Stories about Japanese from November, 2009
Japan: Buy Nothing Day
Started in 1992 in Canada by artist Ted Dave, the Buy Nothing Day movement [en] has spread to more than 60 countries around the world, Japan included. In line with the philosophy of the movement, next Saturday (November 28) Japanese are invited to refrain from shopping and reflect upon their...
Difference between Japanese and American Résumés
Daniel at the How to Japonese blog outlines the differences between Japanese and American résumés.
Japanese concepts through images and videos
Lee at Tokyo Times defines the Japanese notions of wabi-sabi through photographs while the Through Eyes From Afar blog posts some videos to explain the concept of tsundere and yandere.
Japan: Images of Minanamata Disease
@Minori_okd points us to the photographic work MINAMATA by W. Eugene Smith and Ailejjen M. Smith that covers the Minamata Disease.
Japan: British teenager becomes a YouTube star
She is British, blond, slim and cute. Her name is Beckii Cruel [ja] and, at age 14, has become an idol on the Japanese web. Beckii Cruel started to gain popularity at the end of this year thanks to some videos posted on YouTube where she appears dancing in her...
Japan: Top 60 Expressions of 2009
Pink Tentacle has translated into English all of the “Top 60 Japanese words/phrases of 2009″, released by publisher Jiyu Kokuminsha: Included are plenty of references to Japan’s recent political shake-up, the ailing economy, and the blurring of traditional gender roles.
Japan: Deer wrangling and antler-cutting in Nara
Nestled in the heart of the Kansai region of Japan, Nara City exudes a subdued atmosphere unique from its neighboring Osaka and Kyoto. If there is a particular symbol of Nara recognized nationwide, it is either the Buddha of Todai-ji (東大寺) or the deer of Nara Park. Over the long...
Japan: “Obamu”, Verb Form of “Obama”?
Anpontan‘s post about the word “obamu” (オバむ) , a Japanese word play that's a verb form of “Obama”, was picked up by James Fallows at the Atlantic and is making its way across the blogosphere, although very few Japanese people actually seem to have heard of the word, as Daniel...
Japan: When an Employee Catches H1N1
The Kirai blog describes what happened at his company after an employee caught a case of H1N1: “Notice that from his perspective, he is NOT a victim, he is the culprit of having caused so much trouble to the company: because he couldn’t work for one week and we had...
Japan: In a World with Automatic Translation
In a post titled "I especially want to read 'trivial information", Japanese blogger Chikirin gives a fresh perspective on what's important or not and why in automated translation of the Web.
Japan as a Recycling Society in the Edo Period
Ed Jacob posted an English translation of an article “about how there was pretty much no garbage in Japan’s Edo Period because almost everything got recycled“.
Japan: I want my husband dead
Hideki Sakamoto (坂本 英樹)comments on the topic of the week: the bizarre results of the predictive search function of some Japanese search engines. “If you enter the word otto (夫, husband) in the Google search bar, and then press space, a few phrases are shown. But at the head of the...
Japan: A message to Tatsuya Ichihashi
Naoki Motoyama (本山直樹), guest professor at Tokyo University of Agriculture, addresses [ja] a post to Tatsuya Ichihashi （市橋達也）, the alleged murderer of Lindsay Hawker captured on Tuesday after having been on the run for almost two years. The blogger, who used to belong to the same karate club at Chiba School...
Japan: Hitler's “Mein Kampf”, the manga version
After more than 80 years since its first publication, Hitler's Mein Kampf has become a Manga comic. The 190 page volume, which sold some 45,000 copies in the first printing, tells in a very simple way the story of Adolf Hitler, from his childhood to his rise as the leader...
Japan: Debating the fate of Shimokitazawa
Tokyo's neighborhood of Shimokitazawa is well-known for its complicated spaghetti-like web of shop-lined streets, train tracks and back alleyways, but that web may be in for a big change. Plans to redevelop the area to make way for a 26-meter wide thoroughfare had already aroused opposition among some of the area's fans, but a proposed new design scheme for the local train station has added fuel to the flames. Blogger Hideaki Matsunaga explains why.
