Stories about Japan from May, 2011
Japan: Photoreport of volunteering in Ishinomaki
Photographer Irwin Wong spent days in Ishinomaki in Miyagi Prefecture to take part in relief support. Read his photo report: (Part One and Two).
Japan: Tokyo after the earthquake
Photographer Francis Harrison published a photo essay [en] that portrays Tokyo in the first few weeks after the earthquake.
Japan: Video Haiku
Vimeo user Stephen Niebauer presents a project called Video Haiku. A haiku is a short form of Japanese poetry that usually consists of three verses of 5,7 and 5 morae. “So, for this project, your video structure should be like this: 5 second shot, 7 second shot, 5 second shot.”
Japan: Aiding the Aid Workers
After more than two months from the earthquake around 110,000 people are still living in evacuation centers. Along with victims of the disaster, some of the volunteers, doctors and aid workers helping them are beginning to suffer from emotional stress and fatigue.
North Korea: News Resources
Adam Cathcart from Sinologistical Violoncellist has complied a list of North Korean news items on China, cultural diplomacy, US/Japan, Middle East, Environment, and etc. It helps to understand North Korea's understanding of its relation with the rest of the world.
Japan: Daniel Kahl “Stop the Hysteria”
TV personality and activist Daniel Kahl has taken to YouTube to appeal that the international media Stop the Hysteria, saying “They purposefully select to broadcast ONLY negative items coming out of Japan, even though the situation is improving in many ways”.
“Namazu-e” from Japan: Earthquake catfish prints
Pink Tentacle posted numerous images of namazu-e (“catfish pictures”), a type of color woodblock print that became popular after the Great Ansei Earthquake, which struck current day Tokyo in 1855. The mythology namazu and earthquakes is still prevalent in contemporary Japanese culture; one such example being the icon for the...
Japan: No Nuke Art
A group of anti-nuclear activists started No Nuke Posters [en], a project “for a post-nuclear future and for those working to rebuild amid Japan's nuclear crisis”. They accept submissions of original artworks [en] that will be published on the website under Creative Commons license (by-nc-sa).
Japan: Design Related Reconstruction Assistance Projects
A group of creatives have set up Design311 [ja], a site that introduces post-earthquake reconstruction assistance projects inspired by art and design.
Italy: How technology can help manage emergencies
In a crisis, how can Web 2.0 be of use to social movements and what practical help can it offer to facilitate collective action? In reality, there is no shortage of platforms which, established on a voluntary basis, using free software, harness the internet and mobile phones to gather and share information, sourced...
Asian-African Economic Cooperation
Johan Lagerkvist posted his research paper on “The strategic presence of China, Japan and Korea in sub-Saharan Africa” in China Roader.
Japan: Holiday in Fukushima
The author of Spike Japan decided to spend last week's national holidays in the Fukushima prefecture. In his latest post he chronicles his journey [en] to the tsunami hit area and its surroundings.
New Japanese site about business in Africa
The ICT4Development site [ja] reports the launch of Rising Africa, a Japanese site that delivers information about business on the African continent.
Japan: Anti-nuclear power demonstrations in Shibuya
Several thousand protestors are gathered in Shibuya, Tokyo for an anti-nuclear power demonstration. This demo follows another held on April 10th (video). Hiruma Takashi posted photos of arrests. Twitter users are using the hashtag is #57nonukes.
Japan: Tarō Okamoto's Mural Hijacked
Displayed in Tokyo's Shibuya Station, the mural “Myth of Tomorrow” by Tarō Okamoto depicts the atomic bombing in Hiroshima. Upowers2008 posted a video of the mural after it mysteriously “gained” an additional panel that references the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown, as 3yen explains. Police have taken down the panel since...
Japan: Manga artist's Smiles
Popular manga artist Takehiko Inoue has been publishing original portraits of Japanese people through his twitter account @inouetake with the hashtags #prayforjapan and #tsunami. The series is called Smile.
North Korea: Japanese Drug Dealers Face Trial
Three Japanese nationals were caught for drug trafficking and counterfeiting money, North Korean state media revealed on April 4. One has already been expelled from the country while the others face trial. Robert Neff posted an analysis of foreigners’ drug dealing and counterfeiting cases in the North on the Marmot's...
Japan: Sanka, Legendary Gypsies Living in the Wild
A documentary has recently revived interest in the existence of the 'Sanka', a group of people who are said to have lived in the remote mountains and plains of the Japanese archipelago until the 1970s. Some bloggers have speculated on the origins of these legendary nomads.
