Stories about Japan from May, 2008
Japan: Tokyo in 1935
Blogger mojix links to a film [ja] posted at YouTube showing Tokyo in the year 1935.
Mozambique: The rice and our independende
Elísio Macamo [pt] reacts to the Japanese pledge to help Africa double rice production within 10 years, during the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) held in Yokohama. “After 10 years the rice production in Africa is twice as much. Will the population remain the same? Will our tastes...
Japan: Grumpy Jiisan on Nico Nico Douga
The latest hit at Nico Nico Douga, Japan's popular video sharing service, is a retired man from Arizona calling himself “Grumpy Jiisan” [Grumpy Old Man], who shoots videos in which he comments on his favorite Japanese anime. Subtitled versions of Grumpy Jiisan's videos at Nico Nico Douga are so popular that they have drawn thousands of comments.
Japan and U.S: Jurisdiction Agreement
Niphonese wrote a post on the recent exposure of a secret agreement between Japan and U.S government in 1953 that Japan should abandon jurisdiction over crimes of Japan-based US soldiers, except serious cases.
Japan: NHK on Youtube
Serkan Toto from Asiajin reported that Japan’s public broadcaster NHK started putting contents online on a NHK channel on Youtube.
Japan: Mobile Web Access Restriction for Children
Serkan Toto from Asiajin blogs about the Japanese government proposed restriction on mobile web access for children.
Japan: Monster Tales
Edo from Pink Tentacle introduced 7 tales of unidentified mysterious animals in Japan.
Japan: The Secret of Mizuki Shigeru
At age 86, Mizuki Shigeru is one of the most well-known manga artists in Japan thanks to work that stretches over more than four decades, including among them some of the most popular Japanese manga and anime TV series. GeGeGe no Kitarō, a manga series he created in 1959, is Mizuki's most famous, featuring an orphaned yōkai (monster) named Kitaro who fights for peace between humans and monsters. In a post entitled “Why has GeGeGe no Kitaro remained popular for this long?”, blogger ta26 proposes an explanation for the popularity of this manga.
Japan: Experiences at IDAHO
On the International Day Against Homophobia (IDAHO), Japanese LGBT communities organized several events and street activities in several cities across the country. With a slogan of “Yes to sexual diversity” (多様な性にYES!), various groups broadcast messages promoting a society where differences and diversity are accepted and respected.
Japan: Online Sharing of Creative Work
Serkan Toto from Asiajin introduces 7 web services targeting at creative people for sharing of their creative work.
Japan and China: Softbank and Alibaba Joint Venture
Serkan Toto from Toykotronic blogs about the Softbank and Alibaba.com's joint venture in developing B2B web space in Japan.
Japan: Earthquake aid starts healing process
The largest ever dispatch of aid to China from Japan took place last week when Japanese rescue teams were dispatched to Chongqing. Thanks expressed by Chinese in bulletin boards made it back to articles on the Japanese-language Internet and sparked hopeful reactions among many bloggers, some finding a common understanding in a shared history of earthquake disasters.
Japan: A surge of suicides
Over the past few weeks, the Japanese media have been extensively reporting suicide cases associated with the use of hydrogen sulfide gas, providing detailed description of ingredients and methods used. The recent media reporting has been so sensationalized that the Japan Suicide Prevention Association requested that media organizations be more careful with their reporting. The phenomenon has stirred up conversation among Japanese bloggers.
Japan: Bloggers criticize Greenpeace over whale-meat theft
The reputation of Greenpeace Japan appears to have dropped a few notches this week, with news that the organization, in order to expose the theft of whale meat by crew members of a whaling research ship, itself stole meat to use as evidence of the crime. Members of Greenpeace Japan admitted to having entered a delivery company's distribution center in Tokyo on April 15th without permission in order to seize packages of whale meat.
Japan: Japan and the iPod
GT!Blog explores 30 years of history to answer the question: Why didn't Japan create the iPod?
Japan: Tokyo Graffiti
Lee posts some graffiti photos from Tokyo at Tokyo Times.
Japan: Views on the Sichuan Earthquake
The earthquake in China's Sichuan province, besides taking its toll on tens of thousands of Chinese citizens, has also had reverberations far away in the Japanese blogosphere, where the topic ranked top among blogging keyword lists and sparked conversations in forums over the past few days.
Japan: Menu items on DoCoMo mobile phones up for bidding
Blogger smashmedia comments [ja] on a CNET article [ja] explaining that mobile carrier DoCoMo is planning to change the ordering of certain “i-menu” items on mobile phones to reflect the size of monetary bids from companies, rather than reflect preferences of users.
Japan: Update on actions against Internet Censorship
Shunichi Arai at Asiajin reports on the latest moves against Internet censorship in Japan.
Japan: Yushukan Museum
Adamu blogs about his visit to a Shinto Shrine, Yasukuni Jinja, and Yushukan Museum. The Shrine is dedicated to Japan’s war dead while the museum displays the military history of modern Japan through World War II.
PangeaDay: an event lived worldwide
Pangea Day took place Saturday, and people from different parts of the world got together to watch movies and be a part of the worldwide event where movies, speakers and music showed us a bit of life on the other side of the globe, uniting people from all walks of life to believe that we aren't as different as we would believe. It also included a mobile video contest, with an international lineup of winners.
