Stories about Japanese from November, 2008
Japan: Mainichi's Wikipedia Slip-up
Ignoring the fact that Wikipedia timestamps are in GMT and not JST (Japan Standard Time), on the 18th of November the Japanese newspaper Mainichi Shimbun published an article entitled, “Attack on the former vice-Director's home: crime announced on the Internet six hours earlier… hinting at the crime?”, in which a Wikipedia contributor (”Popons”) was erroneously identified as involved in the attempted murder of Kenji Yoshihara, wife of former vice health minister Kenji Yoshihara. Bulletin board commenters quickly spotted the mistake, and bloggers responded with criticism, but the Wikipedia editor in question was apologetic about the ordeal.
Japan, S. Korea, China: the Second International Congress of Asian Hemp Industry
Blogger Takashi reports [jp] on the Second International Congress of Asian Hemp Industry (第２回アジア大麻産業国際会議) held in Donghae (Korea) at the Hangzhong University from the 20th to the 23rd of November,...
Japan: Cooperation with Thailand for the Prisoners Transfer Program.
At the Irregular Rythm Asylum blog, Shiga announces [ja] that she received a letter from Chinpô-san [珍宝さん], a Japanese who has been serving his term of life imprisonment at Bangwang...
Japan: Employment promised and then revoked
Using the excuse of financial instability, new graduates in Japan, after being hired initially, are finding that unofficial promises of employment are then being revoked, a trend that blogger Akinori...
Japan: Bloggers debate prohibition of cannabis
Starting with the case of two sumo wrestlers who tested positive for marijuana at the beginning of September and continuing with the announcement last week by Waseda University that three students were arrested over suspicions of growing cannabis, scandals related to the use of cannabis have topped the headlines in the media over the last few weeks in Japan.
Japan: Falling Land Prices
The GLOCOM blog reports that land prices are falling across Japan, even in prime locations such as Otemachi and Ginza (Tokyo). The trend resembles the beginning of country's so-called “lost...
Japan: Proud to be Okinawan
Superyuko at Nachikasanu Koiuta describes the first time she became aware of her Okinawan identity. 10 years ago, in Tokyo, where she came to live and to attend university, she...
Japan: Suginami Ward proposes removal of Street View images
Following on a request by the Machida city council for regulation of Google's Street View service, recently introduced in Japan, Asiajin reports that the ward of Suginami in central Tokyo...
Japan: Revision of the Nationality Law
On the 4th of June, on the occasion of cases filed in 2003 [en] and in 2005 whose protagonists were 10 children born out of wedlock to Japanese fathers and...
Japan: Economic recession? A dejavue.
id:norikku225 at Let's survive the subprime shock! (サブプライムショックを生き残ろう！) [ja] comments on news that the Japanese economy has entered a recession, as reported by national [ja] andinternational [en] media. The blogger...
Japan: 10,000 signatures to support a café
A small independent café, Berg, is facing possible eviction from a shopping complex in Shinjuku, adjacent to the world's busiest train station. The building owner wants the 50-square-metre café out...
Japan: 2008 Neologisms and Trendy Words
Presenting this year's 60 neologisms and trendy words [jp], among which only one will be elected representative for 2008, Kôgetsu describes briefly[jp] the events that influenced the choice and Japanese...
Japan: Japanese Language in the Age of English
The Fall of the Japanese Language in the Age of English, the latest book by Japanese novelist and essayist Minae Mizumura, roused debate among many Japanese bloggers recently over the fate of their national language. Some wondered whether their country would one day adopt English as the mother tongue, and what that would mean for their national identity.
Japan: Full-speed ahead for Christmas and New Year's Eve
Blogger at Techtech to Tuzuru Nichijô Essay Book (テクテクとつづる日常エッセイブック) [jp] describes how, since the first week of November, Tokyo is already lit up for Christmas, everybody seems to walk faster,...
Japan: A girl in the Pro Baseball League
Yuko Shimonakamura at Yuko no Jinsei to Tigers [勇皇の人生とタイガース] comments with enthusiasm [jp] on the birth of a new baseball heroine, Eri Yoshida, the 16 y.o. high school student who...
Japan: Changing jobs in a recession
Noriyuki Okada at Silicon Valley wa Kyô mo Hareru (シリコンバレーは今日も晴れ) [jp] describes his experience taking the decision as a software-engineer to change his job despite being in the middle of...
Japan: Street View and the Burakumin
The Internet, many would argue, has created the possibility for anyone to express their opinions freely. Recently, however, some have worried about an increase in the number of racist and denigrative comments against minorities spreading across the web. In Japan, the advent of Google's new Street View service has led some bloggers to discuss the relationship between areas photographed and discriminated communities.
Japan: Children and mobile phones
At Kyô mo Aruku [ja], Shigeru Kurokawa casts doubts [ja] on the propriety of a report [ja], published by the government Discussion Group for Education Rebuilding, which urges mobile phone...
Japan: Italian students demo seen through Japanese eyes
Id:sawabonroma, a Japanese writer living in Rome, describes her everyday life in the Italian capital at Roma no Heijitsu (ローマの平日). In a post on October 30th, she writes about a...
Japan: Granny's blog
The first of its kind, a Japanese blog called Sobolog (祖母ログ) [ literally “Grannylog”] crosses three generations, written by a nephew living in Tokyo in collaboration with her mother (who...
Japan: Mobile Suit Gundam
On the occasion of the foundation of the International Gundam Society (国際ガンダム学会) during the Hiroshima Anime Biennale in August, Kange debates the aims of the research group which will study...
