Latest posts by Chris Salzberg from January, 2009
Japan: Looking back on 2008
The last year in Japan saw, among other things, an economic crisis, employment instability, and the beginnings of the collapse of journalism. While the year was already recapped here last month, we add to that recap the reflections of bloggers looking back over the year. Blogger Motohiko Tokuriki wrote about...
Japan: The future of Toyota
Michi Kaifu at Tech Mom from Silicon Valley responds to news that Toyota “crown prince” Akio Toyoda is to take the company's president position in June this year. Reflecting on the future of the car maker and on rumors in the Japanese blogosphere, Kaifu writes, “if you still have some...
Japan: “What are you up to now?” has become a taboo question
The world recession has hit Japan just as it has hit other parts of the world, and many are worried about their future. In an entry that attracted a great deal of sympathy from readers, blogger koheko reflects on the impact of the slowdown on human relationships with friends and colleagues, to the point where the simple question, "What are you up to?" has become taboo.
Japan: J-CAST vs. newspapers
Blogger smashmedia points to [ja] Japanese business news site J-CAST‘s recent negative campaign against traditional media. The blogger posts links to a J-CAST interview [ja] with freelance journalist Tetsuya Kuroyabu [黒薮哲哉], who explains that more than 20% of newspapers (so-called “oshigami”) are actually undelivered, concealing a lower-than-expected readership; the blogger...
Japan: The end of PingMag?
PingMag, the Tokyo-based magazine about “Design and Making Things”, has announced that it will be “taking an extended hiatus, and will not be updated for the foreseeable future.” Over 300 comments from fans of the site have poured in, many describing people's sadness at seeing the end of a unique...
Japan: Who is running 2-Channel?
Who runs Japan's largest bulletin board, 2-Channel [2ch]? This is the question being debated on 2channel threads today [ja], with rumors that the board's enigmatic founder Hiroyuki Nishimura has transferred ownership to a company, PACKET MONSTER INC., apparently based in Singapore. “The beginning of the end,” one commenter writes. Many...
