We have received several inquiries about the treatment of copyrighted materials in the course of school lessons under new Article 35 of the Copyright Act in Japan. An explanation of the position is below.

New Article 35(1) allows teachers at non-profit schools to use copyrighted materials in online lessons as long as it does not unreasonably prejudice the interests of the copyright owner. Such teachers are therefore only permitted by the law to reproduce and share with their class online individual pages or other minor elements of materials already purchased by their school or their students, in order to assist with their online lessons. This is the same right that teachers always had to make copies of pages in order to teach their classes.

In addition, the new Article 35 requires that compensation for such online use be paid by the school. For this year only that compensation has been set to 0 by the relevant agency (SARTRAS), but from 2021 compensation will be payable and only those schools which have been admitted to the SARTRAS scheme will be protected by the new provisions of Article 35(1).

In all other respects the law is exactly the same as before. The new law does not allow teachers to reproduce or share multiple pages or large amounts of OUP materials, nor does it allow teachers to reproduce or share OUP materials not owned by their school or their students. If you wish to do so you are still required to obtain the permission of copyright holders (OUP Japan or our group) and should contact in the usual way. Use of OUP materials without such permission is still a breach of the copyright law.

For more information and guidance, please see the SARTRAS website: https://sartras.or.jp/

OUP Japan are very aware of the difficult circumstances under which schools, teachers and pupils are currently working, and we are happy to answer any queries about this or recommend any materials suitable for online learning.

The governor of Tokyo, Yuriko Koike, has announced that Tokyo is in a critical phase of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis where it might see an “explosion” in the number of infections if it fails to act. The governor has urged people to work at home as much as possible. Furthermore, our UK offices are also temporarily closed and staff are currently working remotely.

In order to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, our office in Tokyo has been operating at a reduced capacity and from Monday 30^th March we will suspend telephone and fax support until further notice.

During this time, please send enquiries by email to the relevant department below.

We apologize for any inconvenience, and we appreciate your understanding.

Due to ongoing health concerns surrounding the coronavirus (Covid-19), all scheduled dates in March for the Oxford Teaching Workshop Series 2020 have been cancelled and registration is closed. Read more.
 

The Oxford Word of the Year is climate emergency.
 
Climate emergency is defined as ‘a situation in which urgent action is required to reduce or halt climate change and avoid potentially irreversible environmental damage resulting from it.’
 
For the first time ever, this year's entire shortlist related to climate.
Read more.

Consumption tax in Japan is due to increase from 8% to 10% on 1 October 2019, affecting our prices. 
Online orders completed before 1 October 2019 will be subject to 8% consumption tax. Online orders placed on or after 1 October, will be subject to the new 10% consumption tax rate. 
If you have any questions about the change, please contact us. 

Since launching, the Oxford Reading Tree Audio Pen and Audio Stickers have been a firm favorite with ORT fans, young and old. Now, we’re pleased to announce the release of brand new Audio Stickers for stages 6 to 9. What’s more, our bestselling ORT Audio Pen has been updated to include all audio files for ORT stages 1 to 9! A great way to develop children’s language skills, the new stickers and pen are available on our website now. Find out more. 

Jeffrey C. Stewart has been awarded the 2019 Pulitzer Prize in Biography for his book The New Negro: The Life of Alain Locke (Oxford University Press, 2018). Stewart meticulously recounts the life and achievements of Locke, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar and architect of the Harlem Renaissance. The book has collected numerous other prizes including the 2018 National Book Award for Nonfiction, the 2019 PROSE Award for Best Biography, and the 2019 Mark Lynton History Prize. Learn more about the prize.

Trusted by teachers, loved by children, Let’s Go 5th Edition is packed with exciting new features and content. Now get everything you need to teach with the new edition in one special pack. On sale for a limited time on our website. Learn more

Who We Are and How We Got Here is a gripping account, from the head of a world-leading lab, of the picture of human history and ancestry emerging from the revolution in the study of ancient DNA.. New in paperback. Learn more

Thanks to all who took part in this year's Oxford Big Read. Out of hundreds of fantastic entries, 4 National Prize winners and 4 runners-up were chosen. See this year's winners and honorable mentions here.

This annual workshop series is for teachers of young learners who wish to improve their teaching skills. Bestselling authors and teacher trainers will provide practical workshops with fresh ideas to use in your classroom. In 2019, we will be visiting 12 cities around Japan. Please click here for registration and information.

The 2018 European Society for the Study of English (ESSE) Book Prize for Literature in the English Language has been awarded to Catherine Maxwell for her illuminating monograph Scents and Sensibility: Perfume in Victorian Literary Culture. Read the review on the ESSE Book Awards website.

We are pleased to announce that select Oxford Reading Tree audio tracks are now available for streaming from the end of August 2018, replacing file downloads. Streaming allows you to play media on any device with an internet connection, in real time, and without using disk space. We hope you enjoy using it. 

From Oxford Bookworms to Dominoes to Read and Discover, our latest catalogue offers a range of carefully graded titles to engage every interest and English level. Available in Japanese, click here to download the catalogue.

Five OUP graded readers, It's Hot (Oxford Read and Imagine), Mulan (Classic Tales), The Snow Tigers (Oxford Read and Imagine), Hope on Turtle Island (Oxford Read and Imagine) and Emma (Oxford Bookworms) have been shortlisted as finalists in this year's Extensive Reading Foundation Language Learner Literature Awards. Every year the Extensive Reading Foundation recognizes the best new works of language learner literature in English and awards winners in 6 categories. This year's winners will be chosen later this year. 

What were the most popular OUP books among scholars and general readers in Japan for 2017? Check out our bestseller list, including titles on Japan and long-selling higher education textbooks. View the full list.​

Our 2018 ELT Catalogue is now available in both digital and print. We hope this will be a valuable resource and assist you in finding the right materials to support your teaching and classroom needs. View a PDF of the 2018 catalogue on your computer or phone, or request a paper catalogue to be sent to you. Click here for more details.

OUP author June Teufel Dreyer, a professor at University of Miami, has been named the 4th Kokkiken Japan Study Award recipient for her study The Middle Kingdom and Empire of the Rising Sun: Sino-Japanese Relations, Past and Present (2016, OUP). The award is given by the Japan Institute for National Fundamentals to non-Japanese researchers including first generation naturalized persons who conducted outstanding research which increases the understanding of Japan in the areas of politics, national security, diplomacy, history, education and culture. Her neutral analysis based on thorough objective research was evaluated and honored this time.

Limits to Globalization: The Disruptive Geographies of Capitalist Development by Eric Sheppard, Alexander von Humboldt Chair, UCLA, received the Meridian Book Award for Outstanding Scholarly Work in Geography awarded by the American Association of Geographers (AAG). The AAG awards the annual prize for a book that makes an unusually important contribution to advancing the science and art of geography, written or co-authored by a geographer published in the previous calendar year.

'Post-truth', an adjective defined as 'relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief' was named Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year 2016. This word appeared frequently this year in the context of the EU referendum in the UK and the presidential election in the US. Please click here for more details.

Sherlock Holmes: The Speckled Band, from the Dominoes series published by Oxford University Press, was selected as the winner of the 2016 Language Learner Literature Award in the Adolescent & Adult: Beginner Category. Every year the Extensive Reading Foundation recognizes the best new works of language learner literature in English and awards winners in 6 categories. Also selected as a finalist this year was 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, from the Oxford Bookworms Library, in the Adolescent & Adult Intermediate Category. Learn more here.

Due to a recent security release from Adobe Flash Player, all iTools products require an update to function properly. If you are currently using any iTools, please click here to download your iTools update. You will find a file to download and install on your computer as well as step-by-step instructions to help you. If you experience any issues while installing this update, or after the installation, please get in touch with us by email at eltsupport@oup.com or by phone at +44 (0)1865 910007.  We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience.

OUP was named Publisher of the Year at the annual APS (Academic, Professional and Specialist) Awards, held at Wotton House in Surrey on the 17th of March. Scott Hamilton, APS committee chairman and head of retail sales for Blackwell’s, said: "This year’s winners demonstrate the level of talent, innovation and drive that is so prevalent across our industry. And the fact that each category was such a close call—with so many nominees receiving high marks from the judges—is testament to the academic publishing sector." Please click here for more details.

A pictograph was named the Oxford Dictionaries Word of the Year for the first time ever. Each year Oxford Dictionaries selects a word or expression that reflects the ethos, mood, or preoccupations of that particular year. This year Oxford University Press have partnered with leading mobile technology business SwiftKey to explore frequency and usage statistics for some of the most popular emoji across the world, and the ‘Face with Tears of Joy’ emoji was chosen because it was the most used emoji globally in 2015. Please click here for more details.

Oxford Discover, a primary course book focusing on 21st century skills, was awarded the ELTons Award 2015 Excellence in Course Innovation. In addition, the Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English, a unique dictionary to help students learn the language they need to write academic English, was selected as the Innovation in Learner Resources. These annual awards presented by the British Council celebrate innovation and good practice in the field of the English language and English language teaching.

The author of The Pope and Mussolini: The Secret History of Pius XI and the Rise of Fascism in Europe (Oxford University Press, 2014), David I. Kertzer was awarded the2015 Pulitzer Prize for Biography or Autobiography. His writings have been previously nominated for the National Book Award and Mark Lynton History Prize, and have been garnering attention in the field. He is active in the areas of anthropology, history and Italian studies.

We recently launched the Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) facebook page. See the latest information and news for ORT in Japan. (Page available in Japanese only). Click the link below to access the page. www.facebook.com/ORT.Japan