Scilla Alecci · October, 2009

Latest posts by Scilla Alecci from October, 2009

Japan: Latest survey on poverty destroys the prosperity myth

  25 October 2009

One Japanese in six is living in poverty says the latest Welfare Ministry report [en]. According to OECD figures [en], Japan has one of the highest poverty rates in the developed world and is 4th after only Mexico, Turkey and the U.S. In September, Makoto Yuasa, Secretary-general of Anti Poverty...

Japan: Avatars come to life in the anime Summer Wars

  17 October 2009

Against the background of the Japanese countryside, feel good sentiments and an extraordinary virtual world are featured in Summer Wars (サマーウォーズSama wozu) [ja], the new animated movie by director Mamoru Hosoda [en]. The anime tells the story of Kenji, an awkward teenage math genius who finds himself involved in an...

Japan: Tokyo Vice

  11 October 2009

Japansubculture publishes an interview [en] with Jake Adelstein, author of the book “Tokyo Vice: an American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan” and former crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

Japan: A blogger has dinner with Prime Minister Hatoyama

  8 October 2009

Blogger Satonao tells [ja] about him having dinner with Prime Minister Hatoyama and other politicians in a restaurant of Tokyo on Sept. 30. On that occasion, he could explain Mr. Hatoyama what Twitter is and exchange a few words on the condition of social media in Japan. Here are some...

Japan: The Buddha girls

  7 October 2009

They call them 'Buddha girls' (仏女 butsujo), Japanese ladies in their 30s or 40s passionate about visiting temples and admiring statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva.

Japan: Visiting Todaiji Temple

  3 October 2009

Yama explains [ja] in detail the architecture of Todaiji temple [ja] (東大寺) in Nara and of its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world. Pictures of the temple complex are also provided.