· December, 2005

Stories about Japan from December, 2005

Japan: Gaudy Game Paddles

23 December 2005

Japanduit has colorful photographs of hagoita, wooden paddles used in a traditional Japanese game much like badminton that is played around New Year's. The paddles are adorned with Kabuki images, cartoon characters and representations of celebrities.

Japan: Hard Gay Toy

22 December 2005

Controversial but popular Japanese TV character Razor Ramon HG, a.k.a. Hard Gay now has a toy inspired by him. A “sexual minority” teacher's network has complained that the toy, which encourages children to stick plastic swords into a barrel until the TV character jumps out, discriminates against homosexuals.

Japan: Odd Survey

20 December 2005

What Japan Thinks is a blog that translates quite interesting Japanese public opinion polls to English, such as on the popularity of mobile phones as gaming platforms or the market for RSS readers in Japan. Yet his most popular post appears to be this one, now ricocheting off various Asia...

Japan: Animator's Son Talks

16 December 2005

Mutant Frog Travelogue translates from the Japanese the first blog post by the son of famed animator Hayao Miyazaki, who is coming out with his own animated film that his father was against him directing.

Japan: Remembering Ronin

13 December 2005

David Weber at Japundit writes about the Dec. 14 commoration in Japan of the deaths of 47 ronin — an annual tribute to the samurai way.

Japan: Sushi Documentary

12 December 2005

Making the rounds on the blogs is this spoof documentary on how to eat sushi. It's funny but also surprisingly informative.

China, Japan: Zhang Ziyi is a Race Traitor?

  8 December 2005

the leaky pen discusses the outrage on Chinese blogs over local actress Zhang Ziyi's role as a Japanese courtesan in a new Hollywood movie. He fumes: “A problem almost as big as the 400 lb. gorilla of Chinese racism is the self-inflicted stupidity of their anti-Japanese hatred.”

Japan: Correcting “Lost in Translation”

8 December 2005

David Weber at Japundit watched a Tokyo showing of the movie “Lost in Translation” and has some suggestions on how it could be more representative of Japan's overwhelming capital.

Japan: Drag Racing

7 December 2005

MasaManiA has pictures of street car racing on a Saturday night in Tokyo.

Japan, Thailand: Sushi Stall

  6 December 2005

The sight of a nighttime sushi stall in Thailand recalls Preetam Rai to old-time Edo, which had similar stands until the stalls went extinct after World War II.

China, Japan, Korea: Critiquing Critics

  1 December 2005

The Asia Pages comments on Asian critics’ negative reactions to Hollywood's choices in bringing the book Memoirs of a Geisha to the screen. “While it would be nice to see a Hollywood production give justice to another culture, it's rarely been seen,” she explains.