Comments on: Problems with New York Times report on 2-D love in Japan

By: Haf

Haf — Sat, 01 Aug 2009 07:33:03 +0000

Well, people can be both bloggers and journalists, like vowe.
It would be interesting to know whether she’s had any professional training in journalism.

It was never easier than today to get a book published or have an article printed in a newspaper. When you’ve seen the internals of a newspaper, you’re not surprised anymore about such articles getting published in the NYT.

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 12:52:43 +0000

Yes, because I am. Kneel before my might…not be telling the truth.

By: LB

LB — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 11:00:29 +0000

*ahem* Yes, and I could reference myself as “Emperor of the Realm” on twitter or anywhere else, doesn’t make it so.

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:07:11 +0000

Oddly enough, she references herself as a journalist on her twitter.

http://twitter.com/tokyomango

Fellow journalists: Should I answer readers’ Qs about sourcing if they ask me on Twitter? Or only if the source asks?
9:04 AM Jul 23rd from Tweetie

By: LB

LB — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:46:01 +0000

She’s not a “journalist”, she’s a “blogger” who got printed in a once reputable newspaper.

Apologies to other bloggers out there….

By: weirdo

weirdo — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:38:01 +0000

“Journalists have a responsibility to report things carefully.”
I wish more journalists agreed with you, but unfortunately it’s more about what sells than what’s true.

By: me

me — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 08:28:03 +0000

“Journalists have a responsibility to report things carefully.”
Zing!

After reading the comments on the NYT online article, people are really buying it and shunning Japan for being backwards and perverted. Somehow I dealt with the Reuters and CNN reports, but a wacky Japan story of this caliber going into the print version of the NYT is unacceptable.

By: doinkies

doinkies — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 07:52:33 +0000

I’ve seen one of Niisan’s pictures before. He takes those pictures to draw attention to himself and get a reaction.

I think the picture of the people on the train sitting as far away from him as they can says it all about how extreme otaku like him are really regarded in mainstream Japanese society, but of course, some people don’t realize this. -_-

By: Joe Stan

Joe Stan — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 05:16:50 +0000

Not to mention she insinuated that all otaku who engage with dakimakuras choose only “pubescent” characters. Very dangerous. Journalists have a responsibility to report things carefully.

By: The Overthinker

The Overthinker — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:39:50 +0000

Japan Probe: Look at this weird person/thing in Japan.
NYT: Japan is weird – look at this person/thing.

By: Rob

Rob — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 03:07:57 +0000

I have to admit, it’s kind of amazing to see a paper like the NYT run something like this. It’s a bit of an integrity blow. A failure to accurately list references in her article as well as then her attitude towards it afterwards just goes to show she’s still got a way to go before being a serious journalist.

For the time being, she’s just another blogger using fairly inane tripe and fluff posts who is out trying to sell her book of common tips. Overall, she doesn’t have quite the clout of other JP related bloggers, such as, while niche, Danny Choo.

By: doinkies

doinkies — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 02:56:10 +0000

Yeah – Japan Probe posts are nothing like these sorts of reports.

And in the case of some of the weird clips like the dog with eyebrows, they came from a Japanese TV show that’s all about showing weird things.

By: Claytonian

Claytonian — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:53:53 +0000

There are crazy people everywhere, but Japan Probe does not present fringe freaks as the norm in Japan.

By: Eddie

Eddie — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 01:43:42 +0000

VonSkippy does have a point.

By: James

James — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:18:29 +0000

I don’t see how you can equate the influence of posts on a site called “Japan Probe” to articles put out by what is supposed to be one of the world’s most trusted newspapers.

In any case, I don’t try to make claims about dogs with eyebrows and cross-dressing weirdos representing thriving subcultures or trends in Japanese society. As Adamu wrote, “Japan is interesting enough without having to resort to exaggeration.”

By: James

James — Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:12:01 +0000

I made the first instance of WaiWai in this post lead to a post that explains what WaiWai is and why it ceased to exist. The BoingBoing post explained nothing about WaiWai, so linking to it wouldn’t have been helpful.

I’ve edited the post to make it clear I added the link myself.

By: VonSkippy

VonSkippy — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:40:37 +0000

Sure, after reading about cross-dressing up-skirt perv’s, towns building huge comic book robot statues, and various amazing clips like the dog with painted on eyebrows who could EVER believe that some Japanese are kooky enough to shag a cartoon pillow?

By: doinkies

doinkies — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:39:22 +0000

You and Adamu both took apart that article well. Yet another case of fail from the NYT (I still remember that stupid “vending machine suit” story that totally ignored that it was an art piece and not a real product -_-).

By: bar1scorpio

bar1scorpio — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:06:57 +0000

Of course, what do you really expect form the New York Times, receding hallmark of the old-guard media? They’re often proven to be poorly researched, when not outright wrong.

Although the description you provide me of “Nisan” kinda reminds me of “Bondage Bob” of the furry community… one of the more extreme fans that the casual fans tend to avoid, and long-standing members of a fandom are continuously clashing with.

Still, you can go to Otakon and find a lot of body pillow covers…

By: MF

MF — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:10:38 +0000

She posted this also on BoingBoing, and got 68 comments so far. New York Times doing the Mainichi Waiwai thingy. Glad to see people are calling her bluff.

http://www.boingboing.net/2009/07/23/love-in-2d.html

By: Buster

Buster — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 15:45:38 +0000

Don’t pretend like you guys never thought about putting a blanket with an anime girl over a womans head while doing her, thats perfectly normal!

By: Rob A

Rob A — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:45:20 +0000

It sounds like she’s been watching too much anime. There are a few I have seen of late that just RIP on otaku and 2d-love subcultures (Eden no Higashi, Chaos:Head, NHK ni youkouso…).

Most of the otaku I have met are much more sociable and relatively normal, but I probably wouldn’t meet the hardcore shut-in otaku.

By: Francesco Fondi

Francesco Fondi — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:28:32 +0000

Thank you for the quote James.

Just a note: in my post I didn’t mean tha Katayama used “WaiWai” as a source (or plagiarized it) but that this “scoop” resembles WaiWai editorial style.

NYT IS SO RONERY…

By: _rem

_rem — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:22:24 +0000

her twitter says she’s on holidays until Tuesday.

By: Eggnogg

Eggnogg — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 13:21:59 +0000

Bad boy, James! You’re wagging your finger at an article for supposedly being shoddy like WaiWai, but in your quote of Francesco Fondi, you’ve changed the link on the word WaiWai to go to your blog and not BoingBoing as Francesco has it. That’s exactly what you would expect in a WaiWai column–a distortion of the facts and dishonesty.

By: Gaijinocchio

Gaijinocchio — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 12:57:28 +0000

Maybe Lisa Katayama was having a bad day on the journalism scene. She should do what Japanese are good at doing and confess while bowing deeply for her poor article.