Articles

ARTICLES

 

General Articles

 

I have written a few articles for Japanese newspapers and magazines.  Most of these are on topics related to the Pacific War, MacArthur, or the Occupation of Japan.

 

 
Unique Memoirs Saved by Chance  
Special to the Japan Times, August 28, 2005 
 

This article, published in Japan’s leading English newspaper, is the one I am most proud of.  I discovered a previously unknown document that shed light on the logistics of the Japanese surrender ceremony on board the USS Missouri on September 2, 1945.  The Japan Times devoted half a page, including pictures, to the article.  Read it here, minus the pictures:  http://search.japantimes.co.jp/member/member.html?fl20050828x3.htm

 

The other half of the page was a related article based on my finding, Surrender Seen Close Up, by Burritt Sabin.   Read it here:  http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20050828x2.html
 

 

 
Lack of War Knowledge Among Youth Appalling
 

Japan Today, and Metropolis  (Japan’s No.1 English magazine) August 22, 2005

 

A joke lamenting the historical ignorance of today’s young Japanese goes something like this: Elder Japanese: “Do you know there was a war between Japan and the United States 60 years ago?”  Young Japanese: “Really?  Who won?”

 

This article, written for the 50th anniversary of the end of the war, delves into some of the reasons for this sad state of affairs.  Read it here:                http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/595/lastword.asp             
                                                                                                or http://archive.japantoday.com/jp/comment/1043

                                                                                                               

 
Sino-Japan History Study Offers Hope

Japan Today, December 21, 2006

 

I commented on the outlook for success as regards a history study group set up by China and Japan.  In order to improve bilateral ties strained over wartime history issues, history experts from both sides have been meeting to try and set the record straight.  Read it here:

http://archive.japantoday.com/jp/comment/1043

 

 
Misunderstanding MacArthur

Metropolis, December 2, 2005

 

I sometimes write letters to the editors of magazines or newspapers when I feel strongly enough about a subject to comment on it.  Here is one:  http://metropolis.co.jp/tokyo/610/mailbox.asp

 

 
Unambiguous Apology Needed
 

“Readers in Council” Japan Times, November 5, 2003

 

This is another “letter to the editor” on Japan’s lack of contriteness over the Pacific War.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/rc20031105a1.html

 

 
Oh’s Record Viewed as Tarnished
 

“Readers in Council” Japan Times, December 12, 1007

 

Not all letters I write to editors—just two or three times a year—are war related.  Here is one about Japanese baseball, which I have a low opinion of.  http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/rc20071211a3.html

 

 
Shortwave Radio: The World on a Dial
 

Kansai Time Out, February 1983 (An English magazine for foreigners living in the Osaka-Kobe area. The article is too old to be on the Internet.)

 

While living in Kobe in the early 1980’s, I was asked to write a 3-page article on Shortwave Radio.  For many years, before the advent of satellite radio and TV, I was a short-wave enthusiast. I have had about six dedicated s/w radios, one of which, Sony ICF 2010 (2001D in Japan), I still occasionally listen to. (I say occasionally because now I have a digital-satellite radio which gives me 40 crystal-clear stereo stations, without advertisements, for $7.00/month.  See http://www.1worldspace.com/
 
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Academic Articles

 

I have never considered myself either an academic or a scholar.  What I am is just an ordinary English teacher of the four skills of listening, speaking, reading, and writing.  However, being employed by a university, one is expected to do some research and have some articles published, and I managed to do a few.  Here is a list:

 

Private Lesson Teaching, in “A Guide to Teaching English in Japan.  Compiled and Edited by Charles Wordell. Publisher: Japan Times, 1985
 

Since I had researched private lesson teaching for my M.A. in ESL Thesis, Charles Wordell asked me to write the private lesson teaching section in his book.  There were sixteen articles on various aspects of teaching English in Japan, such as teaching children, teaching at universities, teaching at companies, teaching oral English, and more.  Charles was an old friend; we both began our ESL careers in Japan at a language school in Kobe in 1972.  I say “was” because, tragically, he drowned while scuba diving in Guam a few years ago.  The book sold well, and I believe it helped a lot of teachers get started on their careers in Japan.

 

Some Sources of Syntactic Ambiguity in English

1983 in Oita University Research Bulletin

 

An Analysis of the Treatment of Count and Non-Count Nouns by Five Different Authors

1988 in Oita University Research Bulletin

 

An Examination of New Student’s Attitudes Toward the Study of English and Their

Expectations for University-level English Courses

1993 in Oita University Research Bulletin

 
 

 

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