Stories about Japan from February, 2009
Japan and Korea: Love Hotel
James Turnbull from the Grand Narrative discusses about the love hotel culture in Japan and Korea.
Japan: Online Facemark Dictionary
A website, evoticon.net, has been launched recently to collect Japanese emotion icon. (via Japan Probe)
Japan: Pictures of foreigners from 17th/18th century
James from Japan Probe posts a collection of pictures of foreigners from 17 / 18th century in Japan.
Japan: Homeless
Lee from Tokyo Times posts photos of homeless people in the Capital. The blogger comments that the situation will get worse.
Japan: Message translation service brings heartbreak
Commenters at Japan's popular bulletin board service 2channel are responding to the story [ja] of a Japanese girl (ID tomochan) who, reportedly through the “enjoy JAPAN (KOREA) translation service” run by Korean search portal Naver, became close friends with a Korean guy. Naver plans to end the service on February...
Japan: Threats to freedom of speech and freedom to protest
On the 16th of January a group of protesters gathered outside Shinjuku station (one of the most crowded stations in Tokyo) to denounce Prime Minister Aso and his cabinet. The protesters were questioned by police and the protest eventually stopped, with all events caught on camera. Bloggers discuss implications for freedom of speech.
Japan: The Origin of Zoku
Neojaponisme has a post investigating the origin of a popular term “zoku” in youth subculture.
Japan: Tokyo Police Acts Against Slander On Blog Posts
Masaru IKEDA from Asiajin blogs about Tokyo police's recent prosecution of 18 people for slandering comments in a local comedian's blog.
Japan: Bloggers respond to new filtering measures
Over the past week, Japan's major mobile phone operators have commenced filtering web access on mobile phones contracted to minors (users under 18 years of age), following on legislation introduced in late 2007 and on developments over the last year toward the regulation of “harmful” content. Bloggers respond.
East Asia: Various readings on “Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea”
Japanese anime filmmaker Hayao Miyazaki's latest animated film, Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea, has become a widely discussed movie in the 2009 new year. Here is the movie trailer: In Hong Kong, the movie was on show since mid Jan and because of the debate over protection of...
Japan and U.S: Totoro Forest Project
Martin J Frid from Kurashi introduces an exhibition on Totoro in San Francisco, which is part of the Totoro Forest project for preserving the Sayama Forest in Tokyo.
