Scilla Alecci · January, 2009

Latest posts by Scilla Alecci from January, 2009

Japan: Saint Young Men, Jesus and Buddha on Earth

  31 January 2009

What if one day Jesus and Buddha descended to Earth to spend their holidays? And what if they lived together in a cheap apartment in Tachikawa, in western Tokyo? This is what Hikaru Nakamura, a young Japanese manga author, was thinking of when he came up with Saint Oniisan, a manga published in the monthly magazine Morning 2 in 2007 that become a hit in the last few months after the publication of the first two episodes as single volumes last year.

Japan: My darling wife, I love you!

  31 January 2009

Blogger at Prism Cafe [ja] comments on news about an event organized by Japan Aisaika Organization (日本愛妻家協会 lit. Japan Organization of Beloved Wives) yesterday, the 29th of January, when in the middle of Hibiya Park, in central Tokyo, hundreds of husbands took the microphone to shout their love to their...

Japan: Obama vs. Aso

  29 January 2009

Like every other country in the world, Japan, one of the strongest of America's allies in Asia, followed closely the election of President Obama. His speech has been broadcast, translated and commented on in all kinds of ways by the Japanese media and local TV shows. So it was natural that many bloggers drew a comparisons between the American President and the Japanese Prime Minister, Tarō Asō.

Japan: Bloggers on TV-Asahi and “Uso Basutaa”

  24 January 2009

Heated has been the reaction of many Japanese bloggers over the last week who felt cheated by TV Asahi after it turned out that in the variety show ウソバスター! (Uso Basutaa!, lit. lie buster), broadcast prime time on the 10th of January, the blogs quoted as sources had been created...

Japan: Coming of age in 2009

  21 January 2009

Every year, on the second Monday of January, in the neighbourhood of every city hall of Japan, one can see young men wearing the hakama (typical Japanese trousers) and women dressed up in furisode (long sleeved kimono, traditionally worn by unmarried girls). On that particular day, in fact, since 1946,...

Japan: Hakenmura, the Temp Workers Village

  12 January 2009

Over 300 people spent their nights between New Year`s Eve and the 5th of January in a tent camp stationed at Hibiya Park in central Tôkyô, referred to as 年越し派遣村 (toshikoshi hakenmura, or lit. “New Year's Village for Temporary Workers”). The people staying in Hakenmura were temporary workers (派遣社員, haken...

Japan: Teaching Buddhism by sign language

  5 January 2009

A blogger at Toppei no Minna Chigatte Minna Ii (トッペイのみんなちがってみんないい) introduces a website where it is possible for deaf followers to download the .wmv files and the original texts of the Buddhist Sacred Scriptures interpreted through the use of the (Japanese) sign language. While this initiative may not sound new...

Japan: A possible solution to the economic crisis

  3 January 2009

Wishing a happy new year to everybody, Nobuo Ikeda makes remarks about Japan's destiny in 2009, following the global financial crisis in the last months of 2008. Professor Ikeda believes that it would be better for Japan to go through a drastic and radical economic crisis at all levels once...