JAPAN FOUNDATION WORLDWIDE

Since the Look East Policy was proposed in Malaysia in the 1980s, which is to take Japan and Korea as role models for the national development, Japanese has been one of the focused foreign languages in school education in this country. In regard to secondary education (equivalent to from seventh to eleventh grades in Japan), some of residential schools for the privileged students had already introduced Japanese-language education since 1984. The Ministry of Education Malaysia decided in 2004 to extend Japanese-language education to other general secondary education schools, and started to post Japanese-language teachers to schools in 2005. The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur (JFKL) is cooperating in the Japanese-language teacher training project. In this project, active teachers of other subjects participate in a training and internship course of about two and half years in Malaysia and at the Japanese-Language Institute, Urawa, before they are posted as Japanese-language teachers to schools across the country. As of June 2010, 85 secondary education schools, or approximately 4% of the total of about 2,200 schools nationwide, provide Japanese-language classes. For residential schools, 48 out of 56 schools offer Japanese-language classes, meaning that almost 90% of such schools are teaching Japanese.

Teachers spend one year out of two-and-half-year term at schools across the country as intern trainees, but there are not so many opportunities for them to encounter with lively Japanese. JFKL offers a year-long instruction by Japanese-language specialists via correspondence, as well as an intensive short-term training course to enhance their skill by communicating with Japanese people in Japanese as if they are in Japan. For five days from June 14 to 18, teachers gathered in Kuala Lumpur during school holidays to participate in a practical training of the language by visiting the Embassy of Japan, Japanese school, and Japanese department stores or having conversation with Japanese volunteers in Malaysia. At the end of the training, they shared their experiences with each other.

These teachers gave us positive feedbacks: “Having conversations with ordinary Japanese people was not as easy as I expected, but it was a good stimulus to our training.” “I want to study harder to prepare for my training in Japan next year.” “I want to have more chances to encounter with lively Japanese language by watching as many Japanese anime and TV drama series as possible.”
We are looking forward to the day when participants in this training course become certified as Japanese-language teachers and teach the language at schools across the country.

Line-up of "Flowers of Four Seasons"

From May 26 to July 30, 2010, The Japan Foundation, Toronto was filled with 220 Tenugui towels in bright colours and brilliant designs. The attendance during the exhibition period was over 2,000 visitors, an indication that it was one of the most popular exhibitions we have had.

This Tenugui exhibition has been planned and produced by The Japan Foundation, Toronto on our own and was accomplished with extensive support from The Kamawanu Co. Ltd., a production/distribution company of Tenugui in Tokyo. During the span of over four years, including the initial planning to realize the exhibition, the Kamawanu Co. has been a most reliable, observant, and patient partner of the project in the selection and assembly of the exhibits and the shipping of the dyeing tools and stencil.

JFT staff wearing Tenugui in their creative ways.	Many questions from visitors at the "Living Creatures" section.

Motivated by the idea that we wish to deliver the excellence of design and colours in Japanese daily life and the skills of craftsmen, this project of a Tenugui exhibition was established. Rather than incomprehensible explanations, we instead aimed at the enjoyable look of bright colours. The exhibits were grouped in four categories: “Flowers in four seasons”, “Living creatures”, “Traditional designs of the Edo period”, and “Food” so that Canadian visitors could identify the subjects more easily. We also had a video introducing the Tenugui dyeing process produced by the Kanto Chusen Manufactures’ Organization. The newly produced English version of this video was screened at our exhibition and received amazed comments such as “What a number of process it goes through!”. The reproductions of Ukiyoe prints produced by the Adachi Woodblock Institute were also a part of our exhibition, indicating how Tenugui were used in daily life in the Edo period and on the Kabuki stage. As for contemporary use, we displayed the samples of Tenugui used in our own lives, such as book covers, cutlery cases, and wine bottle wrappings. During the exhibition period, office members and volunteers of The Japan Foundation, Toronto wore Tenugui in their own creative ways such as scarves, ascot ties, and hair bands, displaying the charms and potential of Tenugui.

Line-up of "Traditiona Design of Edo Period"

In terms of visitors’ reactions, we encountered several cases in which some Japanese-Canadians and immigrants from Japan started to recall old memories around Tenugui, which proves how intimate Tenugui have been to Japanese people. To Canadian visitors’ eyes Tenugui were filled with a fresh sense of the colours and attractive designs, inspiring them to purchase Tenugui after only a single look. The intimate attraction was most evident in the glittering glances of Canadian visitors. The exhibition revealed that there would be more possibilities of cultural exchange in the limited rectangular space of Tenugui: one Shaku x three Shaku (approximately 30 cm x 90 cm).

A good dictionary is indispensable for learning a language.
Unfortunately, however, this basic requirement of Arabic-speaking Japanese learners had not been fulfilled for many years. They were forced to use Japanese-English dictionaries because practical Japanese-Arabic dictionaries were not available. In order to break down such barrier to Japanese learners, The Japan Foundation, Cairo have been working for five years on translating into Arabic and proof-reading ”The Basic Japanese Dictionary” published by the Japan Foundation. Since it was first published in English in 1986, this dictionary with extensive vocabulary and sample sentences have been translated into 13 languages and used by Japanese-language beginners around the world.

Finally, in July 2010, a long-awaited “The Basic Japanese-Arabic Dictionary” is published. The Arabic is the 14th language that the dictionary is published in. The dictionary was translated by four professors at the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, Cairo University, ensuring the highest quality that the publisher can demand. In addition, the price is affordable for students.

To commemorate the release of this dictionary, a ceremony took place at Dar el-Shorouk bookshop on July 20. Professor Isam Hamza was among the first students of the Department of Japanese Language and Literature, Cairo University 35 years ago when there was scarcely any Japanese textbook or dictionary in this country. Looking back his days of struggling to learn Japanese, he emphasized that everyone studying Japanese have been waiting for a dictionary like this for decades. Professor Hamza’s word was supported by the fact that many Japanese learners visited the bookstore to celebrate this occasion. The ceremony also received media coverage in Egypt.

We hope that “The Basic Japanese-Arabic Dictionary” will help Japanese-language students not only in Egypt but also in other Arabic-speaking countries and promote cultural exchange between Arabic countries and Japan.