Stories about Japan from September, 2009
Japan: Anime Character ‘Masuo-san’ on Twitter
Sazae-san, a comedy chronicling the lives of the fictional Isono family, is one of Japan's longest-running and oldest comic strips and animations. The animated series first aired in 1969 and is broadcast every Sunday from 6:30 to 7:00. It's not much of an exaggeration to say that at some point...
Japan: Lessons in Communication from the Hatoyama Essay
When an online Op-Ed piece by current Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama appeared in the New York Times just days before the Lower House elections last month, national reaction ranged from surprise to consternation to pure mortification. “A New Path for Japan” was an abridged and translated version of “My Political...
Japan: Measuring Celebrity Buzz on 2ch
Blogger APEESCAPE translated a 2ch post that measured the buzz of celebrity stories by counting the number of threads on 2ch from 2004 to 2009.
Japan: Animated Explanations of Policies?
Inspired by this American video explaining ‘Why We Need Government-Run Universal Socialized Health Insurance‘, Media Sabor suggests using some of the budget from the canceled National Center for Media Arts to have animators create understandable animations to explain new policies to the public [ja].
Japan: Training for disaster prevention
The first week of September in Japan is the Disaster Prevention Week [ja]. During this week schools, organizations, offices and so on come together to organize disaster prevention training.
Japan: Homeless World Cup
Ikeda-san, at Greenz, uploaded some old and recent pictures and videos [ja] of Nobushi Japan, the football team that represented Japan at the Homeless World Cup, the championship held in Milan at the beginning of September.
Japan: The decline of the LDP
Observing Japan has an article explaining the decline of the LDP. The blogger points out that from the early 1990s until 2007 the LDP shifted not just from center to right, but from pragmatism to idealism and from the realm of practical politics.
Japan: Against animal testing
Martin J Frid from Kurashi blogs about the upcoming peace walk for animals on September 27, 2009 in Osaka.
Tourism and HIV Infection in Thailand
A report titled “Why Japanese and Western people are infected with HIV in Thailand” by Doctor Kyo Taniguchi from NPO Gina covers statistics about sex workers and “Love, Marriage, and Hopeless love”.
Japan: Lecture on Manga, Anime and Otaku
Jean Snow points us to Patrick Macias's lecture at California State University, made available as a podcast episode: ‘Theoretical Perspectives on Manga, Anime and Otaku‘.
MENA: Thanks “Khawater” from Japan
Television viewers across the Arab world were in for a treat this Ramadan, with the airing of a special programme on Japan. In its fifth season, Khawater (Thoughts) visited Japan, where a young Saudi preacher Ahmed Al Shugairy explained the Japanese success story to Arab and Muslim viewers. Here are some blogger reactions to the one month show.
Japan: Plans to Accept More Foreign Students
The Guyjin blog is positive about the long term benefits of the plan to increase the number of foreign students studying in Japan to around 300,000 by 2020, a 250% increase.
Japan: DPJ on Press Clubs and Media Opennness
Blogger APEESCAPE covers the way the Democratic Party of Japan has gone back on their promise and closed off press conferences to foreign, internet, and independent press. The Hatoyama administration is now under close scrutiny and APEESCAPE says “Today’s news is an incremental step to media openness, but not nearly...
Japan: Threats on Twitter
Angry and frustrated, Akihito from the Polar Bear Blog reports that his wife received threatening DMs on Twitter and decided to delete her account [ja]. He thanks everyone who responded through Twitter, where many expressed outrage and offered encouragement and similar tales.
Japan: Japanese pickles
Ad Blankestijn from Japan Navigator introduced different types of Japanese pickling.
Japan: The boyladies
An Englishman in Osaka introduced a theatrical troupe called the Takarazuka Revue Company. The group is famous for their boyladies – women performing man's role on stage.
Japan: Welcome Asia-Update.net
Yumeji welcomes the new blog Asia-Update.net to the blogosphere. The blog will cover news and analysis on the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan: In Response to ‘The Cove’
Lisa Katayama at Tokyo Mango blogs about an update about the dolphin killings in Taiji from the Oceanic Preservation Society, the organization behind the documentary ‘The Cove’.
Japan: Worries about spread of HIV and AIDS
There are some alarming statistics about the spread of HIV and AIDS in Japan. While the rest of the developed world UNAIDS reported that the cases of infection are decreasing, Japan seems to be the only such country [ja] where the number of HIV positives and AIDS infected people is...
Japan: Suggestions to LDP
Parsley gives to the defeated Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) five advices to be reborn.
Japan: Deconstructing Gundam
Bloggers ARM1475 and R360 went to photograph the deconstruction work that has begun for the gigantic model of Mobile Suit Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo. The attraction welcomed 4.15 million visitors in six weeks. Its next destination is undecided.
