guardian: Japanese woman ‘dies from overwork’ after logging 159 hours of overtime in a month

Japan has again been forced to confront its work culture after labour inspectors ruled that the death of a 31-year-old employee of the country’s public broadcaster, NHK, had been caused by overwork. [more…]

Pounding Mochi with the Fastest Mochi Maker in Japan Great Big Story

Japanese Students Clean Classrooms To Learn Life Skills

Behind AJ+’s Facebook Video Juggernaut

At the AJ+ headquarters in San Francisco, senior producer Geoffrey Dietrich received a story idea from his Asia editor that he never would have imagined would become a viral video hit. Not exactly the food videos or political gaffes that usually drive traffic, the pitch was about an elementary school in Japan where the kids clean their own classroom.
The 1-minute video clip was shared by over 600,000 people on Facebook, and became the digital media company’s most popular story in it’s then-1-year existence. Views surged to almost 40 million, helping AJ+ become the second-most popular news video publisher on Facebook with almost 3 billion views. [more…]

The Tokyo hotel where guests can curl up with 1,700 good books

Book and Bed, a new Tokyo hotel, has created the sort of space that is impossible to leave. It is a cheap and cheerful dorm with a difference: guests’ bunk beds are hidden behind library shelves filled with 1,700 books in Japanese and English. [more…]

POST TSUNAMI

Post-TSUNAMI – The meaning of “Ikiru”, what is it to survive? The Japan Professional Photographers Society (JPS) will present an exhibition of photographs taken during the first year after the earthquake and tsunami that struck northeast Japan on March 11, 2011 at Photokina 2012 in Cologne, Germany (September 18-23). The thema is “Ikiru” (in Japanese, “We Survive!”). This exhibition and the published photo collection “Ikiru” on which it is based are an effort on behalf of JPS members to contribute to the recovery of the region affected by the earthquake and tsunami. [more…]

Epoch Times: Japanische Aktivisten landen trotz Protest auf umstrittener Insel

Senkaku-Inseln/Japan – Ungeachtet des Protests der chinesischen Regierung ist eine Gruppe japanischer Aktivisten auf einer von beiden Ländern beanspruchten Insel an Land gegangen. Die neun oder zehn Frauen und Männer seien am Sonntag ohne Genehmigung auf die Insel Uotsuri geschwommen, teilte die Küstenwache in der südjapanischen Präfektur Okinawa mit. Auf Fotos der japanischen Nachrichtenagentur Kyodo waren mehrere Personen zu sehen, die an der Küste der Insel die japanische Flagge schwenkten. [mehr…]

Global Post: Japanese activists raise flag on Senkaku islands, sparking China protests

A group of Japanese activists who raised the country’s flag on the Senkaku Islands have sparked protests across China over the hotly disputed territories.  [mehr…]

handelsblatt: Niedergang einer Industrienation

Japan hat 2011 mehr Waren ein- als ausgeführt. Die Regierung begründet das mit den Folgen des Erdbebens und des Tsunamis im vergangenen Frühjahr. Doch in Wahrheit hat der Niedergang schon viel früher begonnen. [mehr…]

ntv: Japaner verlassen Eurozone

Japans Gläubiger bekommen kalte Füße und verlassen in Scharen die Eurozone. Einem Zeitungsbericht zufolge verkaufen sie staatliche Staatsanleihen. Auch Deutschland sei davon betroffen. [mehr…]