Archive for December, 2008

Japan on the web

Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 20th, 2008 1 Comment »

Japan Inc has a fun article about how to eat your way around Kyoto for a full day. I miss sake here!
The National Diet Library has an English section on its website with for example a fine chapter called The Meiji and Taisho Areas in Photographs. In the “Column” section you will find elaborate descriptions [...]

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Aoki Yuji and The Way of Naniwa Finance

Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 19th, 2008 1 Comment »

If you want to know why you should never borrow money in Japan from a “loan shark” company, or if you want to know all the tricks of this dirty trade, then read the popular manga The Way of Naniwa Finance (Naniwa Kin’yudo). These comics form a powerful exploration of the dark side of society, [...]

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Japanese Book News

Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 19th, 2008 No Comments »

For those interested in Japanese literature, the Japan Foundation publishes an excellent quarterly called Japanese Book News. The most recent issue is 58 (December 2008); since issue 43 all magazines are published on the web as PDFs. For some good reading ideas go to the Japan Foundation Website and click on Japanese Book News.
Issue 58 [...]

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From the web on Japan

Posted in Uncategorized on Dec 18th, 2008 No Comments »

Pink Tentacle wrote this must-read article about the top 60 popular words and phrases in Japan in 2008. An indispensable lesson in trendy Japanese.
The Kanji of the Year 2008 is HEN, which means both “Change” and “Strange” – fitting, isn’t it?
The author of the above-mentioned article, Matt Treyvaud, is a frequent contributor to NeoJaponisme, but [...]

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