Myanmar: Japanese Reactions to Journalist's Killing

New Mandala has summary of reactions from Japan on the Japanese Video journalists killing by Myanmar troops.

Japanese cameraman killed in Myanmar

During a demonstration on September 27, Japanese photojournalist Nagai Kenji was killed while reporting on the ongoing unrest in Myanmar. Initially, news reports were that Nagai had likely been struck by a “stray bullet” when security forces opened fire on protestors. However, as written by Hosaka Nobuto, an opposition politician,...

Japan: Military Otaku?

James from Japan probe reports on a new member, Shigeru Ishiba, in the Fukuda cabinet. Local media called this Defense Minister: military otaku.

South Korea: Dokdo's Logo

mins0306 from Marmot's Hole report that Dokdo's Logo in the Korean Internet sites has made Chinese government unhappy. Dokdo is an island in North East Asia and its sovereignty is still in dispute.

Blogger Tobias Harris, a keen observer of politics in Japan, adds some interesting analysis of the transition from the Abe to Fukuda cabinets. He looks at the return of factional politics in the ruling LDP, and finds that Fukuda has made some keen decisions in his first day in power.

Japanese blogger and human rights activist Arudou Debito talks about the new biometric immigration procedures for foreigners arriving at Tokyo's Narita Airport, along with the revival of mandatory fingerprinting after a hiatus of ten years.

East Asia: Military Threat

James from Japan Probe posts a survey conducted by GlobalTalk 21 on Chinese, Japanese and South Korean people's imagination of the source of military threat.

Japan: District For Grannies

Pingmag has an article about the design of a district (Sugamo) in Tokyo for grannies.

Japan: Fukuda Slated to Be Next PM

In the Liberal Democratic Party election held on Sunday the 24th, Fukuda Yasuo defeated opponent Aso Taro, and is slated to become the next Prime Minister. He will follow Abe Shinzo, who resigned two weeks ago. This marks an important change. Fukuda is generally known as a moderate within the...

South Korea: History of Nationalism

K. M. Lawson from froginawell discusses an article written by Korean scholar on the history and development of Korean nationalism.

World Reaction to the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights

In every society in which they find themselves, the world's 370 million indigenous peoples are among the most vulnerable and marginalized. After over 22 years of negotiations and consultations, the United Nations approved the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples earlier this month, a broad, non-binding agreement articulating basic...

Japan: Impatient patients

In recent years, harsh criticisms have been focused at hospitals and healthcare workers about the quality of medical care. An example of the target of criticisms was a doctor conducting transplants using diseased kidneys in Ehime. And most recently, a pregnant woman, who lived just a few minutes away from...

Japan: Nuclear Power and Discrimination

An English translation of an interview with Koide Hiroaki, a researcher and long-time anti-nuclear power activist, has been posted at gyaku. Mr. Koide talks about how he joined the movement against nuclear power in Japan 40 years ago, the contrast between the dream of nuclear power and the reality, and...

Japan: Tokyo's Urban Ruins

Roy Berman at Mutant Frog Travelogue has posted a series of fascinating pictures of soon-to-be-demolished buildings in the backstreets of Shinbashi, Tokyo. Objects photographed include pots and pans, children's toy guns, and a note left behind with the lyrics (in English) to the song “I could have danced all night”.

Japan: Axe Murder, School Days and a Nice Boat

In a bizarre twist of events, the shocking story of a girl who killed her father with an axe, believed to be motivated by her interest in manga, triggered TV networks to cancel airing of the final episode of School Days, a popular anime show. In its place, broadcasters aired a series of slow, meandering shots of castles, mountains, and... a nice boat. A meme was thus born that has spread like wildfire across bulletin boards and blogs, sparked various creative offshoots, and even inspired conspiracy theories.

Japan: Personality Types By Region

Japan is divided into 47 regions, and local Japanese believes that each region has some distinctive personality traits. Ed Jacob has listed out some regional personality types in Quirky Japan.

Japan: Kyoto Islamic Festival Excludes Non-Islamic Foreigners

Debito blogs a letter from Ali Rustom, a British national of some Middle Eastern descent, who explained the arrangement of Kyoto Islamic Festival, which excluded non Islamic foreigners from joining.

Japan: Moral Education Plan Withdrawn

Debito comments on the withdrawal of moral education plan proposed by former Prime Minister Abe: teaching (and grading) “patriotism”, would leave Japan’s children of international roots in a bind–how can they “love” Japan “properly”, in a way quantifiably gradable?

Japan: Hawk VS. Moderate

Hisane Masaki from Ohmynews! writes a report on the race for leadership after former Prime Minister Abe's resignation. The two candidates are Fukuda Yasuo and Aso Tarō, the former is relatively moderate in foreign policy. W. David MARX from neojapanisme also has some comments on the race.

Japan: Monju reactor trial to begin Sept. 20th

Blogger tokyodo-2005 writes about the famous sodium leak and fire at the Monju fast-breeder reactor in Fukui Prefecture (Japan) in 1995 [Ja] and about the subsequent cover-up of a video taken immediately after the incident. tokyodo-2005 reports that a trial about the case is set to begin on Sept. 20th...

Japan: NOVA unable to pay its employees

James at Japan Probe reports the news that NOVA, Japan's largest chain of English schools suffering from a deepening financial crisis, has postponed paying its English teachers this month.