Japanese Firms to Teach Foreigners

Nippon Steel Corp., badly hit by falling exports because of the yen’s strength, has announced that it is starting to teach Japanese language and business methods to foreigners.

Nippon Steel and the Mitsui trading company said they had set up an entity in Tokyo called the International Communication Center and that they expect to teach about 270 students in the first year, starting this month.

About 7,000 foreign business officials are working in Japan, mainly in Tokyo, and the number is growing by about 10% a year, a company spokesman said.