Stories about Japanese from August, 2011
Japan: Noda elected as leader of ruling party
Finance minister Yoshihiko Noda has been elected leader of the Democratic Party of Japan, and will become the next prime minister. On the Agora blog, Hiroshi Ohnishi calls [ja] it a safe, if low-key choice, while Seki Obata claims [ja] Noda's virtuous personality is the only way of survival for...
Japan: Trends in the blogging service landscape
Netaful shares observations [ja] from a recent comScore report [ja/pdf] that in terms of visitor count, livedoor blogs have surpassed Ameba Blogs. The report concludes that even with the spread of SNS, “Japan remains one of the world's leading blog markets“.
Japan: How to Unplug Your Life and Save Electricity
People in Japan have been unplugging their lives as electricity-saving measures have been implemented to cope with power shortages. The effectiveness of the measures is yet to be proven but many have taken this opportunity to change their power consuming life style.
Japan: Indie service GoogleSatTrack used by NASA
Isana Kashiwai, developer of GoogleSatTrack, is astounded [ja] to see his software being used in NASA's Mission Control Center. He had happened to be watching the Atlantis return to Earth on NASA-TV.
Comedic Fun with Japanese Hashtag Memes
Since Twitter introduced Japanese language capability for hashtags, the Japanese Twitterverse has turned into an oasis for wordplay.
Japan: Kusoshigoto blog closed down
“Diary of a NEET Working Abroad” by Kusoshigoto “crappy job” was unexpectedly closed down and deleted, with a short message that conveyed his regrets and fear of danger. Tweeps are speculating [ja] that his identity had been compromised. A Japanese expat in Singapore, Kusoshigoto blogged against “slaving away” for Japan...
Japan: Chaos at Chitose Airport on March 11
On March 11, 2011, a Delta airplane pilot approaching Tokyo airport described his experience of an emergency landing in an email so vividly, that it spread rapidly across the blogosphere. Aviation fan blogger BUTA_NEKO responded to the meme in Japanese, to tell the other side of the story.
Japan: Perspective on London Riots scale in relation to Tokyo
To get perspective on the geographical scale of the London Riots, @c50cub96 mapped a comparison to the greater Tokyo area.
Walking through Japan
On August 1st Thomas Köhler started a mission: to walk trough three of the major Japanese islands, from Hokkaido to Kyushu. Köhler – who works as a manager at a tour operator – came up with the project after the March 11 disaster, when the number of visitors to Japan...
Japan: Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami Creative Industry Survey Results
Chris Palmieri published “Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami Creative Industry Survey Results” in English and Japanese on the AQ blog, reporting how people who work in the creative industries were affected by the events following the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on March 11. It's also been translated into Chinese.
Japan: “Hiroshima Archive” maps testimonials and photographs
Hiroshima Archive is a multilayered resource cataloging the reality of atomic weapons. They use Google Earth to associate geographic information with testimonials and photographs. Their website is in Japanese and English.
Japan: A Nuclear Gypsy’s Tale
Blogger Takeshi Kawakami was one of Japan's so-called ‘nuclear gypsies’, who for about 30 years made his livelihood working at the country's different nuclear plants. In his blog he has denounced the corruption and collusion between the government and the nuclear industry.
