· October, 2009

Stories about Japan from October, 2009

Japan: When Your Wife is Sick

  29 October 2009

When Japanese “corporate livestock” (社蓄 shachiku) culture and values on marriage collide – more than 300 people responded to this question on the mega forum Hatsugen Komachi: Should a husband take time off work when his wife is sick? Situation Rina has been married for 8 years and has a...

Japan: News in Manga Format

  27 October 2009

The Kininaruu blog is enthusiastic about Manga no Shinbun (‘Manga Newspaper’), a new Japanese website that publishes news stories as manga illustrations. Boo-hee thinks it's a good medium in a world overflowing with information [ja]. Hiroshi Hara posted an image of a similar attempt in his high school years.

Inheritance tax and children in limbo: adoption in Japan.

  21 October 2009

Adoption in Japan is a statistically under-represented, multi-dimensional issue. Young families seeking children, inheritance tax-evading grandchild adoptions, conservative opposition to confusing family blood-lines, and loosely regulated groups illegally netting profit from international adoptions out of Japan.

Japan: Avatars come to life in the anime Summer Wars

  17 October 2009

Against the background of the Japanese countryside, feel good sentiments and an extraordinary virtual world are featured in Summer Wars (サマーウォーズSama wozu) [ja], the new animated movie by director Mamoru Hosoda [en]. The anime tells the story of Kenji, an awkward teenage math genius who finds himself involved in an...

How the recession has affected motherhood

  15 October 2009

When the economies of world plummeted late last year, that “motherhood” would be a victim of the spiraling trend might not have been foremost in the minds of most. However, mothers are as much a casualty of the recession as the stock markets.

Japan: Tokyo Vice

  11 October 2009

Japansubculture publishes an interview [en] with Jake Adelstein, author of the book “Tokyo Vice: an American Reporter on the Police Beat in Japan” and former crime reporter for the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper.

Japan: A blogger has dinner with Prime Minister Hatoyama

  8 October 2009

Blogger Satonao tells [ja] about him having dinner with Prime Minister Hatoyama and other politicians in a restaurant of Tokyo on Sept. 30. On that occasion, he could explain Mr. Hatoyama what Twitter is and exchange a few words on the condition of social media in Japan. Here are some...

Japan: The Buddha girls

  7 October 2009

They call them 'Buddha girls' (仏女 butsujo), Japanese ladies in their 30s or 40s passionate about visiting temples and admiring statues of Buddha and Bodhisattva.

Japan: Learning to change

  7 October 2009

Fumi Yamazaki is now visiting the U.S.A to learn about e-government in order to prepare for future changes in Japan. The blogger explained what are changing and what needs to be changed.

Japan: Visiting Todaiji Temple

  3 October 2009

Yama explains [ja] in detail the architecture of Todaiji temple [ja] (東大寺) in Nara and of its Great Buddha Hall (大仏殿 Daibutsuden), the largest wooden building in the world. Pictures of the temple complex are also provided.

Is Japan a dying nation?

  2 October 2009

Mari writes a brief response to the BBC's article “Is Japan a dying nation?” She agrees that the population is shrinking but believes that the country will be reborn in a new and smaller form.

Japan: Panda poo power

  2 October 2009

Pink Tentacle blogs about the recent Ig Noble Biology prize winner Fumiaki Taguchi's research on Panda poo for disintegrating kitchen waste.