News On Japan

How Suzuki Method conquered the music world

TOKYO - Jan. 26 marks the 25th anniversary of the death of the violinist and teacher Shinichi Suzuki, whose approach to early childhood music education is widely known as the Suzuki Method.

His program has gained followers around the world and remains popular, with approximately 400,000 children globally learning to play instruments -- including violin, piano, cello, flute and guitar -- the Suzuki way.

The Suzuki Method is based on the idea that the attainment of musical skills can mimic the natural process of an infant acquiring a mother tongue. His approach strives to make music a part of the child's everyday environment, for instance by constantly playing recordings by masters at home while turning the seemingly daunting technical motions of music-making into fun activities. ...continue reading

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Large Typhoon No. 25 was moving northwest through waters near the Ogasawara Islands at 3 a.m. on September 18, with the storm expected to bring strong winds, high waves and heavy rain to the islands before approaching the Izu Islands and Kanto from September 20 into September 21.

A black bear has been spotted near one of the most popular hiking trails on Mount Takao in western Tokyo, prompting authorities to urge visitors to take precautions ahead of the five-day Silver Week holiday and the approaching autumn foliage season.

Starbucks is considering selling a majority stake in its Japanese business, potentially valued at as much as $3 billion, or about 470 billion yen, as the U.S. coffee chain seeks to concentrate management resources on its struggling North American operations.

Japan's Halloween Jumbo Lottery went on sale nationwide on September 16, offering a combined top payout of 400 million yen for the first prize and its adjacent-number prizes.

A new top-tier "Supreme Class" offering fully private compartments above the level of Green Car service will debut on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen on October 1, with passengers able to experience the new seating at a demonstration booth at Shin-Osaka Station.

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A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Kyoto City on September 15 for Ronald McDonald House Kyoto, a residential facility where children undergoing medical treatment will be able to stay together with their families.

Elementary school students in Fukuoka got a hands-on lesson in the importance of taxes on September 11, lifting a 10-kilogram replica of 100 million yen as part of a class designed to show how public money supports society.

Raccoons are increasingly appearing in urban areas of Japan, including residential neighborhoods near Shin-Osaka Station, raising concerns over disease, attacks on people and agricultural damage that reached about 700 million yen nationwide last year.

Japanese 15-year-olds spend an average of 2.3 hours browsing social media during their weekday free time, the shortest amount among 24 countries surveyed, according to data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development.

Renovation work has begun at a hospital in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture, as the city prepares to introduce a baby hatch for parents unable to raise their children and a confidential birth system that allows pregnant women to give birth without publicly disclosing their identities.

A disaster prevention experiment has shown how quickly a rain-soaked slope can collapse once visible cracks appear, highlighting the need for people in landslide-prone areas to evacuate before conditions become critical as the risk of disasters remains elevated through early next week.

Nearly 60% of Japanese high school students consider learning about different cultures "very important," the highest proportion among Japan, the United States, China and South Korea, according to a survey released by the National Institution for Youth Education.

The number of elderly people in Japan with no relatives to rely on is projected to rise to 4.48 million by 2050, or roughly one in nine seniors, prompting the government to create a new system under revised social welfare laws to support people with daily needs, hospitalization and arrangements after death.