Hitotoki.org (Japanese for 'a point in time') is a "new literary site collecting stories of personal, singular experiences in Tokyo." If you've visited Tokyo, please consider sharing a part of your Tokyo experience at hitotoki.org. If you plan to
visit Japan, please peruse what will be an interesting collection of personal stories of life in
Tokyo.
posted by gen
on May 7, 2007 -
23 comments
Wal-Mart fails in South Korea. As a student of business and a resident of Asia, I am fascinated by the examples of "foreign" businesses who either succeed or fail in Asian markets. Recently,
Vodafone failed in Japan but in a strange twist has signed a
J-V with Softbank to keep their presence in Japan.
eBay failed in Japan as did
Memoirs of a Geisha. I'd love to have a discussion on the successes AND failures of non-Asian businesses in Asian markets and what, if any, lessons can be taken away for those of us who are in Asian markets or wish to enter Asian markets. (Yes, I realize that "Asia" is too broad of a region but I don't want to limit the discussion to just one nation.)
posted by gen
on May 24, 2006 -
43 comments
PingMag is the name of a new art and design-focused online magazine from Japan. They have many interesting articles on art and design in Japan including an interview with
ELM Design (on their work for Yamaha),
Monolake talking about their network music projects,
Eto Koichiro talking about some of his art/programming projects, a profile of Japanese production house
Little More, and a lot more in both
English and
日本語。
posted by gen
on Aug 5, 2005 -
5 comments
Home is where the heart is. Karl Taro Greenfeld, journalist and author of
Speed Tribes, among others, has a nostalgic piece in Time Asia (Aug. '03) recounting his heady youth in Tokyo alongside his thoughts on his ailing Japanese grandmother.
posted by gen
on Jul 9, 2004 -
5 comments
More than a year ago, MetaFilter discussed a petition to bring "
Spirited Away," the newest full-lenth animated movie by Hayao Miyazki, to the US. Released in Japan as
Sen to Chihiro no Kamikakushi, it is the most popular movie ever released in Japan and has it's US limited release this weekend. Do you think "Spirited Away" will "break through" to a wider American audience when Princess Mononoke didn't? What a wonderfully fantastic movie!
posted by gen
on Sep 21, 2002 -
32 comments
Japan’s Gross National Cool - Foreign Policy has an interesting article on the impact of Japanese culture and how it has replaced "Made in Japan" products as the dominant export from Japan. The author points to director Hayao Miyazaki, director/actor Takeshi Kitano, artist Takashi Murakami, and singer/songwriter Namie Amuro, as well as anime in general and Hello Kitty as examples of the global spread of Japanese culture. Do you recognize these people or their work? [more inside]
posted by gen
on Apr 30, 2002 -
18 comments
Japanese Devils is a documentary featuring 14 veterans of the Imperial Army testifying to their brutal participation in Japan's 15-year war against China. Director Matsui Minoru presents a powerful historical record of these soldiers' individual crimes, helping to break Japan's long silence about its wartime atrocities in China.
Please also see
Iris Chang's "The Rape of Nanking'' and be aware that the Japanese government is
still whitewashing their brutal WWII history via
school textbooks. We must understand the truth of history so that we are not doomed to repeat it.
posted by gen
on Apr 4, 2002 -
5 comments
