Pursuing Higher Education In Japan

If you've decided to study in a foreign country, it would be to your benefit to research the educational opportunities offered by Japan. Think about being educated in the country that has made the most economic progress since World War II. You can enroll in courses or participate in a research project using the same technology that has elevated Japan to the top of the world's economy.

In Japan, the old and new have been able to coexist creating a culture that values ancient eastern philosophies, while adopting capitalism and western business practices. If you become a part of this culture, you will gain a well-rounded experience. You can visit some of the oldest temples in the world and then complete your work or class assignments using state-of-the-art technology, all in the same day.

Japan's educational reputation speaks for itself, as many of the world's leaders have studied there, and a number of Japan's scientists and writers have recently been awarded a Nobel Prize. The most popular fields of study are electronics, Japanese literature, medicine, and international business. It is a goal of all the educational institutions to provide a quality educational experience supported by research, computer, and library facilities.

The Japanese government has set a goal of increasing foreign student enrollment from the current 140,000 to 300,000 students by the year 2020. This provides you with a unique opportunity to be recruited by a graduate or undergraduate institution, a junior college, or a specialty training school or college of technology. The type of institution you choose will depend on your educational and career goals.

Undergraduate education generally lasts four years at one of the national, private, or public universities with the option of continuing on to one of the graduate schools to obtain a Master's or doctoral degree. At a junior college, you could study education, sociology, and the humanities over a two or three-year period. Finally, the specialized training schools provide vocational skills training, while the colleges of technology offer five-year programs to junior high school graduates.

Before enrolling in one of the above institutions, most foreign students spend one to two years in a Japanese language school. There are also multiple immigration procedures to follow, the details of which are coordinated by the immigration information center. Don't be discouraged by what might seem like red tape, however, because there are many schools from which to choose and a variety of financial aid to support your venture.

You could apply for funds from the Japanese government through the embassy or one of the foreign universities or be supported by one of the many aid programs sponsored by your country of residence. There are many who privately finance their education and seek support only for lodging and incidental expenses. To cut costs even further, some study as exchange students, studying abroad to learn the language and experience the culture, while still enrolled at home.

There are widespread employment opportunities if you choose to stay in Japan since most of the major companies have set a goal of innovation through diversity. The key to success for these manufacturers is to focus on a global perspective, and that philosophy has propelled them into leadership roles in the areas of telecommunications and office automation. Sounds like a win-win situation for someone looking for an exciting challenge. Study abroad programs in Japan are a great way for students to become more cultured. Even a short summer semester abroad can be a great experience.

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Japan Summons Envoy to Russia Over Islands Dispute - New York Times

TOKYO — A diplomatic clash between Japan and Russia over disputed islands heated up on Tuesday when Japan summoned home its ambassador to Moscow, a day after Russian President Dmitri A. Medvedev angered Tokyo by visiting one of the islands.

Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara said the ambassador will come back to Tokyo to brief officials on Monday’s visit by Mr. Medvedev to one of the group of islands that was seized by the Soviet Union at the end of World War II.

Mr. Medvedev’s trip to Kunashiri, which sits at the southern end of the Russian-controlled Kurile island chain, was seen as a diplomatic snub in Tokyo, coming just weeks after Japan seemed to suffer a humiliating setback in a territorial dispute with another neighbor, China. In that standoff, Japanese prosecutors released a Chinese trawler captain who had been arrested near disputed islands after Beijing raised the pressure by detaining four Japanese businessmen and cutting off high-level talks.

On Tuesday, Mr. Maehara sought to play down the spat with Russia, saying that the ambassador, Masaharu Kono, was not being recalled in protest, but merely temporarily returning to Tokyo for discussions with his superiors.

The top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshito Sengoku, also said that Prime Minister Naoto Kan will go forward with a planned meeting with Mr. Medvedev on the sidelines of a summit meeting next week of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Yokohama, Japan.

“We will say what we ought to say,” Mr. Maehara told reporters, “but our intention to aim for settling the territorial dispute with Russia and conclude a bilateral peace treaty to boost our two nations’ economic ties remains unchanged.”

Mr. Kan has tried unsuccessfully to hold a formal meeting with Chinese leaders since the standoff over the trawler captain in September. The arrest sparked anti-Japanese protests in China, while Beijing’s strong response prompted Japanese leaders to reassess their nation’s growing economic dependence on China.

On Tuesday in Beijing, a Chinese spokesman rebuffed an offer by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to mediate the dispute. The Foreign Ministry spokesman, Ma Zhaoxu, also criticized the Ms. Clinton for saying the islands, known as the Senkaku in Japanese and Diaoyu in Chinese, fall under the protection of Washington’s security pact with Tokyo.

“The dispute over the islands with Japan is a matter between China and Japan,” Mr. Ma said in a statement, and the United States should “correct its wrongful stance immediately.”

Russia also appears keen to prevent its standoff with Japan from escalating as far as the China-Japan dispute. The Kremlin said Tuesday that Mr. Medvedev still plans to attend the APEC summit in Yokohama, and a Foreign Ministry spokesman told the Interfax news service that, “we don’t see a problem” with Tokyo’s calling back of its ambassador.

The dispute over the islands has divided Japan and Russia for more than a half century, preventing the two from signing a formal peace treaty to conclude World War II. Russia refers to the disputed islands as the southern Kuriles, while Japan calls them the Northern Territories.

Mr. Medvedev is the first Russian or Soviet leader to visit the islands, and he made it clear Russia had no plans to cede the mineral and fishery-rich territory despite Japanese demands. Japan had warned Mr. Medvedev that such a visit would aggravate bilateral relations, but Russia responded coolly to complaints from Tokyo.

“How many beautiful places there are in Russia!” wrote Mr. Medvedev in his Twitter blog, under a photograph he had taken from Kunashiri, known in Russian as Kunashir.

Japanese officials have expressed bafflement at Mr. Medvedev’s decision to visit the disputed island just days before the Yokohama summit that is aimed at building regional economic ties. But the visit may have been an effort by Mr. Medvedev to shore up his nationalist credentials ahead of Russia’s 2012 presidential election.

Ellen Barry contributed reporting from Moscow.

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Russia Angers Japan With Visit to Disputed Islands - New York Times

MOSCOW — President Dmitri A. Medvedev on Monday flew into the Kuril Islands, which the Soviet Union seized from Japan at the end of World War II, making it clear that Russia has no plans to cede the mineral-rich territory despite Japanese protests.

Mr. Medvedev is the first Russian president to visit the islands, which are sparsely populated but grant access to prize fisheries and promising oil and gas fields. Touring day-care centers and family homes, Mr. Medvedev told residents that Russia will invest heavily to raise living standards on the islands.

“We want people to remain here,” he said at one stop. “Development here is important. We will definitely be investing money here.”

The trip immediately aggravated relations with Japan, which has long demanded that Russia return the islands. Foreign Minister Seiji Maihara said Mr. Medvedev’s presence “injures the feelings of the population of Japan,” and summoned Russia’s ambassador to deliver a note of protest.

Japanese leaders warned Russia in September that such a visit would damage bilateral relations.

Tokyo is already locked in a tense dispute with China over islands in the East China Sea, after its coast guard detained the captain of a Chinese fishing boat that collided with two of its vessels. The arrest sparked anti-Japanese protests in China, which is acutely sensitive about threats to its sovereignty.

Japanese authorities have sought to calm emotions, but opposition lawmakers want to release videotape of the collision, which they believe shows that that the Chinese captain was at fault.

Russian officials responded coolly to the Japanese complaints on Monday, saying the president’s visit is a domestic matter.

“The president can visit those parts of the country which he considers necessary to go, it is his prerogative,” said Aleksander Boldyrev, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry. “The president plans his internal travels independently.”

But Mr. Medvedev’s visit to the disputed territory will convey a clear message domestically in a country increasingly focused on the 2012 presidential elections.

Mr. Medvedev is generally viewed as milder and more liberal than his mentor, Prime Minister Vladimir V. Putin, but he has taken a tough line on territorial disputes, including going to war with Georgia over the breakaway enclave of South Ossetia.

Russia’s foothold in the Kurils weakened in the 1990s, when Moscow drew down its military presence on the islands and many Russian settlers left for the mainland.

The far east carries “huge” economic importance to Russia now, both because of its oil and gas reserves and transport links to Asian markets, said Elgena V. Molodyakova, an expert on the region at the Russian Academy of Sciences.

“For us, the Kuril problem is how to develop the region,” she said. “For the Japanese, the Kuril problem is a territorial dispute that can agitate their society. If they take a hard line on this, they won’t succeed.”

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China, Japan ties strained over islands at summit - Reuters

Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan (R) walks past China's Premier Wen Jiabao as Asian leaders get ready for a gala dinner during the 17th ASEAN Summit in Hanoi October 29, 2010.

Credit: Reuters/Damir Sagolj

By James Pomfret and Yoko Kubota

HANOI | Fri Oct 29, 2010 11:02am EDT

HANOI (Reuters) - Japan Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao will not hold a one-on-one meeting intended to mend ties at an Asian summit as Chinese anger flared over an over-lapping claim in the resource-rich East China Sea.

China lambasted Japan on Friday for raising the issue of disputed islands in the sea and a Japanese cabinet secretary later said Beijing had torpedoed a slated meeting between the two premiers at the last minute, though its pursuit of strategic and beneficial ties remained unchanged.

"I cannot say there won't be any impact (on relations)," said Japanese deputy chief cabinet secretary Tetsuro Fukuyama when asked about the setback. "But what is essential is a calm response," he told reporters.

Ties between China and Japan deteriorated last month with the detention of a Chinese fishing boat captain by the Japanese coast guard after their boats collided near the disputed isles.

The two sides had taken steps to mend ties and speculation swirled over whether Wen and Kan would hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific summit in Hanoi.

Japan said China's decision to scrap the talks was based on a "misunderstanding" over a media report that Beijing had agreed to resume negotiations with Japan on the exploration for oil and gas fields in the East China Sea.

China, however, put a different spin on the geo-political row, saying Japan had "inflamed" the East China Sea issue and disseminated information violating China's territorial claims.

"Their actions have damaged the atmosphere," Chinese Foreign Ministry official Hu Zhengyue told reporters in Hanoi, referring to Japan's raising of the Diaoyu islands in ministerial talks at the summit. "They are responsible for everything."

Japan calls the islands the Senkakus.

Both leaders appeared stiff and avoided eye contact when they lined up for photographs with other leaders during the day.

In a sign of the diplomatic shadow-play, Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara earlier told reporters after a meeting with his Chinese counterpart, Yang Jiechi, that talks had been held in a "very good atmosphere."

The flareup over the islands is the latest in a string of rows to strain ties between the neighbors.

Both governments are extremely wary of public opinion in their countries where age-old suspicion runs deep, partly from Japan's wartime occupation of parts of China.

Anti-Japan protests broke out in several Chinese cities in recent days, while in Japan, Kyodo news agency reported that suspicious containers of red liquid were sent to the Chinese embassy and consulates.

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