Archive for October, 2008

Americans abroad can still vote

There’s less than a week to go until the U.S. presidential election, but Americans living in Japan can still cast their votes! Check out Trans-Pacific Radio for more details on absentee ballots.

If you’re living in Japan and want to watch live election night coverage on Wednesday morning/afternoon, the AP and several networks will be offering live streaming video on their websites.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Donald Keene awarded Order of Culture

Asahi reports that 86-year-old American Japanologist Donald Keene has become one of only a handful of foreigners to be awarded Japan’s Order of Culture:

Keene became interested in Japanese culture after reading the Arthur Waley translation of “The Tale of Genji” when he was 18.

During his long career, Keene has covered a wide range of genres, from the classics, such as “Kojiki,” the oldest surviving history book in Japan completed in the eighth century, to the plays of Chikamatsu Monzaemon (1653-1724) and the works of contemporary authors, including Yukio Mishima (1925-1970) and Kobo Abe (1924-1993).

“Since there were so few scholars of Japanese literature, I thought I had to teach everything about Japanese literature once I was employed at university,” Keene recalled. “Since I had no one who preceded me, I had to explain in my theses such simple matters as futon and sushi.”

Keene has been translating and writing books about Japanese literature and history since the 1950′s, so if you’ve taken a Japan-related course at any university in an English-speaking country, chances are you’ve come across something Keene wrote.

Here are three Keene works I would recommend to readers interested in Japan:

• Chronicles of My Life: An American in the Heart of Japan – Keene’s 50+ years as a Japan scholar have given him a lot of interesting personal experiences to write about. In his memoir he shares stories of his friendships with some of modern Japan’s greatest authors (Kawabata, Mishima, Oe, etc).
• Emperor of Japan: Meiji and His World, 1852-1912 – One of the few good English language books out there about the Westernization of Japan during the Meiji Era. (Warning – this book is over 700 pages long!)
• Essays in Idleness – I must confess that in my university days, I didn’t particular enjoy studying pre-modern Japanese literature. There were a few assigned readings that I did enjoy, and one of them was Keene’s translation of this collection of whimsical essays written by a Japanese monk in the 12th century. Some excerpts can be found on this site. (Keene has told the Japanese press that this was his favorite translation.)

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Send New Year’s greeting postcards to your Mixi friends

Want to participate in the Japanese custom of sending New Year’s greeting postcards to a friend, but can’t remember his/her address? If you and your friend are members of the Japanese social networking site Mixi, you might be able to send that postcard anyway!

Nikkei TrendyNet reports that Mixi is going to launch a special postcard service that allows users to send their friends New Year’s greeting postcards. Mixi users who have entered their mailing address can choose to keep that information private and Mixi will act as a middle man handling requests to mail postcards to that user. Most postcards will cost about 98 yen to create and send, but there is also a 48 yen option for cheapskates willing to send their friend a postcard with an advertisement on it.

Those interested in the service should bookmark mixi-nenga.jp and check it when it launches at the end of November.

[hat tip to Darin]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Stationmaster cat granted honorary knighthood

FTV reports that Tama, the stationmaster cat that has become a national sensation, has been “knighted” by the Wakayama Prefectural government:

Wakayama bestowed the honorary title upon Tama in recognition of his service to the Wakayama Electric Railroad and the 1.1 billion yen he has brought to the local economy (and because his station, Kishi, is also the Japanese word for “knight”).

[hat tip to Ken Y-N]

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Earthquake in Tokyo could leave 817,000 people without toilets

If you live or work in Tokyo, be prepared for a toilet shortage if a big earthquake hits the city:

An expert panel of the government’s Central Disaster Prevention Council came to the conclusion this week while studying the potential impact of a 7.3-magnitude earthquake in the tremor-prone metropolis.

According to the study, some 817,000 people would find themselves without toilets two hours after such a big tremor, which would cut off 46 percent of Tokyo’s water supply.

The wait to use a toilet would be four and a half hours in central Chiyoda ward, home to the headquarters of major companies, government buildings and the imperial palace.

“Besides food and water, shortage of toilets is one of the major issues in post-disaster situations,” said Itsuki Nakabayashi, head of the study panel.

Authorities have advised residents to carry tissues and plastic bags for emergency toilet use.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)

Indians see the Japanese Dream, but Japanese don’t seem to

The Japan Times has interviewed Paul and Neeta Daswani, an Indian couple that founded a clothing store in Okinawa City back in 1978, achieving success selling stylish tailor-made suits. Here’s an excerpt that explains the headline of this post:

Japanese don’t know how lucky they are to live in such a great country. In elementary school and middle school, I worked after classes and dreamed about moving to Japan. I didn’t graduate from high school. I had no money when I came to Iwakuni, Yamaguchi Prefecture in 1965 to work in a garment factory. I made $25 a month, which was good money back then. I sent it all home. I worked from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. and never complained. Why should I? Everyone worked hard. They were good to me, gave me free food, free clothing, room and board. I stayed for four years and got a raise every six months. Japanese don’t want do better, because they already have it so good. Kids live with their parents, so they do not save any money — they work, then blow what they make, not worrying about the future. Indians always worry about it and always want to improve their situation.

Photos of their shop can be seen on interviewer Judit Kawaguchi’s blog.

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• Akihabara News – Gadgetry from Japan (Subscribe)
• dannychoo.com – Your portal to Japan (Subscribe)
• Kirainet.com – A geek in Japan (Subscribe)