Good manners for Japanese students

Universities give pointers on how to behave, separate garbage, obey law

Features Desk
The Yomiuri Shimbun
Publication Date : 05-03-2010

ILLUSTRATION FROM THE YOMIURI SHIMBUN

A growing number of universities and colleges in Japan have started providing information on good manners to their students, especially freshmen, including how to behave as they travel to and from university, how to separate garbage for disposal and recycling, and why they should not break the law.

Most of the advice might seem like common sense, but many university officials say they have had to train their students in good manners because many do not seem to have much awareness of what behaviour is considered socially acceptable.

Students at Tokyo Women's College and Junior College of Physical Education in Kunitachi, western Tokyo, are to be posted at 10 spots along the 800m-long route from JR Nishi-Kunitachi Station to their campus for a week in April to watch whether fellow students, especially freshmen, behave appropriately.

According to officials of the university, some students have been seen behaving badly in the past, such as cycling while using a cell phone or eating cup noodles while walking.

About a year ago, after receiving a number of complaints from people who live between the station and campus, the school decided to place student representatives along the route to monitor the behavior of the other students at the beginning of the academic year and other occasions.

"It's effective because the message sinks in when you receive advice from your peers," sophomore Saki Mikawa, 20, said.

Kyoto University, where in recent years some students have been arrested for cannabis possession and other crimes, holds a special lecture in April to inform students of the importance of complying with laws.

The lecture, which includes a video on the hazards of taking illegal drugs, is going to be counted for credit from the next school year.

At Kanazawa University, professor Toru Furuhata teaches freshmen such things as how to take notes and how to separate garbage in a course that addresses social and university life.

"Some students asked me why I teach such basic things," Furuhata said. "But we have received complaints about the way some students put out their trash. I want them learn such commonsense skills before going out into the real world."

A lack of good manners among university students is behind such moves.

At International Christian University in Mitaka, western Tokyo, many students do not return library books before the end of lending periods. The university decided to charge 10 yen per day as a late fee and does not allow students to graduate if they have outstanding late fees. One student owed 70,000 yen in late fees as of Tuesday (March 2), officials of the university said.

In 2008, three Kyoto Sangyo University students were found to have written their names and other messages on a column of a World Heritage-listed cathedral in Florence. The university's guidebook now tells freshmen not to litter, grafitti or use drugs.

At North Asia University in Akita, some staffers regularly walk around the campus to check if students have dyed hair or are wearing piercings, both of which the university forbids in principle.

Snowboarder Kazuhiro Kokubo, who participated in last month's Vancouver Winter Olympic Games, is a student of Tokai University. Unfortunately for the university, Kokubo became famous for wearing the Japanese Olympic uniform in a manner deemed inappropriate and for his subsequent nonchalant apology for doing so at a press conference.

The university released a statement apologising for Kokubo's actions. Though it does not have a dress code, it said it would take steps to improve the behaviour and clothing of its students via instruction from teachers or varsity sports club coaches.

Professor Motohisa Kaneko of Tokyo University, an expert in higher education and a member of the Central Council for Education, said: "Many universities are seeking ways to help students act in a more mature way. One of the reasons they have begun focusing on good manners and morality is the tight employment situation in recent years. Students who lack common sense likely will fail to find a job."

Q+A: What's the Good Practice Project?

05 Mar 2010
Written by: Thin Lei Win

PHNOM PENH (AlertNet) - Advocacy and aid groups in Cambodia have expressed concerns about a proposed law regulating non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in the Southeast Asian country.

The issue has raised a wider question about governance in the sector crowded with hundreds if not thousands of players.

Here are some questions and answers about a home-grown system aimed at self-regulation.

What is the Good Practice Project (GPP)?

Launched two years ago, the Good Practice Project (GPP) is an attempt by Cambodia's NGO community to clean its own house before the NGO and Associations Law comes into force. Under the GPP, NGOs undergo a voluntary certification system and agree to comply with a set of ethical principles (the Code of Ethical Principles and Minimum Standards for NGOs in Cambodia).

The NGOs must first be registered with relevant ministries and have been operating for three years at least.

Cooperation Committee for Cambodia (CCC), a two-decade old umbrella group for over 100 local and international NGOs helped developed GPP.

Why is it needed?

Twelve years after the end of a brutal civil war, Cambodia now boasts thousands of NGOs and associations. Figures vary -- the government says there are over 3,000 while an NGO umbrella group says around 1,000 exist. There has been criticism over the conduct of some NGOs and the NGO community concedes there is a need for accountability.

What is the Code of Ethical Principles and Minimum Standards for NGOs in Cambodia?

This is a set of principles and minimum guidelines for NGOs on a host of issues ranging from mission and values and governance to accountability and transparency and human resources.

GPP team members say the idea is to guide NGOs to become more professional in their everyday practice as well as to inform public and interested parties about the principles they can expect NGOs to uphold.

The NGOs who wants to be certified by the GPP has to ensure they comply with the code. The first version of the code was drafted in 1995.

How does it work?

The NGOs who have decided to get the certification need to go through a series of steps including submitting a written application and documentation such as annual audit statements, annual reports and organizational statues.

Before they receive certification as Good Practice NGOs, GPP staff will review the documents and the NGOs' programmes through field visits. Once all the criteria have been fulfilled, they will receive a certification lasting three years.

What does it mean for organizations to be certified?

In theory, the certification will act as a stamp of approval of the NGO and an assurance to the general public as well as the government over the integrity of the individuals and organizations involved and the effectiveness of its programmes.

Increasingly, it will also become an asset with the donors. Already, the Australian government's aid agency Aus AID lists the certification as a requirement when calling for NGOs to send in proposals for aid projects.

How many have been certified under the GPP?

So far only 17 have been certified out of 51 applications. These include a wide range of NGOs such as the Non-Timber Forest Products Organisation, street children charity Mith Samlanh and Salvation Center Cambodia where Buddhist monks provide spiritual and practical support to HIV/AIDS patients.

Although the number may seem miniscule given the size of the NGO community in Cambodia, GPP said it had seen an increase in applications, possibly due to concerns over the impending NGO law.

Woman starved son, 5, to death because he looked like husband?

Friday, March 5, 2010

NARA (Kyodo) A 26-year-old Nara Prefecture woman who was arrested together with her husband Wednesday for allegedly starving their 5-year-old son to death has told investigators she could not feel any affection for him because of his resemblance to his father, police sources said Thursday.

Mami Yoshida, a part-time worker, also told investigators her relationship with her husband, Hiroshi, 35, a corporate employee, had soured. The investigators reckon the couple's worsening relations led to the abuse of their son, Tomoki.

Yoshida said she felt affection for the couple's other child, a daughter, 3, who shows no signs of having been abused.

Her husband was quoted as saying he was aware their son had been getting weak, but did nothing to protect him.

They are suspected of having failed to give sufficient food or provide necessary medical care for their son since early January.

On Wednesday, the boy was found unconscious by a municipal official who visited the family home after Yoshida called a child counseling center. The boy was lying on a futon wearing a diaper and looking emaciated, the city said.

The official called an ambulance to take the boy to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Although the average height of a 5-year-old is 110 cm, their son was only 85 cm tall and weighed just 6.2 kg, a third of the average weight.

On Thursday, the police conducted an autopsy and also raided the couple's home in Sakurai, Nara Prefecture, in search of evidence.

According to the police, while the couple took their daughter to a day care center while they worked, they left their son alone at home and did not take him to a kindergarten or a day care center.

The Sakurai Municipal Government said the boy underwent a regular health check for 10-month-old babies in 2005. But the parents failed to ensure their son had regular checkups in 2006, when he became 18 months old, and in 2008, when he turned 3 1/2 years old.

In response to the municipal inquiries on those occasions, Mami told officials she needed rest as she was pregnant and could not take her son to the health checkups because she was busy caring for a relative.

Fatal abuse arrest

SAITAMA (Kyodo) Police arrested a couple Thursday in Warabi, Saitama Prefecture, on suspicion of failing to provide sufficient food for their son, who became weak and died in February 2008.

The 4-year-old son of Masami Shindo, 47, and his wife, Sanae, 37, weighed only 10 kg and was 94 cm tall at the time of his death, the police said.

The couple are suspected of failing to bathe and feed the boy, making it difficult for him to walk. They did not take him to see a doctor despite his poor health, the investigation found.

An autopsy showed that the boy, who was hospitalized on Feb. 11, 2008, following an emergency call, suffered from malnutrition and died of acute encephalopathy.

The boy and his brother, 10, lived with their parents at the time. The older son now lives in a child nursing facility.