Stories about Japanese from August, 2007
Japan: Life out of a Manga Kissa
Results of a survey just released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has found that thousands of people across Japan bordering on poverty live their lives out of Internet cafes or "manga kissa". Bloggers this week reflected on the significance of the results.
Japan: Crazy for a Bug
A catchy tune about a funny-looking bug that bites people's bums and makes them happy, featured regularly as filler between children's programming on the national broadcaster NHK, is catching on like crazy across Japan. In this post, read more about the thinking behind the song, reactions from Japanese bloggers, and a post from one of the creators of the clip.
Japan: Yokozuna gets the boot
Never far from controversy, Mongolian Yokozuna (sumo champion) Asashoryu is again in hot water. He left Japan having submitted a doctor's note claiming he was injured, after which a video image showing the yokozuna playing soccer in Mongolia made it onto some of the major Japanese TV networks, sparking a controversy.
Japan: Living With the Heat
As Japan suffers through what likely will become its hottest summer on record, with temperatures topping 40 degrees in some places and humidity at all-time highs, and even as business owners happily celebrate skyrocketing sales of air conditioners, fans, and ice cream, worries of an energy crisis loom on the horizon. In the middle of the scorching heat, one blogger has responded by taking matters into his own hands and doing the unthinkable: he turned off the air conditioning.
Japan: Tokyo Pride Parade
On August 11, 2007, the 6th Tokyo Pride Parade with nearly 3,000 participants hit the streets of downtown Tokyo under the blazing August sun. The TPP is becoming an annual event, one in which members of Japan's sexual minority community embrace and celebrate their sexuality and promote sexual diversity to the larger society. Bloggers who participated in the parade offer their impressions.
Japan: 62 Years Later, Still Remembering
Sixty-two years have passed since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War Two. While people with first-hand experience of the bombing are disappearing, many people are fighting to keep their stories alive. Translations featured in this post include bloggers describing stories of the bombing, first-hand accounts of victims, a comparison of the way the history of events is taught in Japan and in the U.S., and thoughts about the relevance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the world of today.
Japan: The words that changed my life
In her article this week at Magazine 9, Amamiya Karin talks about the words that changed her life [Ja], through the experiences of poet and former hikikomori (shut-in) Tsukino Koji, writer Misawa Chiren, and activist Takato Nahoko (famous for her work on Iraq issues).
Amid Controversy, YouTube Launches in Japan
Late last week, Google announced that it was teaming up with six Japanese firms, including SkyPerfecTV and Mixi, creator of Japan’s most popular social networking software, to link content to a new YouTube website exclusively in Japanese in order to boost the company’s presence in Japan. A blogger who was at the meeting where the announcement was made describes his thoughts on the future of YouTube in Japan.
