Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Digital | JAPAN WEB WATCH Sep 17, 2013
Accidental leak IDs over 30,000 'anonymous' 2channel users
by Akky Akimoto
Japan’s most popular online bulletin-board service, 2channel (pronounced ni-chaneru), recently experienced what is probably the biggest problem in its 14-year history when its promise to keep users’ anonymity was severely broken by an information breach. 2channel was founded by Hiroyuki Nishimura in 1999. It ...
Social Issues Feb 23, 2013
American teacher's spin on Japan's racism riles Net nationalists
by Max Fisher
Japan's informal army of young, hyper-nationalist Web users puts U.S. citizen Miki Dezaki in its cross hairs for uploading a video titled "Racism in Japan" on YouTube.
Reference | FYI Jan 8, 2013
Xenophobia finds fertile soil in web anonymity
by Ayako Mie
As diplomatic strains with China and South Korea worsen over territorial disputes, more and more Japanese are using the relative anonymity of cyberspace to vent their political spleens online. Enter “Net uyoku,” the people who freely post their ultranationalistic, xenophobic bluster online. Here is ...