Global Voices Online

Well-known Japanese blogger Nobuo Ikeda (池田信夫) reviews [ja] the recently released translation of David Weinberger's book “Everything is Miscellaneous” (インターネットはいかに知の秩序を変えるか?), translated to Japanese by Rei Kasiwano (柏野零).

From 2channel, rumors [ja] that a photo of Japanese idol Yuko Ogura appears hidden in the press kit handed out at the Olympics in Beijing.

In the latest installment of the ongoing WaiWai saga, news [ja] is climbing the bookmarks [ja] in Japan that Mainichi is investigating the possibility of shutting down the online version of its newspaper. Meanwhile, 2channel has discovered that the WaiWai column existed before the Internet [ja] (contrary to what some had thought), with further incriminating evidence now available online for all to see. (Note: Mainichi newspaper has since clarified that it is not planning to shut down its website [ja].)

An article [ja] by former Mainichi journalist Toshinao Sasaki has sparked a huge response from Japanese Internet users, scoring a whopping 23643 votes on CNET and nearly one thousand bookmarks on Hatena, as well as many blog reactions [ja] and forum discussions [ja]. In the article, Sasaki quotes from anonymous sources within the newspaper and advertising industries, explaining that public reaction to the recent WaiWai controversy has struck fear not only within Mainichi itself, but within the newsrooms of other Japanese newspapers as well.

LGBT Youth Exchange [jp] is a joint project by the Center for Gender Studies at International Christian University in Tokyo and Youth and Play Services of the city council of Bristol to bring LGBT youth from England and Japan together. This year, young people from Bristol are invited to come to Japan, and the group is asking for people to donate by purchasing a rainbow coloured bracelet to cover costs.

Nobuo Ikeda writes in English and in Japanese about the latest step in the drawn-out WaiWai controversy: after a string of earlier statements, Mainichi has issued a 3-page-long official apology, in which it pledges “to rehabilitate [Mainichi Daily News] into a site that can dispatch information to the world that can help people properly understand Japan.”

W. David MARX at META no TAME writes about the flaming of Mainichi's “WaiWai” column on 2channel, Japan's largest internet forum. Mainichi announced late last month that the column had been discontinued due to a harsh reaction from Japanese audiences, upset at the often sensational choice of topics covered in WaiWai articles.

A post by blogger boiledema [ja], offering an alternative perspective on the background of Tomohiro Kato, offender in Sunday's Akiba massacre, has drawn a huge reaction, with over 1200 bookmarks [ja] on Hatena. boiledema suggests that Toyota's system of Kanban production is being applied to human beings, through unstable short-term employment, leading to extreme isolation. Tomohiro Kato worked as a temp employee at a factory under Toyota, although boiledema emphasizes that isolation cannot justify Kato's crime.