From the read and weep (with laughter, if you prefer) department:
http://tinyurl.com/2hdzgr
Japan is suffering a crisis of confidence these days about its
ability to compete with its emerging Asian rivals, China and India.
But even in this fad-obsessed nation, one result was never expected:
a growing craze for Indian education.
Despite an improved economy, many Japanese are feeling a sense of
insecurity about the nation’s schools, which once turned out
students who consistently ranked at the top of international tests.
That is no longer true, which is why many people here are looking
for lessons from India, the country the Japanese see as the world’s
ascendant education superpower.
Bookstores are filled with titles like “Extreme Indian Arithmetic
Drills” and “The Unknown Secrets of the Indians.” Newspapers carry
reports of Indian children memorizing multiplication tables far
beyond nine times nine, the standard for young elementary students
in Japan.
And Japan’s few Indian international schools are reporting a surge
in applications from Japanese families.
--ravi