Japan Is Full of Shit: Japanese Nobel Laureate

choi

Dennis Normile, Nobel Laureate Shuji Nakamura Is Still Angry at Japan. Science, Jan 19, 2015 (blog).
news.sciencemag.org/asia/2015/01/nobel-laureate-shuji-nakamura-still-angry-japan

Quote:

“They [Japanese] couldn't sell outside of Japan. * * * [because] Japanese are the worst [in terms of] English performance.

“The Japanese entrance exam system is very bad. And China, Japan, Korea are all the same. * * * I think the Asian educational system is a waste of time.

"’I think that until the Japanese economy collapses, no changes will happen at all.

My comment:
(a) I totally agree that from primary to high schools (inclusive), the education is “a waste of time.” having little use in preparing for the future and in thinking logically. But college education seems to be worthwhile, at least for me.

(b) “Shūji Nakamura * * * and fellow Japanese Hiroshi Amano; and Isamu AKASAKI shared 2014's physics award”
(i) Hiroshi AMANO 天野 浩
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiroshi_Amano
(1960- ; "He received his BE, ME and DE degree in 1983, 1985 and 1989, respectively, from Nagoya University. * * * In 1992, He moved to Meijo University, where he was an assistant professor. * * * He joined Professor Isamu Akasaki's group in 1982 as an undergraduate student")
(ii) English Wiki does not explain, but Japanese one does: “大学4年から指導を受けていた指導教官の赤崎勇教授から「何でもこなせる学生」であると高く評価され、強い勧めを受けて博士課程に進学。1989年名古屋大学 工学博士。論文の題は「GaNのMOVPE成長と光電物性及び青色発光素子への応用に関する研究」。 名古屋大学工学部助手を経て、1992年から、赤崎研究室が名城大学に移ったことに伴い、退官し、名城大学理工学部講師に着任。

ROUGH translation: He worked for 赤崎勇教授--who praised him as 何でもこなせる学生, a student who can makes anything happen, achieve anything--since a senior at 名古屋大学 (1982), through his doctoral dissertation (same university), moving with the latter to Meijō University where the latter retired and the former was appointed an instructor.   
(A) 名古屋大学 is a national university founded in 1871. “As of 2014, five alumni of the university have received the Nobel Prize in science.” en.wikipedia.org
(B) 名城大学 is a private university established in 1926 and also based in Nagoya. “The name Meijō derives itself from the abbreviated kanji form of Nagoya Castle (名古屋城 Nagoya-jō). en.wikipedia.org  "During World War II, the castle was used as the Tokai district army headquartersm," bombed and destroyed in 1945, and was reconstructed 1957-1959.” Wiki
(C) 青色 (in Japanese; can be pronounced with either Chinese or Japanese pronunciations) = blue color
(iii) 赤崎勇 (1929- , presently 85 years old; has worked on GaN-based blue LEDs since 1960s)  en.wikipedia.org

Japanese Wiki: “1964年からは新設の松下電器産業東京研究所に移って * * * 1981年より1992年まで名古屋大学工学部電子工学科教授を務め研究室を開設。* * * 1992年に名古屋大学を定年退官。その後は名城大学教授に就任し、現在は名城大学終身教授、名古屋大学特別教授を務める。

rough translation: Moved to Matsushita Research Institute Tokyo, Inc (MRIT) in 1964 * * * professor in Nagoya Univ 1981-1992 when [at 63] he faced compulsory retirement 定年退官. Afterwards inaugurated as professor at Meijō Univ where he is professor emeritus.

(c) “Amano and Akasaki laid the groundwork by getting gallium-nitride, a notoriously finicky material, to emit a dim blue glow while working together at Nagoya University in the late 1980s. In 1993, Nakamura, who held only a masters' degree and was toiling practically on his own at a small specialty chemical manufacturer in rural Shikoku, cracked the fabrication challenges to get a bright blue LED that was commercially viable.”

I will discuss more about Dr Nakamura in the next posting.
(d) "The Japanese legal system is the worst in the world. If there is a lawsuit in the US, first there is a discovery process. We have to give all the evidence to the [adversary’s] lawyers.”

Many American courts consider discovery process its greatest milestone, enabling parties and courts to make decisions based on facts, rather than conjecture. Also partly thanks to it, most cases do not reach trial and are settled in advance.