· December, 2010

Stories about Japan from December, 2010

China, Congo and Japan: Soccer politics

  29 December 2010

Ministry of Tofu translates Chinese netizens’ reactions over a recent soccer fans riot in Congo. The African soccer fans had mistaken the Japanese referee as Chinese and smashed Chinese-own stores to avenge the partial rule in the football field.

Japan: A year of blogs

  28 December 2010

As the character 暑 (sho) meaning ‘hot or heat' was chosen to represent the year 2010 at the annual ceremony in Kyoto, let's see a selection of “hot topics” that Global Voices covered this year.

Japan: Celebrating the Emperor's Birthday

  23 December 2010

Today is a national holiday to celebrate Emperor Akihito's birthday. Bruce Meyer-Kenny at Demotix posted some images from the celebration at the Imperial Palace. The Emperor is now 77 years old.

South/North Korea: A Review of 2010 in Keywords

  20 December 2010

From Cheonan incident in March to the latest North Korean attack on Yeonpyeong island, Global Voices took a look back at the year’s hottest keywords that have been widely circulated over Korean internet venues.

Japan: Woman sued Google Street View for pics of underwear

  19 December 2010

Again troubles for Google Street Views [en] in Japan. Reports said [en] that a young woman sued Google for showing pictures of her underwear drying on the balcony and claimed about 7,000 USD for damages. A blogger at Gundam Nikki commented saying that such an action is exaggerated and due...

Japan: Fruity Samurai

  14 December 2010

The animated series Fruity Samurai [ja] (フルーティー侍), which received a special award for the section ‘World Wide Laugh’ at the last Okinawa International Movie Festival [ja], makes fun of the traditional swashbuckling movies. The first three episodes can be viewed at Fruity Samurai Official Channel [mute] on Youtube.

Japan: Blogging from the PM's residence

  14 December 2010

With the aim to connect citizens to politics and show how's life at the prime minister's official residence, in November the residence staff launched a blog called Kan-Full Blog [ja] (Naoto Kan being the name of Japan's PM). The blog obviously has posts on the content of PM's press conferences...

Digital historical archive Japan Air Raids

  13 December 2010

Cary Karacas and Bret Fisk [ja] run the digital historical archive Japan Air Raids. The site, available in English and Japanese, is “an ongoing project to build a digital archive dedicated to the international dissemination of information about the World War II air raids against Japan”.

Japan: Opposing Proposed Bill to Restrict “Harmful” Anime and Manga

  12 December 2010

The anime and manga industry's protest again Tokyo's proposed bill for tighter restrictions on content sold to youths escalated on Friday when ten publishers announced that they would not participate in Tokyo International Anime Fair. The Japanese twittersphere is abuzz with this topic, as reflected in Togetter [ja], where it...

Japan: Asahi's English Daily to become Electronic Only

  12 December 2010

Andy Sharp at the Diplomat's Tokyo Notes reports that the print version of Asahi Shimbun’s printed English-language daily will be discontinued next February and become electronic only. This leaves two printed English-language dailies in Japan, and Sharp notes “given their precarious positions, it would not come as a shock if,...

Japan: Web Service Togetter now in English

  12 December 2010

Togetter is a popular Japanese web service that allows users to bundle tweets under any given topic. They launched an English version of the service as Chripstory last week. Many Twitter users have voiced their encouragement and support, as bundled in this Togetter thread [ja].

Japan: The Fear of the Internet

  12 December 2010

Last year W. David MARX at Neojaponisme wrote a thoughtful post on “Japanese internet aversion” [en], in which he proposed an interpretation of the Japanese attitude toward the Net that is still valid today. According to the blogger, the fear of the internet manifests itself as “user trepidation” and “corporate...

Japan: Cartoon Blog

  6 December 2010

The Tokyo Reporter just launched a new section called Cartoon Blog [en], in collaboration with cartoonist Roberto De Vido (also author of Politicomix [en]).

Japan: Confusion and speculations on the North Korean incident

  5 December 2010

The latest attack by North Korea on South Korea has put Japan on the alert. Is it the beginning of a war? Will it be Japan's turn next time? Or is it just a ‘beat-up' created by both conservative and alarmist media alike? People in Japan are alarmed but don't know what to think.

Japan: Watching Wikileaks

  5 December 2010

Wikileaks Watch Japan sums up and translates in Japanese Wikileaks’ major findings. The blog was started this month and is updated daily by user fryingpan.