“OUR JAPAN!” is a highly recommended New Zealand born resource for all students studying Japanese. It contains 16 A3 pages of vibrant, up-to-date articles, photographs, study materials, cartoon and information written in both English and Japanese.

Obtaining well-written authentic materials regularly can be a time consuming task for teachers, so this monthly publication has been warmly received by both educators and students of Japanese in New Zealand and more recently in Australia.

Some unique and excellent features of “Our Japan!” that I truly admire include:

• its original illustrations that are full of Japanese pop flavour as you can easily sense from its cover page
• its stimulating, attractive, and fun way of presenting contemporary cultural topics through the eyes of young people
• its relevant and quality language exercises created by experienced educators which serve the needs of learners (and teachers) in Oceania
• its inventive approach that encourages students to take part in making of the publication: Purikura (sticker photo) contest, “Know all about Japan quiz” and more
• its remarkable role in building a wider community of Japanese language educators

And above all, “Our Japan!” is a rare product of constant effort of a young dreamer who obviously had to start everything from scratch.
You can smell the pleasant freshness of a hand-made product with the creators’ love and devotion in it.

Congratulations on the first four issues of OUR JAPAN! I have been involved with Japanese language, literature, and culture studies for over 35 years, and I know how important it is for learners to have topical and informative material that is presented in a stimulating, attractive, and fun manner. OUR JAPAN does all that.
Another special aspect of this well-written teaching/learning resource is the fact that the editors have decided to focus their attention on Kiwi and Australian students of Japanese. I am not aware of another publication that goes out of its way to serve the needs of learners (and teachers) in Oceania like OUR JAPAN.

Finally, language is the most important element in this publication, so it is very satisfying indeed to see some articles and sections in English, some in Japanese, and even some in both English and Japanese. Providing both languages may be time consuming and tedious for the editors, but it provides a great service to language learners. The feature article with Leonard Eto in your July 2007 issue serves as a fine example of this. (As a student of visual culture as well, I have to say that I find the illustrations scattered throughout OUR JAPAN very kawaii and appropriate for your readers. For me, illustrations are also a form of communication.)

Please keep up the good work. I'll continue to promote OUR JAPAN to students and colleagues whenever I get the chance. I know they'll benefit from reading and enjoying it.

Best wishes for your continued success.

I read with interest the mock-ups for the first edition of Our Japan! and was impressed with its vibrant content and layout. Your aim to provide topical language study materials and promote international understanding between New Zealand and Japan are goals well worth pursuing.
New Zealand and Japan have a broad and very good relationship founded on common values and shared interests, and I attach great importance to it. People-to-people links between New Zealand and Japan are broad, deep and well established. As you are no doubt well aware, there are a wide range of linkages between New Zealand and Japanese educational institutions. New Zealand is a popular destination for many Japanese tertiary students and people wising to improve their English language abilities. I understand around six percent of all Japanese students and researchers that choose to study abroad come to New Zealand.
It is excellent to see that through your initiative there will now be a valuable and exciting new resource to encourage Japanese language learners in New Zealand. I wish you and your editorial team all the best as you embark on what is a very worthwhile and exciting project.

Yours sincerely,
Rt Hon Winston Peters
Minister of Foreign Affairs

It is commendable that N3 Communications Ltd has created a new, stimulating teaching and learning resource for Japanese language learners in New Zealand. Your publication adds to the existing range of resources and further enables users to test and extend their translation and comprehension ability. Having the opportunity to see the language within a cultural context can enrich students’ learning experiences adding depth to their understanding.
I wish you every success for your newspaper.

Yours sincerely
Hon Dr Michael Cullen
Minister for Tertiary Education

My warmest congratulations on your initiative.
I am sure your newspaper will serve a very useful role, not only providing students with much needed reference material, but also strengthening mutual understanding between Japan and New Zealand through it articles on culture and the Japanese way of life. I hope it will encourage students with their studies and attract non-Japanese language students to consider learning the language.
May I wish you every success in your new venture,

Yours sincerely
Keiko Furuta
Director
Japan Information and Cultural Centre