A very interesting post on the “jimusho” in Japan by Neo Japon Is Me (neojaponisme). I belonged to several jimushos while etching a living from television, print and film (one). Mostly the experience was good until the money started rolling in and the jimusho did not dole it out. When I was relegated to earning some cold, fast Yen as an extra on television shows or commercials, the transaction was straight forward… show your foreign face for X amount of time and receive X amount of yen.
When I regularly appeared …

(YouTube video by: francoiscavelier)
Here is some news you can use:
“Convenience store chain Lawson will soon start an in-store fresh food service across Japan, in an effort to attract a wider range of customers.

A very interesting post by Gakuranman on the art of verbal warfare in Japan. As he correctly points out, politics is one subject that may not be an advised topic of discussion in Japan, especially if it deals with the US military bases or the lack of (and I mean, nil, zilch, nada, nothing) information on Japan’s plan to build a base in Africa. Anyway, mix in cultural differences when arguing and Gakuranman says that you have a recipe for disaster. He writes:
In a recent scuffle over the controversial whaling …

The Mainichi Daily News reports: “Products from computer and electronics maker Apple Inc., the company behind the hit iPod, iPhone and new iPad devices, were pulled from the Internet shopping sites of Japan’s major electronics retailers as of Tuesday.
The reasons for the move were not made clear, though one employee of electronics chain Kojima Denki revealed that the products were pulled at Apple’s request, while industry insiders say the U.S. company is attempting to protect its image as a premium brand and did not like the discounts being offered on …

In transportation news, JR East announced Tuesday that they have appointed their very first female bullet train operator to the Tohoku Shinkansen line. Sakai is now a member of a group of 400 male bullet train operators and began her first solo operation on April 9 of this year. I do not have exact number but JR Tokai and JR West have already had women actively operating bullet trains.

It looks like Japan has a new plan for economic growth, the Medical Visa for foreigners need long-term medical care. The new visa is mainly aimed at luring rich Chinese patients.
“The government is considering creating a “medical visa” system for foreigners keen on receiving high-quality long-term medical treatment in Japan, senior government officials said Monday.
The government wants to attract wealthy sufferers of a range of ailments in China and other Asian countries to Japan, so that the nation’s medical industry can cash in on such patients, the officials said.
The government intends to integrate …

In a previous post on “Africa: Is Black back for Japan, China and the USA?” I looked at the “renewed” interest in Africa and its resources. With the news that Japan will build a base in Djibouti to protect cargo and other ships from pirates, it seems that Japan’s interest has peaked and I bet this will turn into a great opportunity for Japan to spread the love via increased ODA to counter what China is doing in Africa.
Looking back at a previous article on Piracy and Japan’s Constitution, Craig …