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ALC Newsletter  No. 072 11/14/07
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By the International Marketing Team at ALC Press
http://www.alc.co.jp/international

Contents:
1) The "Dear Readers" Column: Messages from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press
2) Topics in Japan #28: Food safety threatened more than ever
3) Quiz on Japan #11: Who are the "Internet cafe refugees"?
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Dear Readers,

In newsletter#070 issued on 10/17/07, we wrote that we had purchased  a SIM in Second Life, an Internet-based 3-D virtual world. We opened our SIM on October 18 and since then we have been offering a free English conversation lesson from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. (Japan time) every night.  The class takes place in a casual and friendly atmosphere at English Café located in the center of our SIM.  We go to our SIM to observe the lesson every night so our working hours are getting longer but it's fun!  It's a very interesting experiment and experience.

Now you can see a commercial for our SIM at YouTube at:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n_yCoDhqA0

Please take a look at it!

Best wishes from the International Marketing Team at ALC Press.

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Topics in Japan #28: Food safety threatened more than ever
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If we look back at the year 2007 in Japan, the series of food safety and false labeling scandals is an inescapable topic.  This year began with the shocking news that FUJIYA, the long-established confectionery and restaurant chain, had been using expired milk for some of their products. As a result, the president was replaced and FUJIYA had to temporarily stop the confectionery production and retail.

And FUJIYA was just the beginning.  In August, it was reported that Ishiya Seika, again a long-established confectionery maker, had been deliberately mislabelling the expiration dates on some of their products.  Then in October, we got to know that Akafuku, maker of the traditional and famous red-bean-covered rice cake, had also been deliberately mislabelling the expiration dates. They had even been recycling the red-bean paste and the rice cake of unsold products.

The food safety issue is not only about confectionery makers. The meat manufacturer Meat Hope were also found to have been mislabelling their minced meat as "100% beef," though it was actually mixed with chicken and pork.  Another meat manufacturer Hinaidori was accused of taking meat from low quality chickens and shipping it out as top-quality meat.

After this slew of food scandals, consumers are now losing trust in the food industry itself.  Some now feel it's impossible to be sure that we're getting safe food, unless we produce all the ingredients by ourselves.  We are definitely hoping for a stricter quality checking system, not to mention a sense of justice and more honesty from food companies.

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Quiz on Japan #11: Who are the "Internet cafe refugees"?
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How much do you know about Japan? We'll give you a quiz in each issue, so try to find the right answer!

Answer to last week's quiz:
Last week's quiz question was "Why was November 3 chosen as Culture Day?"  The answer is: (b) Because the Japanese Constitution  was promulgated on this date.  Because the constitution emphasized the importance of peace and culture, November 3 was later set as "Culture Day."

Quiz for this week:
Recently, the phrase "Internet cafe refugees" has started appearing in the news.  Who are the Internet cafe refugees?

(a) Illegal immigrants who stay and hide themselves in Internet cafes
(b) People who cannot get into Internet cafes, because the cafes are
too popular and always crowded
(c) People who cannot afford to get into Internet cafes, because
they don't have a job
(d) People who constantly stay in Internet cafes, because they don't
have anywhere else to live

Check out the correct answer in the next issue!

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Thank you for reading!

*Back issues of the ALC Newsletter are available at:
http://www.alc.co.jp/international/Newsletter.html

*If you wish to be removed from this newsletter or change the e-mail address to which it is sent, please let us know by e-mailing us at:
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Publisher: ALC Press, Inc.
                 2-54-12 Eifuku, Suginami-ku, Tokyo 168-8611 Japan
Writers: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press / Ayako Ishimoto
Editor: The International Marketing Team at ALC Press

Copyright (c) 2007 ALC Press, Inc. All rights reserved.