Stories about East Asia from September, 2008
Korea: The End of OhmyNews Japan (following Hanako's)
Following the post, “The End of OhmyNews Japan” by the Japanese editor, Hanako, I was curious how Korean bloggers talk about the failure of OhmyNews Japan. Many bloggers have analyzed the success of OhmyNews Korea and have been keen on changes in ONK, which is regarded as the godfather of...
Japan: Manga teaches children danger of fast food
Japanese blogger and author Chiki Ogiue [荻上チキ] scans an educational manga book he stumbled on at an eco cafe [ja] that teaches children good dietary habits with incredibly frank visual messages and storylines, emphasizing the danger of fast food and the value of eating rice, among other things. Webpage of...
Japan: Wordcamp Tokyo 2008
Akky Akimoto writes about the first Wordcamp (conference of WordPress users) in Japan [ja], Wordcamp Tokyo 2008 held on September 23rd, and also rounds up other Japanese blog posts on the event.
Japan: The true revolution of Google Street View
Blogger id:bohemian_style reflects on the launch of Google Street View in Japan [ja], noting that the way the service is viewed differs depending on where people are living: in modern urban areas, people's sense of privacy tends to be limited their immediate living space, which ends at the entrance to...
Japan: Maga on War and Japan
Japan Focus just published a translation of one of Mizuki Shigeru’s short manga pieces, entitled “War and Japan“, with a brief introduction to the man and his work written by Matthew Penney. via Mutant Travelogue.
Deaf Awareness Week: Striving for Quality Education
On this second part of the Deaf Awareness Week posts (part one), we bring you a perspective on education for the deaf, and the different challenges it implies. First, from the Central African Republic, a school that after funds stopped, has continued fueled only by love. Second, from the Philippines,...
South Korea: U.S. Military in Korea
Ask a Korea has some discussion on why do Koreans Complain about U.S. Military in Korea?
China: Chinese Websites Trapped In Milk Powder Gate
ESWN translated a local report from Southern Metropolis Daily on how Chinese search engines and websites are involved in the poisonous milk powder scandal.
Japan: The changing value of knowledge
Japanese Hatena user id:TomoMachi argues that now that everything on the Internet is so easily accessible to everyone, the value of simply “knowing something” is disappearing [ja]. User id:aureliano follows with a post pointing out that while rote memorization is becoming meaningless, the same is not true of writing an...
Critical Myanmar online portal hacked
On the the eve of the first anniversary of Myanmar’s “Saffron Revolution,” The Irrawaddy website was hacked. A blog was set-up as a temporary mirror site . The Irrawady focuses on Myanmar and Southeast Asia.
Japan: Not just Hatena, the whole Internet has too many ads
Hatena user id:gnarl responds to id:rycotan's complaint that Japanese bookmarking service Hatena has too many ads on its keyword page with a post arguing that it's not just Hatena: the whole Internet has too many ads [ja].
Indonesia: Lights, Camera, Elections!
Next April, Indonesian voters will elect new members of Parliament. Political parties are now quietly launching their election campaigns. What surprised (or disturbed) many Indonesians is the high number of celebrities who were named as parliamentary candidates.
Hong Kong: Finance Tsunami
As a major financial center in the world, the financial tsunami triggered by Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy hit the city badly. On sept 18, the Hang Seng Index (HIS) dived about 1,300 points in the morning and touched 16,283, but due to Chinese and Hong Kong government's joint intervention, it rebounded...
Japan: Takeda Castle, the Japanese Machu Pichu
An entry entitled “Japan's Machu Pichu? The ruins of Takeda Castle, Castle to the Heavens” [ja] posted at Tomorrowearth.com has an incredible set of photos (more here, here and here) of an abandoned castle in Asago city, Hyōgo Prefecture. More pictures and a map of the castle ruins here [ja].
Japan: Nobuto Hosaka on the streets of Tokyo
Politician and blogger Nobuto Hosaka [保坂展人] of the Japan Social Democratic Party writes at his doko doko diary [保坂展人のどこどこ日記] about his experience yesterday giving speeches [ja] on the streets of Koenji [高円寺], Asagaya [阿佐ヶ谷], Ogikubo [荻窪] and Iogi [井荻] (neighborhoods of Tokyo) in preparation for upcoming elections.
Kuwait: I never wear things made in China
Twenty Three and Enjoying Life, from Kuwait, is surprised at the number of groups popping up on Facebook. The latest she encounters says: I never wear things made in China.
Japan: Too many ads in Hatena Keywords
User id:ryocotan complains that the keyword page at Hatena, Japan's largest social bookmarking service, has too many advertisements [ja], demonstrating this problem with a diagram for the keyword “violin” (バイオリン [ja]) in which actual information is highlighted in blue, and ads highlighted in red.
Japan: Virtual Shopping Mall
Serkan Toto from Asiajin introduces a popular virtual window shopping website in Japan.
China: Uncovering Sanlu Scandal
ESWN translated Fu Jianfeng's editor note of an investigative report on the Sanlu poisonous milk which disclosed how the company tried to cover up the scandal.
Japan: The Birth of Blog Critique
Hiroshi Yamaguchi at H-Yamaguchi.net discusses [ja] Japanese journalist, author and Internet commentator Toshinao Sasaki‘s latest book, “The Birth of Blog Critique” [ブログ論壇の誕生]. In the book, Sasaki describes the circumstances through which statements in blogs have come to genuinely affect modern Japanese society, in a variety of different contexts.
Japan: Japanese input on iPhone 2.1
Views on the usability of Japanese characters on iPhone 2.1: At Thir's notes, thir reports that while many have complained that the input of characters is too slow on iPhone, 2.1 firmware offers a great improvement [ja]. Blogger wa-ren at Cross the Chasm! [キャズムを超えろ！] approves of these improvements, but reports...
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