Chopstick bad habits in oneself and others

For those of you interested in some of the less well-known manners surrounding chopstick usage, check out these survey results.

Let’s Die Together

Why is anonymous group suicide so popular in Japan?

Joe is Japanese

Joeisjapanese is an animated series about haafu Joe McCunney’s adventures in Japan – witty, dry and based on reality if you believe the advertising. At the moment there is only a single long teaser clip on the site, but well worth a look, and the English subtitles will help beginners follow along. High production values and good writing. [courtesy of Nihongojouzu.com]

Putting the Bite On Pseudo Sushi And Other Insults

A fast-growing list of gastronomic indignities — from sham sake in Paris to shoddy sashimi in Bangkok — has prompted Japanese authorities to launch a counterattack in defense of this nation’s celebrated food culture. With restaurants around the globe describing themselves as Japanese while actually serving food that is Asian fusion, or just plain bad, the government here announced a plan this month to offer … [ Read more ]

Sadako and the Paper Cranes

Companion to an exhibit about Sadako Sasaki, who was “born in 1943 and experienced the [Hiroshima] bombing at age two [and died in 1955]. She was healthy and athletically gifted growing up, but ten years after the bombing, she was suddenly hospitalized. The diagnosis was leukemia. One day, a thousand paper cranes arrived at the hospital. … This inspired her to begin folding her own.” … [ Read more ]

lingo24 Translation Industry Career Guide

Lingo24 would like more graduates to enter translation and the language services industry in general, and to this end has created a career guide to translation for languages graduates (and indeed other people with language skills).

We are integrating this guide with the Lingo24 Community (our interactive forum) and Lingo’s own staff members will work with other Community members to answer any questions students or graduates … [ Read more ]

Famous Cases: Iva Toguri d’Aquino and “Tokyo Rose”

Background about Iva Toguri d’Aquino, who died in September 2006 and was most identified with “Tokyo Rose,” a “fabricated name given by soldiers to a series of American-speaking women who made propaganda broadcasts” in the South Pacific during World War II. Includes a description of her early life (she was born in Los Angeles and graduated from UCLA) and of her presidential pardon in 1977. … [ Read more ]

読売ニュースポッドキャスト (Yomiuri News Podcast)

The daily news in Japanese. It sounds pretty much like regular radio news, albeit with the added advantage that you can pause the show and look up unfamiliar words, or rewind and listen to difficult parts again. [Charles Kelly Annotation]

Yahoo!路線情報 (rosen jyouhou)

This feature, found on the main page of the Yahoo! Japan site is great for finding out route and time information. It was recommended to me by my Japanese businessman friend. He claims it is the most reliable and comprehensive site for this type of functionality. Basically, you just enter the starting and ending stations and then select from options, including: departure date, departure time, … [ Read more ]

Tokyo Connections

eviews 219 job resources covering the whole of Japan, as well as opportunities for Japanese speakers overseas. You’ll find classified ads, job openings, info on executive search firms, teaching English, working holiday programs and more.

CareerCross

Information on bilingual jobs in Japan for bilingual Japanese and English speakers, plus an invaluable resource for foreigners Living and Working in Japan.

Japan-101

Japan-101.com is… An overview of Japan told with illustrated articles, opinions and stories.

Doug Mansfield has attempted to build a site that offers brief articles with lots of photos on all aspects of Japan, rather than a collection of links.

Lynne’s Site

This site from Lynne Fiona Donaldson is a bit dated, but offers detailed diary-like entries of her JET experience. The site also has some other articles/pages that would be useful for those planning to live or already living in Japan (e.g What to take).

Japanzine

There’s not really an About Us section to go by for this site and I haven’t used it much, but a quick glance indicates it is both an online (and free I think) magazine for foreigners in (or interested in) Japan and also a general purpose website for reviews, resources, classifieds, etc.

Kansai Scene

Kansai Scene is a monthly bilingual free magazine (now in its sixth year) packed with articles, reviews, listings and classifieds for both the resident and visitor to Kansai.

Tokyo Journal

Kodomo News (こどもニュース)

NHK’s news site for Japanese children. It’s all in Japanese but being crafted for children may make it more useful than regular NHK news for intermediate students.

Tokyo Q

One man’s suggestions for useful attractions and entertainment, focused mostly on the Tokyo area.

Japan Zone

A comprehensive website covering many aspects of Japan and Japanese culture.

Samurai Archives

Find all things Samurai on this site.