Japan Articles

The Japundit website went through an overhaul which eliminated the need for contributors such as myself. That coincided with my ascendance to the interim principal's role at school which has resulted in more work and less time. Nevertheless I am still reading the news and listening to NPR and still come across interesting articles on Japan from time to time.

I came across several such articles recently:
1. Japanese Yakuza (Mafia); The New York Times

2. Brazilians in Japan; The New York Times

3. Japanese General Revises Pearl Harbor; The New York Times

4. Japanese Convenience Stores; Washington Post

5. Yankees' Pitcher Heading for Japan; ESPN.com

6. Japanese Attitude Towards Obama; Washington Post

The first article is interesting in that it discusses the underside of Japanese society and also highlights the vast differences between our societies (the mafia are careful to be polite and separate their trash properly so as not to irritate the neighbors). The second article highlights the touchy subject of foreigners and racism, which of course touches my life directly. The Japanese are alleged to be quite xenophobic. I don't know if they are empirically more so than other countries, though. The third article highlights an ongoing struggle between the extreme right and the rest of the country which flares up from time to time, often over historical revisionism. The fourth article discusses the Japanese phenomenon of convenience stores, of which I frequent almost daily. The fifth article piques my interest; I understand why he wanted to leave the Yankees (he lost his starting pitching role) but it is not clear why he wanted to be traded to a Japanese team. The last article is an interesting observation of Japan's view of the U.S., Obama, and the Democrats.

My last two articles on Japundit which I never cross-posted are:

Japanese Women Today (Washington Post)

Sukiyaki Western Django (Slate.com)

Japundit

I've been on a self-imposed two-week moritorium on Japundit because I was annoyed at the owner of the site once again starting a partisan attack and then censoring me when I respond. This particular episode was him taking a swipe at "weird and liberal Californians." I am currently ignoring his current bait of asking if the Spanish basketball team's photo was really racist.

Nevertheless I do enjoy the outlet for sharing what I read about Japan and engaging in conversations about Japan and its culture. So today, I ended the moritorium and we'll see how things go. Since my last Japundit post here, I've written posts there on the death of the founder of Benihana's, Asian tourists in Japan, lawyers in rural

Japan, Japanese photographer Hiroshi Hamaya, tourism in Japan, and foreign labor in Japan. I think that the two most interesting articles are the one on Rocky Aoki of Benihana's fame and foreign labor in Japan. Aoki created good restaurants and led an intersting life. Foreign labor here is a controversial and touchy topic and gives a window into the culture here.

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Foreign Labor in Japan (NY Times)

More Japan Travel (Budget Travel)

Hiroshi Hamaya (Slate)

Lawyers in Rural Japan (NY Times)

Asian Tourism in Japan (NY Times)

Benihana's Founder Dies (NY Times)

Japundit Posts

Needless to say, I haven't posted many articles to Japundit during the past month or so, as I was pretty busy with a few other things! The handful I posted are once again an eclectic collection. The article on Japanese work culture is very interesting and gives a good insight into part of Japanese society which confounds me I must admit. That article generated a fair amount of discussion on the website. The article on the best defense was a silly article on a woman who outsmarted a robber. The healthy diet article was also silly; it is about "eating champion" Takeru Kobayashi. Japanese whaling is controversial and is dealt with in one of the articles. The article on Japanese technology discusses some of Japan's innovations. I am concerned that developed countries which are more progressive than the U.S. (i.e. all of them) will develop the environmental technologies which we will all need to implement soon, so instead of exporting we will be importing while the profits go in the opposite direction. The last article is on the Ainu; an indigenous population in the northern part of Japan. I didn't know that Japan has it's own native population. It turns out that their fate is similar to that of the Native people in the U.S.

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Japanese Work Culture (Washington Post)

Best Defense: Gun? Knife?... Tea? (Associated Press)
Healthy Japanese Diet? (ESPN)

Japanese Whaling (Newsweek)

Japanese Energy Technology (NY Times)

Ainu Recognition (NY Times)

Japundit Posts

This will likely be my last post for close to two weeks. I'll try to post stuff from Hawaii shortly after we return. In the meantime, here are the two Japundit posts from this past week:
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George Takei to Wed (BBC)

Elder Porn (Time Magazine)

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George Takei, better known as Sulu from Star Trek will take advantage of the opportunity in California to wed his partner of 20 years, Brad Altman. Don't be surprised if in November the voters of California overturn gay marriage which was allowed by a recent California Supreme Court decision based on the state's constitution. As for the Time Magazine article on pornography featuring the elderly is entertaining but also insightful.

Weekly Japundit Posts

There was a lot of news in Japan this week. It started with a killing spree in the busy Tokyo district of Akihabara and ended yesterday with a huge 7.2 earthquake north of Tokyo but which we felt all the way down in Yokohama (south of Tokyo). Even though the rocking we felt was mild, I had a feeling it was a big earthquake because it

lasted so long. Several people died and there was widespread damage including landslides.

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There were other, less sensational stories in the news including a story in the Los Angeles Times about four Yakuza (Japanese mafia) members who received liver transplants at UCLA medical center and then donated $100,000. I find the story on Japan slimming down very funny

but also very insightful.
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Yakuza Health Care (LA Times)
Akihabara Attack (NY Times)
Hibakusha Artist (NPR, All Things Considered)
Sumo Abroad (NPR, Day to Day)
Northern Japan Rocked (various)
Japan Slimming Down? (NY Times)
North Korea Agreement
(Washington Post)
Tokyo Sky Tree (Japan Today, Mainichi Daily News)

Weekly Japundit Posts

It's been a slow Japan-news week. Here are the few articles I posted over the past week:
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Whistle-blowing in Japan (NY Times)

Fukuda Facing Censure (Reuters)

When You're Engulfed in Flames (Daily Show)

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The last post is the new David Sedaris book. Sedaris may be the funniest man on the planet. This book takes place, at least partly in Hiroshima (where he went to quit smoking).

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I very much enjoy having an outlet for sharing the articles I read and hearing other peoples' opinions, but I am bit disillusioned with some of the right-wing commentariat on the site, including the owner. First there was a discussion of the word 'Oriental', which got a little heated and was prematurely cut off. Then he censors my comments including defending NPR and the New York Times after they were attacked (in comments which weren't censored), and then another quip was censored (about Bush's 32% approval ratings seeming downright popular next to Fukuda's 20%) and then he turned around and posted something about dumb Obama fans in Japan.

Weekly Japundit Posts

This week's crop of posts are quite eclectic. They cover the Nintendo Wii, an "Engrish" t-shirt from one of my students, an African-American (1/4 Japanese) singer, a Japanese woman who was abducted by the North Koreans, and an article on the aging of Japan and their attitude towards immigration.

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Interesting notes on the articles: the Japanese guy behind the Nintendo Wii is the same guy behind Super Mario Brothers, Zelda, and Donkey Kong! Jero, is a 20-something singer from Pittsburgh who has become an overnight sensation here singing old-fashioned Japanese ballads.

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Megumi Yokota was abducted by the North Koreans in the 1970s and her fate has been a mystery ever since. Yumi and I along with a few other friends saw a documentary on this story at the Cleveland International Film Festival in 2006. The documentary will actually be playing on PBS in the next week or two. I think that the last article is the most interesting and telling. It covers two very pressing topics in Japan: the aging of the society and their disinclination towards welcoming foreigners.
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Wii Wheeee! (NY Times)

Just to Do That! As You Wishes (n/a)

Jero (Washington Post)

Megumi Yokota (Japan Times)

Japanese Workforce and Immigration

(Washington Post)

Weekly Japundit Posts

Last week's contributions to Japundit run the gamut from sports to news. My favorite two articles are the Yu Darvish epic article about the young baseball phenom and the article on the Toyota Prius which really blazed the trail of green cars. The "most peaceful nations" article is also interesting. Enjoy.

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Sumo (NPR, Only a Game)
Yu Darvish (ESPN)
Japan's Engineering Shortage (NY Times)
One Million Toyota Prius (Prii?) (AP)
Baby Drop Box (AP)
Japan Ranked 5th Most Peaceful Nation (Reuters)

Previous Japundit Contributions

Per the request, moving forward I'll try to cross post my Japundit contributions (perhaps a once-per-week roundup).  Here are the past posts, most recent to oldest:

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Horse Breeding in Japan (NY Times)

Japan's Richest (Forbes)

Plague of Crows (NY Times)

Kyoto Travel Guide (NY Times)

The Man Who Saved the Akita from Extinction (NPR, Diane Rehm)

Japanese-Russo Dispute Over Islands (Reuters)

Chinese Leader Hu Jintao Visits Japan (NY Times)

Sports History Made in Japan (ESPN)

McMafia (NPR, Talk of the Nation)

Japanese Health Care (NPR, Talk of the Nation)

Lost and Found (CNN)

Is Japan Conservative? (NY Times, Japan Today)

More Than Just Big Macs (Japan Today)

The Reluctant Communist (Washington Post)

Christianity in Japan (NY Times)

Tokyo Earthquake Consequences (Reuters)

Murder Alleged by U.S. Sailor (Washington Post)

Forbidden Food (NPR, To the Best of Our Knowledge)

NPR Take on Japanese Baseball (NPR, Only a Game)

New York Times Roundup (NY Times)

2nd Place Sakura (Washington Post)

Hotel Hiroshima (Slate.com)

More Japanese Baseball (Washington Post)

Why Fan Comes from Fanatic (ESPN)