· March, 2006

Stories about Japan from March, 2006

Japan: Kawaii culture

  31 March 2006

The Japundit takes us into a discussion on the aesthetic sensibility of kawaii. (Kawaii translates approximately as “cute“.)

Japan: Corporate culture

  31 March 2006

Japanese corporate culture gets personal for Riding Sun‘s Gaijin Biker when an analyst at his firm receives an e-mail from a disgruntled ex-employee of one of their clients. “Blaming [investor relations] for your company's weak share price is unreasonable enough already. But Komeri's stock, although down from its January high,...

Japan: Textbooks

  30 March 2006

The issue of Japanese textbooks is revisited today with new translations from Coming Anarchy and background to the controversy at The Korea Liberator.

Japan: Increases tower size

  29 March 2006

“The race for the world's biggest phallic symbol continues,” says one reader in response to Japundit's post on plans to build a new Tokyo Tower by 2011 which will stand over 600 meters tall.

China: Growing Nationalism

  28 March 2006

A year after violent anti-Japanese demonstrations swept across China, The Angry Chinese Blogger argues that anti-Japan sentiment is stronger now than ever. “Over the last few years…things appear to have steadily deteriorated, and the rot appears to have filtered down. Spreading beyond the political sphere and into the public domain,”...

Japan: Sumoto River recovers

  27 March 2006

Justin at Cosmic Buddha sees the first signs of life—maybe carp, maybe mullet—on the Sumoto River since a disastrous typhoon two years ago.

Japan: Rise of anime

  23 March 2006

Japundit‘s Marie writes about the recent rise in popularity of anime and manga (cartoon movies and books) in the United States, sparking a lively discussion in the comments section.

Japan, China: Organ Market

  22 March 2006

OhmyNews! reports that a growing number of Japanese are seeking organ transplants in China, where lax regulations and a high number of executions make organs available for desperate buyers.

Cuba: World Baseball Classic

  21 March 2006

Blogging from Havana, Cuba, Ernesto commiserates with his homeland over their loss to Japan in the final of the World Baseball Classic, but also notes the silver lining: “two island nations rewriting a game invented in North America, and giving a lesson of courage and team work.”

Japan: National archives

  20 March 2006

Japundit shows off its list of Japan-related Web links, including one for the National Archives, and discovers a somewhat less serious approach to Japanese culture, at Ask A Ninja.

North Korea: American defector in Japan

  17 March 2006

OhmyNews! runs an in-depth interview with U.S. Army deserter Charles Jenkins, now living on Sado Island after spending four decades in North Korea. “My life is not worth five cents, I know that,” he tells reporter David McNeill. “I don't think they have the nerve to come and get me,...

Japan: Mind your language

  17 March 2006

Japundit‘s post on Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reprimand of a lawmaker for using English financial terms in the course of a parliamentary session sparks further debate in the comments section.

Japan: See it. Film it. Change it.

  16 March 2006

Joi Ito announces his appointment to the board of WITNESS, a group which aims to advance human rights advocacy through the use of video and communications technology, and strengthen grassroots movements for change by providing video technology and assisting its partners to use video as evidence before courts and the...

Japan: Out of the tunnel

15 March 2006

Miyakonojo takes note of the lengthening spring days, and the shortening weeks until his wedding day. “Over the last ten days the glow of the center of our solar system has been creeping back into my life,” he writes.

Japan: Volunteer firemen

9 March 2006

Miyakonojo gives a heart-warming (and lung-burning) account of his debut at the volunteer fire department in a small town in southern Japan, where visits to Filipina hostess bars punctuate the sameness of fishing and pachinko.

Japan: Printing a blog post

  7 March 2006

Joi Ito calls on anyone who may have commented on his April 2005 blog post about anti-Japanese sentiment in China to let him know if they don't want their comments printed as part of plans to publish the post. He is concerned that some commentators may be unaware that his...

Japan: Anti-war protest

  7 March 2006

OhmyNews! asks whether three men arrested for posting anti-war fliers can seriously be considered enemies of the State, saying that Japanese democracy took a “large step backwards” with their arrest.

Asian History Carnival

Frog in a Well presents the 3rd Asian History Carnival, including discussions of Memoirs of a Geisha (Media and Popular Culture), an entire pre-modern Japanese history seminar blogging their reading, martial Buddhas and possible links to the samurai tradition, an Korean insect extermination ritual, the Soviets in Manchuria, the French...

Northeast Asia: Discussion forum

  3 March 2006

OhmyNews and the Civil Network for a Peaceful Korea are co-hosting a series of online discussion fora entitled Talk! Northeast Asia. Translated and cross-posted in Korean, Japanese, Chinese and English between Feb. 27 and March 15, the event aims to provide the means for Northeast Asian citizens to produce ideas...