May 28, 2007

Dear JOI Community,

Will you still need me,
Will you still feed me,
When I'm sixty-four?

The so-called baby boomers of Japan (people born during the post-war boom starting in 1947) will relate to these lyrics in more ways than one. They grew up listening to this song and now suddenly it is starting to make ironic sense.

Incidentally, although he's a few years older than Japan's baby boomers, Paul McCartney, the writer of this classic Beatles tune, will, in fact, be 64 years old next month.

Baby Boom + 60 Years

Japan has one of the fastest aging populations in the world. By 2025, the number of Japanese aged 50 or over will account for half the population, according to Tokyo's National Institute of Population and Social Security Research. What's more, this year about 7 million baby boomers will begin making their way toward retirement.

Japan's population pyramid gets turned upside down by 2050.

Japan' s society must adjust to absorb the impact that the population shifts will bring. Over the next 20 years, the challenge will be to design an effective social welfare system, and to look for ways to finance the growing needs of a whole (aging) generation.

Even though the changes are still a few years away, some interesting differences in the landscape of urban and rural Japan have already appeared. Since nursing home care is not covered by the national health insurance program, private nursing homes have begun to sprout up in towns all over the country.

A typical "purpose-built" retirement home—a facility built expressly for care of the aged.

Various business premises have been converted into care facilities as companies race to join the new lucrative market of providing for the aged. Company dormitories from the economic bubble of the 1980s and early 1990s are being swiftly revamped for elderly care.

Until last year, a bank; now, a day-care center for the elderly.

As the ranks of Japan's elderly continue to swell, this upward trend in nursing care facilities is sure to gather speed. If you live in Japan or have a chance to visit and happen up on a nursing home, see if you can tell whether the building was originally intended as a care facility, or looks more like a bank—or a conference center or a dormitory—"repurposed" to serve Japan's newest senior citizens.

New JLPT Level 2 Preparation Classes

FUJINAWA Miyako

If you are planning to take the Japanese Language Proficiency Test (JLPT) Level 2 this year, you'll be interested in the newest class at our Japanese language school. Starting in June , Fujinawa sensei is starting a new JLPT Level 2 Prep FlexLessons class in the evenings (Japan time), and Momii sensei is renaming his afternoon FlexLessons class for the same purpose. In both classes, you'll study the essential skills for passing the JLPT—grammar, vocabulary, Kanji, and reading comprehension—using textbooks and other materials specifically designed for success on the JLPT. Learn more here.

MOMII Shigefumi

Support Tips

	About the Alternate Rooms: Every JOI classroom has an alternate room, which is used in case of problems or maintenance with the original classroom. Occasionally during class, there may be a problem with the classroom servers. In this case, the teacher will instruct you to change to the alternate room. You can find the URL for each classroom's alternate room at the top of the text chat. If the teacher instructs you to change classes click on the URL, and go to the new room. Note: The alternate room URL is also shown on your Current Reservations page next to the classroom name. In other cases, your class time may coincide with the regular (but randomly timed) maintenance routine. During the maintenance routine, the classrooms are emptied with a message like: "This is room is about to be rebooted : You will be ejected from this room" Don't panic—just go to the Alternate Room. If you don't have enough time to click on the alternate room URL before being ejected, you can find the URL on your Current Reservations page next to the classroom name.
	Are you having problems hearing in the classroom? Have you checked that your headphone volume is turned up and that the jack is in the correct plug-in of your computer? For more info, please read this FAQ.
	Is your classroom exhibiting strange behavior (clicking noises, delays, and so on)? If McAfee anti-virus or other security software is installed on your computer, it may be interfering with the classroom software. Please read more here.
	The classroom software is not Unicode-compatible. To be able to type and see Japanese in the text chat area of the classroom, you need to install a simple utility application from Microsoft. For details, please check here.
	A hint to make sure you're heard in the classroom: After finishing what you have to say, keep the button pressed for just a second longer. If you release the button too soon, your last word or two gets clipped off.
	Don't be shy! Take a minute and add your comment to the Message Board. Other JOI students would definitely like to hear your take on Japanese culture and language.

Thanks, everyone, for helping make JOI a great online Japanese school! I hope you're having fun learning Japanese online. And don't forget about the lesson blog (login required)—take a look and post a comment in English or Japanese.

If you have other questions, be sure to check out the FAQs, or if you don't find an answer there, write me at support@japonin.com.

Regards,
 
Moses
JOI Support