Word: nationalizes
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...growing up on the Indonesian island of Sumatra, Alimansyar knew Japan stood for one thing: really hip stuff. His parents' generation might have looked askance at the historic aggressor, given its wartime record in East Asia. But for Alimansyar and other younger Indonesians, Japan represents a nation that transformed itself in record time from vanquished pauper to cutting-edge innovator. Today, Alimansyar teaches Japanese at the University of North Sumatra, and the school's rapidly growing Japanese-language program is filled with 500 students who are often lured by Japanese cars, electronics and animé. "People in Indonesia look...
...number who did in 1990, according to government statistics. "Foreigners used to learn Japanese for career reasons," says Tsutomu Sugiura, an adviser for the Marubeni Research Institute in Tokyo. "But today they learn because they are interested in Japanese culture." To help spread Japanese, the Japan Foundation, the nation's rough equivalent to the British Council or Germany's Goethe Institute, invites 500 foreign teachers from more than 50 nations to Japan each year for all-expenses-paid training programs. (Alimansyar is currently participating in the course.) The Foundation also plans to establish 100 Japanese-language hubs overseas...
...many Japanese-language students had their druthers, they'd probably want a pair of cool cats to helm their classes. In May, Japan designated Hello Kitty as a tourism ambassador, two months after Doraemon, the aqua-hued robot feline, was named the nation's first cartoon envoy. The designation of these two cat representatives symbolizes just how much Japan's overseas reputation is tied to pop culture. That's a connection that surely pleases Japan's new Prime Minister Taro Aso. The 68-year-old premier, who is a self-confessed manga addict, has called for Japan to pursue what...
...Although he has barely had time to articulate his leadership priorities, Aso appears committed to burnishing Japan's global influence. Over the past decade, the nation's foreign-aid budget has nosedived. In the early 1990s, flush with cash from its long boom, Japan was the world's largest donor. Now, it's fifth. Aso might reverse the trend. In August, Japan's Foreign Ministry requested a 13.6% increase in next year's foreign-aid budget. In October, Aso made headlines when he signed off on a record $4.5 billion loan to India. That commitment followed on the heels...
...Charity Begins at Home"] Other factors have forced the nation to look anew at its role in the world. A crucial consideration is the nation's dwindling birth rate. Japan is running out of workers. To fill its factories and care for a graying population, the Asian nation will need to import ever greater numbers of laborers from abroad. What better way to lure skilled immigrants to Japan - ones who might be just as interested in moving to the U.S. or Australia - than piquing their interest in all things Japanese...