is a bonus article that is longer than a typical ELT-J piece. It provides more background, graphics and resources to two of the features of issue #1. They are:
1. Writing Systems: Positive transfer or negative interference for EFL learning?
and
2. Do Japanese EFL students need katakana eigo to learn and to read English?
The bonus article is available at the link below in read-only .pdf which you can also download and read in Adobe Acrobat Reader.
An abstract is also provided here.
Charles Jannuzi, University of Fukui, Japan
Abstract
Katakana eigo is a Japanese term referring to English rendered into a written form that uses one of the two syllabaries of written Japanese. On the one hand, it aids a legitimate process: the borrowing and subsequent nativization of terms from English into Japanese. On the other hand, its use in EFL teaching and learning (because of its cross-lingual, L2 to L1 orientation) may well hinder literacy and language development in the L2. In this paper, the author looks at why katakana eigo is used in the EFL learning in Japan. The reasons center most on teachers' and learners' responses to the complex nature of the writing system of English. The author then goes on to cover katakana eigo in relation to the pedagogical stances possible. Finally, the author lists and describes methods and activities that could help to make katakana eigo and other such graphic translation 'crutches' unnecessary in the EFL classroom in Japan (and in other countries where non-alphabetic writing systems are used.
CALL FOR PAPERS
The following call for papers comes from Spain. This is a refereed publication and would be a good way for EFL teachers around the world to get papers about their expertise published. JPNHEO.
---------------------------------------------------
Call for papers.
TESOL-SPAIN Newsletter is looking for talented writers who
want to share their experiences of teaching and ideas for enhancing the
teaching and learning of English as a foreign language. Articles, book
reviews, lesson plans and tips for teachers should be sent to
publications@tesol-spain.org.
For more information on the submission
guidelines, go to
http://www.tesol-spain.org/
There is no call deadline.
---------------------------------------------------
Call for papers.
TESOL-SPAIN Newsletter is looking for talented writers who
want to share their experiences of teaching and ideas for enhancing the
teaching and learning of English as a foreign language. Articles, book
reviews, lesson plans and tips for teachers should be sent to
publications@tesol-spain.org.
For more information on the submission
guidelines, go to
http://www.tesol-spain.org/
There is no call deadline.
17 February 2010
TEFL Forum: "ELT in Japan" Issue #1 in downloadable form
'ELT in Japan' Issue #1 (Dec. 2009) in PDF
You can read them in the public access folder at GoogleDocs (read-only using a reader that is like GoogleBooks), or you can download them from the GoogleDocs interface. Creative Commons License 3.0 applies.
ELT in Japan Issue #1 (first published December 2009)
Click on the title of the article to view it.
1. Writing Systems: Positive transfer or negative interference for EFL learning?
2. Do Japanese EFL students need katakana eigo to learn and to read English?
3. Teaching as a foreign national at Japanese universities: Shifting terms of institutional status, employment, work conditions and related concerns
4. Ten reasons why English learning fails in Japan
5. The facially salient articulatory gesture as a basic unit for applied phonology in ELT
6. Why is 'research' in ELT/TEFL/TESOL/AL/SLA so irrelevant?
7. Breaking down the 'theory vs. practice' distinction
ELT in Japan Issue #1 (first published December 2009)
Click on the title of the article to view it.
1. Writing Systems: Positive transfer or negative interference for EFL learning?
2. Do Japanese EFL students need katakana eigo to learn and to read English?
3. Teaching as a foreign national at Japanese universities: Shifting terms of institutional status, employment, work conditions and related concerns
4. Ten reasons why English learning fails in Japan
5. The facially salient articulatory gesture as a basic unit for applied phonology in ELT
6. Why is 'research' in ELT/TEFL/TESOL/AL/SLA so irrelevant?
7. Breaking down the 'theory vs. practice' distinction
16 February 2010
Getting an e-mail subscription to JPN HEO Part 2
Google/Blogger does make available an e-mail service for the feeds.
I have placed a subscription form over on the right-hand sidebar.
It looks like the one below. Actually, you can use this one below as well.
I have placed a subscription form over on the right-hand sidebar.
It looks like the one below. Actually, you can use this one below as well.
Getting an e-mail subscription to Japan HEO
People have asked about getting updates mailed to their chosen e-mail address--either as a supplement or in place of the Web 2.0 'feeds' (RSS, Atom), which push updated content into your 'reader' program (e.g., Yahoo Reader, Google Reader, or something your e-mail program or web browser gives you) or onto personalized web pages (e.g., Igoogle and MyYahoo). The persistent usefulness of e-mail can not be denied.
As far as I can tell, Blogger doesn't have an e-mail subscription service native to it. I had been using a free service, but I didn't like the fact that I couldn't control the ads in it, so I dropped it.
One fix is possible, IF you have a google account.
If you have a google account (and do things like gmail, googledocs, Buzz, etc.), you can set up a search as a feed that is then pushed to your e-mail address. Here is how:
1. Go to:
http://www.google.com/alerts/
2. Create a Google Alert.
3. Enter the topic you wish to monitor:
Search terms: site:japanheo.blogspot.com/
Type: Blogs
How often: choose
Email length: choose
Deliver to: your address
You then will get delivered to your an e-mail that looks like this:
-----------------------------------------------------
Google Blogs Alert for: site:japanheo.blogspot.com
JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Makeover for Japan Higher ...
By CEJ
Announcing a complete renovation of Japan Higher Education Outlook. I have tried to un-clutter and streamline the look, in hopes that it makes the publication more reader- and web-friendly. Please note that the main body appears on the ...
JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK - http://japanheo.blogspot.com/
JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Google Chrome Browser
By CEJ
Japan HEO recommends Google Chrome browser for viewing and creating blogs such as this. It's faster and ultimately it will help you to integrate various features and services into your daily computing and web activities (such as Blogger ...
JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK - http://japanheo.blogspot.com/
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
Remove this alert.
Create another alert.
Manage your alerts.
--------------------------------------------------------------
For more help and technical support on how to create an e-mail subscription to a google search, see:
http://www.google.com/support/alerts/
As far as I can tell, Blogger doesn't have an e-mail subscription service native to it. I had been using a free service, but I didn't like the fact that I couldn't control the ads in it, so I dropped it.
One fix is possible, IF you have a google account.
If you have a google account (and do things like gmail, googledocs, Buzz, etc.), you can set up a search as a feed that is then pushed to your e-mail address. Here is how:
1. Go to:
http://www.google.com/alerts/
2. Create a Google Alert.
3. Enter the topic you wish to monitor:
Search terms: site:japanheo.blogspot.com/
Type: Blogs
How often: choose
Email length: choose
Deliver to: your address
You then will get delivered to your an e-mail that looks like this:
-----------------------------------------------------
Google Blogs Alert for: site:japanheo.blogspot.com
JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Makeover for Japan Higher ...
By CEJ
Announcing a complete renovation of Japan Higher Education Outlook. I have tried to un-clutter and streamline the look, in hopes that it makes the publication more reader- and web-friendly. Please note that the main body appears on the ...
JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK - http://japanheo.blogspot.com/
JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK: Google Chrome Browser
By CEJ
Japan HEO recommends Google Chrome browser for viewing and creating blogs such as this. It's faster and ultimately it will help you to integrate various features and services into your daily computing and web activities (such as Blogger ...
JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK - http://japanheo.blogspot.com/
This as-it-happens Google Alert is brought to you by Google.
Remove this alert.
Create another alert.
Manage your alerts.
--------------------------------------------------------------
For more help and technical support on how to create an e-mail subscription to a google search, see:
http://www.google.com/support/alerts/
Makeover for Japan Higher Education Outlook Blog
Announcing a complete renovation of Japan Higher Education Outlook.
I have tried to un-clutter and streamline the look, in hopes that it makes the publication more reader- and web-friendly.
Please note that the main body appears on the center left. The main sidebar is on the right. There are also some interesting items appearing below the main body. The main body of the top page is limited to the 7 most recent blog updates. I have also added frequent places to click in order to get back to the top page. Also, in the future I will be publishing original material in excerpts with links to documents open to public access at Google Documents.
The sidebar on the right includes:
-Directories, listings, etc. for HE worldwide and HE in Japan
-Sites, associations, etc. for HE worldwide and in Japan
-News links on HE worldwide and in Japan
-Subscribe to JHEO
http://feeds.feedburner.com/JapanHigherEducationOutlookjheo
Google feed
http://www.google.com/ig/add?source=bstp&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjapanheo.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault
Yahoo feed
http://add.my.yahoo.com/content?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjapanheo.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault
I have tried to un-clutter and streamline the look, in hopes that it makes the publication more reader- and web-friendly.
Please note that the main body appears on the center left. The main sidebar is on the right. There are also some interesting items appearing below the main body. The main body of the top page is limited to the 7 most recent blog updates. I have also added frequent places to click in order to get back to the top page. Also, in the future I will be publishing original material in excerpts with links to documents open to public access at Google Documents.
The sidebar on the right includes:
-Directories, listings, etc. for HE worldwide and HE in Japan
-Sites, associations, etc. for HE worldwide and in Japan
-News links on HE worldwide and in Japan
-Subscribe to JHEO
http://feeds.feedburner.com/JapanHigherEducationOutlookjheo
Google feed
http://www.google.com/ig/add?source=bstp&feedurl=http%3A%2F%2Fjapanheo.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault
Yahoo feed
http://add.my.yahoo.com/content?url=http%3A%2F%2Fjapanheo.blogspot.com%2Ffeeds%2Fposts%2Fdefault
Google Chrome Browser
Japan HEO recommends Google Chrome browser for viewing and creating blogs such as this. It's faster and ultimately it will help you to integrate various features and services into your daily computing and web activities (such as Blogger, Google Documents, Picasa Web, etc.).
Download:
http://www.google.com/chrome/
Download:
http://www.google.com/chrome/
15 February 2010
Ajinomoto, ADB Scholarships for ASEAN Students to Study in Japan
Click on the links below to get more information.
http://phuketnews.phuketindex.com/student/ajinomoto-scholarship-for-asean-international-students-2011-application-174521.html
Ajinomoto Scholarship for ASEAN International Students 2011 Application
This program enables students from five ASEAN countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) wishing to enroll in a master’s course (major in one of the sciences) at the University of Tokyo, to secure scholarships before their arrival in Japan. It aims to cultivate individuals capable of leading Asia in the twenty-first century and to contribute to the development of Asia and the world as well as to mutual understanding between these countries and Japan.
http://dawnghkawnbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/adb-scholarship-for-myanmar-students.html
ADB scholarship for ASEAN students
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) - Japan Scholarship Program (JSP)
was established in April 1988 with financing from the Government of Japan.
It aims to provide an opportunity for well-qualified citizens of ADB's
developing member countries to pursue postgraduate studies in economics,
management, science and technology, and other development-related fields at
participating academic institutions in the Asian and Pacific Region.*
Scholarship*
http://phuketnews.phuketindex.com/student/ajinomoto-scholarship-for-asean-international-students-2011-application-174521.html
Ajinomoto Scholarship for ASEAN International Students 2011 Application
This program enables students from five ASEAN countries (Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Vietnam) wishing to enroll in a master’s course (major in one of the sciences) at the University of Tokyo, to secure scholarships before their arrival in Japan. It aims to cultivate individuals capable of leading Asia in the twenty-first century and to contribute to the development of Asia and the world as well as to mutual understanding between these countries and Japan.
http://dawnghkawnbum.blogspot.com/2010/02/adb-scholarship-for-myanmar-students.html
ADB scholarship for ASEAN students
The Asian Development Bank (ADB) - Japan Scholarship Program (JSP)
was established in April 1988 with financing from the Government of Japan.
It aims to provide an opportunity for well-qualified citizens of ADB's
developing member countries to pursue postgraduate studies in economics,
management, science and technology, and other development-related fields at
participating academic institutions in the Asian and Pacific Region.*
Scholarship*
14 February 2010
TEFL Forum: ELT - J Issue #2 Preview Articles: (1) Multiple Choice Questions and (2) Semantic Mapping for English Conversation Class
ELT - J Issue #2 Preview Articles: (1) Multiple Choice Questions and (2) Semantic Mapping for English Conversation Class
ELT - J Issue #2 Preview Article: Devising Multiple-choice Questions, Quizzes and Tests
Issue 2 of ELT in Japan will consist of four articles: (1) "Teaching English [l] sounds vs. [r] sounds: Integrating applied phonology into the EFL classroom"; (2) "Devising multiple-choice questions, quizzes and tests"; (3) "Semantic mapping activities for the speaking class"; and (4)"Semantic mapping activities for the writing class".
Here is a preview of Issue #2 with two of the articles in draft form:
1. Devising multiple-choice questions, quizzes and tests
http://eltinjapan.blogspot.com/2010/02/elt-j-issue-2-preview-article-devising.html
2. Semantic mapping activities for the speaking class
http://eltinjapan.blogspot.com/2010/02/elt-j-issue-2-preview-article-semantic.html
ELT - J Issue #2 Preview Article: Devising Multiple-choice Questions, Quizzes and Tests
Issue 2 of ELT in Japan will consist of four articles: (1) "Teaching English [l] sounds vs. [r] sounds: Integrating applied phonology into the EFL classroom"; (2) "Devising multiple-choice questions, quizzes and tests"; (3) "Semantic mapping activities for the speaking class"; and (4)"Semantic mapping activities for the writing class".
Here is a preview of Issue #2 with two of the articles in draft form:
1. Devising multiple-choice questions, quizzes and tests
http://eltinjapan.blogspot.com/2010/02/elt-j-issue-2-preview-article-devising.html
2. Semantic mapping activities for the speaking class
http://eltinjapan.blogspot.com/2010/02/elt-j-issue-2-preview-article-semantic.html
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