Stories about Japan from October, 2007
Japan: Kameda hits below the belt
(In)famous for their big mouths and bad behaviour, coupled with showy performances such as singing karaoke after their victories in the ring, the Kamedas have become the media's favourite boxing family. After the title match on Oct. 11, however, the family found themselves in the middle of harsh media bashing.
Japan: Life of a Homosexual Foreign Male
David Markle from Japan Probe interviewed Scott, a homosexual foreign male, about his life in Japan.
Japan: Chinese spectators boo Japanese team, arouse national debate
Ampontan discusses the booing of the Japanese national team by a crowd of Chinese spectators at the Women's World Cup. After losing the game, the Japanese team displayed a banner that read: “Thank you China” in three languages, a gesture which Ampontan describes as “the gold standard for behavior in...
Japan: Fingerprinting to Prevent al-Qaida's Friend of Friend
Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama explained the need of getting foreigners’ fingerprint was to prevent al-Qaida's “friend of friend” from sneaking into the country with false passports and disguises. However, from what he said, he is also al-Qaida's “friend of friend” as he cited the information from ‘an unidentified “friend of...
Japan: Design Week 2007
Pingmag shows how the design week exhibition (Oct 31 to Nov 4) would look like.
Japan: Halloween Train vs. Netizen Rage
James from Japan Probe reports on a clash between foreigners and Japanese netizens over a Halloween Train party .
China and Japan: Clash over Diaoyu / Senkaku Islands
James from Japan Probe posts a video on a Chinese vessel attempted to reach Diaoyu / Senkaku Islands.
China and Japan: Japanese AV in Rural China
Japan AV girl, Nonami Takizawa, came to rural China for shooting adult video. The promotion clip is up at Todu, and netizens from China reacted strongly to the “pollution” bought by Japanese to China. Hegelchong comments that the criticisms are nationalistic and have very strange imagination of rural China (zh)....
Japan: Racial profiling in the U.S. and Japan
Hasan at hasanhujairi[dot]com writes about his experience being a Middle Eastern foreign student in a post 9/11 world, subject to racial profiling first during his time in the U.S., and then again in Japan.
Japan: Family Crests
There are around 20,000 Kamon, family symbol, in Japan. Ryoko from Pingmag introduces some of the kamon design with animal motif.
Japan: Taiwanese chorus music to the ears
A video of an auditorium in Taiwan featuring 258 Taiwanese people watching and singing along to the lyrics of Japanese anime songs became a hit in Japan earlier this week after it was uploaded to a popular video sharing website, attracting over 120,000 views and nearly as many comments. A Japanese blogger considers how this kind of connection can bring Japan and Taiwan closer together.
Japan: Rape at Iwakuni
Turner at Keeping Pace in Japan comments on the alleged rape of a 19-year-old Japanese girl by four US Marines on the first night of the Sake Matsuri [Festival] in Higashi Hiroshima.
Japan: Peace as a Global Language Conference
Debito forecasts a conference on Peace as global language in Kyoto University of foreign studies from Oct 27-28.
Japan: Veggie Characters
You can take a look at the Japanese vegetable packaging culture from Pingmag.
China and Japan: Dali Lama
Angry Chinese Blogger wonders how China would respond to Dali Lama's visit to Japan: China's two big hates set to come together.
Japan: Investigation commission to discuss welfare cutbacks
Starting in 2008, according to blogger tokyodo-2005, an investigation commission will begin discussing plans to cutback the welfare system in Japan. tokyodo-2005 writes that the existence of the commission has only been covered by one media organization (Hokkaido shinbun), and that otherwise there has been a virtual media blackout on...
Japan: NOVA on the brink of collapse
Despite numerous statements to the contrary from an increasingly evasive management, the collapse of Japan's largest English language school operator NOVA appears imminent as bloggers have been reporting lesson cancellations, school closings, and busy phone lines. Read about the thoughts and first-hand experiences of Japanese bloggers in today's post.
Japan: Starving in the Land of Plenty
The recent story of a man starving to death as a result of not being able to receive welfare assistance, made famous thanks to his having documented his last days in a diary, sparked many Japanese bloggers to reflect on the broader implications of their country's welfare policy. Read some of their thoughts on the issue in today's post.
Japan: Employers to start reporting non-Japanese employees
Debito reports that Japanese employers have been forced to start reporting all their non-Japanese workers to the government, in an attempt by the government to crack down on illegals.
Japan: Language and Culture
Is it possible to learn a language while remain clueless in its culture? Ampontan has some interesting discussion.
Japan: Bloggers respond to kidnapping in Iran
Earlier last week, the first report was made that a Japanese male was kidnapped and in captivity in Iran. Later it was revealed that the abductee is a Japanese university student who was backpacking in southern Iran. The news has reminded many of the previous cases in which Japanese individuals...
About our Japan coverage
Nevin Thompson is our Japan editor. Email him story ideas or volunteer to write.
