Colleges Japan

What is causing America's competitive decline and its incorrigible trade deficit with Japan? That haunting question has been studied to death by the experts, but one little-known statistic suggests that study itself--or the lack of it--may be to blame. Behind the $50-billion U.S.-Japan trade gap is a bilateral "education gap" now hovering at a ratio of about 24 to 1.

When Takahiko Someya first became admissions officer at Tokyo's private Toyo University, the position was about as demanding as the proverbial Maytag repairman's job. Applications poured in, high schools begged him to take their graduates, and selecting an incoming class was a simple case of comparing test scores. His ample free time was filled with golf, tennis, diving and hang gliding. A decade later, Someya is up at 5 a.m.

If General Motors spent $75 million to bring a team of Japanese quality control specialists to Detroit to teach the auto giant how to build better cars, should the Asahi Shimbun call those experts economic traitors? Would medical researchers from the prestigious Pasteur Institute be betraying France if they accepted a $2.5-million contract from Stanford University to help the school set up a state-of-the-art AIDS research facility? Silly questions? Apparently not.

Oregon's Bill Musgrave completed 12 of 18 passes for 154 yards as the West beat the East, 20-14, Saturday for its 11th victory in 16 Japan Bowls. "It was a pretty fun first quarter," Musgrave said of the West's early 17-0 lead. "We had a lot of good receivers to throw to." After only three days of practice, West coach Don James of Washington said it "amazed me how well they played. We simplified the offense and defense, and they went out and played it."

Pepperdine University of Malibu has received an offer to build a $60-million campus near Tokyo as part of a controversial Japanese plan to open cultural and education centers for American and Japanese students. Pepperdine officials stressed that negotiations are still under way and that significant differences over financing and curriculum remain. If Pepperdine accepts the offer, it would become the first university in the United States to own and operate a campus in Japan.

When Takahiko Someya first became admissions officer at Tokyo's private Toyo University, the position was about as demanding as the proverbial Maytag repairman's job. Applications poured in, high schools begged him to take their graduates, and selecting an incoming class was a simple case of comparing test scores. His ample free time was filled with golf, tennis, diving and hang gliding. A decade later, Someya is up at 5 a.m.

Oregon's Bill Musgrave completed 12 of 18 passes for 154 yards as the West beat the East, 20-14, Saturday for its 11th victory in 16 Japan Bowls. "It was a pretty fun first quarter," Musgrave said of the West's early 17-0 lead. "We had a lot of good receivers to throw to." After only three days of practice, West coach Don James of Washington said it "amazed me how well they played. We simplified the offense and defense, and they went out and played it."

The mention of the Buddhist organization Soka Gakkai in "Japan Sects Offer Personal Path in Rudderless Society" (March 26) gives a sketchy and unfair picture of a movement devoted to the happiness of individuals and a peaceful world. The reason that Soka Gakkai (Society for the Creation of Value) has become "entrenched and powerful" is because it offers people a sound philosophy along with a religious practice for developing their lives in a healthy way. On a societal level, Soka Gakkai promotes peace, culture and education for the purpose of raising the human condition and providing common ground where all people can engage in dialogue and work together toward a better world.

Americans in general are showing more interest in learning foreign languages, according to the Modern Language Assn., a nonprofit group in New York. A 1986 survey showed that for the first time in 14 years, more than 1 million Americans were enrolled in language classes. Enrollments had been declining since they peaked in 1968 at 1.1 million. The association said the number of Americans learning a foreign language between 1972 and 1980 declined 8.3%.

For years, they waited for the onrushing wave to smash on our shores. For years, they--the soccer aficionados who have always had to fight for what they saw as their rightful place in the American sports picture--said that it was inevitable. Soccer was going to be the sport of the '70s. They said that in the 1960s. Soccer was going to be the sport of the '80s. They said that in the 1970s. And now in the '80s, guess which sport they say we'll all be involved with in the '90s?

If General Motors spent $75 million to bring a team of Japanese quality control specialists to Detroit to teach the auto giant how to build better cars, should the Asahi Shimbun call those experts economic traitors? Would medical researchers from the prestigious Pasteur Institute be betraying France if they accepted a $2.5-million contract from Stanford University to help the school set up a state-of-the-art AIDS research facility? Silly questions? Apparently not.

What is causing America's competitive decline and its incorrigible trade deficit with Japan? That haunting question has been studied to death by the experts, but one little-known statistic suggests that study itself--or the lack of it--may be to blame. Behind the $50-billion U.S.-Japan trade gap is a bilateral "education gap" now hovering at a ratio of about 24 to 1.

Pepperdine University of Malibu has received an offer to build a $60-million campus near Tokyo as part of a controversial Japanese plan to open cultural and education centers for American and Japanese students. Pepperdine officials stressed that negotiations are still under way and that significant differences over financing and curriculum remain. If Pepperdine accepts the offer, it would become the first university in the United States to own and operate a campus in Japan.

A week from today, Korean American children will take a moment to bow to senior citizens at the Garden Grove Community Meeting Center, displaying respect for their elders in a New Year's ritual that will accompany traditional Korean dances and tea ceremonies. An estimated 400 people at the festival will feast on bulgogi (barbecued beef) and kimchi (pickled cabbage) .

THE OLD SALEM COLLEGE tennis courts on Main Street, Tomo and his Japanese pals Oni and Kai methodically slam low base-line shots at each other over a sagging net. A Sony boom-box blares a Motley Crue tape. Six local teen-age girls stand around smoking cigarettes, drinking soda and talking to several other Japanese boys. As usual, an after-school circus of 25 or so bicyclists, basketball players, skateboarders and spectators swirls around. But Tomo, Oni and Kai don't notice.