Japanese people are smart and old

[Soler 10+ year member]

I'm sick of all these racist threads

ToKYO -- Every night, just before hopping into bed, Sachiko Sakurai plays a video game on a handheld console she recently bought. But Sakurai is not a child fixated on digital entertainment. She is 62 years old and looking forward to the birth of her first grandchild two months from now.

"I never imagined I would play an electronic game," Sakurai said. "But I'm enjoying this."What she plays is a brain-exercise game, Atama Scan, part of a broad range of mental acuity products that are all the rage in Japan: books, toys, food and other things, sold with the pledge that they can reenergize aging brains.

Brain-Exercise Origami is on sale. Seniors can take a Brain-Training Tour. Brain books line the shelves in the senior-care section of stores. And toy robots are offered for sale with such claims as "Patting this robot can stave off aging."

Japan is the fastest-aging nation in the world, with among the longest average life spans, 85 years for women and 79 for men. Combine those demographics with affluence and the result is a major market and a senior phenomenon. It doesn't matter that many mainstream medical researchers say the products have questionable practical effect.

Municipal governments are offering mental exercise programs for the elderly as part of efforts to lower the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease and alleviating the ever-increasing payout for senior nursing care insurance.

Krume city in southern Japan has a recollection class in which elderly residents gather in a room equipped with an old-fashioned kitchen table and dozens of items from the 1950s. The idea is to re-create the atmosphere of a half-century ago to help them remember youthful experiences. Aged minds can be energized when recalling past times, according to a city official.

Analysts said the current brain-training trend began in 2004 and 2005 when video games such as Sega Toys Co.'s Brain Trainer and Nintendo Co.'s Brain Age became smash hits. Since its launch, Brain Age for Nintendo's DS console has sold 6.7 million copies around the world, including 3.4 million in Japan.

"I want to keep my mind strong and healthy," said Sakurai, who operates a senior-care business in Saitama prefecture, north of Tokyo, and understands the hardships suffered by dementia patients.

Both games, which include simple math and word quizzes, rendered globally famous the name of Ryuta Kawashima, a neuroscientist who supervised development of the games. The professor at Tohoku University is also the writer of a collection of best-selling brain-exercise workbooks that came out in 2003.

Kawashima compiled the workbooks based on research he conducted at a senior-care home in Fukuoka prefecture. He has reported that simple calculation and reading activate the brain's prefrontal area in some people, resulting in an improvement in cognitive function.

"The symptoms of Alzheimer's disease improved, and that's a significant milestone in dementia research," Kawashima said in a telephone interview...

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[Soler 10+ year member]

Japanese students consistently rank among world leaders in international mathematics tests.

 

[Soler 10+ year member]

Recent statistics indicate that well over 95 percent of Japanese are literate, which is particularly impressive since the Japanese language is one of the world's most difficult languages to read and write.

 

[Soler 10+ year member]

Currently over 95 percent of Japanese high school students graduate compared to 89 percent of American students. Some Japanese education specialists estimate that the average Japanese high school graduate has attained about the same level of education as the average American after two years of college.

 

[iceteebone 5,000+ posts]

do japanese do bomb *** cat piss?

 

[Soler 10+ year member]

Japanese students spend at least six weeks longer in school each year than their American counterparts although Japan's school year was recently shortened when all required half-day Saturday public school attendance ended in 2002.

 

[SocMunky 10+ year member]

I for one welcome our new Japanese Overlords!

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[Soler 10+ year member]

Because Japanese teachers at all levels are better prepared in mathematics than their American counterparts, instruction in that subject is more sophisticated in Japan.

Japanese language instruction receives more attention in Japanese schools than English instruction in the United States because of the difficulty of learning written Japanese.

Virtually every Japanese student takes English language courses from the seventh grade through the final year of high school.

Japanese textbooks typically contain about half the pages of their American counterparts. Consequently, unlike many American teachers, almost all Japanese teachers finish their textbooks in an academic year.

 

[Soler 10+ year member]

In Japan almost all students are admitted to high school based upon entrance examination performance. Since entering a high-ranked high school increases a student's chance of university admission or of obtaining a good job after high school graduation, over half of Japanese junior high students attend private cram schools, or juku, to supplement their examination preparations.

 

[jimmclrk1 10+ year member]

Soler, get a life, shithead. I don't care what those slanty Japs are doing.

 

[regal8r 5,000+ posts]

go **** a dick

 

[astrolade 10+ year member]

Soler, get a life, shithead. I don't care what those slanty Japs are doing.

yeeeeeeeeeeee-haw you f'in redneck.....tell you what I am a slanty jap and I am just down the road from you........Im waiting:fce2fce:

 

[goodstuff 10+ year member]

//content.invisioncic.com/y282845/emoticons/nerd.gif.c6fa51ddf7ff75f1c0371fbc648f70ae.gif

ping a ning, a ning ning, ning ning ning.

 

[Captain_Ahab 5,000+ posts]

Japanese people are short, yellow, and annoying.

 

[DDeitz 10+ year member]

so what if dey can do mathematacs and psyance...but can they kick my @ss!!