Global Voices

English

The world is talking, are you listening?

Blogger Ampontan offers an essay on the history of a matsuri (festival) which changed after the war, and discusses the aims of festivals. Not serious politics, but it's an interesting view of how “traditions” can be born from specific conditions.

In a new blog, Neojaponisme, W. David Marx reports on suppressed reports of pedophilia against a well-known Japanese producer, Johnny Kitagawa. It's a good read on the state of the media in Japan.

Who do you trust with your yen? Writing in Liberal Japan, blogger Matt Dioguardi points out an interesting irony: it would appear that the government has concluded that teenagers working in convenience stores are more trustworthy than government bureaucrats working in its own offices.

Blogger Tobias Harris, a keen observer of politics in Japan, adds some interesting analysis of the transition from the Abe to Fukuda cabinets. He looks at the return of factional politics in the ruling LDP, and finds that Fukuda has made some keen decisions in his first day in power.

Japanese blogger and human rights activist Arudou Debito talks about the new biometric immigration procedures for foreigners arriving at Tokyo's Narita Airport, along with the revival of mandatory fingerprinting after a hiatus of ten years.