JAPAN HIGHER EDUCATION OUTLOOK (JHEO)

Coming soon: Our first e-book

2012-12-04T23:09:00.000+09:00

http://eltinjapan.blogspot.jp/2012/12/coming-soon-our-first-e-book.html

Right now we are at work on an e-book for English teachers in Japan.

New Issue of ELT in Japan (Issue 5, OCTOBER 2012)

2012-10-21T14:36:00.002+09:00

ELT in Japan Issue #5 (October 2012)

ELT in Japan Issue #5 (October 2012)

ELT in Japan (Issue 5, OCTOBER 2012)

In this issue:

1. Pronunciation in the Japanese Elementary EFL Classroom: A Few Perspectives
by Matt Hauca.........................................................pp. 1-5

2. Conceptualizing Phonological Awareness for EFL Learning and Literacy
by CharlesJannuzi.................................................pp. 6-10

View a preview page.

http://preview.tinyurl.com/9e7zt35
[Open in new window]

View the entire publication at Google Documents or download the entire issue in .pdf (Adobe Acrobat Reader program required).

Japan Times: Japan's top university aims for autumn school year start within 5 years

2012-04-06T01:22:00.000+09:00

The hopes are that a fall start to the school year (instead of the April start that is the standard in Japan) will encourage Japanese students to study abroad more as well as draw more foreign students to Todai. However, such a move could put the university out of synch with the rest of the country. Although Todai may have little to worry about, universities and colleges which do not have huge numbers of surplus applicants may be reluctant to undertake such a major change.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120121a3.html

Excerpt:

As of last May, only 53 undergraduates at the University of Tokyo, 0.4 percent of the student body, were studying overseas, the report says.

Foreign students in the undergraduate program at the school, known locally as Todai, currently account for only 1.9 percent of the total, compared with 10 percent at Harvard University and 6 percent at Seoul National University, it says.

"I don't think the change will sharply increase the number of foreign students nor Japanese students going abroad to study. There are still many other factors," Hamada said. "But I believe by establishing this fall enrollment system, the process toward internationalization will move forward."

See also:

Is Japan's enrollment season really a problem?
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/fl20120303cz.html

12 universities to launch forum on fall enrollment
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120330a8.html

Japan's top university--Univ. of Tokyo--tries to recruit students from India

2012-02-29T12:57:00.000+09:00

Chinese nationals dominate the 140,000 international tertiary students in Japan now.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120228a7.html

excerpt:

The University of Tokyo opened an office in the high-tech Indian city of Bangalore on Monday to recruit local students. While about 1,000 Chinese and about 600 South Korean students were studying at the university as of May last year, there were only 35 Indians....Indians account for fewer than 600 of the 140,000 foreign students enrolled at Japanese universities.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120228a7.html

Japan public civil servants--including university faculty--hit with 8% pay cuts

2012-02-29T12:03:00.000+09:00

But university faculty have never fully been given collective bargaining rights or the right to strike. See:

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20120219-328806.html

excerpt:

The policy chiefs of the ruling Democratic Party of Japan and the opposition Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito have agreed to cut the salaries of national government employees by an average of 7.8 per cent for two years beginning in fiscal 2012. The cuts will include a retroactive 0.23 per cent cut extending back to April 2011, in line with a figure proposed by the National Personnel Authority. Funds saved through the salary cuts--totaling about 588 billion yen--will be used for the reconstruction of areas devastated by the Great East Japan Earthquake.

http://www.asiaone.com/News/AsiaOne%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20120219-328806.html

Japan Times: Japan's Universities Floundering at Reform and Revitalization

2012-02-20T19:40:00.000+09:00

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20120123ts.html

excerpt:

On Nov. 21, 2011, the Government Revitalization Unit (GRU) took up the issue of reform of Japan's university system. Five themes were presented by GRU members: [quality, greater access, falling academic achievement and standards, clear vision for the future, academic vs. real world gap in learning].

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/eo20120123ts.html

Japan Times: Top University in Japan Plans to Shift Undergraduate Enrollment to Fall

2012-02-20T19:25:00.000+09:00

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120218f1.html

excerpt:

The University of Tokyo's move [to shift undergraduate enrollment from spring to autumn] would have a far broader and deeper effect on Japanese society and force authorities to amend long-established practices, notably the season when companies recruit graduates and the timing of various national examinations, such as those medical students take in February to qualify for a medical license.

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20120218f1.html

New issue (#4) of 'ELT in Japan'

2011-10-09T09:37:00.002+09:00

ELT in Japan started here at Japan Higher Education Outlook as special features about teaching EFL in Japan. It is now a sister blog and online publication. The latest issue is here:

http://eltinjapan.blogspot.com/2011/10/elt-in-japan-issue-4-october-2011.html

It is also viewable as a public google document and can be downloaded as a PDF from this location:

https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&pid=explorer&chrome=true&srcid=0B8LogtWAF3y8NGIwNGNjNjQtOGM0Zi00ZTNmLWIxZjgtZTk3MzJjYTQzNmYz&hl=en_GB

Accreditation of HE in Japan: English-language resources and links

2011-08-27T00:37:00.001+09:00

I read through the English-language pages of the accrediting organizations' websites. Japanese language content tends to be more extensive and updated more frequently, but I'm assuming readers of JPN HEO blog prefer English-language resources. There are four general accrediting bodies overseeing institutions undergoing accreditation. All institutions were required to do this within 7 years from 2004 until 2011. I have also included information about the Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (JABEE) and its overseas network because of the impact this sort of specialty accreditation is having on science and technology departments in Japan.

I. National Institution for Academic Degrees and University Evaluation (NIAD-UE)

Types of Evaluation Systems

Certified Evaluation and Accreditation

National University Corporation Evaluation

Information Package

Glossary of Quality Assurance in Japanese Higher Education

Overview of Quality Assurance System in Higher Education

II. Japan University Accreditation Association (JUAA)

Accreditation through JUAA

Accreditation of universities through JUAA

III. Japan Institution for Higher Education Evaluation (JIHEE)

Overview

Evaluation system

University evaluation standards

IV. Japan Association for College Accreditation (JACA)
NO LINKS FOUND SO FAR

V. Japan Accreditation Board for Engineering Education (JABEE)

JABEE Overview

Accredited programs (PDF)

Accreditation process

VI. Network Of Accreditation Bodies For Engineering Education In Asia (NABEEA)

Overview

University accreditation in Japan: Problems and possibilities for reforming EFL education

2011-08-26T18:48:00.002+09:00

This article by Bern Mulvey updates the situation on accreditation in Japan's HE system. What is needed now, perhaps, is more analysis as to what the accreditation actually does and how to improve it so that it can lead to improvement in HE here.

Once you are at the page you will see an abstract in English and Japanese. Below that 'click' or 'right click' the link and download the PDF. You will need a program like Adobe Acrobat Reader to read the PDF.

http://jalt-publications.org/tlt/articles/153-feature-article-university-accreditation-japan-problems-and-possibilities-reforming

University accreditation in Japan: Problems and possibilities for reforming EFL education
by Prof. Bern Mulvey, Iwate University

Reply to Taikibansei on the reply to "FACTOID #2: Are universities and colleges in Japan accredited? "

2011-08-26T17:15:00.013+09:00

Note: the original discussion (now also posted at this blog) is at the url http://www.debito.org/?p=5503 . True to form, David Aldwinkle refuses to publish my rebuttal of Taikibansei's response to a JPN HEO article on accreditation in Japan. So it is being published here. You are a classy guy David, but so selective in your sense of fairness.

Response to Taikibansei:

1. Thank you for the attempt at corrections and clarifications. I have to point out however that this article was written in 2006 and wasn't published until early 2008. One reason why I created the blog was to get this material out there for people to read and comment on. I'm sorry it took you until 2010 to find it, only after I cross-posted it to Debito.org's site.

2. Next, you commented (your comments in italics):

Actually, the “pilot” period (including especially the jiko hyouka and evaluations by JUAA) started and finished before 2004. From 2004, everything has been “official.”

Actually I think accreditation had long been official--it just didn't mean anything to most people in Japan. I referred to that first three year period as a 'pilot program' because when I was compiling this information, I realized that there was no way they were ever going to accredit that many institutions if the initial plans were followed. So I viewed this first phase as a a pilot program because, if successful and practical, it would lead to a wider spread national breakout of the process. I didn't think of the self-evaluations as a pilot because I was unclear on how they actually piloted accreditation. As it turns out, that view might have been erroneous because self-evaluation, as I understand it, plays a huge role in accreditation here.

As for which accrediting agency does which type of institution, I don't think I specified in my article. Readers were free, however, to visit the sites of the organizations I listed to find out. During the initial period there was some confusion, and some people had asserted that National and Public University Corporations (NUCs, PUCs) might have freedom to choose if there was a backlog as to how everyone got accredited during the first phases. One reason why some agencies would move across institutional type would simply be that they are better suited for certain types of programs.

3. Continuing your comments (my material in quotes, to which you are referring, yours in italics):

“Still, until the outcomes of the first external review process become clear in the next several years and until all institutions can join the accreditation process, the national government is the single source of ‘legitimacy’ for universities and colleges.”

This doesn’t make sense at all. As alluded to above, private universities have been able to “join the accreditation process” from the beginning, and there was never any attempt to exclude anybody. JIHEE’s initial (2004-2006) seminars explaining the process were each attended by 300+ private universities, and it was made very clear then that they (JIHEE) were “ready” to start with the inspections immediately (however, see my comment in the next paragraph). Moreover, private and public universities have been being evaluated in relatively equal numbers each year. Heck, by the end of 2007 (i.e., before your blog entry to the contrary), all the major tertiary institutions in your prefecture (Fukui) had been accredited (Fukui Kenritsu in 2005, Jinai in 2006, Fukui National in 2007, and Fukui Kougyou in 2007). That’s two public, and two private, universities.

Perhaps it doesn't make sense because you failed to understand what I wrote. I never said that private universities were somehow excluded before from accreditation. What I think I was implying was that until recently, they never felt compelled to undergo the process. The national government had largely made accreditation by a non-governmental body voluntary--and therefore unnecessary. Then when everyone felt compelled, the accrediting agencies seemed unable to cope with having to take on so much work (whereas they had been relatively not busy before). Hence a backlog in audits. When I compiled the information for my original article, I visited the accrediting agencies' sites and looked at their listings of accredited institutions.. The sites hadn't updated much of that information as of early 2008. Perhaps because they were so busy digesting and compiling all that data. I might also add that since the government still certifies institutions as well as the accrediting agencies, it still is the source of 'legitimacy' in HE in Japan.

4. Continuing (you in italics):

There are two main reasons for the comparatively low number of accreditation evaluations from 2004-2007. First, there just were not enough trained evaluators initially available to allow for an increased number of on-campus inspections. Second, and most importantly, Japan-style accreditation is an extremely grueling, 3-year process–the first year for accruing/organizing the data in the fashion required, the second to begin writing the 100-page houkokusho (and officially apply/pay for the accreditation evaluation), and the third for finishing/submitting the houkokusho and receiving the onsite inspection. Given that most private universities hadn't begun this process before 2004, the absolute earliest (assuming sufficient evaluators were available) most could have received their onsite inspections was 2007. Still, by the end of this year (2010), nearly all of Japan’s universities/tandais will have undergone accreditation evaluations by one of the four accrediting agencies. Indeed, while the actually impact/benefit so far can be questioned, considering the circumstances (and formidable hurdles in place), one can argue that the accreditation PROCESS here has been moving along with admirable speed and grace.

Which leads me to conclude the process wasn't altogether that difficult for most institutions. They basically took their data from their self-evaluations, presented it, received criticisms, addressed those and then got a visit from a small team that probably left knowing little more about the institution that they visited than before they arrived. I agree that most institutions have undergone some sort of accreditation; I would bet it's mostly meaningless.

5. Next (my material in quotes, yours in italics):

“The government also sets enrollment quotas for all certified universities and colleges.”

No, private universities set their own enrollment “quotas”–indeed, as Monkasho now penalizes (by reducing funding) all universities unable to meet enrollment quotas, one strategy increasingly utilized by impacted private universities has been to reduce said intake quotas.

Actually, for years private universities swelled their income by enrolling numbers way beyond their quotas, enabling them to collect more application, admission and tuition fees. Enrollment quotas are set within guidelines published by the government. It is incorrect to say that private universities set their own enrollments without qualification. They set enrollments within published guidelines and subject to government approval. Indeed, the government has used enrollment quotas and funding based on them to control the overall size of higher education in Japan.

The relationship between enrollment quotas and funding works two ways. An institution or program may have a wished-for quota, but it can only go ahead with what it can fund. Do you think that the ministry would impose some sort of probationary status or penalize by reducing funding if they weren't trying to force institutions and departments to reduce their quotas for certain programs while getting them to increase them for others? Also, funding and quotas are matched up with the job market. A quota and/or an enrollment intake now has to be justified on how successful job placement has been for the graduates of a program.

6. And now for my question–this link you provide, it is to your own private blog, correct? A blog you call “Japan Higher Education Outlook,” right?

Yes.

7. Next (you in italics, my material in quotes, yours in italics again)

Hate to do this, but assuming you're considering one day trying to publish this blog entry of yours, the following should be corrected as well:

“The term ‘external audit’ in the case of a private university would most likely mean an accounting audit to satisfy the board of directors or the tax office.”

JIHEE (specializing in private university accreditation evaluations) has had their evaluation criteria/standards up on their website since at least 2005. (This, actually, is in fact true of all four accrediting agencies.) I.e., there should have been no guesswork involved at all (especially in 2008), and yet the statement above is completely wrong.

I wasn't referring to their published standards. My point was, up until 2004, most universities did not undergo outside accreditation. An external audit would have been more like something a business undergoes. I didn't say external audit for the purpose of accreditation. I'm sorry you misunderstood. Also, JIHEE doesn't necessarily specialize in private universities. If you look at its certification documents, they state that JIHEE accepts as members institutions regardless of their type of foundation. As it turned out, only private institutions have undergone evaluation with JIHEE so far.

As for getting this piece published, it already was published. Much of the material went to Times Higher Education Supplement prior to 2004, in very condensed form. At that time, it was clear that accreditation was a minor factor in quality assurance in HE in Japan, if a factor at all.

As for the external audit aspects of the current accrediting that JIHEE now does, I wouldn't make too much of it.

8. Next:

Finally, two quick corrections of my own initial post. JACA apparently still only does tandais (I thought they’d added senmon gakkous from last year, but I was wrong). Also, I wrote, “Given that most private universities hadn't begun this process before 2004,” but I probably should have also added that many public universities were no better prepared. Indeed, the initial unpreparedness of so many schools, combined with the aforementioned three years needed to prepare, is a major reason why the number of accreditation evaluations increased exponentially in 2007.

By 'senmon gakkou' do you mean the former national institutions or other types?

9. To conclude my response to your response to my article. First, let me emphasize that this article was written mostly in journalistic style in 2006-7 (drawing on earlier material from 2004-5), and as such, it also quickly dated. That is why I published it in early 2008 at this blog. Had the accrediting agencies been updating their list of successfully accredited and/or re-accredited institutions at the time (late 2007, when I was editing and attempting to update some of the information in the article), I would have re-written it to reflect the new information better. When I asked professors at my own university as late as 2005, they still didn't know who was actually going to accredit them, even though they were getting ready for it.

Also, I still don't think any of the above objections or attempts at correction you have raised hurt in any serious way my main arguments, which remain: (1) American-style accreditation is questionable, even for US institutions, and doesn't fit well with Japan (which could be reconciled with your argument that it's become something different here in Japan anyway) and (2) accreditation, when it was voluntary, was mostly meaningless. It might still well be. So much has happened in such a short period of time that there has been very little analysis and evaluation of all that supposed evaluation.

I still believe the future of accreditation should be based on mode of delivery (e.g., distance learning vs. taught classes that are physically attended, modular vs. taught courses, etc.) and speciality (e.g., accreditation of the quality of a given program, whether it's English literature or electrical engineering).

I would like to update the material at this blog on accreditation in Japan and invite readers to submit material.

Reply from Taikibansei on "FACTOID #2: Are universities and colleges in Japan accredited?"

2011-08-26T16:07:00.001+09:00

Regarding a previously published article on accreditation of Japanese HE institutions here at JPN HEO Blog, one Taikibansei wrote a reply that appeared elsewhere on the web. I post it here and will then reply to these observations from Taikibansei. .

http://www.debito.org/?p=5503
http://www.debito.org/?p=5503#comment-190754
http://www.debito.org/?p=5503#comment-190810

Taikibansei Says:

An interesting post there, Mr. Jannuzi. I have a question for you at the end, but first some corrections:

Actually, JIHEE evaluates only private universities, and JACA evaluates chiefly tandais and senmon gakkous. Moreover, while the other two agencies (especially NIAD-UE) may seem to concentrate on national/public universities, they also provide accreditation evaluations for private universities as well. E.g., Ritsumeikan, a private university, received its accreditation evaluation from JUAA in 2004 (i.e., the first year possible), with the results announced in early 2005.

“Still, until the outcomes of the first external review process become clear in the next several years and until all institutions can join the accreditation process, the national government is the single source of ‘legitimacy’ for universities and colleges.”

This doesn’t make sense at all. As alluded to above, private universities have been able to “join the accreditation process” from the beginning, and there was never any attempt to exclude anybody. JIHEE’s initial (2004-2006) seminars explaining the process were each attended by 300+ private universities, and it was made very clear then that they (JIHEE) were “ready” to start with the inspections immediately (however, see my comment in the next paragraph). Moreover, private and public universities have been being evaluated in relatively equal numbers each year. Heck, by the end of 2007 (i.e., before your blog entry to the contrary), all the major tertiary institutions in your prefecture (Fukui) had been accredited (Fukui Kenritsu in 2005, Jinai in 2006, Fukui National in 2007, and Fukui Kougyou in 2007). That’s two public, and two private, universities.

There are two main reasons for the comparatively low number of accreditation evaluations from 2004-2007. First, there just were not enough trained evaluators initially available to allow for an increased number of on-campus inspections. Second, and most importantly, Japan-style accreditation is an extremely grueling, 3-year process–the first year for accruing/organizing the data in the fashion required, the second to begin writing the 100-page houkokusho (and officially apply/pay for the accreditation evaluation), and the third for finishing/submitting the houkokusho and receiving the onsite inspection. Given that most private universities hadn’t begun this process before 2004, the absolute earliest (assuming sufficient evaluators were available) most could have received their onsite inspections was 2007. Still, by the end of this year (2010), nearly all of Japan’s universities/tandais will have undergone accreditation evaluations by one of the four accrediting agencies. Indeed, while the actually impact/benefit so far can be questioned, considering the circumstances (and formidable hurdles in place), one can argue that the accreditation PROCESS here has been moving along with admirable speed and grace.

“The government also sets enrollment quotas for all certified universities and colleges.”

No, private universities set their own enrollment “quotas”–indeed, as Monkasho now penalizes (by reducing funding) all universities unable to meet enrollment quotas, one strategy increasingly utilized by impacted private universities has been to reduce said intake quotas.

Finally, it needs to be reiterated that, while ostensibly based on American-style accreditation, university accreditation in Japan has only superficial similarities with the former. (Similarly, “Faculty Development” in Japan is also supposedly “based on the US-model,” but is actually a very different animal.) The quotes/references appearing in Mulvey’s 2010 article suggest that he is also aware of this, but he does not discuss it–probably due to TLT’s stringent limitations on word count.

And now for my question–this link you provide, it is to your own private blog, correct? A blog you call “Japan Higher Education Outlook,” right?
Taikibansei Says:
February 15th, 2010 at 1:53 pm

Hate to do this, but assuming you’re considering one day trying to publish this blog entry of yours, the following should be corrected as well:

“The term ‘external audit’ in the case of a private university would most likely mean an accounting audit to satisfy the board of directors or the tax office.”

JIHEE (specializing in private university accreditation evaluations) has had their evaluation criteria/standards up on their website since at least 2005. (This, actually, is in fact true of all four accrediting agencies.) I.e., there should have been no guesswork involved at all (especially in 2008), and yet the statement above is completely wrong.

Finally, two quick corrections of my own initial post. JACA apparently still only does tandais (I thought they’d added senmon gakkous from last year, but I was wrong). Also, I wrote, “Given that most private universities hadn’t begun this process before 2004,” but I probably should have also added that many public universities were no better prepared. Indeed, the initial unpreparedness of so many schools, combined with the aforementioned three years needed to prepare, is a major reason why the number of accreditation evaluations increased exponentially in 2007.

Supercomputer "K computer" Takes First Place in World

2011-07-21T10:10:00.001+09:00

Official release from RIKEN.

http://www.riken.jp/engn/r-world/info/release/press/2011/110620/index.html

Supercomputer "K computer" Takes First Place in World
Achieves world's best performance of 8.162 petaflops to lead TOP500 list

June 20, 2011
RIKEN
Fujitsu Limited

Tokyo, June 20, 2011 - RIKEN and Fujitsu have taken first place on the 37th TOP500 list announced today at the 26th International Supercomputing Conference (ISC'11) held in Hamburg, Germany. This ranking is based on a performance measurement of the "K computer,"(*1) currently under their joint development.

The TOP500-ranked K computer system, currently in the configuration stage, has 672 computer racks equipped with a current total of 68,544 CPUs. This half-built system achieved the world's best LINPACK benchmark performance of 8.162 petaflops (quadrillion floating-point operations per second), to place it at the head of the TOP500 list. In addition, the system has recorded high standards with a computing efficiency ratio of 93.0%. This is the first time since June 2004, when the 'Earth Simulator' took first place, that a Japanese supercomputer has been ranked first on the TOP500 list.

1. Background

RIKEN and Fujitsu have been working together to develop the K computer, with the aim of beginning shared use by November 2012, as a part of the High-Performance Computing Infrastructure (HPCI) initiative led by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). The K computer will be comprised of over 800 computer racks-each equipped with ultrafast and energy-efficient CPUs-that access into a network capable of an immense amount of interconnectivity. The supercomputer system brings together leading-edge technologies for high performance and high reliability.

To test the system's performance at the configuration stage, the K computer's processing speed was measured by the LINPACK benchmark program, placing it on the 37th TOP500 ranking of the world's fastest supercomputers. The TOP500 ranking list began in 1993 and is updated twice a year in June and November.
2. Performance and Future Status of the K computer

The LINPACK benchmark program, running on the part of the system that employs 68,544 CPUs installed on the K computer being configured, recorded the world's top performance of 8.162 petaflops. This gave it the number-one position on the TOP500 list. Moreover, for one of the world's largest supercomputers, it achieved an extraordinarily high computing efficiency ratio of 93.0%. This achievement is made possible by the K computer's integration of technologies, including its massive number of CPUs, the interconnectivity that links them together, and the software that is able to bring out the highest performance from the hardware.

When configuration of the K computer is complete in 2012, it is designed to achieve LINPACK performance of 10 petaflops. It will be widely used in a variety of computational science fields where it is expected to contribute to the generation of world-class research results. The K computer is a wholly made-in-Japan supercomputer, from the research and development of the processors, to system design and manufacturing. Use of the K computer is expected to have a groundbreaking impact in fields ranging from global climate research, meteorology, disaster prevention, and medicine, thereby contributing to the creation of a prosperous and secure society. RIKEN and Fujitsu will continue to work tirelessly toward completing the system's deployment in 2012.

3. RIKEN and Fujitsu Comments

Ryoji Noyori, President, RIKEN

I would like to express my deep gratitude to everyone, beginning with our colleagues at our development partner Fujitsu Limited, who worked so valiantly on the construction of the K computer even under the severe conditions following the Great East Japan Earthquake. It is wonderful to be able to share the joy of this moment with them. I very much believe that the strength and perseverance that was demonstrated during this project will also make possible the recovery of the devastated Tohoku region. As we move forward to complete this project by next June, we will maintain our firm commitment to the maintenance and operation of the system, and I hope to see wonderful results when we begin to make the world's top performing supercomputer available to users around the world.

Michiyoshi Mazuka, Chairman and Representative Director, Fujitsu Limited

I am delighted that we were able to achieve this result, made possible through the tremendous efforts of all involved, despite the impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake. In particular, I am sincerely grateful to our partners in the Tohoku region for their commitment to delivering a steady supply of components, even though they themselves were affected by the disaster. Bringing together hundreds of thousands of components to quickly launch such a massive-scale computing system-which would have been nearly impossible using conventional technologies-requires an incredible level of reliability. I believe that this reliability is truly the pinnacle of Japanese manufacturing. Without being too pleased with ourselves and losing sight of our goal, going forward we will proceed with the system's deployment and, once complete, we look forward to contributing to the achievements that the K computer will make possible.

Press Contacts
RIKEN
Advanced Institute for Computational Science
Office for Research Communications
Tel: +81-78-940-5623, 5624
Fujitsu Limited
Public and Investor Relations Division
InquiriesNew Window

Page Top

Supplementary Explanation
1 K computer
The K computer, which is being jointly developed by RIKEN and Fujitsu, is part of the High-Performance Computing Infrastructure (HPCI) initiative led by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT). Configuration of the K computer began in the end of September 2010, with availability for shared use scheduled for 2012. The "K computer" is the nickname RIKEN has been using for the supercomputer of this project since July 2010. "K" comes from the Japanese Kanji letter "Kei" which means ten peta or 10 to the 16th power. The logo for the K computer based on the Japanese letter for Kei, was selected in October 2010. In its original sense, "Kei" expresses a large gateway, and it is hoped that the system will be a new gateway to computational science.

2 LINPACK

A program developed by J. Dongarra, Ph.D., of the University of Tennessee, for solving a system of linear equations using matrix computation. It is the benchmark program used to create the TOP500 list, which ranks the performance of the world's supercomputers (announced in June and November of every year).
Page Top

About RIKEN

The mission of RIKEN is to conduct comprehensive research in science and technology (excluding only the humanities and social sciences) as provided for under the "RIKEN Law," and to publicly disseminate the results of its scientific research and technological developments. RIKEN carries out high level experimental and research work in a wide range of fields, including physics, chemistry, medical science, biology, and engineering, covering the entire range from basic research to practical application. RIKEN was first organized in 1917 as a private research foundation, and reorganized in 2003 as an independent administrative institution under the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of information and communication technology (ICT)-based business solutions for the global marketplace. With approximately 170,000 employees supporting customers in over 100 countries, Fujitsu combines a worldwide corps of systems and services experts with highly reliable computing and communications products and advanced microelectronics to deliver added value to customers. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE:6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.5 trillion yen (US$55 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011.

For more information, please see: www.fujitsu.com

The press conference on June 20. From left: RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science Director Kimihiko Hirao, RIKEN President Ryoji Noyori, Fujitsu Limited Chairman and Representative Director Michiyoshi Mazuka, Fujitsu Limited Next Generation Technical Computing Unit President Aiichiro Inoue

Nuclear industry was a major player at universities and research institutions in Japan

2011-07-21T10:05:00.000+09:00

But now the question is: If Japan is going to phase out nuclear power, what happens to its huge presence at its universities? The nuclear industry was a major source of funds for taught programs and research (even though much of that ultimately came from government subsidies and support to the industry).

I somehow think majors like 'nuclear safety engineer' are not going to have much appeal to young people.

http://www.iaea.org/inisnkm/nkm/ws/research_institutes/japan.html

Nuclear Research in Japan

This list of names of university institutes and research institutes has been compiled from the INIS Bibliographic Database. It is not intended to be complete, but indicates some of the main institutes that are actively publishing in the nuclear field.

Please consult the Nuclear Energy Handbook for more information about Japan.
Universities

* Kyushu Univ., Fukuoka (Japan). Dept. of Physics
* Osaka City Univ. (Japan). Dept. of Physics
* Kumamoto Univ. (Japan). Faculty of Science
* Sapporo Gakuin Univ., Ebetsu, Hokkaido (Japan)
* Tsukuba Univ., Ibaraki (Japan). Inst. of Physics
* Tokyo Univ., Tanashi (Japan). Inst. for Nuclear Study
* Chiba Inst. of Tech., Narashino (Japan)
* Shibaura Inst. of Tech., Tokyo (Japan)

Nuclear Research Laboratories

* Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Wako, Saitama (Japan)
* Science Council of Japan, Tokyo (Japan)
* CRC Research Inst. Inc., Tokyo (Japan)
* Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute, Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Works
* Hitachi Ltd., Ibaraki (Japan). Energy Research Lab.
* National Lab. for High Energy Physics, Tsukuba, Ibaraki (Japan)
* National Inst. of Radiological Sciences, Nakaminato, Ibaraki (Japan)
* Japan Nuclear Fuel Industries Co. Inc., Tokyo (Japan)
* Radioactive Waste Management Center, Tokyo (Japan)
* Kyoto Fission-Track Co. (Japan)
* Japan Atomic Energy Research Inst. (JAERI), Tokai, Ibaraki (Japan). Tokai Research Establishment

Nuclear Fusion Research

* Chubu University, 1200 Matsumoto-cho, 487-8501 Kasugai-City, Aichi-prefecture, Japan
* Ehime University, Faculty of Science, Department of Physics,2-5 Bunkyo-cho,790-8577 Matsuyama,Japan
* Electrotechnical Laboratory,Energy Fundamentals Division,1- 1-4 Umezono,305-8568 Tsukuba, Ibaraki,Japan
* Himeji Institute of Technology, 2167 Shosha, Himeji, Hyogo,671-2201,Japan
-Department of Electrical Engineering
-Faculty of Engineering

* Institute of Physical and chemical Research, lchijoji Matsubara-cho 105, 606-8156, JAPAN
* ITER XT, Physics Unit, 801-1 Mukojama, 311 -01 Naka, Ibaraki,Japan
* Kanazawa Institute of Technology, Electrical Power System,Nonoichi,921-8501 Ishikawa,Japan
* Kyoto University

-Engineering Physics and Mechanics,Sakyo,606-8501,Japan
-Graduate School of Energy Science, Uji, Kyoto
-Institute of Advanced Energy, Uji, Kyoto
-Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Kyoto

* Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku,464-8603 Nagoya,Japan
* National Institute for Fusion Science, 322-6 Oroshi-cho, 509-5292 Toki,Japan

-Department Of Large Helical Device Project
-Theory and Computer Simulation Center

* Nihon University, 1-8 Kanda Surugadah, Chiyoda-ku,Tokyo,101-8308, JAPAN

-Department of Physics
-Atomic Energy Research Institute

* University of Tsukuba, Plasma Research Center, Univ. of Tsukuba, Tsukuba Ibaraki, 305-8577, Japan,
* Kyushu University, Kasuga Koen 6-1,816-8580 Kasuga City, Japan

-Research Institute for Applied Mechanics
-Advanced Fusion Research Center,
-Interdisciplinary Graduate School of Engineering and Sciences

* Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Technology, 2-24-16 Naka-Machi, Koganei-shi,184-8588 Tokyo,Japan
* University of Tokyo, 7-3-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-Ku , 113-0033 Tokyo, Japan

-School of Engineering, Department of Electrical Engineering
-Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki
-Department of Physics, Graduate School of Science, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo
-Complexity Science and Engineering

* Kyoto Institute of Technology, Department of Electronics and Information Science, Matsugasaki, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto
* Hitachi Ltd., Power and Industrial Systems R and D Division, Ibaraki-ken
* Osaka University, Suita, Osaka

-Institute of Laser Engineering
-Plasma Physics Laboratory Faculty of Engineering
-Graduate School of Engineering

* ITER JCT, Naka Joint Work Site, Naka
* Tohoku University, Aramaki-aza-Aoba, Aoba-ku, Sendai

-Department of Quantum Science and Energy Engineering
-Institute for Materials Research
-Graduate School of Engineering

* Tokyo Institute of Technology, Research Laboratory for Nuclear Reactors, O-okayama, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
* Toshiba Corp.,Energy and Mechanical Research Laboratories, Kawasaki
* Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI), Komae-shi, Tokyo
* Hiroshima University, Department of Material Science, Hiroshima
* Okayama University, Faculty of Engineering, Okayama
* Hokkaido University, Center for Advanced Research of Energy Technology, Sapporo
* Osaka Institute of Technology, Osaka
* Toshiba Co., Otawara-shi, Tochigi
* Yamagata University, Yamagata
* Iwate University, Department for Electrical Engineering, Morioka, Iwate
* Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute (JAERI)

-Tritium Engineering Laboratory, Tokai, Ibaraki
-Naka Fusion Research Establishment, Mukoyama 801-1,311-0193 Naka-machi, Naka-gun, lbaraki-ken
-Tritium Engineering Laboratory, Tokai, Ibaraki
-Blanket Engineering Laboratory, Naka-machi, Naka-gun, Ibaraki-ken
-Advanced Photon Research Center, Tokai, Naka, Ibaraki
-Department of Reactor Engineering, Tokai-mura, Ibaraki-ken
-RF Heating Laboratory
-Naka Fusion Research Establishment, Tokai Annex, Tokai-mura, Naka-gun, Ibaraki
-Japanese ITER Home Team

http://www.iaea.org/inisnkm/nkm/ws/countries/japan_universities.html

University Home Pages

Hiroshima University

* Synchotron Radiation Facilities

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Hokkaido University
language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Kobe University of Mercantile Marine
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Kyoto University (Institute of Advanced Energy)
language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Kyushu University
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Nagoya University
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Osaka University
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Ritsumeikan University

* Compact Superconducting Synchotron Radiation light Source
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

*Science University of Tokyo (SUT)

language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Tohoku University
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open only to certain groups
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Tokai University
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Tokyo Institute of Technology (TITECH) (
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

*University of Tokyo

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open only to certain groups
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
t

School of Engineering, the University of Tokyo

* Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory (UTNL)
* Fast Neutron Source Reactor YAYOI

language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: The University of Tokyo | Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory (UTNL)

UTTAC, Tandem Accelerator Center, University of Tsukuba
language: Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Research Institutes and Laboratories
Nuclear Research Institutes
High Energy Research Institutes
Nuclear Fusion and Plasma Physics
Application of Isotopes and Ionizing Radiation
click to expand Nuclear Facilities
click to expand Nuclear Authorities, Governmental Organizations, Laws and Regulations
click to expand Non-Governmental and Inter-Governmental Organizations
click to expand Commercial Service Providers in the Nuclear Field
click to expand Scientific and Technical Data
click to expand Health and Safety Aspects
click to expand Environmental Aspects
click to expand Bibliographic Databases and Online Journals, Reports, Pre-prints
click to expand Nuclear Gateways, Educational Sites, News, Conferences
click to expand General News Media

top | country index | search | home | contact us
Nuclear Research Institutes

Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI)
The Central Research Institute of Electric Power Industry (CRIEPI) was founded in 1951 to serve as the comprehensive central research institution for the electric power industry. Since that time, CRIEPI has exercised the talents of its specialists in responding precisely to the business challenges that electric utilities face. At the same time, we undertake the general development of technologies in the quest for fundamental solutions to the many problems involved in global energy and resources, the environment, and sustainable economic development, as seen from a long-term perspective. In this way CRIEPI makes useful contributions both domestically and internationally through the advancement of the electric power industry.
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation | industry or service provider
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)
The Persistent Quest Home Page gives a good overview over the research activities at JAERI.
language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: english JAEA site | Persistent Quest Home Page

Japan Atomic Energy Agency (JAEA)
The Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) was formally inaugurated on 1-October 1998; its Mission is to perform the development of the advanced technology required to establish the complete nuclear fuel cycle. JNC's Key Projects are those which form the basis of the fuel cycle, these are: the fast breeder reactor (FBR), advanced reprocessing, plutonium fuel fabrication and the disposal of high-level radioactive waste.

* research and development for nuclear fuel cycle technology
* fast reactor
* plutonium fuel
* reprocessing
* radwaste

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: Latest News | MONJU prototype reactor | JAEA's Key Projects | JOYO Home Page

Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL)
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation | industry or service provider
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: english pages

Japan Science and Technology Corporation (JST)

* ReaD: Database of Research and Development Activities (free of charge)
* access to a selection of other (paying) databases
* host for STN Interantional bibliography (200+ databases)

language: Japanese | English
originator: data centre
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information | numerical data, codes | bibliographic data
type of site: data base

JOYO Experimental Fast Reactor (JNC)
The experimental fast reactor JOYO achieved initial criticality in April 1977 as the first liquid metal fast breeder reactor in JAPAN. As a fuels and materials irradiation test facility, JOYO achieved the maximum design output of 100MWt in 1983, and thirty-two cycles of 100MWt rated power operation were successfully conducted until the end of March 1998. During this period, many irradiation tests for the development of fuels and materials were carried out.
language: English
originator: operator of nuclear plant or facility | university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: Japan Atomic Energy Agency

Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute (KURRI)
The KURRI (Kyoto University Research Reactor Institute) was reorganized in 1995 and is now composed of six research divisions and two facilities. On average, each division is composed of three laboratories. There are a total of twenty two laboratories including one laboratory provided for visiting professors.

The organization of the Institute consists of about eighty scientists, forty technical staff, and forty administrative members and clerks. The Advisory Board consists of members chosen from the scientists of both the Institute and other organizations.Its function is to provide advice to the Director on policies for cooperative research activities. It also receives and reviews cooperative research projects proposed by researchers of universities and research institutes.

language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

MONJU prototype reactor (JNC)
MONJU is the prototype reactor of the Japanese fast breeder reactor project. This English language site has been created to explain how fast reactors work, why Japan is committed to the development of this technology and how it can be used as a major contributor to electricity supply in the next century.
language: English
originator: operator of nuclear plant or facility | university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC) | MONJU Plant - Basic Specifications

National Institute for Radiological Sciencies (NIRS)

* established in 1957, as a special research institution attached to the Science and Technology Agency

language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

National Institute of of Advanced Industrial Science & Technology (AIST)

From April 1, 2001, the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (the new AIST) has begun operations. The AIST is a newborn research organization that is combined with 15 research institutes which are used to be under the former Agency of Industrial Science and Technology (the former AIST) in the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (Table 1 below) and The Weights and Measures Training Institute. The new AIST is the Japan's largest public research organizations with research facilities on scale, and around 3,200 employees including the authorities.
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Nuclear Engineering Research Laboratory, University of Tokyo (UTNL)
language: English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: Online Reports on Nuclear Engineering

Persistent Quest - Research Activities (JAERI)
Persistent Quest is published annually to introduce the most recent accomplishments of JAERI (Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute) on scientific and technical research to the general public. Its contents are focused on research topics which made outstanding progress in the year concerned.

* Advanced Basic Research
* Research and Development of Fusion Energy
* Neutron Science and It's Applications
* Research and Development of the Advanced Photon and Synchrotron Radiation Sources
* Material Science
* Research and Development on Radiation Applications
* Computational Science
* Research on Nuclear Energy System
* Development of Irradiation Techniques
* Nuclear Safety Research

language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information | online journals, articles, reports
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: JAEA
top | country index | search | home | contact us
High Energy Research Institutes

Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL)

* Electron Linac Facility
* NIJI-II, NIJI-IV, TERAS

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

High Energy Accelerator Research Organization (KEK)

* Photon Factory
* TRISTAN Accumulation Ring

language: English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: english page

Hiroshima Synchrotron Radiation Center (HSRC)
language: English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: Hiroshima University

Institute for Molecular Science (IMS)

* Okazaki National Research Institute
* Ultraviolet Synchrotron Orbital Radiation Facility (UVSOR )

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: UVSOR

Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI)

* third-generation synchrotron radiation facility: SPring-8
* advanced research into materials science, earth science, life science, and medicine

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Nuclear Science Research Facility - Accelerator Laboratory Kyoto

* accelerator physics
* laser nuclear physics
* 7 MeV proton Linac and a 100 MeV electron Linac

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

RIKEN Accelerator Research Facility
This page is presented by RIKEN Accelerator Research Facility, a joint organization of Cyclotron Center, Accelerator User Group and RIBF Project Group.
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: free online access | open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Sumitomo Electric (SEI) (more info) goto TOP

* Harima Institute
* compact synchrotron radiation ring: NIJI-III

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory (Univ. of Tokyo VSX Project )

* Synchotron Radiation Facilities: VSX Light Source

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

The Institute of Physical and Chemical Research (RIKEN)
language: English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
top | country index | search | home | contact us
Nuclear Fusion and Plasma Physics

International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor (ITER)
ITER's mission is to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion energy for peaceful purposes. To do this, ITER will demonstrate extended energy production, demonstrate essential fusion energy technologies in an integrated system, and perform integrated testing of key elements required to use fusion as a practical energy source.

* planned Superconducting Tokamak Fusion Test Reactor
* international collaboration: Euratom, Japan, Russia, (USA)
* ITER Newsletter: published monthly by the IAEA

language: English
originator: international organisation | university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public | free online access
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: ITER Newsletter | IAEA | ITER Europe | Naka Fusion Research Establshment

Institute of Laser Engineering (Osaka University)
language: Japanese | English
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site

JT-60 project (more info) goto TOP

* JT-60/JT-60SA

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public
type of data: numerical data, codes | textual information | online journals, articles, reports
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: Naka-JAEA Home Page | JAEA Home Page

Naka Fusion Research Establishment, Japan (JAEA) (more info) goto TOP

* JT-60 Tokamak

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public | free online access
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
related sites: english JAEA site | JT-60 Tokamak

National Institute for Fusion Science (NIFS, Toki, Japan)

* LHD Stellarator

language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation
access: open to the general public | free online access
type of data: textual information
type of site: non-commercial site
top | country index | search | home | contact us
Application of Isotopes and Ionizing Radiation

Cyclotron and Radioisotope Center (Tohoku University) (more info) goto TOP
language: English | Japanese
originator: university, laboratory or research organisation

http://www.eng.u-fukui.ac.jp/english/organizations/details/master.html

Nuclear Power and Energy Safety Engineering Course

The course provides practical and multilateral education and research concerning various issues, including assurance of safety in atomic power stations and areas where the stations are located, seeking convivial society systems, stabilization of power networks, and vitalization of local industries through technology transfer, as a university located in Fukui Prefecture where many atomic power stations are located. The objective of the course is to cultivate advanced professional engineers who have a thorough knowledge of safety engineering and configuration of regional symbiotic systems related to atomic power and energy and who also have wider vision and a high sense of ethics.
Divisions

* Nuclear Power Safety Engineering
* Regional and Environmental Symbiosis Engineering
* Nuclear Power Plant Safety Engineering

http://www.npes.u-fukui.ac.jp/

Department of Applied Nuclear Technology
Acquiring the skills to apply, develop and practice.

Nuclear power － used as a means to produce electricity it plays a fundamental role in our society. Japan’s relationship with nuclear power stretches back over 40 years. Now more than ever we need technicians trained in the use of nuclear power and in fact this institution is the only such one in the country to offer the particular course of study that we have here. Here at this university we seek to produce technologists who will go on to be experts in nuclear power and the correct and safe use of radioactive substances.
We are looking for the following kinds
of people with ambition:

1. People who can keep to the rules, forward-looking
2. People who are able to cooperate with others
3. People who are passionate about future developments in nuclear power
4. People who are creative and keen to experiment
5. People who abound with curiosity and are ready to take on the challenge of discovery

http://www.fukui-ut.ac.jp/ut/english/subject/president.html#04

Japan's Big Science Takes Big Hit from Big Disasters

2011-07-21T09:49:00.000+09:00

http://www.hpcwire.com/hpcwire/2011-03-21/japanese_science_takes_big_hit_from_earthquake.html

March 21, 2011
Japanese Science Takes Big Hit from Earthquake

excerpt (entire article at link above).

One of the most affected centers is Tohoku University, which was near the epicenter of the quake in Sendai. The institution was one of Japan's preeminent materials science, engineering and biomedicine centers, but will be shut down until at least the end of April, according to a report from Nature News. Tohoku University is home to the Cyberscience Center, which houses a 31.2 teraflop system, but as of now, there are no updates about the status of the resource. As it stands, the university area is difficult to access due to dangerous aftershocks, and recovery efforts are being hindered by a lack of electricity and water.

Japan HE dominates QS's 'Asian Ranking' of Universities

2011-07-21T09:43:00.000+09:00

Japanese universities dominate the entire Asian set, but only one Japanese university makes it into the top five--that is, University of Tokyo.

QS rankings are now independent of the THES rankings. This Asian rankings list makes for an interesting preview of the world rankings for 2011, which will come out later this year, in direct competition with THES's for our attention. One question that comes to mind is this: If University of Tokyo is number four in Asia, will it even make the top twenty of QS's world rankings?

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings

http://www.topuniversities.com/university-rankings/asian-university-rankings/2011

Top Five Universities in Asia

Ranking University

1 The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
2 University of Hong Kong
3 National University of Singapore (NUS)
4 The University of Tokyo
5 The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Japan tops supercomputer rankings (June 2011)

2011-07-21T09:34:00.000+09:00

A supercomputer in Japan hasn't been number 1 since late 2004. Japan had even dropped out of the top 10 list for much of those 7 years. However, a supercomputer that Fujitsu built for Riken (a group of government-funded research institutions) recently put Japan back at the very top. US dominance of petaflop-level computing continues. However, China shows growing strength at supercomputers. This is now an era of PETAFLOP computing, with all top ten computers attaining that level of calculating power.

http://www.top500.org/lists/2011/06/press-release

excerpt (entire article at link above)

Japan Reclaims Top Ranking on Latest TOP500 List of World’s Supercomputers
Thu, 2011-06-16 19:24

HAMBURG, Germany. A Japanese supercomputer capable of performing more than 8 quadrillion calculations per second (petaflop/s) is the new number one system in the world, putting Japan back in the top spot for the first time since the Earth Simulator was dethroned in November 2004, according to the latest edition of the TOP500 List of the world’s top supercomputers. The system, called the K Computer, is at the RIKEN Advanced Institute for Computational Science (AICS) in Kobe.
....
For the first time, all of the top 10 systems achieved petaflop/s performance-- and those are also the only petaflop/s systems on the list. The U.S. is tops in petaflop/s with five systems performing at that level; Japan and China have two each, and France has one.

Bumped to second place after capturing No. 1 on the previous list is the Tianhe-1A supercomputer the National Supercomputing Center in Tianjin, China, with a performance at 2.6 petaflop/s. Also moving down a notch was Jaguar, a Cray supercomputer at the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Oak Ridge National Laboratory, at No. 3 with 1.75 petaflop/s.

Directories, listings, rankings etc. for HE worldwide and HE in Japan

2011-07-07T10:26:00.001+09:00

Directories, listings, rankings etc. for HE worldwide and HE in Japan

4ICU.ORG's Top 200 Universities Worldwide

Academic Ranking of World Universities (ARWU) at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's Institute of HE

Braintrack Directory of HE - Japan Listings

Higher Ed.org's College and University Home Page Directory

International Association of Universities IAU Online Databases

International Education A-Z List of Country Directories

Japan Education and School Directory (Japanese language)

Japan Education Guide - Includes directories of universities, colleges, and other HE

Japan Ministry of Education's Stats on HE

Japan Technical College and Technical Institute Directory (Japanese only)

Japan University and Junior College Directory (Japanese only)

Japans Ministry of Education's Portal to Stats and Info. in English on HE

JUMP New study opportunities at Japan's GLOBAL universities

NewsonJapan.com's Japan HE Directory

Official Japan Statistical Almanac (in English)

Online Education Database

Online Education Rankings

QS University Rankings

Research Institute for Higher Education's Japan Stats Database

Supercomputer Top 500, including many at universities and research centers

THES' World University Rankings (another way to access the rankings, from the front page of the THES)

Top Universities - Directory of Institutions in the QS Global Rankings

University of Oulu's Directory of directories

Webometrics Ranking of World Universities

Wikipedia's List of Universities in Japan

Yahoo Asia Directory of HE in Japan

Yahoo Directory of HE in Japan

TEFL FORUM: Teaching English /r/ and /l/ to EFL learners: a lexical approach (parts 1-3 final)

2011-06-24T08:05:00.001+09:00

http://eltinjapan.blogspot.com/2011/06/teaching-english-r-and-l-to-efl.html

Teaching English /r/ and /l/ to EFL learners: a lexical approach (parts 1-3 final)
Charles Jannuzi
University of Fukui, Japan

excerpt:

Introduction

English /r/, /l/ and contrasts across these two categories of sounds are often cited as pronunciation and listening perception problems for a variety of EFL learners, most from E. Asia. The language backgrounds most often associated with these problems are Japanese, Korean, Chinese and some languages of SE Asia (e.g., Thai but also Cantonese Chinese). Other language speakers have also expressed an interest in improving their pronunciation of English /r/ and /l/, including Russian and German EFL learners.

Perhaps the most well-known group to have a problem with the two categories of sounds is Japanese EFL learners. This could be because their native language background creates the most difficult problems to overcome, both in terms of listening perception and spoken production. It could also be because Japan attained affluence before most of the rest of Asia and hired native speakers of English to help teach and model the language. So a lot of information based on knowledge and experience of Japanese and Japanese learners of EFL has been exchanged and discussed in 'global ELT'.

Rest of article here:
http://eltinjapan.blogspot.com/2011/06/teaching-english-r-and-l-to-efl.html

For Microsoft, Japan Collaboration Mutually Beneficial

2011-06-12T09:41:00.000+09:00

At best it looks like an exclusive academic club and a way for Microsoft Asia to recruit some top talent from Japan. However, about the institute, in 2009 MS released this PR:

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/news/features/japaneseacademics-100109.aspx

Japan Collaboration Mutually Beneficial
By Rob Knies
October 1, 2009 10:00 AM PT

excerpt:

When the Microsoft Institute for Japanese Academic Research Collaboration was founded in July 2005, Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates left little doubt about his high hopes for the new effort.

“Japan is one of the most advanced countries in scientific research and engineering in the world,” Gates said at the time. “It has a talent pool that provides tremendous potential.

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announces Microsoft Research Asia's collaborative effort with Japanese academia, which debuted in July 2005.

“This platform will allow researchers in one of the world's leading economies to put their long tradition of technological development and product innovation into collaboration with Microsoft.”

A little more than four years later, Microsoft Research Asia will demonstrate the ongoing importance it places on collaborating with Japanese academia when it hosts the 11th annual Computing in the 21st Century conference in early November.

http://research.microsoft.com/en-us/collaboration/global/asia-pacific/regions/japan-ijarc.aspx

Microsoft Institute for Japanese Academic Research Collaboration

Established in 2005, the Microsoft Institute for Japanese Academic Research Collaboration (IJARC) acts as a virtual extension of Microsoft Research, building connections with Japanese academia and fostering Japan's technical talent pool.

When Bill Gates announced the formation of the IJARC in June 2005 in Tokyo, he presented the IJARC as a platform to advance research in Japan and to develop young talent through collaboration with Microsoft.

Japanese Academic Research Collaboration, 2005Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates announces Microsoft Research Asia's collaborative effort with Japanese academia, which debuted in July 2005.

In addition to conducting sponsored research, the IJARC has organized a series of workshops to facilitate project collaboration and idea sharing between Japanese universities and Microsoft researchers.
Japan Academic Advisory Committee (AAC)

Comprised of some of the most prominent academics in Japan, the Japan Academic Advisory Committee (AAC) represents the IJARC as it works to build connections between Microsoft Research and Japanese academia.

The AAC provides strategic advice to Microsoft Research on regional themes, programs, talent fostering, and academic exchange in Japan. The committee also reviews research proposals submitted by Japanese researchers. The selection criteria they use to evaluate proposals emphasize stimulating innovation by young Japanese researchers, as well as the development of Japanese society.

AAC Members

Kiyoharu Aizawa

University of Tokyo

Katsuro Inoue

Osaka University

Sadaoki Furui

Tokyo Institute of Technology (AAC Director)

Katsumi Tanaka

Kyoto University

Akinori Yonezawa

University of Tokyo

Previously unpublished article from the JHEO archives: Microsoft partners with top Japanese universities

2011-05-30T09:55:00.001+09:00

This is a piece written in 2005 and never published (although parts of it were integrated into other articles, including freelance articles sold to THES). It would be interesting to update this to see what ever developed from the IJARC initiative. Another development that needs updating is the so-called Asian OS (which was supposed to help Asia compete with the Microsoft monopoly in desktop and notebook OSes). A third thing that requires follow up is just where the TRON OS is at and is going. These all have to be updated with things like the following in mind: (1) Apple's resurgence, including in OS development, (2) Google's emergence as a key player in OSes, and (3) the presence of Linux OS in many aspects of networked and embedded computing. Other spin-off topics might include the importance of JAVA in embedded computing and the shift in personal computing from desktops and notebooks to all sort of mobile devices, including smart phones and tablets.

Microsoft partners with top Japanese universities
[note: article refers to events and developments in 2005]
Charles Jannuzi
University of Fukui

This summer [the summer of 2005] US-based software giant Microsoft announced the creation of the Institute for Japanese Academic Research Collaboration (IJARC) and appointed professors from some of Japan's top research universities to vet proposals and monitor projects. The move to sponsor research at the universities comes in parallel with Microsoft's increased cooperation with Japan's global electronics manufacturers to set the next format for DVD video playback. More generally, the company's involvement in Japan centres on the development of more reliable and versatile products in robotics, artificial intelligence, machine processing of language, and portable computing, games and communication devices. However, the software juggernaut has held out the possibility that its largesse for the universities will not be limited to applied technology ready for immediate commercial development and may also be directed to basic research in fields of study not directly related to computers and software, such as biology and the environment.

It is no coincidence that Microsoft's foray into sponsoring research with top research universities come about at this time [summer of 2005]. Over a year ago, by act of legislation, the Koizumi government earned one of its first substantial victories in its effort to liberalise the political economy with the de-nationalisation and individual incorporation of the national universities. As of April 2004, the administration and day-to-day operations of the former national universities have been transformed into 'national university corporations' (NUCs). Having lost their national-public status, the NUCs now have to compete more and more for funding and revenues, not only amongst each other, but also with the more numerous private universities, the best of which also want to be 'world class' institutions in both teaching and research. Though consolidated in number by about 10%, the former national universities (which have always dominated university-level research in Japan) now have much more freedom to pursue cooperative research and joint ventures with for-profit companies. In that connection, joint ventures and tie ups with private industry will be very important as the 89 new NUCs establish foundations in search of financial stability. Success in competition and multiple sourcing will help guarantee that. However, it is not yet clear how successful Japanese universities will be in sharing the revenues from the commercial success of applied research and technology.

Microsoft's move into university research in Japan has proven to be very well timed now that the country has an electorally renewed Koizumi government set on further reforms and liberalisation. Microsoft forecasts that it will spend around $6.7 billion worldwide on research and development in FY 2005, much of it in Asia. It already has research centres in Britain, India, and China--as well as in California's Silicon Valley and Redmond, WA, where the company is headquartered. Yet until now it had not tried to make any similar major research efforts in Japan. One reason for this has been the perception overseas that Japanese universities lack programming talent--except perhaps in coding for electronic games. But a significant part of the problem is the language and cultural barriers. Subsidiaries of global companies which succeed in Japan (including in recruiting top talent) become very nativised in their corporate culture and operations. And world-class research, especially applied research, has more often been attributed to Japan's top companies, not its university system.

Microsoft's pledge to fund research at universities in Japan is not entirely without precedent though. The company has had a partnership with some top institutions here for several years, providing curriculum related to software and sponsoring lectures. Most recently the company sponsored a series of lectures on computer games; not surprising, perhaps, given the popularity of computer games here relative to the unpopularity of Microsoft's expensive entry in the market, the X-Box. Also over the last several years, it also has shared its closely guarded, proprietary Windows source code with six top technical institutions for the purpose of developing more secure software and anti-virus programs. Microsoft, however, retained the exclusive right to develop commercial products from the results of the research.

Perhaps most significantly, late in 2002, Microsoft announced it would participate in a consortium of companies and academics promoting the 'T-engine/T-kernal' concept for the compatibility of networked household appliances and mobile computing and communication devices (info-appliances). Though the meaning of the name might be opaque, T-engine/T-kernel is actually a very important offshoot of the two-decades-old TRON operating system project at the University of Tokyo, Japan's top university for both scientific research and taught programmes. 'TRON' stands for 'The Real-Time Operating System Nucleus' and encompasses an array of software and specifications, all of them 'open architecture' (the opposite of exclusive proprietary software, such as the much more famous Windows OS). Incredibly, numerous versions and adaptions of TRON OS are found embedded in over a billion electronic devices worlwide, making TRON the world's most popular (though largely unknown) operating system. (In fact, the TRON project was cited back in the 1980s as a possible trade issue in negotiations with the US government simply because it was seen as a potential threat to the American dominance in desktop operating systems, negative publicity which seems to have kept TRON OS off of desktop computers.)

Another reason why Microsoft may feel compelled to step up its presence in Asian computing is the recent announcement by governments and companies here that they would cooperate in developing an alternative operating system to Windows. The governments of Japan, China and Korea have announced quite publicly that their goal is nothing less than to break Microsoft's stranglehold on desktop computing, which they see as an obstacle to progress in the IT industry and the information-based society it supports. Though the impetus may well be self-serving, their efforts could help computing and networked communications all over the world if they succeed in developing software that is (1) faster and more reliable, (2) more compatible with a variety of applications, (3) more scalable to mobile computing and communications devices (including embedded systems), (4) costs less, and (5) can better handle non-western writing systems and languages.

For success of the Asian operating system, however, what is required first is source code and shared specifications that are accessible to larger numbers of developers (i.e., open standards, open architecture, open peer review, and collaborative programming). So the obvious choices have been, either in isolation or in combination, open standards software, such as Sun's Java, GNU/Linux, and the grandfather of open architecture computing, TRON. Some hybrid forms of Java-TRON and Linux-TRON are already being used or are in commercial release.

Not wanting to be left out, even Microsoft has admitted that the real-time speed and scalability of TRON OS has advantages for portable computing and communications over its product, Windows CE, an OS for info-appliances that has a very good graphic user interface (GUI) but has not enjoyed much popularity. Therefore, with developments in Asia in mind, it announced that it would make make the source code for Win CE freely available for manufacturers and programmers so they could alter the OS or adapt it to their own hardware needs. This means that Microsoft software could still end up in a hybrid form with TRON for a complex set of integrated, graphic-intensive applications, such as a car navigation system that has a Windows-like GUI coordinating satellite position data, digital radio, radio text and 3G wireless internet capabilities.

For the Japanese universities and institutes (and their previously non-profit projects, such as TRON) seeking funding from Microsoft, the chief question for the future seems to be: How do they arrange co-operation with a for-profit company so that they can also reap some of the monetary rewards that follow from profitable commercial development? For Microsoft the over-riding issue must be whether or not it can overcome its old exclusive, proprietary way of doing things and embrace the inevitable but unpredictable world of ubiquitous computing. In other words, can university-company tie ups actually find the right balance of cooperation and competition so that everyone benefits?

Partially romanized map of Japan

2011-03-22T12:48:00.005+09:00

This map courtesy of Kenn Sakurai at Facebook. Fukushima, the prefecture with the troubled reactors has been circled in red. The Kanto megalopolis is south of there. Major quake and tsunami damage starts in Chiba, on the coast and goes northward, taking in coastal, estuarine and even diluvial (up river) Ibaraki, Tochigi, Fukushima, Miyagi, Iwate, Aomori, as well as coastal SE Hokkaido. Japan HEO is in Fukui, south of Niigata, on the Japan Sea side of Honshu (the other side of Honshu). Radioactivity is polluting the agriculture and waters of Fukushima and surrounding prefectures. It is also drifting south into the Kanto area.

Japan HEO statement about the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disasters in Japan #2

2011-03-22T12:09:00.002+09:00

Regardless of all the western media coverage, it is important to remember that the Tokyo/Kanto area was largely spared from earthquake or tsunami damage. The troubled nuclear reactors are in Fukushima Prefecture, well outside the Kanto area. However, it is these damaged nuclear reactors that are threatening to bring an entire country to the edge of collapse.

It seems to me, a non-expert, that they have at least two reactors (out of six reporting major problems after the quake and tsunami) in meltdown (uncontrolled fission) and undergoing 'dirty' fission processes. This means that dumping seawater on them isn't going to cool them (water could actually increase reaction of U-235 because it slows emitted neutrons and helps U-235 to capture them, causing more fission).

It seem that they are simply hoping that the containment underneath holds while they spray sea water on the cores and work to restore power to buildings and pump systems that are largely destroyed and inoperable.

That is to say, they have no other plan that they want to discuss publicly.

If radioactive contamination continues to worsen, at best, they have about a week from today to come out with something that looks like a plan to solve the issues, or they are going to have major panic in the Kanto area, with 35 million people.

Things in Japan are not going well at all.

Charles Jannuzi
Fukui, Japan
http://www.eltinjapan.com

Japan HEO statement about the earthquake-tsunami-nuclear disasters in Japan

2011-03-22T11:57:00.004+09:00

This was written one day after the quake (12 March 2011) and sent out to the Dogme ELT group at Yahoo Groups. I am sharing it with Japan HEO readers here. It looks like premonitions about the nuclear reactors are proving unfortunately correct, if understated:

It started with a very long, strong seaquake. It was strong enough in parts of
coastal Japan to cause quake damage. Minutes later the NE coast of Honshu was
hit with huge tsunami waves, which caused flooding. In many places.

Right now I'm watching horrifying images and reading horrifying reports of what
is going on at Fukushima nuclear power plant. They might have serious incidents
at THREE reactors, but one is approaching 'melt down' (a non-technical term for
loss of containment below ground level--they may have already lost containment
above ground). Back up coolant systems failed because diesel generators were
flooded with sea water (design flaw or human execution flaws).

In a way Japan got lucky yesterday because had this quake hit closer to Tokyo,
we would be looking at the collapse of the entire country in terms of it
functioning as a modern, developed political economy.

I wish they had thought more about nuclear reactor design along coasts that have
seaquakes and tsunami, though. That includes where I live, Fukui, which has had
severe quakes and tsunami and has a lot of nuclear power located here, on the
coast.

This is the largest disaster in post-war Japan since the Fukui quake in 1948
(where I live!) and the Kobe-Awaji-Hanshin quake (in 1995). Fukui's quake was so
deadly because post-war construction in 1948 was so shoddy. In 1995 the Kobe
quake was powerful and concentrated in very developed urban areas (but with lots
of old-style wooden houses that burned).

The extent of this disaster could well exceed anything in recent memory in
Japan, but much of that is because it is a country that is over-developed,
over-engineered, and highly dependent on the functioning of a national
government located in Tokyo (and Tokyo has been paralyzed because of loss of
electric power, leading to loss of transport and some communications). I doubt
that it will come anywhere near approaching the human tolls we saw in recent
quakes in S. Asia (such as the tsunami disaster there) or the quake in S. China
(hundreds of thousands dead in that quake!) or the floods in Myanmar.
With one proviso: that is, if they can deal with the nuclear disasters that are
unfolding. These could be catastrophic for the entire Pacific region.

So Japan got lucky yesterday, believe it or not. Just hope the luck holds with
the nuclear disasters (and it's looking very scary right now).

Charles Jannuzi
University of Fukui
Fukui, Japan

Japan universities rocked by cheating scandal

2011-03-07T12:09:00.000+09:00

But it's not quite what you would expect. It's not a case of students at the universities cheating on exams or term papers. Instead it's high-tech cheating at the institutions' entrance exams. The test taker allegedly took photos of test questions, posted them to a 'help' site run by Yahoo Japan, got answers and used them to complete the test. All under the supposedly watchful eye of invigilation.

I would argue, though, that the universities involved (e.g., Kyoto University) have no one but themselves to blame. They run their own exams in order to make lots of money because they accept applications from far more people than they could possibly admit as students. Lower-ranked universities scramble to get enough students to enroll while these elite universities (both public and private) profit from testing huge numbers and turning most of them away. And then they are too cheap to provide proper invigilation.

Here is a link to a Japan Times article, with excerpt following the link.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110306b1.html

excerpt of Japan Times (Kyodo News) article:

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Alleged cheat handed to prosecutors

KYOTO (Kyodo) Police handed a 19-year-old preparatory school student over to prosecutors Saturday for allegedly "disrupting" a university entrance exam last week by using a cell phone to solicit answers online during the test.

The Sendai prep school student, whose name is being withheld because he is a minor, is suspected of cheating by posting questions from Kyoto University's entrance exam on an online help site and using the answers that were provided.

According to the Kyoto Prefectural Police, the student said he entered text from the exam questions into his mobile phone with his left hand during the math and English tests for Kyoto University on Feb. 25 and 26.

The police believe he then wrote down the responses posted by other Internet users on Yahoo Japan's Chiebukuro (Pearls of Wisdom) question-and-answer service with his right hand, they said.

The student also admitted cheating in a similar way on the exams for Waseda, Doshisha and Rikkyo universities earlier the same month, they said.