Latest posts by Scilla Alecci from December, 2008
Japan: Christmas illuminations within a click
Blogger Happy Kernel suggests a website that collects videos of Christmas illumination along the streets of every Japanese city. The idea of this website's creator, Shinya, was to make it possible for parents with small children to enjoy the Christmas atmosphere from home.
Japan: The early salaryman catches the worm
Blogger Yoshihara (吉原) at Engineer Live no Henshûchô (エンジニアLiveの編集長) comments about a new trend which is spreading among Japanese salarymen. As a response to the Japanese practice of working overtime from morning to night without rest, many white collar workers seem to have decided to dedicate the first hours of...
Japan, Brazil: A centenary of Japanese Immigration to Brazil.
In June 1908, the Japanese ship Kasato Maru docked in the Port of Santos after a 52-day voyage, bringing the first Japanese families to Brazil. A hundred years later and after a hard period of adaptation, Japanese and Japanese-Brazilians reflect on the history and cultural heritage of this cross ocean cultural mix.
Japan: Controversy over Imperial Succession
On the 1st of December, the seventh birthday of Princess Aiko (official title: 敬宮愛子内親王殿下, Toshi no miya Aiko naishinnō denka) [en], while the mainstream media in Japan were busy reporting that the princess had a cold and could not attend a birthday party organized in her honour, some bloggers were...
Japan: Dr. Shochi's trip around the world
Follow the adventures of Dr. Shochi Saburo (曻地三郎), a 102 year-old Japanese Doctor of Literature, Doctor of Medicine, Honorary Doctor of Philosophy and Poet who came up with the Parent and Child Toymaking Class [en], a program that “brings out children’s sensitivity and intelligence, improves communication and the bond between...
Japan: “Change”, the ideogram of 2008
Every year on the 12th of December, the Japanese Kanji Proficiency Society announces the Kanji of the year [en]. This year the kanji is 変 (hen), the ideogram representing “change”. Miki Tansho (丹所美紀 comments on the choice, writing that to many Japanese 変 by itself recalls the meaning “change for...
Japan: Japanese Language Proficiency Test Day
Takeshi at Saigon kara kita tsuma [サイゴンから来た妻] writes about his Vietnamese wife who took the Japanese Language Proficiency Test [en] [日本語能力試験, nihongo nōryoku shiken] today, as do thousands of other people every year who want to test their Japanese level. Seeing his wife to the test site, Takeshi-san was moved...
Japan: World AIDS Day Series and the Red Walk
As a part of wAds (World Aids Day Series) [jp], the HIV/AIDS prevention and education campaign taking place between October and December, many people this year have again participated in the Red Walk in Tokyo. As blogger Koji describes at Koji no Shiiteki Nikki [Kojiの恣意的日記], on the 30th of November...
Japan: Japanese man living in Mexico City Int'l Airport
Blogger que es que, a Japanese living in Guadalajara (Mexico), commented on news concerning Hiroshi Nohara [en], a Japanese man who has been living for months in the Benito Juarez International Airport of Mexico City. The blogger writes that they would like one day to experience Nohara's free style of...
