October 7th, 2007
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.
October 6th, 2007
October 5th, 2007
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.
October 1st, 2007
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.
September 28th, 2007