· August, 2008

Stories about Japan from August, 2008

Japan: Paper Art

Ryoko from Pingmag interviews Kanako Yaguchi, who brings the art of classic cutting paper techniques to textile and clothing designs.

29 August 2008

Japan: Ministry study on biological roots of withdrawal and rage

Starting next year, a team of researchers recruited by the Japanese Ministry of Education will commit themselves to studying the connection between brain structure and sociability. Their aim will be the analysis of structures of the brain that control mechanisms such as sleep rhythm and stress tolerance, in order to prevent -- and eventually cure -- those disorders which affect social relations.

28 August 2008

Japan: Virtual Temple

Martin J Frid from Kurashi highlight a local news concerning the creation of a virtual temple online.

28 August 2008

Japan: Pet Culture

Lee from Tokyo Times blogs some photos showing Japanese pet culture in daily consumption.

27 August 2008

Japan: Food Safety

Martin J Frid from Kurashi blogs about the changing attitude towards food in Japan.

26 August 2008

Japan and Thailand: Children of the Dark

Roy Berman from Multant frog elaborated his comments on a newly released film “Children of the Dark” which is about how children in Thailand are exploited by developed countries.

26 August 2008

Japan: Ikeda on Everything is Miscellaneous

Well-known Japanese blogger Nobuo Ikeda (池田信夫) reviews [ja] the recently released translation of David Weinberger's book “Everything is Miscellaneous” (インターネットはいかに知の秩序を変えるか?), translated to Japanese by Rei Kasiwano (柏野零).

21 August 2008

Japan: Intangible Cultural Heritage

Ampontan blogs about the nomination of 14 cultural expressions by the Agency of Cultural Affair as Intangible Cultural Heritage. One of the items is chakkirako.

19 August 2008

Japan: To Japanese women, WaiWai was sexual harassment

Since it exploded on the Japanese Internet less than two months ago, the scandal at Mainichi surrounding the newspaper's former English-language column “WaiWai” has taken on epic proportions. While much has been written about the scandal and its deeper implications, the duration and intensity of attacks on one of Japan's largest national newspapers has surprised almost everybody.

18 August 2008

Japan: Soft Machines

Edo from Pink Tentacle blogs about the development of elastic electronic circuits which makes soft machines / robot become possible.

14 August 2008

Japan: Debate over Google Street View continues

Less than two weeks after Google rolled out Street View in Japan, debate continues in the blogs over whether the new service is an appropriate match for Japanese culture and urban residential life. A letter addressed to Google written by IT professional Osamu Higuchi drew a huge reaction last week, the translation of which was picked up abroad in both the U.S. and the U.K., in Japan both in English and in Japanese, and eventually even made its way onto Chinese bulletin boards. While many bloggers in Japan supported sentiments expressed in the letter, others responded with criticism.

14 August 2008