It is the cheating

01 Mar 2011 at 11:35

Durf

education, Japan

3 Comments

So the moral panic du jour is mobile-phone-enabled cheating by kids sitting the entrance exams at major universities. One test-taker posted various questions to Yahoo’s “Chiebukuro” Q-and-A website. Now it’s come to light that someone “helping” him with an English question was just feeding his Japanese text through an online translation tool. He copied that output onto the test paper. Oh, I’m sure that’ll go over well.

Courtesy Google Translate

The Nikkansports.com article [Japanese] on the dastardly crime (seriously; they’re looking into police action on this, which I don’t quite understand) notes that the kid’s incomprehensible answer had horrible grammar, including missing subjects. Zero points. Investigators are going to see whether this sloppy machine translation appeared as-is on the test-taker’s paper and use it as evidence against him if so.

You’d think a zero score and a school rejection would be sufficient punishment, but apparently this particular nail requires a bigger hammer.

The cheater went by the handle “aicezuki” on Chiebukuro. There was also a Twitter account with that name—deleted now—that was posting things like this soon after the test hours: 「京大の試験官は全然監視してないからカンニングしほうだいだったよ。さすがに周りの受験生がいるからあれだが、少なくともトイレにいけばカンニングとか余裕な状況だった」 (The Kyoto U. proctors weren’t watching at all, so we could cheat all we wanted. Well, you did need to worry about the eyes of the others taking the test around you. But you could go to the toilet and do your cheating there, no problem.)

(Hat tipped to @shilkytouch)

Microbrew event in Tokyo

25 Feb 2011 at 12:37

Durf

fun, Japan

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On Monday, March 14, the DIJ (German Institute for Japanese Studies) Business and Economics Study Group is hosting a presentation titled “Putting the ji in ji-bīru: Policy, deregulation and entrepreneurship in the Japanese microbrewery industry.” Sounds like it might be a good one if you’re interested in government policy and its impact on our favorite hoppy drinks.

Jesper Edman, Tokyo Office director for the Stockholm School of Economics’ European Institute of Japanese Studies, will give a talk beginning at 18:30 along these lines:

This presentation examines the evolution of the Japanese micro-brewery (ji-bīru) industry from its initial establishment through deregulation in 1994 to the present. Drawing on archival data as well as first-hand interviews, I show how deregulation of the brewing industry merged with a larger policy goal, the rejuvenation of regional prefectural economies.This policy agenda subsequently resulted in a discourse and logic that shaped the entire industry and its economic trajectory. In particular, the emphasis on regional revitalization served to mobilize a particular group of both entrepreneurs and support actors and institutions. I show that deregulation is not simply the removal of rules, and that entrepreneurs are not simply independent and atomized actors. The very identity of entrepreneurs in the ji-biru industry, the definition of the ji-bīru product and the standards by which it was judged, were a result of the interaction of entrepreneurs, supporting actors and institutions, and the state through the process of deregulation. I also examine how these various aspects impacted the long-term survival and growth of the industry as a whole.

Following the presentation, Coedo Brewery CEO Asagiri Shigeharu will give a short introduction to his company, followed by a tasting of its products. Sounds like a nice way to unwind after the talk. You’ll need to register by March 10 by writing to Florian Kohlbacher at the DIJ (kohlbacher at dijtokyo.org).

The Business and Economics Study Group is “intended as a forum for young scholars and Ph.D. candidates,” but I know a number of people in Tokyo have a healthy interest in this industry, and it shouldn’t be a problem to attend this even if you aren’t an academic.

You can read the full announcement at the H-Japan mailing list archive. Click that link for the details.

Vertical gets bought

24 Feb 2011 at 10:48

Durf

books

1 Comment

Just spotted an article in the Nikkei online (it’s here, but who knows how long that will last) about what’s happening at Kōdansha. A new president has taken office, the seventh straight from the Noma clan (which founded the firm in 1909), things like that. But this was eye-catching:

その一環として同日、大日本印刷と共同で翻訳出版のバーティカル（東京・中央）の買収を発表。バーティカルが翻訳した講談社の書籍やマンガを、大日印が協力会社を通じて米国で印刷・製本し、米国で流通させる体制を整える。

The new president said that his company would be putting more resources into digital publishing and global business, and then announced this. Kōdansha and Dai Nippon Printing have teamed up to buy Vertical. The plan is now to have Vertical translate Kōdansha’s manga and other titles, which DNP will print and market in the United States via its partners there. Should be interesting to follow this development.

Mishima article

23 Feb 2011 at 12:41

Durf

books, Japan, work

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I went ahead and scanned the Japan Echo piece I mentioned in my last post. You can go grab it here:

Mishima_dialogue.pdf

It weighs in at more than 6 MB, so don’t click it if you’re on a slow connection.

Ishihara on Mishima

17 Feb 2011 at 16:05

Durf

books, Japan

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I was looking through back issues of Japan Echo and found a 1995 dialogue between Ishihara Shintarō and Nosaka Akiyuki. Since the Tokyo governor has been in the news lately for his views on homosexuality, I found this part fascinating:

———

I was reading Mishima before I met him, from around the time I was in high school. There wasn’t much in the way of entertainment in those days except for the movies. It was usually a double feature, and I’d always look forward to the next one. I remember seeing a preview for Junpaku no yoru [Whitest of Nights]. This white-complexioned youth, Mishima Yukio, was appearing in it, along with the actress Kogure Michiyo, who was still in her prime and quite beautiful. I didn’t know what sort of story it was, but Mishima was introduced as the phenomenally talented young writer on whose book the movie was based, and I remember thinking he really looked the part. He was being called a young prodigy, a genius, and that was exactly the impression he conveyed.

I was interested, and I wondered what sort of things he wrote, so I began to read his stuff. Just about that time his novel Kinjiki [1951–53; tr. Forbidden Colors, 1968] was being serialized in the literary magazine Gunzō, and I found it really absorbing. I’d look forward to each installment. I had no knowledge of or interest in homosexuality, but I was impressed by the way he made something I couldn’t even imagine seem perfectly natural. I was still a virgin myself. But I was intrigued by his virtuosity and panache, portraying homosexual passion in such seemingly genuine and authentic terms.

During his last years, Mishima once asked me which of his works I liked the best. When I told him, Forbidden Colors, he said, “Oh, that’s nothing but showmanship. I’ve gone way past that.” I said, “Your inspiration is failing you now, so all you write about is actual incidents, but that period was really your peak.” He was angry. “What the hell are you saying?” he snapped.

———

The above is from “Mishima: The Man and the Mask,” Japan Echo, spring 1996, pp. 74–81; a translation of “Mishima Yukio no eikō to zasetsu,” Subaru, December 1995, pp. 84–99. This is pre-web for our company, so it isn’t available in digital form. If you’re desperate for a look at the whole thing, let me know and I’ll see about digging up the ancient Quark files or scanning the magazine pages into a PDF or something. I’m probably failing my company by not telling you to contact us to buy a back issue, but frankly I don’t know whether we have any of this one left.

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