Chris Salzberg · August, 2007

Latest posts by Chris Salzberg from August, 2007

Japan: Life out of a Manga Kissa

Results of a survey just released by the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare has found that thousands of people across Japan bordering on poverty live their lives out of Internet cafes or "manga kissa". Bloggers this week reflected on the significance of the results.

30 August 2007

Japan: Peace Child 2007

Hasan at hasanhujairi[dot]com has posted an outline of his experience at the 10-day Peace Child program at a farm in Chiba, two hours from Tokyo, discussing issues such as war...

26 August 2007

Japan: Crazy for a Bug

A catchy tune about a funny-looking bug that bites people's bums and makes them happy, featured regularly as filler between children's programming on the national broadcaster NHK, is catching on like crazy across Japan. In this post, read more about the thinking behind the song, reactions from Japanese bloggers, and a post from one of the creators of the clip.

26 August 2007

Japan: Time-lapse Tokyo

Pink Tentacle brings together ten great time-lapse videos shot in Tokyo, including one of 35 years of construction in Shinjuku, one of the construction of Roppongi Hills, one of a...

25 August 2007

Japan: The Hunt for Otaku

Matt Alt at Alt Japan reports on the latest case of “otaku gari”, the practice of hunting down otaku (nerds) and robbing them of their money and fancy toys. In...

18 August 2007

Japan: Living With the Heat

As Japan suffers through what likely will become its hottest summer on record, with temperatures topping 40 degrees in some places and humidity at all-time highs, and even as business owners happily celebrate skyrocketing sales of air conditioners, fans, and ice cream, worries of an energy crisis loom on the horizon. In the middle of the scorching heat, one blogger has responded by taking matters into his own hands and doing the unthinkable: he turned off the air conditioning.

16 August 2007

Japan: 62 Years Later, Still Remembering

Sixty-two years have passed since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the close of World War Two. While people with first-hand experience of the bombing are disappearing, many people are fighting to keep their stories alive. Translations featured in this post include bloggers describing stories of the bombing, first-hand accounts of victims, a comparison of the way the history of events is taught in Japan and in the U.S., and thoughts about the relevance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on the world of today.

10 August 2007

Japan: The words that changed my life

In her article this week at Magazine 9, Amamiya Karin talks about the words that changed her life [Ja], through the experiences of poet and former hikikomori (shut-in) Tsukino Koji,...

9 August 2007

Japan: Tanabata Festival

Shari at My So-Called Japanese Life has posted an article with many photos about the Tanabata Festival which just finished in Asagaya, Tokyo.

9 August 2007

Japan: Street Artist in Tokyo

Hasan at hasanhujairi[dot]com writes about a street artist who draws calligraphy on the sidewalk in Harajuku, Tokyo. Hasan writes: “I couldn’t help but take in the site of him with...

8 August 2007

Japan: Death Penalty Killings

The Asia Death Penalty blog has a post about an appeal from Amnesty International to stop the death penalty killings of three men in Japan scheduled for tomorrow (August 9th)....

8 August 2007

Amid Controversy, YouTube Launches in Japan

Late last week, Google announced that it was teaming up with six Japanese firms, including SkyPerfecTV and Mixi, creator of Japan’s most popular social networking software, to link content to a new YouTube website exclusively in Japanese in order to boost the company’s presence in Japan. A blogger who was at the meeting where the announcement was made describes his thoughts on the future of YouTube in Japan.

8 August 2007

YouTube launched in Japan

Andreas at Chosaq writes about the launch of YouTube in Japan and hostile reactions from Japanese television, music and film companies.

8 August 2007

Japan: The Seikaryo Dormitory

Roy Berman at Mutant Frog Travelogue writes about Seikaryo, a Chinese student dormitory located in Tokyo constructed in 1927 by an organization belonging to the Japanese colonial Governor General in...

7 August 2007