· October, 2013

Stories about Japan from October, 2013

Journalists Fear Japan's Proposed Secret Information Protection Act

  26 October 2013

The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a bill [ja] on October 25, 2013 to impose tougher penalties on civil servants, lawmakers and others who leak national secrets and harm national security. The so-called Secret Information Protection Act has been unpopular among Japanese press, human rights advocates, and citizens...

The Guardian's (Mis)guide To Japanese Sex Trends

The Bridge  25 October 2013

"Japan's under-40s appear to be losing interest in conventional relationships," said The Guardian. "Millions aren't...dating, and increasing numbers can't be bothered with sex." Not so fast, said Japanese netizens.

Japan: OpenStreetMap Aggregates Typhoon Info

  18 October 2013

OpenStreetMap users volunteered their time to create a crisis map of Izu Oshima island [ja], a small island to the south of Tokyo where more than a dozen of people were killed by mudslides triggered by this week's deadly Typhoon Wipha. The red dots on the map represent reports submitted by users, which give...

Massive Anti-Nuclear Protests Held in Tokyo

  15 October 2013

On October 13, 2013, thousands of people marched down the streets of Tokyo to protest against nuclear power. In a rally dubbed Goodbye Genpatsu [ja], Japanese people demanded the end of nuclear power plants and the use of more environmentally friendly sources of energy. Kenzaburo Oe, winner of the 1994...

Mapping Earthquake Reconstruction in Tohoku, Japan

  7 October 2013

TPFsquare, a project by a group of volunteer professionals based in Tokyo, compiles a list of efforts to rebuild areas affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011 into single map. The project, which is available in English, seeks to aggregate various reconstruction projects in different locations so that...