tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post3434181909290328868..comments2023-10-20T18:03:01.821+09:00Comments on GlobalTalk 21: The Parable of Taro Aso, Cub Reporter; and an AnnouncementJun Okumurahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-24049704972618822112009-04-04T20:50:00.000+09:002009-04-04T20:50:00.000+09:00No, I'll look out for your posts and let's leave i...No, I'll look out for your posts and let's leave it at that. It was interesting, but I think I misunderstood your post, and I am supposed to writing about Sado island not the language proficiency of correspondents!tonyhttp://tonymcnicol.com/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-24119889379401803042009-04-04T19:14:00.000+09:002009-04-04T19:14:00.000+09:00Tony: I was specifically referring to The Economis...Tony: I was specifically referring to <I>The Economist</I>. Other than that, I'll be posting on the specific points that I raised in <I>Globaltalk 21 Raw</I>, and with all the other things on my mind and the fact that I have to earn a living (I do this for love (like your blog), not money), let me know after those posts if you want to continue this discussion, will you?Jun Okumurahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00291478225274759649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-32776756.post-60478061879047860312009-04-04T17:07:00.000+09:002009-04-04T17:07:00.000+09:00"I’ve never met a journalist there, then, and sinc..."I’ve never met a journalist there, then, and since, who can really read Japanese"<BR/><BR/>Jun, I've worked with the Japanese media in London, and now I work as a freelance journalist in Tokyo. I can tell you which group of correspondents are equipped with the better language skills for their jobs, and its not the UK-based ones! <BR/><BR/>When you were at METI, the foreign media could afford to employ large staffs of researchers and translators. Correspondents were correspondents first, and local experts second. They would move to a new country every few years and each time rely on staff to help them. <BR/><BR/>As you know, there are barely any bureaux left now, so media employ local stringers with the necessary language skills to do the job on their own. Several stringers and corresponents I know have degrees in Japanese studies and years in Japan. <BR/><BR/>I don't know what your definition of "really reading" is but I can read a newspaper or a government report with relative ease, which I think is perfectly good enough to do my job - and certainly better than having everything filtered through Japanese staff. There are plenty of foreign journalists in Tokyo with better skills than me.<BR/><BR/>Also, please bear in mind that even if correspondents can't speak English, they aren't shut out from Japanese sources because there are plenty of Japanese people who speak good English. Again, far more now than when you were at METI. <BR/><BR/>I think the whole language issue is a red herring and, I fear, - correct me if I am wrong - a coded way of saying that "only Japanese people can truly understand Japan". Having language skills is simply a useful tool. <BR/><BR/>I was going to write that maybe you don't meet many foreign journalists these days. But perhaps, on the other hand, you do. Have you considered the fact that your excellent English skills tend to attract the dwindling number of foreign journalists who don't speak Japanese?tonyhttp://tonymcnicol.com/noreply@blogger.com