Tag Archives: News

【News】 Look! That’s Totoro! (Nov. 1, 2014)

  Kotaro Yamada For Reijiro Tsukida, 70, woodpile is a work of art. Using firewood for his wood-burning stoves at home, the flower grower creates mosaic. The artwork is built out of konara oak firewood he keeps under the eaves at his home. Each piece of firewood has different colors and tones, and all are in different diameters. He builds motifs making use of all such unique features of each piece of the materials, sometimes placing them in different angles. The patterns he chooses are also varied from famous animated characters to his own family and flowers he grows. Every spring, he goes to the surrounding mountains to cut trees … Continue reading

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【News】 “Plurilateral” approach possible under WTO, European think tank says (Oct. 30, 2014)

  Satoko Adachi – Geneva Many countries which support the agreement on trade facilitation under the World Trade Organization should go ahead with its implementation without the consent of the entire membership, a European research institute said in a recently released policy proposal. The European Centre for International Political Economy, an independent trade policy think tank based in Brussels, suggested that the agreement can follow the approach taken for the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), which was originally settled by a relatively few countries but its benefits were later made available to all WTO members under the principle of most-favored-nation treatment. If the idea is adopted, it is likely to draw … Continue reading

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【News】 TPP ministers eyeing meeting in Beijing next month (Oct. 28, 2014)

  Satomi Tamai – Sydney Ministers from the 12 member countries engaged in the Trans-Pacific Partnership free-trade talks said Monday, Oct. 27, that they achieved major progress in the areas of market access and trade and investment rules in a three-day session that ended the same day. Chief negotiators of the member nations are expected to continue the talks, with a view of holding the next ministerial meeting in Beijing in November. Depending on the outcome of the talks, they might also hold a summit meeting, although it is yet undecided. At the same time, however, Akira Amari, minister in charge of the TPP talks, indicated at the press conference … Continue reading

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【News】 Finance Ministry proposed to close 5,000 elementary and junior high schools to reduce budget (Oct. 28, 2014)

  The Ministry of Finance held a meeting of the Finance System Council on Monday, Oct. 27, and proposed to reduce about 5,000 elementary and junior high schools in reference to the budget compilation of compulsory education. Based on the basic guideline (12 to 18 classes a school) of The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), the Finance Ministry will advance the integration and abolition of small schools. They intend to reduce the budget of compulsory education by decreasing the fixed number of teachers. In the current situation, however, as schools are regarded to play a pivotal role in rural areas, some people are likely to oppose … Continue reading

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【News】 Nice! Nippon Farmers! (Oct. 19, 2014)

  Tetsuya Onda – Farm stay programs for international students                                      (Semboku-shi, Akita Prefecture) – Semboku-shi in Akita Prefecture is actively accepting international students mainly from Asia to offer them a chance to experience farming in Japan. On October 10, 2014, the city accepted approximately 100 Indonesian students for a farm stay program of three days and two nights, during which the students enjoyed Japanese food and life in the village and built close relationship with local Japanese farmers. The farm stay program for foreign students was part of International Youth Exchange programs led by the Japanese government. The students were introduced to 20 different host families, either farmers or … Continue reading

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