· June, 2010

Stories about Japan from June, 2010

Japan: The Hero, Sakamoto Ryoma

Confident, charismatic, and ever so dashing, Sakamoto Ryoma has always been one of Japan's favorite historical figures. Since NHK started to broadcast the historical drama series Ryōmaden ('The Legend of Ryoma') this January, a nation-wide Ryoma boom has exploded.

29 June 2010

Japan and the World Cup: Silencing the critics

Ranked near the bottom of the 32 teams on the field in South Africa, facing odds estimated at 400-to-1 and four straight pre-tournament losses to boot, Japan was not even expected to win a game in this year's World Cup. But with their convincing 3-1 win over Denmark, perceptions have completely changed, propelling coach Takashi Okada from the butt of all jokes to a national hero.

28 June 2010

Japan: A Hayao Miyazaki Profile

Trevor Hogg at Flickeringmyth [en] dedicates a series of five posts [en] to the master of Japanese animation Hayao Miyazaki [en]. In the first post, the blogger describes the beginning...

24 June 2010

Japan: A day at an elementary school

Ploychompu Srisa-an, a student at Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University, spent a day teaching at a Japanese elementary school as part of an exchange program. She created an in-depth video of...

23 June 2010

Japan: Okinawa Memorial Day

Today marks the 65th anniversary of the end of the Battle of Okinawa [en]. To commemorate this day, blogger 1919yasuyuki uploaded a video [ja] shot at the Okinawa Prefectural Peace...

23 June 2010

Japan: Butoh Legend Kazuo Ohno Passes Away

Kazuo Ohno, legendary performer and one of the founding fathers of Butoh, passed away on June 1st at the age of 103. Butoh is an avant-garde dance form that originated in post WWII Japan, characterized by white body paint and conceptual, tortured movements.

21 June 2010

Cambodia: Reactions to the 2010 World Cup Season

Cambodians are also celebrating the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Moto-taxi drivers, students, businesspeople, netizens, and even the Prime Minister are cheering for the Asian teams which are playing in the World Cup.

17 June 2010

Japan: A World Cup without Nakamura?

Gaki_tsutomu comments [ja] on the absence of midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura from the match [en] that saw Japanese team win 1-0 over Cameroon. The blogger wonders if the player will be...

16 June 2010

China: Post 80s rural worker

A recent wave of labour strike in China has attracted local and foreign media's attention. While local media has been harmonized by the propaganda department in order to stop workers...

15 June 2010

Japan: Hayabusa returns to Earth tomorrow

Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) expects the return of the spacecraft Hayabusa tomorrow, following a 7 year mission filled with enormous ups and downs. The randokukanso blog eagerly awaits its...

12 June 2010