Comment by Tom

August 8, 2007 @ 3:26 am

At the end of the podcast you mentioned that you will be speaking with Debito on the education system in non-Japanese. I am wondering if you would be able to touch on Temple University Japan Campus and maybe give us your opinion if you know anything about them. I’m currently in the process of filing an application with them with the goal of attending classes beginning in spring 2008. I think this is an excellent way (maybe the only plausible way) for someone like me who is interested in Japan to be able to live there and earn a degree in English while learning the language and culture of Japan.

Comment by DeOrio

August 8, 2007 @ 11:49 am

Tom, sorry, but the two interviews were recorded back-to-back on the same day and are only being released separately. Debito is already back in Sapporo.

I know a few people who have gone to TUJ, all of them for Master’s degrees, most in TESOL, and most of the rest as part of their law school programs.

Temple is one of a handful of univerisities in Tokyo that offer degree programs in English - ICU (International Christian University) and Sophia (Jouchi) University being the two other big ones. The main difference is that TUJ is a branch campus of the American Temple University. Among Japanese, ICU and Jouchi are better known (probably because they’ve been around a lot longer and are Japanese) and more highly regarded.

What I’ve heard about Temple is that it’s good for making connections, for networking, within the Western community of Tokyo. As for the academics, some have liked it, a few complained that “A”s were pretty much given away - that it was too easy. I haven’t heard anyone say anything terrible about it, though.

As far as Debito is concerned, I don’t see Temple on his blacklist (for denying opportunities to foreign faculty) or his greenlist.

Comment by Ken Y-N

August 8, 2007 @ 1:22 pm

I wish you’d given us a note of where to fast forward to to skip all the Duran Duran stuff! Quite frankly, I felt he was more passionate about DD than about the foreign labour market in that interview!

His thesis ignored two questions, however. Do all foreigners really need to join together? The experiences of a Brazilian at Toyota versus a Korean with a Zainichi network to fall back on versus a SE Asian working and living on a pig farm are all quite different and I’m not sure how they could all really be fully served by a single gaijin union. Next, why don’t existing Japanese unions support foreign workers better? I work in effectively a closed shop, so I have to rely on the union that I pay 7,000 yen a month for to do something.

Then, of course, there’s the bigger question, are unions even the best way to improve working conditions for the average foreigner?

Comment by Garrett

August 8, 2007 @ 4:10 pm

All stellar points, Ken.

First, I think the Duran Duran stuff is roughly the first four minutes and Debito would have loved to have continued. I have a feeling it’s the passion of his about which he is least often asked.

After we recorded Seijigiri #29, he and I sat down to go over what we’d talk about in the interviews and he brought up his love for Duran Duran almost out of the blue.

I’m inclined to agree that a foreigners’ union might not be the most productive solution. In fact, I’d be afraid that it might cause further isolation or a greater “us vs. them” mentality. As with so many problems in Japan, what is needed is simply the enforcement of existing laws according to the letter of the law.

If I may ask, how happy are you with your union?