Latest posts by Tomomi Sasaki from September, 2009
Japan: Anime Character ‘Masuo-san’ on Twitter
Sazae-san, a comedy chronicling the lives of the fictional Isono family, is one of Japan's longest-running and oldest comic strips and animations. The animated series first aired in 1969 and is broadcast every Sunday from 6:30 to 7:00. It's not much of an exaggeration to say that at some point...
Japan: Lessons in Communication from the Hatoyama Essay
When an online Op-Ed piece by current Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama appeared in the New York Times just days before the Lower House elections last month, national reaction ranged from surprise to consternation to pure mortification. “A New Path for Japan” was an abridged and translated version of “My Political...
Japan: Measuring Celebrity Buzz on 2ch
Blogger APEESCAPE translated a 2ch post that measured the buzz of celebrity stories by counting the number of threads on 2ch from 2004 to 2009.
Japan: Animated Explanations of Policies?
Inspired by this American video explaining ‘Why We Need Government-Run Universal Socialized Health Insurance‘, Media Sabor suggests using some of the budget from the canceled National Center for Media Arts to have animators create understandable animations to explain new policies to the public [ja].
Tourism and HIV Infection in Thailand
A report titled “Why Japanese and Western people are infected with HIV in Thailand” by Doctor Kyo Taniguchi from NPO Gina covers statistics about sex workers and “Love, Marriage, and Hopeless love”.
Japan: Lecture on Manga, Anime and Otaku
Jean Snow points us to Patrick Macias's lecture at California State University, made available as a podcast episode: ‘Theoretical Perspectives on Manga, Anime and Otaku‘.
Japan: Plans to Accept More Foreign Students
The Guyjin blog is positive about the long term benefits of the plan to increase the number of foreign students studying in Japan to around 300,000 by 2020, a 250% increase.
Japan: DPJ on Press Clubs and Media Opennness
Blogger APEESCAPE covers the way the Democratic Party of Japan has gone back on their promise and closed off press conferences to foreign, internet, and independent press. The Hatoyama administration is now under close scrutiny and APEESCAPE says “Today’s news is an incremental step to media openness, but not nearly...
Japan: Threats on Twitter
Angry and frustrated, Akihito from the Polar Bear Blog reports that his wife received threatening DMs on Twitter and decided to delete her account [ja]. He thanks everyone who responded through Twitter, where many expressed outrage and offered encouragement and similar tales.
Japan: Welcome Asia-Update.net
Yumeji welcomes the new blog Asia-Update.net to the blogosphere. The blog will cover news and analysis on the Asia-Pacific region.
Japan: In Response to ‘The Cove’
Lisa Katayama at Tokyo Mango blogs about an update about the dolphin killings in Taiji from the Oceanic Preservation Society, the organization behind the documentary ‘The Cove’.
Japan: Deconstructing Gundam
Bloggers ARM1475 and R360 went to photograph the deconstruction work that has begun for the gigantic model of Mobile Suit Gundam in Odaiba, Tokyo. The attraction welcomed 4.15 million visitors in six weeks. Its next destination is undecided.
