Stories about Japan from September, 2011
Black Scholars Who Make a Specialty of Asian Studies
The Black Tokyo blog writes about the rich history of Asia studies by African-American scholars. “I want to follow the path of Blacks that have made it possible for other Blacks to provide information on Asia, in my case Japan, from an Afro perspective.“
Japan: Tracking a telecom giant's quest for carrying the iPhone
Since news broke that Japan's 2nd largest carrier KDDI has struck a deal with Apple to sell the iPhone5, tech savvy netizens are keeping a close watch on the company's actions. The company has not made an official statement at this point.
Video: Water Bottle Lights and Other Eco-Friendly Inventions
Solar lights and hot water heaters from plastic water bottles, houses made from trash and a way to do without plastic bags are some of the projects making reducing, reusing and recycling not only fun and affordable but also vital in improving the quality of life of people all around the world.
Colombia: President Santos’ Tour of Asia
Last week, Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos toured Japan and South Korea for seven days with the goal of strengthening commercial ties. In Japan, he signed an agreement to protect reciprocal investments, while the Koreans promised to accelerate the process for a free trade treaty. Bloggers and Twitter users commented on the trip.
Japan: Pass rates for bar exams at all time low
Marcelo de Alcantara from the Japanese Law Blog has translated a news article with 2011 statistics about the revised bar examinations.
Japan: Anti-nuclear power demonstration on 911
Buddhika Weerasinghe has posted photos of the anti-nuclear power demonstration held in central Tokyo on September 11th. Several thousand people joined the demo, as can be seen in this video footage [ja] and 12 people were arrested. See also the official site [ja] for the demonstration.
Japan: Most rational, least traditional country?
Hashi at Tofugu blogs about the World Values Survey results that show that Japan is “one of the most rational, least ‘traditional’ countries out there” and tops the list of countries as having the strongest secular-rational values.
Japan: The Case of an Exposed Online Pseudonym
The sudden shutdown of "Diary of an ex-NEET who works overseas", a popular anonymous blog that criticized Japanese working ethics, has spurred discussion about anonymous activity on the Internet.
China: Sex, Censorship and the Rise of ‘People's Porn’
Katrien Jacobs, author of new book 'People's Pornography: Sex and Surveillance on the Chinese Internet', discusses the emergence of an online erotic culture in China that openly describes individuals' personal sexual activities - in other words, amateur Internet pornography.
Sing Out from Japan
Musicians from the earthquake-hit areas united and gave life to a project called Sing Out From Japan [en,ja]. They have released two songs so far: Let's go home/lawblow and One love/I shall walk looking up, which are both cover versions of popular songs. The videos were shot in the regions...
