Trouble at High School
We all know that Japan has an exam-oriented high school curriculum. What we didn't know was that a lot of high schools were ignoring the compulsory education ministry course guidelines to prep students for the university entrance exams. Schools were spending extra time on subjects covered on the exams: English, Japanese, science, social studies and mathematics, while not giving students required courses in subjects like art, health, civics, and world history. Many educators feel this is unavoidable, but the education ministry has decided that seniors will have to take extra classes before they can graduate.
More on Changing Carriers
There's also trouble in the mobile phone free-for-all. Japan recently introduced number portability, meaning you can change your carrier while keeping your phone number. Au, Docomo, and Softbank immediately came out swinging with new phones and pricing plans. Softbank seems to be the early loser. The company was swamped with new sign-ups and cancellations and had to shut down because its computer system couldn't take the heat. Now it's being investigated by the government because of misleading ads and promotional offers. Softbank stock is also reeling.
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Changing Carriers
Yesterday a new day dawned in Japan for cell phone users. Yes, the Age of Portability is upon us. One can now keep his or her phone number when switching mobile carriers. Docomo, AU, and Sotbank have all come out with a slew of new phones and price plans to induce users to switch. Yours truly was tempted to sign up with Softbank to get a Bluetooth phone with a high-resolution digital camera and music player. Softbank will also throw in an iPod Nano at half price when you sign up for their service.
Pricing plans are a mess. I was in the market for some sort of family plan, but the sales rep refused to recommend anything, leafed through a thick pamphlet of pricing options, and suggested that I pick my own. She then told me that Softbank would be announcing new pricing plans on the morrow, but that present plans were available if I signed up now. I then told her where I lived and belatedly found out that my neighborhood was outside the Softbank pale, rendering the whole conversation moot. Softbank may have slick phones and iPods, but they also have lousy coverage in certain parts of Japan. I'll stick with AU, but I still want a Bluetooth phone with a decent camera and a music player.
Yesterday a new day dawned in Japan for cell phone users. Yes, the Age of Portability is upon us. One can now keep his or her phone number when switching mobile carriers. Docomo, AU, and Sotbank have all come out with a slew of new phones and price plans to induce users to switch. Yours truly was tempted to sign up with Softbank to get a Bluetooth phone with a high-resolution digital camera and music player. Softbank will also throw in an iPod Nano at half price when you sign up for their service.
Pricing plans are a mess. I was in the market for some sort of family plan, but the sales rep refused to recommend anything, leafed through a thick pamphlet of pricing options, and suggested that I pick my own. She then told me that Softbank would be announcing new pricing plans on the morrow, but that present plans were available if I signed up now. I then told her where I lived and belatedly found out that my neighborhood was outside the Softbank pale, rendering the whole conversation moot. Softbank may have slick phones and iPods, but they also have lousy coverage in certain parts of Japan. I'll stick with AU, but I still want a Bluetooth phone with a decent camera and a music player.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Google Finally Makes the Top Ten
It's taken six years, but Google finally made it to Number 10 in the list of popular Japanese web sites, hard on the tail of 9th place Amazon.co.jp. The English article is at Digital World Tokyo. The Japanese press release is here. Yahoo! Japan leads the pack, followed by Rakuten, Microsoft, NTT Communications, and GMO Internet. Nifty, NEC, FC2, Amazon Japan, and Google follow in the 6th through 10th spots.
It's taken six years, but Google finally made it to Number 10 in the list of popular Japanese web sites, hard on the tail of 9th place Amazon.co.jp. The English article is at Digital World Tokyo. The Japanese press release is here. Yahoo! Japan leads the pack, followed by Rakuten, Microsoft, NTT Communications, and GMO Internet. Nifty, NEC, FC2, Amazon Japan, and Google follow in the 6th through 10th spots.
Friday, October 20, 2006
YouTube Purges Japanese Videos
One of the interesting things about the YouTube phenomenon is all the video content from Japan and Korea on the site. The other night we fighting over who would select the next YouTube video. My wife chose installments of a Korean mini-series, My Lovely Sam Soon, a variation on the Bridget Jones theme. She pulled up a version with English subtitles for my benefit. My son watched Ultraman clips. Then we watched a couple of music videos from the '80s. The picture quality wasn't that great and the viewing area was small, but, as my wife said, "I guess we don't need TV anymore. We can watch everything we want to on YouTube." Don't cancel your SkyPerfectTV account yet. The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC), pulled 29,549 videos off of YouTube because of copyright infringements. Read about it here.
One of the interesting things about the YouTube phenomenon is all the video content from Japan and Korea on the site. The other night we fighting over who would select the next YouTube video. My wife chose installments of a Korean mini-series, My Lovely Sam Soon, a variation on the Bridget Jones theme. She pulled up a version with English subtitles for my benefit. My son watched Ultraman clips. Then we watched a couple of music videos from the '80s. The picture quality wasn't that great and the viewing area was small, but, as my wife said, "I guess we don't need TV anymore. We can watch everything we want to on YouTube." Don't cancel your SkyPerfectTV account yet. The Japan Society for Rights of Authors, Composers and Publishers (JASRAC), pulled 29,549 videos off of YouTube because of copyright infringements. Read about it here.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)