Stories about East Asia from September, 2008
Taiwan: The Return of Local Cinema
This summer, Taiwanese cinema is not only celebrating a comeback, but is also shining like the sun. No matter how strongly the typhoon hits Taiwan, movie theaters are witnessing hundreds, if not thousands, of people waiting in line just for the new film, “Cape No.7“. The movie became a blockbuster...
Japan: Mapping the News with Newsgraphy
Hatena user id:kaiseh introduces a news mapping mashup service they created [ja] called “Newsgraphy“, based on an earlier mapping service for Hatena blogs released in June (with much fanfare [ja]) called HatenarMaps (also by id:kaiseh). The new service creates a 2-dimensional visualization of news stories from Yahoo News using Voronoi...
Japan: Kiki's Atashi Kanojo
Blogger Akihito Kobayashi at the Shirokuma Blog reports on his experience [ja] reading the winning work in this year's keitai shosetsu awards: “Atashi Kanojo” (あたし彼女) by 23-year-old writer Kiki. Although the short story has all the elements of the genre — sex, pregnancy, abortion, and many one-word sentences — Akihito...
Japan: Nakayama comment on expansion of Narita Airport
id:takerunba comments on a statement [ja] by Japanese Minister of Construction and Transport Nariaki Nakayama in an interview with Sankei Shimbun, in which Nakayama criticized local residents obstructing the expansion of Narita airport for not having the spirit to sacrifice themselves for the public good. id:takerunba agrees with Nakayama, pointing...
Japan: Views on Wall Street Crisis
The ongoing collapse, bail-out and buy-out of Wall Street investment banks, threatening a U.S. and possibly worldwide recession, has triggered no lack of debates in Japanese blogs on the country's strong financial connection with its overseas ally.
Ripples of the China Milk Scandal in Africa
In China, an estimated 13,000 children have fallen ill since the tainted milk scandal broke. Chinese influence has grown in Africa in recent years, as have imports of all kinds products, from running shoes to instant noodles. Bloggers as far afield as Congo and Senegal, concerned about the safety of Chinese products in their countries, are closely following the story.
Japan: Hikikomori – Invisible Population
Coriolinus from Japundit blogs about the social phenomena of Hikikomori - People who isolate themselves and refuse all human contact for long periods of time, often years.
Japan: 2channel on Aso UN speech
New Japanese Prime Minister Aso Taro‘s speech at the UN yesterday is all the talk on 2channel [ja], Japan's largest bulletin board. According to news reports [ja], 5 minutes into his speech Aso was told that there was a technical problem and that the English simultaneous interpreting had not kicked...
South Korea: Essay Contest on “Why is Dokdo Korean Territory?”
Ampontan brings the readers’ attention to a writing competition (for foreigners) sponsored by Korea Time on “Why is Dokdo Korean Territory?” And the prize is round trip to Dokdo!
China: Life of Ordinary Chinese People
kdnet has a set of photos depicting the everyday life of ordinary Chinese people.
Japan: Google or Galapagos?
Blogger and economist Nobuo Ikeda [池田信夫] remarks in an article [ja] that whereas U.S. papers are making their sites more Google-friendly, articles on Japanese news sites do not even have permalinks. His comparison of the isolation of the Japanese web to Galapagos sparks a response from Fukuyuki Murakami [村上福之] at...
Japan: Name of new PM poses challenge for Canadians
At Canada de Nihongo (カナダde日本語), a Japanese blogger living in Canada describes how she can't stop laughing [ja] when people mention the name of Japan's new Prime Minister: although they try to say “Taro Aso”, what comes out inevitably sounds like “Taro Asshole”.
China: Morality Crisis
Xujun Eberlein from Inside-Out China have some discussions about the morality crisis happening in China. And whether a new ideology can solve the problem.
China: Oil Pipeline
Micheal from the Opposite End of China blogs about the potential implications of oil pipeline construction plan on China security.
China: Best for enterprises lacking conscience just to die
David Bandurski from China Media Project translated a column article by Liu Yibin at China Youth Daily which suggested that “it would be best for enterprises lacking conscience just to die.” Many netizens echoed with the suggestion.
Japan: Prosecutors want 1.5 years for bulletin board comment
2channel threads are commenting on news [ja] that prosecutors in Japan are asking for 1.5 years in the case of 23-year-old Atsushi Sugita's (杉田敦史) declaration on a bulletin board that he would “kill young girls”. Sugita said he did not intend to commit any crime and that in using the...
Singapore: Editor found guilty of defamation
A Singapore court has ruled that the editor of the Far Eastern Economic Review defamed Singapore officials in a July 2006 article in the magazine. A blogger comments: “Singapore's government is at it again- using their pet judges in a legal system wholly geared to punish anyone who dares to...
Vietnam: Typhoon Hagupit
Ned in Hanoi bought emergency supplies to prepare for Typhoon Hagupit which already made some deadly impact on neighboring Asian countries
Myanmar: Veteran activist now out of jail
Veteran democracy activist Win Tin who was detained by Myanmar's junta since 1989 is now out of jail. Was he freed or evicted? Other prisoners were released as well.
China: Illegitimate Girl Deprived of the Right to Education
An illegitimate girl of primary-school age in Zhuhai, South China, was turned away by the local schools, because her mother is not able to afford the hefty fine for illegitimacy, according to sohu blogger Han Tao’s report.
China: Infant Formula Scandal Highlights Decline in Breastfeeding
Health authorities in China reported this week that nearly 53,000 children have become sick after consuming tainted infant formula. As the effects of these contaminated dairy products become more widespread, many are discussing the alternative to formula — breastfeeding. The scandal erupted earlier this month when Sanlu, China's top-selling infant...
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