Stories about Japan from April, 2011
Japan: Netizens react to the arrest of an Englishman
Japan Probe translated the comments [en] of some netizens who reacted to the arrest of an English man who grabbed “a mike from a politician at a train station and...
Japan: Tohoku Earthquake as seen through Twitter
A video by Rio Akasaka shows how the news of the earthquake spread on Twitter on March 11.
Brazil/Japan: Bridge Blogging Post-Earthquake News
“I read a post from a japanese blogger, I found it truly interesting and I decided to translate part of it”, said [pt] Satou Mihoko, who has decided to bridge...
Japan: “Nuclear Power Mafia”
An anoymous user published on Nichannel (2ch) some pages from the manga titled Hakuryu Legend – Nuclear Power Mafia [ja] (by Tennoji Dai and Watanabe Michio), whose publication was suspended...
France, Japan: Debating President Sarkozy's Visit to Japan
When French President Nicolas Sarkozy visited Japan on March 31, 2011, less than three weeks after the earthquake and tsunami that caused a nuclear emergency, Japanese Prime Minister Naoto Kan is reported to have said: "When it rains, a friend who comes is a true friend". Bloggers ask if Nicolas Sarkozy really came to visit out of friendship alone.
Japan: Living near a nuclear reactor
Photographer and blogger Buddhika Weerasinghe published some pictures of people who live in proximity of a nuclear power plant in Fukui prefecture.
Interview with Gaël Brassac, Global Voices Translator
Translators are the behind-the-scenes contributors who allow Global Voices readers to access our content in other languages. One of them is Gaël Brassac who lives in France, but who always had a special place in his heart for Japan and strongly believes that the nation will recover swiftly from its current predicament.
Japan: Quakebook, a book born on Twitter
Journalist and blogger Jake Adelstein presents Quakebook [en], “a compilation of art, stories, and essays to raise money for Japan earthquake survivors” which started with a single tweet. The book,...
Japan: A Japanese medical aid worker's diary
Anonymous translator ( @anontrans) translated into English some blog entries posted by “a Japanese nurse who was dispatched to Rikuzentakata, Iwate, Japan as a member of one of the first...
Fukushima: Public Criticism and a Rising Anger
Open protests against Tepco as operator and the government as monitor had been relatively muted until recently, but this has now changed. For many foreigners however, used to much bigger numbers of demonstrators in their own countries, doubts remain. Why do Japanese people seem so reluctant to criticize the company and industry responsible for this man made disaster and the government which let it all happen?
Video: Checking out the BOBs Video Channel Nominees
The Deutsche Welle International Blog Awards, known as The BOBs are one of the most important awards for content producers online. One of their 17 categories is the award for Best Video Channel and today we'll get to know a bit more about the 11 nominees to better cast your vote.
Japan: Earthquake catfish prints
Pinktentacle published images from the series of namazu-e (lit. “catfish pictures”) that was realized in the 19th century after the Great Ansei Earthquake. “These prints featured depictions of mythical giant...
Japan: The only native Japanese Imam in Tokyo
Uchujin/Adrian Storey realized a photofilm [en] that tells the story of Abdullah Taqy, the only native Japanese Imam in Tokyo – a metropolis of over 13 million people.
Japan: Journalist Takashi Uesugi exposes Tepco and govt lies
Blogger TokyoTom published an interview [en] with Japanese freelance journalist Takashi Uesugi, “a critic of the Japanese news reporting establishment who now is lancing some of the lies and half-truths...
Japan: “The Fear of Magnitude 0″
In the wake of the magnitude 9.0 earthquake which hit Japan, changing forever the lives of so many people, popular writer Keiya Mizuno decided to use words as a means to react to the event and reflect on the meaning of life. In a post titled The Fear of Magnitude 0 published on his blog, the author highlights the importance of memory and the value of remembering lessons learnt from such tragedies.
Japan: SOS from a city near Fukushima nuclear plant
The mayor of Minami Soma, a small city next to the crippled Fukushima nuclear power plant, asked for help through a video [en, ja] posted on Youtube. The mayor launched...
Japan: Plutonium, Our Reliable Friend
Professor Yuji Ankei posted on Youtube a rare version of the animated video called Mr. Pluto, our reliable friend – Story of plutonium (頼れる仲間プルト君——プルトニウム物語). The video, that was later withdrawn,...
Japan: Machine Civilization
Pinktentacle presented [en] the latest coreographed video by World Order, the performance group led by former martial artist Genki Sudo. The video is called Machine Civilization and is a message...
Japan: JPRI Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund
An Italian student at the University of San Francisco produced a video [ita, en] to help the victims of the Tohoku earthquake. In the video Caterina explains how to make...
Russia: Tatarstan People's Message to Japan
Russian photographer Oleg Klimov re-posts (RUS) a YouTube video (RUS, JPN) by a Tatarstan-based Japanese photographer Sohei Yasui, in which residents of Tatarstan's capital Kazan share their opinions on the...