COMMUNICATIVE TIMES No.1
A Newsletter for Japanese University Student Writers

Spring 1999

John Pereira (Editor)
Dr. Simon Potter (Associate Editor; Saitama University, College of Liberal Arts)
Toto Akeru (Art Director)

"We are the world" has become much more than a song title or cliche.

As our lives become increasingly interdependent, the role of English all over the planet, including Japan, is undergoing a change of face.

In the past five years or so, the Japanese - especially at the university level - have begun to use the language in a more meaningful way.

We believe this to be a significant change since a language, to be vital, must be aggressive, in the sense that it must communicate the thoughts and ideas of the person using it.

To further this development, and to contribute in a small way, we are publishing Communicative Times, a periodical we hope will grow into something more than a vehicle for Japanese university writers in English. A few words, we feel, can go a long way towards explaining Japan to the rest of the world, if those words are written by a Japanese.

And, as more and more Japanese reach out to the world through the written word, no doubt there will be a need for new forms, new bottles to contain the new sake'.

So, it gives us great pleasure to be able to introduce in this maiden issue a new form - the poessay - a minimalistic and poetic sort of way to get your point across!