· September, 2007

Below are posts about citizen media in Japanese. Don't miss Global Voices 日本語, where Global Voices posts are translated into Japanese! Read about our Lingua project to learn more about how Global Voices content is being translated into other languages.

Stories about Japanese from September, 2007

Japanese cameraman killed in Myanmar

  28 September 2007

During a demonstration on September 27, Japanese photojournalist Nagai Kenji was killed while reporting on the ongoing unrest in Myanmar. Initially, news reports were that Nagai had likely been struck by a “stray bullet” when security forces opened fire on protestors. However, as written by Hosaka Nobuto, an opposition politician,...

Japan: Fukuda Slated to Be Next PM

  25 September 2007

In the Liberal Democratic Party election held on Sunday the 24th, Fukuda Yasuo defeated opponent Aso Taro, and is slated to become the next Prime Minister. He will follow Abe Shinzo, who resigned two weeks ago. This marks an important change. Fukuda is generally known as a moderate within the...

World Reaction to the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights

  24 September 2007

In every society in which they find themselves, the world's 370 million indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable and marginalized. After over 22 years of negotiations and consultations, the United Nations approved the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples earlier this month, a broad, non-binding agreement articulating basic...

Japan: Impatient patients

  22 September 2007

In recent years, harsh criticisms have been focused at hospitals and healthcare workers about the quality of medical care. An example of the target of criticisms was a doctor conducting transplants using diseased kidneys in Ehime. And most recently, a pregnant woman, who lived just a few minutes away from...

Japan: Abe Double in Hospital?

  22 September 2007

Blogger Kikko passes on the rumor [Ja] that the Abe Shinzo currently in hospital is not the real Japanese prime minister but a double, and that the real PM is at taking it easy at a hot springs in Mongolia. From this (joke) rumor, she turns to the issue of...

Japan: Axe Murder, School Days and a Nice Boat

  21 September 2007

In a bizarre twist of events, the shocking story of a girl who killed her father with an axe, believed to be motivated by her interest in manga, triggered TV networks to cancel airing of the final episode of School Days, a popular anime show. In its place, broadcasters aired a series of slow, meandering shots of castles, mountains, and... a nice boat. A meme was thus born that has spread like wildfire across bulletin boards and blogs, sparked various creative offshoots, and even inspired conspiracy theories.

Japan: Monju reactor trial to begin Sept. 20th

  16 September 2007

Blogger tokyodo-2005 writes about the famous sodium leak and fire at the Monju fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture (Japan) in 1995 [Ja] and about the subsequent cover-up of a video taken immediately after the incident. tokyodo-2005 reports that a trial about the case is set to begin on Sept. 20th...

Japan: Prime Minister Abe Steps Down

  13 September 2007

After less than a year in office, with approval ratings dropping to record lows after a recent humiliating upper house election defeat, Japanese Prime Minister Abe Shinzo finally took the step many had been demanding on Wednesday and declared his intention to resign. The timing of the move, which brought the prime minister yet more criticism from politicians and the media, doesn't seem to have gone down very well with bloggers either.

Japan: Protecting the Kyoto Cityscape

  12 September 2007

While many countries around the world are struggling to tackle Kyoto at home, the city the environmental accord was named after is caught up in its own struggle. The capital of Japan for over 1,000 years (794-1868), Kyoto was once a picturesque ancient city surrounded by mountains. Today it is...

Japan: Controversy over the Gun-Shaped Lighter Incident

  9 September 2007

Blogger Kikko writes about the case of an off-duty officer in Yokohama [Ja] who was arrested after hitting a high-school student supposedly because the boy had been brandishing a lighter in the shape of a gun. Kikko explains that the media have twisted the story: the boy and some friends...

Japan: It's in the Milk

  6 September 2007

A group of scientists announced yesterday that Japanese women's breast milk has been found to contain a toxin similar to the pollutant PCB, with possible sources including a contaminated fish supply, fumes from garbage incinerators, and factory wastewater. Bloggers outline the issues surrounding the findings, reacting with shock and fear for the future.

Japan: The Penalty of Death

  3 September 2007

On August 23, three inmates, in Tokyo and Nagoya, all convicted of murder, were put to death by hanging. The executions brought the number of hangings administered under then-justice minister Nagase Jinen, who was removed from the position shortly later in the recent reshuffle, to 10 during his 11-month term....

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