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.