2025-05-31

Social isolation (hikikomori) of shut-ins & one program's responses in central Japan

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Something like 1.5 million people around the Japanese islands isolate themselves from general social interaction by some estim...
2025-02-07

Japanese city overview - 360 perspective

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A friend in rural west Japan (Echizen-city, Fukui-ken) sent this 360-degree image after recent snows, early February 2025. Tha...
2024-07-24

Famous sounds in Japan - the 100 Soundscapes project online

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Here  is an audio project to get familiar with cultural literacy for learners of Japanese life and language. Some may alre...
2024-06-06

fatherhood in 2024 Japan (radio segment June 5)

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https://theworld.org/stories/2024/06/05/japanese-dads-struggle-to-reform-fatherhood Compact story on the daily radio...
2024-05-25

Watching "Walks Japan" on YouTube

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Looking around the streetscapes while reading/hearing the commentary (in large font size), this channel on YouTube is good for...
2024-04-26

Types of kanji out in the world - categories and patterns

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Thread (in English) from Dr. Wes Robertson on categories of kanji: Kun+On yomi, On+Kun yomi, hyakusho yomi (wrong reading that...
2024-04-17

celebrating 850 years of Jodo-shu at Chion-in in Kyoto

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The public Youtube channel for Chion-in (total playback time 2 hours, but made in 2022; not the 2024 actual livestream recordi...
2023-12-27

collection of old Japan photos at MOPA - San Diego, Calif.

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Browsing and thinking of long-ago camera work and people in the frame compared to today, see these albums at the Museum of Ph...
2023-11-25

old and new - Japan views from drone-flying friend in Fukui-ken

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Up goes the drone and 360 degrees later there is a panorama to add to Google Maps. One is the prehistorical burial mounts in S...
2023-08-30

disaster photo-archive 1923 Kanto Earthquake (September 1)

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Of interest to those learning Japanese language and life:  Announcement on the humanities H-Japan listserv today about a photo-archive. Wh...
2023-07-25

Heritage learners of Japanese - dedicated site, 'keisho nihongo'

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cross-posting from Japan Foundation LA language center on July 25, 2023: =-=-=-=-=-= Summary : The Japan Foundation,...
2023-03-11

Pictures and Words from Ise Jingu & the study program based on it

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The 13 international Japan researchers of diverse fields just wrapped up the 2023 cycle of the "Ise and Japan Study Pro...
2022-11-16

Powerful views - the edges of economy in Japan these days

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The long-form essays of photo + video from Brian Storm's workshop, MediaStorm.com, will cause you to think. Subtit...
2022-08-09

Maneki Neko at Gotoku-ji

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Two stories connected to the "inviting cat," https://www.afar.com/magazine/ inside-tokyos-buddhist-templ...
2022-08-01

short videos, "Japan Video Topics" channel

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In the newsletter from the Consulate General for Michigan & Ohio this link to the "Japan Video Topics" was giv...
2022-06-02

Japanese modern language and society - the example of Metal & Hard-core Rock music

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This video on Youtube documents modern life in Japan - and interesting discussion about Metal and Hard-core Rock music there ...
2022-01-18

Short docu by 2 teens in Tokyo fitting into 2 cultures

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"Ark & Maya: All Mixed Up" is almost 15 minutes and describes the growing up experiences of these two young women...
2022-01-08

"Salaryman" retrospective on workspace in Japan

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Video (2 minutes) to show changes in middle-class work across ten decades. The clips ( from anime ) portray some of t...
2021-12-20

short videos - temple introduction, part by part

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T hese 1 to 2 minute videos from a Pure Land (Jodo-shu) Buddhist temple in Echizen-city, Fukui-ken give a good overview of the...
2021-12-16

Lessons from Okinawa's Shuri Castle tunnels of WWII

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Article about a local citizen's movement to reopen the sealed tunnels as world (negative) heritage site. EXCERPT M...
2021-10-14

virtual exhibition, Traveling in Tokugawa Japan

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launch of the online exhibition "Travels in Tokugawa Japan (1603-1868): a Virtual Journey":  https://t.co/2bGgqJKAjn...
2021-08-27

Still worth listening to, "Tohoku kara no Koe"

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Students at Jochi Dai were instrumental is doing interviews with 3.11 survivors across many months. The conversations are val...
2021-06-02

more online sources of Japanese life, livelihoods, sights and sounds

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cross-posting from the June 2021 newsletter of the Consulate General of Japan (Detroit office) ...the print public...
2021-04-16

The story of Shiga-ken and Michigan as sister-states

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Newly added to the channel for Consulate General of the Government of Japan,  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HeqPrZrK9AA&...
2021-02-11

book and documentary (Kyushu) - 40 years of Japan fieldwork

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Promoting her latest book, Prof. Joy Hendry talks of her long-term ties to the people of rural Japan [extremis.com 2021 An Aff...
2020-12-22

visiting a "book cafe" in Fukui-ken

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Just published from Echizen-city: a 2-minute introduction to this classic "book cafe" (vinyl record collection, too)...
2020-12-14

anime king; announced 2020 "kanji of the year" MITSU

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<><>In connection with the pandemic, this year's choice is MITSU, https://www.japantimes.co.jp/new...
2020-12-08

25 films online

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=-=-= Tweeted 8 Dec 2020 =-=-= 【JFF Plus: Online Festival is about to begin !】 "JFF Plus: Online Festival...
2020-12-05

Remembering a downtown bookstore, GinSen (documentary film)

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A former co-worker in Fukui-ken has finished most of the video editing for his 1-hour documentary about the downtown bookstore, ...
2020-12-02

collection of Japanese folktales read, page by page online

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Part of the Japan Foundation (Los Angeles) language learning office's website, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M3ng0Jm...
2020-10-18

young learners & old, too (book - Wabi Sabi)

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Announcement for a children's book about imperfection and impermanence, https://www.brainpickings.org/2010/11/11/wabi...
2020-10-13

video channel - honorifics

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discovered by Tsuboi-sensei in San Diego: videos that are useful not only for honorifics but also for studying vario...
2020-08-28

two articles, "at the end of life in Japan"

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Not meant to be morbid, these anthropology short articles document changing social life now in Japan. The topic and discu...
2020-07-19

Rural population declines leading to more 'aki ya' (vacant homes)

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Contributors to AtlasObscura.com bring together stories like this from around the world. You can search the site for 'japan...
2020-07-13

now streaming (5 minute anime; English & Japanese) for "Mottainai Granny"

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Since 2004, the Mottainai Granny has been teaching lessons of respect for environment and resources, including the waste of foo...
2020-05-23

movie review for "Tokyo Godfathers" - edges of society

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The weekday radio show, "Fresh Air," recently included a 5 minute review by critic John Powers for the newly re-releas...
2020-05-12

summertime -virtual Japanese music camp via Live Zoom@ University of Oregon

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2020 opportunity -- *Summer virtual Japanese music camp via Live Zoom!* This class might be of interest to...
2020-04-14

web video series for textbook, NihonGO NOW!

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The first episode is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iEp0w7tfi0&list=PLELpHNkYhXHQifNNpTEuoWkX_EmqsJwJL&index=1 ...
2020-03-27

collection of 89 videos in Open Access (Smithsonian Institution) project

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Results can be filtered by topic, among other things. Many of these go back in time a generation or more ago and serve as a time...
2020-03-14

since the 1970s - the arc of Japanese society

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Nice news feature that gives wide view, both for experts to reflect on and for new learners to see. excerpt, ...In Jap...
2020-01-24

roving camera - Shinjuku on a bike

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 ...Nippon Wandering TV (NWT), where a guy straps on a GoPro and walks and bikes around Japan. [47 minutes on Youtube] ht...
2019-12-19

upcoming exhibition - National Ainu museum

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Article today in Japan Times to share with students and others with Ainu or Japan interests. https://www.japantimes.co...
2019-10-24

specialized vocabulary... Flooding: what to do next

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The frequency and degree of disasters in Japan and the rest of the world will be increasing. Seen today at JapanTimes online, th...
2019-10-23

Reiwa enthronement - not something you see everyday

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There were a dozen articles at japantimes.co.jp today that describe and interpret the formalities Tuesday, October 22, in Japan....
2019-10-07

podcast - learning Japanese; studying in Japan

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Via JapanTimes online today   Writer Daniel Morales created a podcast in which he speaks to people living and working in...
2019-09-18

video, Foundation for Ainu Culture

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See the channel on Youtube for videos from the Foundation for Ainu Culture . Browsing these short movies can contribute ...
2019-07-02

ekiben - nice summary, well-illustrated

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The art of food and display, along with the context of rail travel, come together to form another brief article from the guest...
2019-04-10

poems from Japan (in English translation)

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Back in 2015 an artist was commissioned to hand-carve the translated Japanese poems of several centuries onto some of the large ...
2019-04-01

about the forthcoming "ReiWa" nengo announced April 1

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Wikipedia already has posted the update: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_era_name [cf. in Japanese, https://ja.wik...
2018-12-28

video visit to Shikoku, "rural living in Japan"

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Here is one filmmaker's take on life outside the metro centers of Japan. =-=-=-=-=-= quoting boingboing.net this m...