A 77 year old man in Kobe died today due to complications from H1N1, marking the second total death in Japan. Both deaths occurred in the last week, with both patients suffering other ailments in addition to the H1N1 flu. The Kobe man who died also reportedly had liver trouble, diabetes, high blood pressure, and…
A science teacher at Hiraoka Elementary School in Sakai City, Osaka showed about ten minutes of a home video of his wife giving birth to fifth graders in July. In the video students were able to see the umbilical cord and parts of the actual intance of birth. Students complained saying things such as, “It…
I’m sure a lot of the people who read this blog are familiar with the work of the Japanese scholar Takeo Doi. His writings were a very important part of some of my undergraduate research and I brought the English versions of his books with me when I moved to Japan. I’m happy to be…
I thought my next update about this case would be some months down the line, however even at this early date the case has been settled. The victim has agreed to an undisclosed financial settlement with the six men sh accused of rape. The settlement seems to imply that the six Kyoto University of Education…
By now, I assume that the big gang rape incident at prestigious Kyoto University (link goes to news story in Japanese) is international news, and I would not like to go into the details of the incident. However, of interest to students of the media and society in Japan are the reasons that Kyoto University…
Karaoke shops in Osaka are reporting that their shops are packed with students who are off school (and supposed to be at home studying) for the H1N1 influenza outbreak here. Some of the karaoke shop owners are troubled, saying they are concerned about the flu being passed on at these large gatherings, while other owners…
All schools from kindergarten to college level in Hyogo have been closed for the week. You have to feel bad for the kids who happened to be at schools for which this was just announced. Much of them went to school only to be sent home, and if Hyogo prefecture is trying to hold off…
At least one case (possibly 3 at the time of this writing) cases of H1N1 influenza have been verified in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. The significance of these cases is that none of the high school students involved have been abroad recently, thus the flu must have come through a source in Japan. (The other cases…
On January 21 this year, during a free study period at a junior high school in Ibaraki Prefecture, a teacher (and head of the grade level) walked into a classroom to yell at two kids for going home too late the previous day. The two students were in their third year and had just returned…
This story comes out of Chiba City… A 35 year old man, whom I can only assume is a bad teacher and advisor to the volleyball club at Mitsuwadai Junior High School in Chiba, beat up a 14 year old male student during a volleyball practice on March 8th. During practice, the teacher called out…
The title should say it all, but sadly it doesn’t. The teacher in question is a pregnant woman in her thirties. She works at a junior high school in Handa City in Aichi Prefecture. During the beginning of third term (January) this year she scolded some students in club. She also did a seating change…
I used to write a lot about the bad teachers in the new here in Japan. They were all shapes of wacky, evil, and embarrassing, but it got pretty depressing for me so I stopped. I think most teachers have good intentions (even if I don’t think many have been properly trained in education, teaching…