http://www.amazon.co.jp/NW-Zadie-Smith/dp/0141036591 If you have not lived in London the impression you get from this novel will be very different from those held by Londoners. Even if you do not live in NW (postcode for Northwest London),…

Yokichi Koga, a venture capitalist based in Palo Alto, gives a jab to Japanese people who value fluency in English in global business just way too much. The ability to make yourself understood, by tailoring the message to your counterpart,…

Dear ,Good to hear from you! I'm doing fine. Thanks very much for forwarding this article. Here's my take.It is rather absurd to assume one can define THE English-speaking world in 2010 if it was meant to be a geographic sphere. What count…

So Japanese students interested in international affairs may complain about their tuition fee being ridiculously expensive (which everyone here totally agrees), materials and methods being too West-centered, etc. That's not the point. That…

No matter how it turns out in the next 24 hours, your grandson made a history.http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27522679/

Living with the second language means living with a diluted self. But that's not the main issue. The main issue is the fact that I have the same type of concerns with my life as I had in Japan. I just wonder how much time I am going to spe…

Japan Farm Minister QuitsIt is not my habit to talk about contemporary Japanese politics. Neither am I in a desperate need of something to kill my time on. Ive got other things to do. But this time I feel obliged to say something about the…

Being a backpacker, I was always trying to be careful during the travel not to be cheated by local merchants for unreasonably high prices for low quality products or services. Not that I had a terrible experience of being cheated before, b…