Stories about Japanese from March, 2010
Japan: The Strange Country
Kenichi realized an “info-graphic, motion piece” (which is his final thesis) with the aim of making Japanese people think about their country, that, the Japanese videomaker says, “isn't that normal”. Unfortunately, the English version is no longer available.
Japan Government: On the Fall of the Employment System
A think tank for Japan's Cabinet, the Economic and Social Research Institute (内閣府 経済社会総合研究所) (ESRI) published a study that quantified the present status of lifetime employment and seniority-based wage (i.e. the Japanese employment system). They used the data (1989-2008) from Basic Survey on Wage Structure (賃金構造基本統計調査) (BSWS) of the Ministry of...
Japan: Long life to bluefin tuna. The experts’ word.
With 68 countries voting against, CITES, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species that regulates the international trade of wild animals and plants, rejected a ban on Atlantic bluefin tuna, that was slated for listing on Appendix One, i.e. a complete ban.
Japan: A whale of a controversy
Only a few days after The Cove was awarded the Oscar as best documentary, drawing public and media attention around the world to the hunting of cetaceans issue, anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd’s leader Peter Bethune was arrested in Tokyo, re-igniting the controversy between Japan and Australia-New Zealand.
Japan: Most visited 50 websites
Two different lists of the “most visited websites in Japan”. One by the Tokyo Ogilvy Digital Influence team and one by Authority.jp [en].
Japan: Bulwark of citizen journalism closes shop
JanJan, Japan Alternative news for Justices and NewCultures, Japan’s most popular news website based entirely on citizen journalism is about to suspend publication. At the end of March, the Japanese version of Ohmy News, launched in 2002 and following in the footsteps of its Korean counterpart, will shut up shop....
Japan: Flight Doctor Tweeting in Chile
Flight doctor George Tomioka, who is in Chile as part of the Japan Disaster Relief Team from JICA, is tweeting at @georgetomioka [ja]. Here's a tweet from March 7th: “[Chile Info #3] The parks in Chillan were filled with tents right after the earthquake, but people have started to head...
Japan: Manga Newspaper
According to Anime News Network [en], Manga No Shimbun [ja] (漫画の新聞), the first web newspaper that reports daily news in a manga format, will be soon available also in English, French and Korean.
Japan: No More JANJAN
The website JANJAN, one of the pioneers of citizen journalism in Japan, has announced that they will go on hiatus for an undetermined period of time [ja] due to the changing landscape of citizen journalism and falling advertisement revenue. JANJAN, which stands for “Japan Alternative News for Justices and New...
Japan: How are the fishes after the tsunami?
Blogger Nishimura [ja] (from the southern island of Okinawa) explored the “near reef” to check the impact of yesterday's tsunami [en] on the local fauna.