| [ News ] |
Issue 48 |
|
News From Around Kyushu INTERCOM "Clarify"Business Intercom, the gaijin owned Fukuoka based translation, DTP and text book company say they have recently "clarified" their business into two separate companies, Intercom and Intercom Press. Intercom, under Ed Lipsett will continue to do translation and DTP work while Intercom Press will concentrate on selling the company's English language textbooks. Ed Rosa and Paul Shimizu will be its mainstays. Both companies are Kabushiki Kaisha. Intercom was formed 4 yours ago when the "two Eds" brought their respective companies together. Said Rosa "We've used the last 4 years to build strong systems so the two companies can stand on their own". The split is believed to be amicable - with directorships being held in both companies. Lipsett says both are expected to make a healthy profit. The separation is believed to be a consequence of the very different business areas the old Intercom pursued. Each required a different focus. Shimizu explained that the DTP/translation side of the company had daily or weekly deadlines whereas the publishing arm had, effectively, a yearly deadline. The new Intercom gets half its business from Tokyo, including the translation work on such prestigious journals as Nikkei Electronic Asia. Intercom Press publishes a variety of English language teaching texts including "Marathon Mouth" and their latest "Let's Write about it / Talk about it". Intercom are on 092 712 9120, Intercom Press are on 092 726 5068. NEW AMERICAN CENTER A slimmed down American Center will open in Tenjin sometime in January, once specific U.S. bureaucratic hurdles are cleared. Greggory Crouch, director of the center since the summer, says the new center's opening schedule has been delayed by over a month as specific set up guidelines established by Washington D.C. officials are met. He cites specific safety requirements, including the installation of anti-terrorist security doors, as cause for the delay. "We can't open to the public until the doors are installed," said Crouch. The American Center, previously located near Ohori Park, closed in mid-October. The center will reopen at its new location, in what is currently being called the "Nishitetsu D Building", between Kego Park and the Nishitetsu Rail Station in Tenjin. The new center is substantially smaller, but more accessible that the previous location, says Crouch. A smaller budget and staff have forced the operation to become leaner. "We are no longer targeting the general public," he says. Illustrating how much smaller it has become over the years, Crouch said the center employed 17 people in 1960, the year the American consulate opened in Fukuoka. A handful of folks now run the center. The facility has become more of a reference center for specialist seeking information in American periodicals and journals. Previously, arts programming was frequently offered. Fukuoka's American Center seems to also have friends in the right places. The city and members of the business community have been instrumental in keeping the center alive and well in Fukuoka, while other centers in Japan, most recently in Kyoto, have closed. Walter Mondale, retiring U.S. Ambassador to Japan, was scheduled to attend the opening of the new center, but because of the delay and his imminent return to America, he won't be making it to Kyushu. Crouch does expect the new center to be dedicated at an Open House party sometime in January. The address of the center is: 2-2-67 Tenjin. 8 Fl. BULLET TRAIN JR Nishinippon will start operation of their new bullet train "The Shinkansen 500" on March 22nd, next year. With its inaguration, Osaka will be just 2 hours 17 minutes away from Hakata, cutting 15 minutes from the existing fastest Shinkansen "Nozomi". This sleek train will be the fastest in the world, ranking with the French TGV. EXPENSES.. In relation to the alleged misuse of tax money nationwide, the Nishinippon Shinbun revealed that travel expenses for the Fukuoka Pref. Inspection Committee totaled more than 40 million yen last year. This amount is the biggest in the country, 5 times that of Osaka. The committee consists of 4 committee members and 33 staffmembers, making travel expenses of 1.4 million yen per head per year. The Fukuoka City Ombudsman expects much of the money will remain unaccounted for. 12/7 ARSON With regard to the series of arsons in Fukuoka City this past Fall, a suspect has confessed to police that he started the fires at more than 20 empty houses and rooms to seek revenge on homeless people. According to the suspect, a 24-year-old man, his belongings were stolen in the summer out of an empty room where he was then staying. Ever since then, he had been trying to destroy places where homeless people stay at night, mostly abandoned rooms in the empty buildings. There are about 3300 abandoned rooms and houses in the Fukuoka City area, says an official at the Fukuoka City Fire Department, of which 70% have unknown ownership. The Department is calling for the public's cooperation to avoid further such cases which could happen in the future. 12/7 ATTACK Some third year public junior high school students in Oshima County in Kagoshima Pref. were charged by the police in November this year for assulting and attacking a 53-year-old male teacher. The students allegedly beat the teacher on the ground after school when he told them to stop playing baseball and go home. Following this case, at the end of November, another student got upset over a minor dissagreement and hit a 25-year-old assistant native English teacher in the stomach. The school principal expressed his regret. 12/10 Issue 48 |
|
home | e.mail | opinion | index | help Copyright The Gaijin Gleaner
unless otherwise |
