· October, 2008

Stories about Japan from October, 2008

Japan: Dubbing 10 and Broadcast Law

  18 October 2008

Economist and blogger Nobuo Ikeda writes about a prominent idea [ja] to introduce the “dubbing 10″ system, abandoned only weeks ago, though an airwaves encryption scheme. Ikeda explains that the idea would be to pair a key to the encrypted airwaves with the dubbing ten system, which he claims is...

Japan: Financial crises and financial markets

  15 October 2008

Japanese blogger and economics scholar id:eliya provides a brief background to financial crises that “even a high-schooler would understand” [ja], and then in a later post answers the questions: “What are financial markets for? And are they useful to me?” [ja]

Japan: Making Monks

  15 October 2008

Japan-newbie introduces a new blog called making monks, which aims at creating an online sangha capable of supporting the growth and development of Buddhist monks.

Japan: The dangers of pre-paid cards

  14 October 2008

An article at Jan-Jan describes the situation of people who bought pre-paid cards [ja] to use at Kakimoto Sekiyu, a company in Aomori Prefecture that went bankrupt and closed its gasoline stands on the 6th of this month. Customers who bought pre-paid cards in advance, some for as much as...

Japan: Popularity of elderly on the rise?

  12 October 2008

At E.L.H. Electric Lover Hinagiku, blogger y_arim reacts to a news article [ja] in Yomiuri shimbun reporting that popularity of the elderly in Japan is on the rise among young people [ja], writing that he's rarely seen news so gross. “At the heart of the grossness is the fact that...

Bahrain: The pleasures and perils of studying abroad

  11 October 2008

Although Bahrain has a number of universities, both government and private, many Bahrainis have the opportunity to go abroad to pursue undergraduate and postgraduate studies, often by means of scholarships. One of the first problems they face is that few people know where Bahrain is. In this post we hear about the experiences of three bloggers who have just gone abroad for higher studies, to Japan, Britain and the United States, and a fourth blogger who has been studying in India for some time.

Japan: Chart Maniax

  11 October 2008

Japanese programmer and blogger id:amachang introduces [ja] Chart Maniax [ja], a service they developed for charting when and through which services web pages have been bookmarked. Services included are Hatena Bookmarks [ja], Livedoor Clip [ja], Delicious and Buzzurl [ja]. As an example, have a look at the chart for id:amachang's...

Japan: Rikimaru Toho, the first manga narrating cantastoria

  10 October 2008

His stage name is Rikimaru Tōhō, he defines himself a “manga reader”, and for five years he has been enchanting hundreds of passersby with his performances in the suburbs of western Tokyo. A legendary performer, Rikimaru Tōhō's popularity is due not to TV or radio shows, but to his ability to modify his voice and play the parts of the characters in the stories he reads. Read some responses to Rikimaru's performances, and some passages from the manga reader's own blog.

Japan: Machida city council requests regulation of Street View

  10 October 2008

Blogger and lawyer Yōji Ochiai [落合洋司] reports on news [ja] that the Machida city council in Tokyo has made a written request [ja] for investigations into regulation regarding Google's Street View Service, which has sparked some negative reactions in Japan [ja]. “My position has been to oppose entirely the targeting,...

Japan: Verbal gaffs and Japanese politics

  9 October 2008

Blogger Ken writes about verbal gaffs in Japanese politics [ja]. Ken uses the example of a recent statement by Minister Nariaki Nakayama, which the blogger says became a gaff because Nakayama offended both the teachers union and citizen groups opposing expansion of Narita Airport. Ken argues that verbal gaffs are...

Japan: Web becoming Fifth Estate

  8 October 2008

Ikeda Nobuo at OpenSpectrum Japan reports on two news stories related to copyright law in Japan: the conditional access system B-CAS has been scrapped (and with it so-called “Dubbing Ten”), and on September 18 the plan to extend copyright from 50 to 70 years was also abandoned. Ikeda observes that...

Japan: Street View and Public Space

  7 October 2008

The debate about Google's new Street View service in Japan, which sparked criticisms following its launch over a perceived lack of cultural sensitivity, has come back into the spotlight with the recent visit to Tokyo by Google vice president Kent Walker, and with reports emerging that the service does not appear to properly distinguish between public and private spaces.

Japan: Nikkei drops below 10,000 yen

  7 October 2008

mojix at Zope Junky Nikki picks up news that the Nikkei stock average has slumped below 10,000 yen for the first time in nearly five years [ja], featuring a PDF of a print article from Nikkei Keizai shimbun announcing the drop. mojix writes: “There are good sides to a strong...

Japan: Children and mobile phones

  7 October 2008

A Japanese parent blogs about their daughter's experience getting her first mobile phone [ja], and the problems involved: the dangers of dating and porn sites, misunderstandings in communication, and constant interruptions during study time. The blogger relates the social distance created by these phones to the shift from traditional sushi...

Japan: Perspective on problems at IBM Japan

  6 October 2008

Blogger id:higayasuo traces recent problems at IBM Japan to the old guard in the company not understanding modern conditions of the industry [ja], carrying over experience from an age of general-purpose computers to a modern Americanized age of rational production through outsourcing and specialization. Based on this experience, id:higayasuo explains,...

Japan: Newsgraphy and HatenarMaps

  6 October 2008

With ever-increasing amount of news information making its way onto the Internet every day, the question of how to parse and interpret this information is becoming more and more critical. One Japanese engineer and blogger has proposed two new services, HatenarMaps and Newsgraphy, as a way to overcome this problem through data visualization.

Japan: GLOCOM report on new JICA president Sadako Ogata

  5 October 2008

The GLOCOM blog has a report (in both English and Japanese) on new JICA president Sadako Ogata's [緒方貞子] presentation Oct. 2nd at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan (FCCJ), which follows on the Oct. 1st consolidation of much of Japan's Official Developmental Assistance (ODA) through the merging of JICA and...