We are aware that there are individuals who illegally circulate OUP products such as Oxford Reading Tree without getting the copyright holder’s permission.

It constitutes infringement of the copyright and it is illegal to engage in such an activity under Japan’s copyright law (Right of Rental under Article 26-3 of the Copyright Act). Such rental services are eligible for injunction relief and damage claim. Furthermore, there are substantial criminal penalties under Japan’s copyright law for engaging in such illegal activities, including fines (up to 10 million JPY) and prison sentences (up to 10 years). For a corporate entity, the fines can be up to 300 million JPY. 
 
Copyright infringement is not simply a breach of rights, but an act of wasting and deriding the efforts and contributions of many people involved in publishing works, such as authors and editors. OUP responds very strictly toward any form of copyright infringement.

The 2020 Nobel Prize in Physics has been awarded to Sir Roger Penrose, Reinhard Genzel and Andrea Ghez for their work on black holes. Roger Penrose is Emeritus Rouse Ball Professor of Mathematics at the University of Oxford. He received the award “for the discovery that black hole formation is a robust prediction of the general theory of relativity.”

Thank you for your interest in our products and services. In order to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, our office in Tokyo has been operating at a reduced capacity, however, from Monday, 5th October, the telephone support lines for general customers will operate for longer hours from 10:30 to 16:00 on weekdays.

For distributors and bookstores, please continue to contact us at the relevant e-mail address in order to avoid congestion on our telephone lines.

Due to the coronavirus crisis, we are still operating at a reduced capacity so telephone lines may be busier than usual. We apologize for the inconvenience and we appreciate your understanding.

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.

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

Findings from our latest ELT Position Paper 'The Role of the First Language in English Medium Instruction' show that incorporation of students' first language leads to better results in English. Find out more: download the free paper.

What were the most popular OUP books among scholars and general readers in Japan for 2018? Check out our bestseller list, which includes top-selling higher education textbooks and titles on Japan. View the full list.

This year's Oxford Day was our biggest yet. With plenary talks from Michael Swan and Catherine Walter, it was an exhilarating day of expert talks, ending with an enjoyable networking reception. Watch the video. 

Emma, from the Bookworms series, and Mulan, from Classic Tales, both won in their categories at the 2018 Language Learner Literature Awards. Every year the Extensive Reading Foundation recognizes the best new works of language learner literature in English and awards one winner in each of six categories. Also selected as finalists this year were It's Hot, The Snow Tigers and Hope on Turtle Island, from the Oxford Read and Imagine. Learn more.

This year's Longman-History Today prize awarded OUP author, Emily Jones, for her Oxford Historical Monograph, Edmund Burke & The Invention of Modern Conservatism, 1830–1914. This is a prestigious prize, awarded by both Longman and History Today magazine since 1997, to foster a wiser understanding of, and enthusiasm for, history and is awarded for an author's first or second book. Learn more about the award.

The VSI catalogue has been updated for the first time in one and half years, with upcoming titles added. A5, 96pp. In order to request copies, please contact us at ag.japan@oupcom including the catalogue number JP001074, your full name, shipping address, phone number and the number of copies you wish to have.

The author of Supporting Learners with Dyslexia in the ELT Classroom (Oxford University Press 2017), Michele Daloiso was awarded the 2017 Ben Warren-International House Trust Prize. This biennial award is given to the author or authors of the most outstanding work in the field of language teacher education. Daloiso teaches English and Italian language at Ca’ Foscari University in Venice and is the director of the DEAL Research Group, which investigates innovative language teaching methodologies for students with learning differences. 

The noun, youthquake, is defined as 'a significant cultural, political, or social change arising from the actions or influence of young people’. The data collated by the Oxford Dictionaries editors shows a fivefold increase in usage of youthquake in 2017 compared to 2016, the word having first struck in a big way in June with the UK's general election at its epicenter. Please click here for more details on the Word of the Year 2017.

Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene, published by OUP, has been voted the most influential science book of all time in a public poll held by the Royal Society to celebrate 30 years of their book awards. Second place was awarded to Bill Bryson for A Short History of Nearly Everything, followed closely by Charles Darwin' s On the Origin of Species. For more details, please visit the Royal Society website.

We are pleased to inform that the long-awaited Oxford Reading Tree (ORT) Tadoku Pack ‘with CD’ version is now available. This pack contains all ORT packs from Stage 1+ to 9 (30 packs, total 180 books) and 30 audio CDs. This special pack, suitable for schools and libraries interested in extensive reading, is now available for purchase only on the OUP Japan website. Learn more.

The Say It: Pronunciation from Oxford app has won the 2016 ESU (English Speaking Union) President's Award in the category of new technology in English language teaching. This app improves pronunciation and fluency using content from OUP's dictionaries. You can listen to 30,000 model recordings, record yourself and compare your pronunciation both by listening and by visually comparing the audio waves. This visual recognition helps students understand key sounds. Learn more about the award.

Due to a recent security release from Adobe Flash Player, some of our products that include  CD-ROMs/Multi-ROMs may require an update to function properly. If you are currently using any CD-ROMs/Multi-ROMs listed below, please click here to download your software 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.

Products affected by this issue:
Show and Tell / Express English for Aviation / Express English for Cabin Crew / Express English for Football / English for Socializing

We are pleased to announce the new and improved Oxford Kids' Club website! Find the latest news, event information and useful teaching tips and ideas for teachers of young learners. Visit the website now.

Since their release, the ORT audio pen and audio stickers have been well received among ORT fans. We are pleased to announce the audio stickers for stages 4 and 5 are now available! Visit the product page to find out more and purchase.

The authors of Exploring Psychology in Language Learning and Teaching: Oxford Handbooks for Language Teachers (Oxford University Press 2015), Marion Williams, Sarah Mercer and Stephen Ryan was awarded the 2015 Ben Warren-International House Trust Prize. This biennial award is given to the author or authors of the most outstanding work in the field of language teacher education. Co-author Stephen Ryan is a professor at Senshu University based in Tokyo, and his research covers various aspects of psychology in language learning.

OUP was commissioned by Otsu City Board of Education in Shiga as their partner in a project to research and develop an ICT-based teaching methodology for their Foreign Language Activities classes. OUP will provide ELT materials along with a customised curriculum, lesson plans and extensive teacher training programme to enable all homeroom teachers in the city's 37 elementary schools to conduct English lessons with confidence and improve student proficiency. Please click here for more details.

Henry Widdowson, a world-renowned linguist and ELT expert, was awarded theELTons 2015 British Council Lifetime Achievement Award. This award is one of the most prestigious in English Language Teaching and awarded to an ELT professional who has made a significant contribution to the field throughout his/her career. Mr Widdowson is a former series advisor of Oxford Applied Linguistics, series editor ofOxford Introductions to Language Study and series advisor for the Oxford Bookworms Collection, as well as author of Teaching Language as Communication.

OUP author Marina Warner (Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford) has been named 2015 laureate of the Holberg Prize, the largest annual international prize awarded to outstanding researchers in the arts and humanities, social science, law, or theology. Warner, whose most recent work Once Upon a Time: A Short History of Fairy Talewas published by OUP in October, received the honour for her analysis of stories and myths and how they reflect their time and place. This title has also received the Anne Izard Storytellers' Choice Award, which highlights and promotes distinguished titles published in the field of storytelling.

Classical Studies author Robert L. Fowler (Henry Overton Wills Professor of Greek, University of Bristol) was awarded the Society for Classical Studies' highly esteemedCharles J. Goodwin Award of Merit for his 2013 book, Early Greek Mythography: Volume 2: Commentary. The work was published as the companion volume to his previous publication, Early Greek Mythography: Volume 1: Text and Introduction, which was released in 2001. According to the judging panel, the book'leaves us with a truly three-dimensional view of the landscape we have lost,' and that'it might well be the new model for reconstructive commentaries of our century'.