Latest news with #Kubo
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Liverpool 'make contact' with €60m star
Contact made with Takefusa Kubo Over at Real Sociedad, the Japanese 23-year-old has a very uncertain future this summer. His intentions to remain with the Basque team, but the club's manager has since left which is making him doubt everything and assess his options before he commits to staying put for next season. Advertisement Liverpool have been lingering around the possibility of signing Kubo and last month, it was reported that he had put in his transfer request. Given the news about Martin Zubimendi joining Arsenal, it is plausible to suggest that the right-winger might also be on the move this summer. According to AS, he is now set to change his agent and once that's all sorted, which is expected to be later this week, the player and his representation will sit down and to discuss his future might. The report claims: "The Premier League keeps knocking on his door, primarily Liverpool and Arsenal". As such, while Salah's short-term future is no longer a problem, we could potentially see Kubo join the Reds anyway in order to learn from the Egyptian King before he goes on to succeed him.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
🤔Take Kubo: new agents, future up in the air
🤔Take Kubo: new agents, future up in the air This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. Kubo's words after the match against Athletic Club have raised alarms at Real Sociedad. "My idea is to stay at Real and for the team to improve, but like the coach, you never know". Advertisement Let's remember that Imanol left the txuri-urdin after the last match of the season. And this is added to the fact that "Take" would have changed agencies for this market due to the lack of European competition affecting his goals. Fabrizio Romano confirmed that there will be meetings about his future next week. Now, the club is calm because his contract runs until 2029 with a clause of 60 million euros. 📸 Juan Manuel Serrano Arce - 2025 Getty Images
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Sport
- Yahoo
🤔Take Kubo: switches agents, future up in the air
This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇪🇸 here. Kubo's words after the match against Athletic Club have set off alarm bells at Real Sociedad. "My idea is to stay at Real and for the team to improve, but like the coach said, you never know."Let's remember that Imanol left the txuri-urdin after the last match of the season. Added to this is the fact that "Take" is said to have changed his representation agency for this transfer window because the lack of European competition affected his goals. Fabrizio Romano confirmed that there will be meetings about his future next week. However, the club is calm because his contract runs until 2029 with a release clause of 60 million euros. 📸 Juan Manuel Serrano Arce - 2025 Getty Images
The Mainichi
05-05-2025
- Science
- The Mainichi
Editorial: Urgent action needed on worsening working conditions in Japan's public ed system
Public education has long underpinned the foundations of Japanese society. Yet today, exhaustion among teachers who directly face and support children at schools has reached critical levels. Immediate measures to address this crisis are a must. Japan maintains impressive standards in terms of children's intellectual abilities. Students in Japan have consistently ranked among those in the top countries in the OECD's Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), an international survey conducted every three years to evaluate the scholastic abilities of 15-year-olds, since 2000, when the survey began. PISA measures students' ability to practically apply knowledge and to think across three core competencies: mathematical literacy, scientific literacy and reading proficiency. According to the latest 2022 survey, among the 37 participating member nations, Japanese students ranked first in both mathematics and science and second in reading skills. Although there is a trend internationally for students from economically advantaged households to earn higher scores, even students from economically disadvantaged households in Japan achieve high math scores, indicating narrower educational inequalities compared to their peers in other countries. Japan also ranks highly in areas beyond academics. For instance, Japanese students' sense of belonging at school is the sixth highest among OECD countries, surpassing Nordic educational frontrunners including Finland. This indicates that many children find schools to be welcoming spaces. Mounting pressure to deliver results Most elementary and junior high schools handling the education of children up to age 15 in Japan are public. It can thus be said that the comprehensive strength of Japan's public education has laid the foundation for the impressive abilities exhibited by Japanese students. Teachers not only handle subject instruction but also oversee student guidance in daily areas like meal provision through school lunch programs, classroom cleaning and school events. The shared value underpinning Japanese public education has long been the idea that "no child should be left behind." However, the reality at schools is becoming increasingly severe. "Teachers are unable to engage in meaningful, essential education work that fosters children's growth. Instead, they are becoming exhausted, overwhelmed by tasks that bring no joy or sense of purpose," says Takashi Kubo, a former principal at Kikawaminami Elementary School in Osaka. In 2021, Kubo submitted a proposal detailing these realities to then-Osaka Mayor Ichiro Matsui. Although Kubo was initially protesting the chaos caused by the sudden mandatory introduction of online classes amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the deeper message in his statement expressed alarm about the future state of Japan's public education. In Osaka Prefecture and the city of Osaka, education reforms promoting competition have been pushed forward by leaders from Nippon Ishin (the Japan Innovation Party). According to reports, schools were repeatedly pressured to increase their students' scores on nationwide academic achievement tests, resulting in prolonged hours working on administrative tasks including paperwork, frequently requiring staff to labor late into the night. Nationally, educators' burdens continue to grow. Recent revisions to national curriculum guidelines have increased the educational content required to be taught. Additionally, teachers must implement new methods in the classroom, including the increased use of IT equipment. Educators are also experiencing mounting pressure to address social issues, notably rising student truancy and bullying cases. To preserve the high quality of Japan's public education, concrete steps must be taken now to improve the continually deteriorating working conditions of teachers. The national government has already outlined relief policies for teachers, such as raising allowances provided uniformly in lieu of overtime pay, increasing teacher numbers and limiting junior high school class sizes to 35 students, following similar measures for elementary schools. However, Japan's public expenditure on education remains comparatively low internationally. In fact, the nation's education spending is among the lowest among OECD member states. Reforming teachers' working conditions is an urgent priority When Kubo retired three years ago, class sizes at his school had already fallen below 25 students. Compared to when there were 30 or more students per class, teachers had more leeway to give each student individual attention. "Engaging in shared activities with children, like playing soccer together, is valuable," Kubo emphasizes. "Rather than pursuing competitive results and outcomes, creating comfortable schools for children is what will improve true academic performance." Although the number of children continues to decline due to Japan's falling birth rate, there is an increasing need to provide carefully tailored education to a diverse student body, including children with disabilities and those with foreign roots. Creating workplaces with greater flexibility and less pressure would also help address the ongoing decline in individuals pursuing teaching careers. Amid numerous unresolved issues facing educational institutions, the government has launched measures to waive tuition fees at senior high schools. Although these policies aim to reduce the financial burden on families, some experts have expressed concerns that they may instead lead to a weakening of the foundations of public high schools. In Osaka Prefecture, where high school tuition-free policies have already been implemented, the increased popularity of private high schools has resulted in about half of public high schools failing to meet their enrollment quotas. Prefectural high schools have consequently been closed one after another under prefectural ordinances requiring they either merge or shut down after years of continued under-enrollment. Similar scenarios may soon unfold in other metropolitan areas, including the Tokyo region. Public education has supported Japan's economic growth and societal stability. As the country grapples with its declining birth rate and advances in digitalization, we must collectively consider ways to preserve and sustain public education's inherent value.
Forbes
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Richard Shapiro and The Urge To Make Art
Richard Shapiro with one of his recent artworks, Kubo, 2024 Courtesy of Richad Shapiro The urge to create, to be creative, to make art, is a fundament of human existence. Certain individuals are possessed by a persistent drive, a need, to be an artist. Some approach art making intuitively, some strategically, some spontaneously, some with great forethought, deliberation, and planning. Regardless of how or why, that drive continues to amaze me. Which brings me to Richard Shapiro, an artist I recently visited with in Los Angeles. Shapiro's professional odyssey has included several successful detours: as the owner and operator of more than 30 Budget Rent-A-Car offices, as a founder of The Grill restaurant in Beverly Hills, the owner operator of Richard Shapiro Studio, a home furnishings and interiors store, as an interior designer, as a prominent collector of contemporary art (he made the Art News 100 top collectors list; and was on the board for a time at MOCA), and yes, as an artist. Shapiro's work looks like paintings (and they are) but instead of directly applying paint to canvas, he uses polyethylene tarps which he paints and manipulates in ways that make them 3D, recalling the works of Frank Stella or Elizabeth Murray and, at times, Georges Braque. Yet his work remains uniquely his own. Shapiro was born in Minneapolis, and at age five, his family moved to Los Angeles (Burbank, then Encino). His early exposure to Art was with his parents. As a family, they often went to Monday open gallery night on La Cienega Boulevard. He also took oil painting lessons as a child. However, given that he came from a family of doctors, he went to college thinking he would follow that path. Life proved otherwise. Pre-med was not for him. Instead, upon graduation, he decided to partner with a close friend in search of a business opportunity. His partner's grandfather knew Morris Mirkin, the founder of the Los Angeles-based Budget-Rent-A-Car. They ended up buying a single franchise in 1965. Over time, they continued to expand. And in 1984, he decided to start a restaurant, The Grill, located in an alley just steps from Wilshire and Rodeo Drive. It was an instant success. Shapiro was married with a daughter. In his early twenties, Shapiro had joined a LACMA museum group that visited collectors' homes. 'I remember just really being smitten by seeing private homes and seeing private collections,' Shapiro told me. 'And I really felt I wanted to become a collector.' Bracer by Richard Shapiro, 2024. Tarpaulin, acrylic, wood 69" x 86.5" x 3.5"Work Courtesy of Richard Shapiro He began to visit galleries, where he often didn't get the warmest treatment. However, at the Herbert Palmer Gallery, Palmer's daughter, Meredith, who had an art history degree from Harvard and was a brilliant dealer, took him on. She took him to the first LA Art Fair, and introduced him to Annely Juda, the London Gallery owner, from whom he bought his first major work of art, a Kurt Schwitters collage. Shapiro began to read everything about art and the artists who made the work. 'I was a real student, and I read everything I could, and I really understood that you have to buy the best examples of these artists.' His collection grew to include a Robert Rauschenberg Combine, a Frank Stella Pinstripe painting, sculptures by George Segal, Carl Andre, Joel Shapiro, Tony Smith, Gerhard Richter, and Donald Judd. As a prominent art collector, he became a trustee at MOCA, in the company of such top Contemporary Art collectors as Eli Broad and Cliff Einstein. In 1992, Shapiro sold his Budget Rent-A-Car business which had grown to more than 30 offices with some 5000 cars and trucks. At one point in the 1990s, Shapiro decided to become an artist himself. He'd experienced success in his various endeavors and had definite notions about the art he wanted to make. 'For about three years, I really thought that with all the knowledge I had accumulated as a collector, and I'm a creative person, so I really felt like I should try my hand at being an artist in a serious way.' He built a big studio on the property of his home. Shapiro made large works on painter's tarps using acrylic, oils, graphite, house paint, staples, all mounted on board, in some ways reminiscent of work by Rauschenberg, and influenced by Arte Povera, that featured the stenciled names of artists such as Twombly, Judd and Pontormo from whose work Shapiro wanted to break free. Shapiro took his portfolio to the Tasende Gallery in Los Angeles, who gave him two shows. Shapiro thought he was a success. Past Perfect by Richard Shapiro Courtesy of Richad Shapiro and Rizzoli Books However, Shapiro also soon experienced financial reverses. He had divorced, and when the first bust brought him severe stock market losses, the ensuing financial instability caused him to sell his Art collection, most of which went to museums. He also stopped making art. Shapiro's own home, minutes from the center of Westwood, is an Italianate villa that he has decorated with a mix of Italian antiquities and modern art with an elaborate garden that was inspired by one he saw in Bordeaux. His home and gardens are the subject of a Rizzoli coffee table book, Past Perfect Richard Shapiro House and Gardens). People began to seek him out to decorate their homes. Sometimes he did entire houses, sometimes he just consulted. He did this without any training, without a degree, without any apprenticeship. Sometimes, the clients weren't happy. 'I wanted to do what I wanted to do instead of what they wanted me to do.' But the store was successful. When the landlord wanted to triple the rent, he closed the studio. 'But I really craved getting back in.' So, he found a space on La Cienega, that was by coincidence, the former location of the Herbert Palmer Gallery, which he ran until he closed it during Covid. On Cats Feet, by Richard Shapiro, 2024. Tarpaulin, acrylic, wood 87" x 68" x 3.5" Courtesy of Richad Shapiro About four years ago, during the pandemic, he decided to return to making art in his studio. Once again, he devotes his days to his art. He returned to using tarps, but not the painter's tarps he used before. Instead, he now uses polyethylene tarps that he manipulates into works that are three dimensional and that Shapiro calls 'Topographies.' The tarps are painted and manipulated in ways that are gestural and that appear almost like a Stella painting. Others play with ideas from Cubism, deconstructing the organization and direction of the tarps. In working with tarps, Shapiro notes, 'I like the idea of having a language that's original and fresh.' His recent exhibition at Rhett Baruch Gallery in Los Angeles was a validation of his current path. He is in the studio now most days, all day. 'This is it for me,' Shapiro told me. 'I'm 82, and this is my final chapter: I'm not going to be a collector. I'm not going to be a businessman. This is what I love.'
