February 28, 2005 – 12:17 pm
In the year 2014, The New York Times has gone offline.
The Fourth Estate’s fortunes have waned.
What happened to the news?
And what is EPIC?
An interesting little multimedia presentation exploring a possible future where mainstream media succumbs to the emergence of networked personal media through an alliance between Google and Amazon. Funny there’s no mention of JP [...]
February 25, 2005 – 3:23 pm
Just got an e-mail from HUMANFLOWER about an event going down on Sunday, February 27 at Osaka’s Bridge! I have to say that HUMANFLOWER has one cool site with background music featuring a lone piano and the haunting tones of a dark siren! I’ve been checking some of the tunes from the other players and [...]
February 22, 2005 – 10:37 pm
I know, I know. He’s not in Japan, but Mr. Manga’s brand of dark-synth just gets me bumping and jumping and thinking crazy things!! So now he’s got the Shiver video online ready for your perusing. 21st century sounds with a bit of retro-synth mixed in for good measure. Check out the video Anders Manga’s [...]
February 22, 2005 – 10:32 pm
A celebrity academic economist was found guilty of using a mirror to look up a school girl’s skirt at Yokohama station in April. The final ruling is set for March 23, but prosecutors are demanding a four-month sentence.
The economist, Kazuhide Uekusa, a (now former) professor at Waseda University appeared on TV quite often as an [...]
February 22, 2005 – 10:05 pm
I hope that got your attention! Seriously though, the Japanese male population shrunk 0.01% last year, with the total population of Japan growing at a record low 0.05%. Yep, the population crunch is just around the corner where low birthrates and increased longetivity lead to a shrinking, aging population.
One article in The Japan Times [...]
February 21, 2005 – 1:09 am
Reuters has a story on the growing trend in suicide pacts in Japan. On Thursday, February 17, another four people were found dead in Hokkaido. The MO follows the standard for group suicides in a car - sealed doors and the burning of charcoal stoves until the victims died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The victims [...]
February 17, 2005 – 10:00 pm
My arms are dropping off! Ten to 16 hours a day at computers can do that to you. Igor has been discovering new and peculiar ways of resting the shoulder sockets while at the screen. It produces glances from workmates, but it has been the only way to keep on working. Wait. Stop. It’s time [...]
February 17, 2005 – 5:00 pm
The scene would be fairly standard in this kind of deal. Four young people get together after meeting through an Internet site, seal up a room in an apartment, maybe pop a few pills to relax, and then start to burn the little charcoal briquette with the aim of dying quietly from asphyxiation. Excuse me [...]
February 13, 2005 – 4:10 pm
There is a lowering of the libido in Japan with increasing numbers of 20-somethings avoiding sex according to an Asahi article from June 12, 2004, For some young Japanese, sex isn’t much fun at all. The article has now disappeared, but you can still pick it up using Google’s cache.
Why, oh why is this [...]
February 11, 2005 – 3:59 pm
The post-bubble era in Japan, which has seen the country struggle to find positive directions for the past 15 years has left a permanent mark on the generations that will eventually be at the country’s helm in the decades to come. The emergence of freeters, part-time workers who cannot (or choose not in some cases) [...]
