Japan Pulse

Here are the latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

In no particular order, they are …

• Ice cream ramen at Kikuya in Kita-Senju (from Ramen Adventures): If you want it, you can have it.
• Dirty diapers: How the sumo scandal is a casualty of the National Police Agency war on the yakuza (from Japan Subculture Research Center): Gangster watcher Jake Adelstein weighs in.
• Martial arts or mysticism? The difference is paper thin (from Ampontan): Is Hatsumi Masaaki the world’s last ninja?
• Is Japan’s art hidden? (from The Diplomat): Tokyo Art Guy Robert Tobin on the country’s lesser-exposed art.
• iDish (from Shiineko’s Diary):  Not the usual Pulsation (and it’s in Japanese) but a worthy diversion, nonetheless.

The latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

• Fire down below (from Amponton): All hail to pork-barrel buster Akune Mayor Takehara Shin’ichi
• Bosozouku-style rides (from Pink Tentacle): Extreme custom cars, designed to be LOUD
• CosFest 2010 (from Flickr): No shortage of documentation of the premier cosplay event in Singapore but this Flickr set by xiongxiong stood out.
• Tamago dofu: Cold savory egg custard (from Just Hungry):  Cool food for the summer time.
• Biwa Jam (from Blue Lotus): And when life gives you loquats, make something delicious to spread on your toast.
• Urawaza – Japanese living tips (from Quirky Japan Blog): Translations of valuable hints to live by
• Japanese insolvency terms for dummies (from Mutantfrog Travelogue): You never know but these might come in handy someday.
• Top 10 Japanese albums of 2010 (so far) (from Japanator.com): You like lists, right?

The resiliency of the DPJ will be tested in the upcoming Upper House election and Japan’s blogging wonks and stat-spotters are all over it. Here’s a sampler of their observations and predictions:

• The Upper House election and some political implications (from Global Talk 21)
• House of Councillors Election 2010 – The Tokyo Quintilemma (from Shisaku)
• Child’s play for DPJ (from The Diplomat)
• Majority don’t want election candidates to tweet or email (from What Japan Thinks)

Here are the latest Pulsations, links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

In no particular order, they are …

• The meaning of the Upper House election (from Observing Japan): Tobias Harris writes it’s “now an election on the future of Japan.”
• The Jimusho System: Part 2 (from Neojapanisme): W. David Marx looks at shadowy keiretsu in Japan’s music industry, or rather the several elephants in the room.
• Faith in Numbers (from Shisaku): Tokyo and Asahi Shimbun place their bets … on iffy projections.
• Japan and the World Cup: Silencing the critics (from Global Voices): If only Japan had scored that penalty kick …
• Kuwata Keisuke’s recent work (from Sgt. Tanuki’s Lonely Hearts Club Blog): The Japanese sequel to “Abbey Road”
• What’s the best Japanese language electronic dictionary? (from Tofugu): Steve Jobs would approve of the answer.
• Japan’s Internet-Banned Election Probed By Voice Over Twitter (from Asiajin): A politician finds a loophole in the election machinery.
• 15 Abandoned Haikyo Phones (from Out of Ruins): That’s strange. Why is no one answering?
• How to have a ‘cheap’ wedding in Japan (from Surviving in Japan): Used kimono for the dress, grassy park for the aisle. You may now kiss the bride.

Pulsations? Glad you asked. They’re links to fresh stories and visuals about Japan, shout-outs to fellow bloggers, and highly clickable stuff that we think you might enjoy.

In no particular order, they are …

• Sci-Fi illustrations by Shigeru Komatsuzaki (from Pink Tentacle): Back to the retro future.
• An interview with Durf (from JapanNewbie): Meet the man behind the ski goggles, power Twitter user and translator Peter Durfee
• Eerie monotones of the White Stone Mine (from Gakuranman): Tinted glimpses of Japan’s “top 5″ haikyo
• Ramen books and magazines (from Ramen Adventures): A peek into the library of a noodle hunter.
• Rajio Taiso no. 4 (from Sgt. Tanuki’s Lonely Hearts Club Blog): Rajio Taiso, how do we love thee, let us count the ways.
• Soseki on history (from No-sword): “For the sake of the future, our past is trampled as though it never existed.”
• Softbank & iPhone4 (from Blog from Another Dimension): Simply must have that shiny new phone? Caveat emptor.
• Shaved ice goes upscale and global (from Ampontan): An homage to a seasonal delight: the humble and historical kakigori