Latest posts by Chris Salzberg
Japan: Refunds from Saizeriya
News that Saizeriya [ja], a Japanese restaurant chain offering low-cost Italian food, is offering refunds for people who ate pizza with melamine-tainted dough — without asking for receipts — has...
Japan: 10 rules for debating, from students in Finland
id:takerunba follows a trackback [ja] to an article by blogger Oika [ja] about five rules for debating apparently conceived of by 5th-year students in Finland. Oika highlights points #1 (“Don't...
Japan: Expression of surprise
Blogger and comedian Hirokazu Fujii [藤井宏和] snaps a picture and catches an expression of surprise [ja].
Japan: Net users versus mainstream media on Governor Hashimoto
id:Chikirin observes that lately a pattern of estrangement has developed in Japan between the tone of existing mainstream media and public opinion on the net [ja], one that can be...
Japan: Hospital system in crisis, but how can it be fixed?
Gurikenblog takes up the story of a pregnant mother who was turned away by seven hospitals in Tokyo and eventually died of a brain hemorrhage, writing that the basic problem...
Japan: Arrested in Shibuya just for walking?
id:inumash comments on news [ja] that three people heading a demo in Shibuya (Tokyo) on Oct. 26th with the intention of going to “see the home of PM Taro Aso”...
Japan: Meeting Tatsuhiko Takimoto
id:y_arim describes [ja] meeting Japanese author Tatsuhiko Takimoto, known for his fictional work about hikikomori entitled Welcome to the N.H.K, at a bar in Akihabara. When they met, Takimoto declared...
Japan: You call that “art”?
Blogger aiki_tachibana, in a post entitled “Don't call that ‘art'!” [ja], reacts to news about a controversial art performance in Hiroshima on Oct. 21st. According to reports [ja], a group...
Japan: Top 100 Hot Entries on Hatena Bookmarks
Blogger id:ramyana posts a list [ja] of the top 100 bookmarked items on the Japanese bookmarking service Hatena Bookmarks [ja]. In first place, with 5370 bookmarks [ja], is a page...
Japan: The Illegal Download Explained, on 2-Channel
Over the last years, the sometimes raucous nature of the Japanese Internet has repeatedly come under fire over concerns about issues such as harmful content and copyright infringement. Now the spotlight is back again, with news that legislation to ban downloads of copyrighted content is moving ahead as planned, despite earlier delays.
Japan: Outlawing Illegal Downloads
id:seshiapple picks up [ja] comments from a thread on Japanese bulletin board 2-Channel in which IT journalist Daisuke Tsuda asks 2-channelers: “The outlawing of [illegal] downloads is almost finalized, do...
Japan: Subsidy for companies hiring longtime freeters
A thread on bulletin board 2-Channel responds to news that the Japanese government plans to offer subsidies to companies who hire long-time freeters (people who lack full time employment or...
Japan: Why are American researchers so productive?
Japanese researcher id:kaz_ataka at Being between Neuroscience and Marketing describes his surprise at the productivity of science researchers in the U.S., those at the blogger's lab in the U.S. producing...
Japan: Media Bias in Potato Field Eviction?
Images appearing on Japanese TV of government forces evicting crying nursery school children from potato fields in Osaka, part of plans to extend a highway (the Second Keihan Highway) between Kyoto and Osaka, has sparked many on the Japanese net to respond with accusations of media bias.
Japan: Reaction to Asahi article on supermarket inspection
An article in the Asahi Shimbun [ja] about a visit by Japanese prime minister Taro Aso to a Shinjuku supermarket has been taken up on 2-Channel [ja]. Aso reportedly visited...
Japan: Dubbing 10 and Broadcast Law
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...
Japan: Children in tears over potato fields, net users suspicious
Net users are responding to images appearing on TV [ja] showing children crying in potato fields in Osaka (Japan) on the morning of the 16th after the city sent in...
Japan: Wallpaper pictures
Sinsoku VIP [神速VIP] has a long list of “cool and sad” pictures to stick on your wall [ja].
Japan: Financial crises and financial markets
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...
Japan: The dangers of pre-paid cards
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...
Japan: Popularity of elderly on the rise?
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...
