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December 2011

Okinawa prefecture has launched a program that accepts evacuees from Tohoku

Okinawa prefecture government has set up a “Working Team for Evacuees” in its Department for Tohoku Earthquake Assistance and has launched its “acceptance” program. They also opened the “Information for all evacuees” portal on the Okinawa prefecture government website in June 2011. The latest information was updated as of Oct 28th. At first, the evacuees should register “Japan evacuee’s information system” at the municipal governments’ office so that they can get current information from their hometowns in Tohoku. The program consists of providing education for children, health care programs, assistance for job opportunities, and other programs directly related to evacuees’ daily life. The distinctive feature of this special program is… Read More »Okinawa prefecture has launched a program that accepts evacuees from Tohoku

City Recruits Ward Mayor Nationally

In Japan, 19 cities designated by government ordinance are responsible for many of the functions instead of prefecture governments. Each designated city, which has a population of over 0.5 million, has subdivided wards that conduct various administrative functions for the city government. In each of these wards, a mayor is normally appointed by the overall city mayor, from a list of locally important officials. In November, Sakai City, however, announced the open recruitment for the Mihara Ward Mayor. Mihara is one of the 7 wards in Sakai. It is said to be the first case that a designated city accepted candidates for ward mayor from anywhere in the country. Applicants… Read More »City Recruits Ward Mayor Nationally

“Tokyo School Visiting Excursion” – to recruit teachers from outside of Tokyo

The Tokyo Metropolitan Board of Education (BOE) conducts bus excursion tours for young people for a reasonable price. These bus tours are unique because the sites visited are not the usual sites such as; the Tokyo Tower, Imperial Palace, or the aesthetic water front area, but the city’s schools! The tours are organized to attract and recruit people interested in the teaching profession. Learning about the benefits of being an educator by visiting schools and experiencing first-hand what it is like to be a teacher may inspire participants to pursue a teaching career at a Tokyo school. The tours are given four times annually. The first three visits are to… Read More »“Tokyo School Visiting Excursion” – to recruit teachers from outside of Tokyo

Bicycle Use in Tokyo

Nowadays, the increase in traffic accidents involving bicycles is one of the biggest problems in Tokyo. Cases of bicycle collisions with pedestrians, causing serious injuries to the pedestrians, and of bicyclists riding recklessly and being killed by cars are both occurring frequently. Bicycles are fundamentally supposed to use the roadway, but using a sidewalk is possible in many cases. Moreover, there are many problems in how people ride their bicycles, like those who are riding while running along a sidewalk at high speed or talking over their cell phone, and even texting. Such things cause many accidents. In order to decrease the number of accidents, a recommended route map for… Read More »Bicycle Use in Tokyo