On Japan Category (103)
Living Legend - Dr. Rod Ellis Featured
World-Acclaimed Applied Linguist Helps Pioneer Online Education
Dr. Rod Ellis is a world-acclaimed British applied linguist and thought leader in the field of second language acquisition. In the late 1990s, Dr. Ellis joined renowned applied linguists Dr. David Nunan and Dr. Ruth Wajrnyb at Anaheim University where they helped pioneer the field of online education. A former professor at Temple University in both Japan and the U.S., Dr. Ellis serves as a distinguished professor in the School of Cultures, Languages and Linguistics at the University of Auckland and as a senior professor in the Graduate School of Education at Anaheim University, where he has held the roles of department chair, dean of the Graduate School of Education and VP of academic affairs. He has taught in numerous positions in England, Japan, the U.S., Zambia and New Zealand. TJ caught up with Dr. Ellis at the American Association for Applied Linguistics 2015 conference in Toronto, Canada.
Living Legend - Dr. Shuji Nakamura Featured
Nobel Physics Laureate Shuji Nakamura Sheds Light on How He Invented the Blue LED
Dr. Shuji Nakamura, along with two other Japanese researchers, Dr. Isamu Akasaki and Dr. Hiroshi Amano, received the 2014 Nobel Prize in Physics in recognition of their major breakthrough in lighting technology with the invention of efficient blue light- emitting diodes (LED), which has enabled bright, energy-saving white light sources. Dr. Nakamura is a physicist and inventor specializing in semiconductor technology. He is a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara College of Engineering. Tokyo Journal’s Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Dr. Nakamura about his career, the intellectual property legal battle he faced with his former company, Nichia Corp., and the impact of his invention on the world.
Streetstyle Glamour
Tokyo Journal photographer Lola Rose captures the latest in street fashion in her photo column "Streetstyle Glamour."
The complete article can be found in Issue #275 of the Tokyo Journal. Click here to order from Amazon.
Fumiko Hayashi
Leading a Revolution in Equality & Sustainability
Yokohama Mayor Fumiko Hayashi Sets her Sights on Making Yokohama the Most Progressive City in the World
How does one go from an entry-level sales position at a Honda dealership to president of Volkswagen, BMW and Nissan Auto Sales in Tokyo, chairperson and CEO of Daiei (one of Japan’s largest supermarket retailers) and now mayor of Japan’s second-largest city, Yokohama? How do you do all of this despite traditions that cast men as the salary-earners and women as domestic caregivers? And while being only a high school graduate in a society that places extreme importance on university qualifications? Break all the precedents, says Fumiko Hayashi. She has dominated both the corporate and political worlds in her long and ground-breaking career, a career that she forged for herself despite – and at times because of – her gender. Fumiko Hayashi has been listed as the most powerful woman in Japan and 39th out of the Forbes 2006 list of “The 100 Most Powerful Women.” Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie first interviewed Fumiko Hayashi for TJ while she was still president of Volkswagen in 2003. Now over a decade later, he catches up with Japan’s corporate icon and current mayor of Yokohama to find out how her views have developed and what she has to say about gender equality, economic success and the future of Yokohama.
Incomparable Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
Far More than the Greatest Basketball Player of All Time
Interview by Anthony Al-Jamie
It's little wonder that Kareem Abdul-Jabbar has been called the greatest basketball player of all time. After a record-breaking college career under the great John Wooden at University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), the 7'2" history major made history himself during 20 seasons from 1969 to 1989 in the National Basketball Association (NBA) playing center first for the Milwaukee Bucks and then the Los Angeles Lakers. He continued to break record after record as the all-time leading scorer in NBA history, a six-time NBA Most Valuable Player (MVP) and a 19-time NBA All-Star, reaching the finals with eight NBA championship teams (six as a player and two as an assistant coach). Born in New York City on April 16, 1947 as Ferdinand Lewis Alcindor, the basketball hall of famer, who was known on the court for his trademark "skyhook" jump shot, is also known off the court as an actor, martial artist, historian, philosopher, public speaker, businessman, philanthropist, education advocate and as a best-selling and highly regarded author. Kareem has traveled the world for his sport and was appointed as a U.S. global cultural ambassador by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in 2012. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie met with living legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to explore his remarkable life both on and off the court.
Living Legend - Dr. Kazuo Inamori
Kyocera Founder
Dr. Kazuo Inamori
Entrepreneurial Innovator Blends Buddhist Beliefs with Business Practices
Entrepreneur, philanthropist and philosopher, Dr. Kazuo Inamori is a living legend of Japan’s business world. He founded Kyoto-based multinational electronics and ceramics company Kyocera and Japanese telecommunications giant KDDI. His restructuring of Japan Airlines allowed the troubled airline to go from bankruptcy protection to being relisted on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Through his Inamori Foundation, he established the Kyoto Prize to recognize individuals and groups worldwide that have made outstanding contributions to the betterment of the global community and mankind. His private management school, Seiwajyuku, teaches his management philosophy to business owners and entrepreneurs worldwide. To top it off, he’s a Buddhist priest who has inspired his employees with a unique management style, which incorporates Buddhist philosophies. Tokyo Journal’s Miyuki Kawai talked to Dr. Kazuo Inamori about his fascinating views and extraordinary accomplishments.
Living Legend - Noam Chomsky
Saving the World from Self-Destruction
Linguist, cognitive scientist, philosopher, logician and political commentator– all of these have been used to describe Noam Chomsky, one of the greatest minds in the world today. Born in 1928 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Avram Noam Chomsky studied linguistics at the University of Pennsylvania where he earned his B.A., M.A. and Ph.D. He was later appointed as a professor of foreign languages and linguistics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He became a pioneer in the field of psycholinguistics, helping to establish a relationship between linguistics and psychology. Today, he is one of the world’s most highly influential academic figures, being cited in the Arts & Humanities Citation Index more often than any other living scholar between 1980 and 1992, influencing such fields as mathematics, computer science, artificial intelligence, logic, cognitive science, music theory and analysis, political science, programming language theory and psychology. Outside of academia, Chomsky is internationally recognized as a political activist for his writing and speaking on U.S. foreign policy, capitalism and the mainstream news media. In 2005, he was named the most important public intellectual in the FP Top 100 Global Thinkers poll conducted by Foreign Policy magazine. Tokyo Journal Executive Editor Anthony Al-Jamie spoke with Professor Noam Chomsky about his views on Japan and some of the greatest threats to the survival of the human race.
Streetstyle Glamour
Tokyo Journal photographer Lola Rose captures the latest in street fashion in her photo column "Streetstyle Glamour."
Streetstyle Glamour
Tokyo Journal photographer Lola Rose captures the latest in street fashion in her photo column "Streetstyle Glamour."
Harajuku Fashion Walk
Tokyo Journal Street Photographer Malgorzata Dittmar hits the streets with her lens to see what's hot in Harajuku
The complete article can be found in Issue #277 of the Tokyo Journal. Click here to order from Amazon.
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