Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Japan/Archive/October 2008

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V·T·E

Copyediting of History of Tokyo

The article History of Tokyo is being edited, and there's an in-use template indicating that it's the League of Copyeditors at work. This edit, though, introduced a serious factual error; I removed some incorrect text despite the in-use template. I'd like to call it to the attention of others having knowledge of Tokyo so we can watch the article and make sure that copyediting does not introduce further errors in fact. I'm all for copyediting, and let's ensure that the result is both clear and factually correct. Fg2 (talk) 13:42, 22 September 2008 (UTC)

Even aside from the "serious factual error," that "copyedit" is grotesque. It's pretty consistent in changing for the worse. I wonder how to point this out to the so-called copywriter. Tama1988 (talk) 08:44, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Aigioohashi Bridge

Any suggestions on a different title for Aigioohashi Bridge? It has both "hashi" and "Bridge"; also, it's missing a macron. The Japanese article is at 愛岐大橋 and it gives the name as あいぎおおはし. Should we rename it Aigi Ōhashi, or translate Ōhashi into English (how?), or run words together, or keep it as it is, or do something else? Fg2 (talk) 10:41, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

I'd suggest simply Aigi Bridge, though I haven't heard of it. If you feel that Ōhashi is integral to the name, like the Jima in Iwo Jima, or the kawa in Sumidagawa, or like that, based on being familiar with the name and how it's used, then an argument could be made for keeping it at Aigi Ōhashi Bridge or something of the sort. It's repetitive, but *if* Ōhashi is essential to having it sound right, it should be there; and the word "Bridge" should definitely be included. LordAmeth (talk) 12:25, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

For reference I'd check out Category:Bridges in Japan. It appears that there is currently no consistent naming scheme, though I would support dropping "ōhashi" and simply using "[name] Bridge." If you do keep the ōhashi, please include the macron. -Amake (talk) 12:35, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to both of you for the suggestions. It's a found article, not one that I created, and I have no emotional stake in the outcome of the discussion. There are bridges called ōhashi here and there throughout the country; I don't know the criteria used to distinguish between them and ordinary hashi, and I suspect it's not an integral part of the name. But if there's a smaller bridge without the Ō maybe we need a way to distinguish them, either with their Japanese descriptors or with English equivalents. The usual mechanical reflex is to replace ō with "big" or "great," but I'm not partial to "Aigi Big Bridge" or "Aigi Great Bridge"; if an indicator of size is necessary we might consider "Great Aigi Bridge" but that would not be first on my list. The photo doesn't make it look like it's in the same class as the Great Seto Bridge. Your suggestion of Aigi Bridge is an appealing one. Fg2 (talk) 12:40, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

I don't think the average Joe cares much even if there is repetition. It's just like with Finnish toponyms that are rendered into English, such as Lake Oulujärvi (järvi = lake), which should be Lake Oulu instead (and not, literally, "Lake Oulu Lake"... orz). --ざくら木 13:01, 28 September 2008 (UTC)

Why not just Aigi Ōhashi? We have Kiyomizu-dera and Kinkaku-ji and not "Kiyomizu temple" or "Kinkaku Temple" as article titles. Or the repetitive Aigi Ōhashi Bridge if there is a compelling reason to include an English word in the article title? as per ざくら, a person familiar with Japanese knows that Ōhashi/hashi/bashi means "bridge". A person who does not know Japanese would not realize the repetition and should not be bothered by it. --MChew (talk) 02:00, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I would support Aigi Bridge. I also added an infobox to the page. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 04:15, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

There are Katsushika Ohashi and Katsushika Bashi on Edo river. See ja:江戸川#橋梁. Though there are not their articles both in ja and en. so far. I don't think they are the only example of sharing the same geographical name. But how do we do to distinguish between them ? Oda Mari (talk) 05:46, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

There are Nakagawa Ohashi (in Katsushika) and two Nakagawa Bashi (one in Kasukabe and one in Katsushika) on Naka river too. Oda Mari (talk) 06:04, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

For the former, if we stayed with "Katsushika Ōhashi" and "Katsushika Bashi", there would be no problem with distinguishing between the two. For the latter, could we not use "Nakagawa Ōhashi", "Nakagawabashi (Katsushika)" and "Nakagawabashi (Katsukabe)"? Surely the consensus will not be to change "Nihonbashi" to "Nihon Bridge" or "Shinbashi" to "Shin Bridge"???--MChew (talk) 07:27, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Well, if we go that direction, then I support Aigi Ōhashi. I'm not too picky with this one. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 03:27, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

New template

Per the discussion here with User:Fg2 I have created a new template- {{Japanese clan name}}. I basically copied the format of {{Royal house}} to get things going, and modified the fields so they fit the topic. However, I'm not very good with the code needed to edit these things, and as I say here, my biggest issue right now is that I haven't been able to figure out how to add a caption inside the box where the picture goes, as in {{Family name}}. Any comments/suggestions/help would be a godsend. Tadakuni (talk) 14:47, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I really, really quickly added the caption. Is this what you wanted, or were you trying to do something different? --Torsodog^Talk 15:06, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

That's exactly what I wanted. Thank you! Tadakuni (talk) 19:40, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

Anyone else have any comments on the layout of this? Is it okay for use? Tadakuni (talk) 01:59, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Instead of "Deposition" maybe "Ruled until"? Or something along those lines. For example, for Late Hōjō clan it could say
Ruled until: 1590; defeated in Siege of Odawara (1590).

Would something like this work? Fg2 (talk) 03:04, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Good suggestion, will fix presently! Tadakuni (talk) 06:02, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Done! What do you think now? Tadakuni (talk) 06:04, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

As there don't seem to be any objections or additions, I'll go ahead and start using the template. Thanks for all your help! Tadakuni (talk) 04:52, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

I really like the template. Wonder if there's any way to have a parameter for the color of the bar at the top where the clan name appears. If the clan favors certain colors, e.g. in their crest, we could use it in that way. Might take some thinking to figure out how to make the text stand out against it... An interesting additional feature if anyone has an interest and expertise. Fg2 (talk) 06:06, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Debito Arudou says that the article is still biased

Arudou says that the article is still biased. He said: "(diff) (hist) . . Debito Arudou‎; 15:52 . . (+26) . . Arudoudebito (Talk | contribs | block) (Replacing NPOV tag. Article still biased, previously-removed unpublished sources like Japanreview.net and Yuki Honjo have been replaced.)"

So, does anyone mind looking at whether Honjo and Japanreview.net should be used? WhisperToMe (talk) 17:05, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I thought everyone had been ok with this, especially after the discussion of Japanreview's noteworthiness. Anyway, perhaps this should be looked again just in case, keeping in mind that Arudou will likely never be happy with the state of his article (subjects never are). I'll leave future comments on the discussion page there. --C S (talk) 18:38, 30 September 2008 (UTC)

I was curious about this, too. I haven't been following the Debito Arudou page closely in recent months, but I still have WikiProject Japan on my watchlist. I did a search. According to LexisNexis, there was a full feature article on JapanReview published a few years ago (Christoph Mark, "Web site focuses on books about Japan," The Daily Yomiuri, January 6, 2004, p. 14) in which its notability was discussed. It also gets other citations from journalists and academics quoting it ever since, including some of the reviews that were apparently published concurrently in The International Herald-Tribune and The Asian Wall Street Journal. Book publishers link to it: Stone Bridge [1], ME Sharpe [2][3][4], etc. The University of Wisconsin-Madison [5], Harvard University [6], etc., list it as a reliable source for Japanese Studies. Intute: Arts and Humanities, published by the University of Manchester and supported by Mimas (data centre) and the JISC, consider JapanReview to be "high-quality" writing and an "excellent source of comment on Japan and Japan-related publications." [7] Overall, JapanReview seems suitable. I can understand Mr. Arudou's position. It's fairly obvious that he wants to remove anything that could be perceived as negative in order to create an advertisement -- otherwise, he would push for all questionable sources anywhere and everywhere to be vetted. He wouldn't be the first subject on Wikipedia to want a micro-managed resume, and he won't be the last. It's natural. FWIW, J Readings (talk) 00:35, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

The JapanReview item needs to go back in, and Arudou can jump off a cliff. We aren't here to serve him or be his advertising. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 03:17, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you!!! Since I've been here I have found a huge antipathy toward him, as he makes other foreigners look bad and whiny. Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 01:55, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

I think it's more that he's whiny and looks bad, and other (since he's naturalized Japanese) foreigners are embarrassed because he gives foreigners a bad name. I wonder if he's ever considered that he may have been denied because he (from all appearances and information I've read) acts so self-righteous, as if he deserves to be treated in some sort of special way. I never had any problems at all when I was living in Japan, and I wandered all over by myself and with friends, in big cities and in the "inaka" (the "boonies" for those who don't understand that word). Everyone I met was very polite and helpful. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 05:42, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

It's more that he gives protesting a bad name. Foreigners (like non-foreigners) in Japan (and elsewhere) have legitimate grievances. He rants (sometimes in color) about them and real and imagined indignities, and another person who'd like to make a polite but cogent, reasoned and potentially persuasive complaint hesitates, fearing that she'll be lumped with him as another bore. Tama1988 (talk) 08:55, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Well, I think we should be telling this stuff to Arudou directly - also please try to tone down the tone a bit so that it is construed as civil. Also please try to keep the discussion at Talk:Debito Arudou WhisperToMe (talk) 02:59, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

I started an RFC about this: Talk:Debito_Arudou#Request_for_Comment:_Should_Japanreview.net_be_used_as_a_source.3F - After this, if there is a consensus, it will stick. WhisperToMe (talk) 19:51, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

kyaraben

Hi. I created the article kyaraben. I would like to request help on two particular issues (of course help of other kinds is welcome too). 1) Right now, the article is unsourced, although I only put in the most basic statements. I could find some sourcing in English, but I believe there are much better, more reliable and readily-available sources in Japanese, which I cannot read. As far as I know, there is only one English book on the subject, but there are many in Japanese. A couple things that strike me as disputable by people unfamiliar with Japan: the amount of time homemakers spent on meals, particularly presentation, and the level that kyaraben has achieved (national contests, seminars, books, etc.).

2) I would like some nice pictures of kyaraben. Unfortunately, many of the nicest pictures are on Japanese blogs. If someone is able to arrange for some of these pictures to be made under an appropriate license, or is able to take pictures of a relative's or neighbor's kyaraben, I would be most grateful. --C S (talk) 03:48, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

I acquired a few pictures from a photographer on flickr. I added one to the article and created a commons cat for them. --Torsodog^Talk 19:39, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

tainted rice

Given all the hulabaloo about China, there should be an article about Japan's own food contaminant problems. Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 02:49, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Name of singer/actor/tarento

I'm trying to remember the name of a singer, tarento, and actress. She's an American (I believe) married to a Japanese man. She regularly appears on variety shows and panel shows which feature a panel of celebrities. She often wears funky colored wigs (fluorescent green, red, orange, blue, etc.) Anyone know who this is? ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 05:34, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Have been trying to think of someone likely, but so far, no luck. I'll keep thinking, though. Fg2 (talk) 04:35, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

What about Carolyn Kawasaki (Caiya)? I don't know if she sings professionally though. Asience (talk) 05:53, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

I think it is Caiya (though I can't seem to find any pictures of her). That sounds right for her name. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 06:39, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Try here. Fg2 (talk) 06:46, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure it's her, based on the images here. I think she may have appeared as the singer in Shall We Dance?. It just looks like her, and I've seen her in a green wig before. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 08:13, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Me and my wife saw her one time a few years ago in the 109 store in Shibuya with her husband Mayo Kawasaki. A crowd of young, giggling girls was following them around. I said to them (in English), "You guys must get tired of this". They smiled and kept walking. Please excuse, I've been waiting a long time for an opportunity to tell that story. Cla68 (talk) 08:21, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Fuji Scout

Please help me to expand this and to add Japanese text, thank you! Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 06:23, 6 October 2008 (UTC)

Transport cards

The list of rechargeable contactless cards and their continually changing interchangeability is bewilderingly complex, and their WP articles are often mutually contradictory and/or just out of date. Should there be a master article for them? Here's a brief list for starters: Suica (JR East), TOICA (JR Central), ICOCA (JR West), Kitaca (JR Hokkaido), SUGOCA (JR Kyushu), PASMO (Tokyo area), PiTaPa (Kansai area)...

Self-update: found a table at FeliCa! But it needs to be moved to a much more obvious place, since this has virtually nothing to do with Sony's technology per se. Jpatokal (talk) 14:26, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like a good idea to make a central article. Can't think of a reason not to. . . Fg2 (talk) 07:08, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Any ideas for the name? Japanese transport cards? Japanese smart cards? List of Japanese smart cards? There's already a long listing in List of smart cards, which includes a few non-transport ones like Edy, but might as well throw them in too. Jpatokal (talk) 17:59, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

The name should indicate the contents. Smart card would not be limited to transportation; it includes credit and bank cards, brands (like 7-Eleven), local shopping arcades. Could be a daunting task, and take you a long way from transportation. But it could be a solid article. On the other hand, in the transportation field, you might have enough. If you wanted to limit the scope to them, a title like Railway smart cards in Japan could work. Fg2 (talk) 20:44, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

I would support Railway smart cards in Japan. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 02:13, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Meningitis in the Imperial family?

Hello, Wikiproject Medicine's current collaboration is meningitis, in the history section of this article is a large paragraph on how it affected the Imperial family but with no reference, I have checked a few of the names listed but cannot find any mention in their specific articles... Does anyone have any pointers and/or give it a quick read to see if it is accurate? thanks! LeeVJ (talk) 23:23, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

I do know that Emperor Taisho had miningitis. --Hirohisat^(Talk) 21:32, 8 October 2008 (UTC)

Thankyou, where could I find a reference, is there a definitive resource? LeeVJ (talk) 22:08, 19 October 2008 (UTC)

Kei Tsuki

Any thoughts on Kei Tsuki? It's obviously not consistent in saying that he was born in 1989, in which year his mother would have been ten years old. Don't see him listed in the IMDB cast list of Juon, but could be in a remake. . . . Is the entire article vandalism, or is there some small error that makes it look that way? Fg2 (talk) 11:57, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

I think it's a hoax. Couldn't find anything on Kei Tsuki, and the previous version of the article looks very fishy as well. --ざくら木 14:14, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

I tagged the article with the CSD as nonsense. Oda Mari (talk) 14:17, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Deleted as a load of bollo-- sorry, I mean as silly. Hoary (talk) 14:25, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

The article is back. I tagged again. Oda Mari (talk) 18:33, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

garbage edits to Tanaka

User:Pharmdmsn insists on adding long-winded, how-to shona grammatical information onto this page, and with top billing. It's not useful, it's not well-written, and he's persistent; please help me watch this one. Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 16:39, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

User has been reported for edit-warring here. --Torsodog^Talk 17:13, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Block for 24-hours. --Torsodog^Talk 17:36, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Category:Dams in Japan

Hello amigos! I am in the middle of stubbing many missing articles using the commons. Most of them have decent articles and data on Japanese wikipedia. Could a few of you help expand them as I'm afraid I don't understand any Japanese. I think it is worthwhile content that is missing. Besides that it looks interesting. Regards The Bald One ^{White cat} 15:28, 5 October 2008 (UTC)

Chinese New Year

There is a content dispute at this article, see Talk:Chinese New Year. Part of the dispute involves its relationship to Old New Year 70.51.10.188 (talk) 04:20, 9 October 2008 (UTC)

Bihaku

Please give this a look, and can we find a good image? Thanks, Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 11:26, 12 October 2008 (UTC)

Ashurajou no Hitomi

Just found this, it could use cleanup from someone knowledgeable. Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 17:22, 13 October 2008 (UTC)

VAIBS-related editor(s) is back

Resolved

 – User has been warned. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 03:59, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

I noticed the recent edits by User:Toruh to Racial issues in Japan. They seem to be extensive additions that look similar to several repeatedly deleted articles related to VAIBS. I have not thoroughly checked, but if someone can double check this, the edits should probably all be reverted and Toruh warned not to keep reposting. --C S (talk) 02:57, 14 October 2008 (UTC)

He was blocked, now he has a sockpuppet. Can we get this article locked down to only long-registered editors? Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 00:37, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Nitta Yoshisada at Inamuragasaki

Does anybody understand Nitta Yoshisada's speech in what follows? Context: it's his speech to the dragon-god at Inamuragasaki taken fron the Taiheiki. More specifically: What does Amaterasu have to do with this? Thanks.

義貞馬より下給て、甲を脱で海上を遥々と伏拝み、竜神に向て祈誓し給ける。「伝奉る、日本開闢の主、伊勢天照太神は、本地を大日の尊像に隠し、垂跡を滄海の竜神に呈し給へりと、吾君其苗裔として、逆臣の為に西海の浪に漂給ふ。義貞今臣たる道を尽ん為に、斧鉞を把て敵陣に臨む。其志偏に王化を資け奉て、蒼生を令安となり。仰願は内海外海の竜神八部、臣が忠義を鑒て、潮を万里の外に退け、道を三軍の陣に令開給へ。」 urashimataro (talk) 04:39, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Here is a modern ja version. Hope it helpful. Oda Mari (talk) 05:46, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

It was. Thank you. urashimataro (talk) 06:45, 15 October 2008 (UTC)

Removal of quoted material

In this edit, an IP user removed a quotation from a printed book from the article Seppuku. Does anyone know if the quotation was acceptable or unacceptable under some Wikipedia policy or guideline? Fg2 (talk) 05:10, 16 October 2008 (UTC)

Usually a snippet like that would be considered fair use under US copyright laws, but Wikipedia is particularly stringent about the copyright thing because fair use can differ from country to country. For example of appropriate fair use, see the part of Wikipedia:Non-free_content#Text (my emphasis):

Brief quotations of copyrighted text may be used to illustrate a point, establish context, or attribute a point of view or idea. Copyrighted text must be attributed and used verbatim. Any alterations must be clearly marked, i.e. [brackets] for added text, an ellipsis (...) for removed text, and emphasis noted after the quotation as "(emphasis added)" or "(emphasis in the original)". Extensive quotation of copyrighted text is prohibited.

So in your example, it doesn't seem as if the Turnbull quote is needed to attribute some viewpoint to him. Neither is it really being used to illustrate some particular point. So it comes down to does the quote "establish context", which I would say yes to, and whether the quotation is "brief", which is a bit debatable but seems ok to my eyes. --C S (talk) 16:10, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Kigo GA

I'm going to delist this article from being a GA soon. It was promoted 2 yrears ago, but it no longer fits the more stringent criteria. ass the only project to rate is above low importance, let me know on the reassessment page if anyone here disagrees or plan to do the needed (large) improvments, then i'll wait longer. thanks! :-)

Kigo has been nominated for a good article reassessment. Articles are typically reviewed for one week. Please leave your comments and help us to return the article to good article quality. If concerns are not addressed during the review period, the good article status will be removed from the article. Reviewers' concerns are here. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yobmod (talk • contribs)

Merger articles need updating

Due to the reorganization of this useful site cited by quite a few of the articles connected to Japanese municipal mergers, those articles will need link fixing because of 404's created by migrated links. Additionally, Kumamoto City absorbed the town of Tomiai on October 6; and some prefectural merger lists(Shizuoka, Fukuoka, and possibly others)are outdated as they are missing new info on future mergers. Just thought I'd give a heads up to whoever usually monitors this subject, as it may be rather tricky to do this myself... Ranma9617 (talk) 02:52, 17 October 2008 (UTC)

Horidzumi

Hi - I am currently creating an article about Charles Maries, botanist. My source states that he stayed on Hokkaidō at "Horidzumi", on the south-west cape.. Can someone identify the modern name/spelling for this town? Thanks. --Daemonic Kangaroo (talk) 08:06, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Maplandia came up with this place it calls Horizumi, Hokkaido, Hokkaido. Other commercial sites find it too. The modern spelling omits the "d." The Horizumi that turns up is not on the southwest of the island, but south of dead center (see the map at ja:日高支庁 on or near Cape Erimo and southwest of Mount Toyoni (Erimo).

The peninsula in the southwest part of Hokkaido is the Oshima Peninsula. The article on it lists the subprefectures in the area, and the articles on the subprefectures provide more information on municipalities. Hakodate, Hokkaido, the major city on the peninsula, was one of the early treaty ports and would have had a thriving international community in the 1870s and 1880s. Maybe that will provide a lead... Sorry I couldn't do better. Fg2 (talk) 11:11, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

That's fantastic. I think the link then is to Horoizumi District, Hokkaidō. My source book is a little unreliable at times, but as it says that he arrived via Urakawa and Samani, which are both in the same area, I'm sure that Horoizumi is the right spelling. Cheers - it's great when Wikipedia users come up trumps. --Daemonic Kangaroo (talk) 11:40, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Japanese clothing

This vandalism magnet should either be rewritten as an article or renamed List of Japanese clothing. Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 06:56, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Done [8]. Cla68 (talk) 07:50, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Okay, but can we perhaps instead merge List of Japanese clothing and Japanese street fashion into a comprehensive Japanese fashion ? Chris (クリス • フィッチ) (talk) 14:25, 20 October 2008 (UTC)

Transcription request

Calligraphy

Can anyone read Emperor Saga's calligraphy? In the discussion over whether to make this a featured picture, someone has wondered if a transcription is possible. Fg2 (talk) 10:25, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

I can only make out a very few bits and pieces.. But I think a transcription should be possible, if we could find someone who's good at reading 古筆. LordAmeth (talk) 10:47, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

ja:嵯峨天皇 has a translation. It says "釈文:（香煙は）像爐に（続く）　蒼生橋梁に少なく　緇侶（しりょ）律儀疎（うと）し　法軆何ぞ久しく住（とど）まらん　塵心傷みて餘り有り". So, the pictured text should be: "像爐蒼生橋梁 / 少緇侶律儀疎 / 法軆何久住塵 / 心傷有餘". --Sushiya (talk) 13:08, 3 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks; I'll pass that along. Fg2 (talk) 04:35, 4 October 2008 (UTC) P.S. I got one right out of 22. . . 04:45, 4 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, Sushiya. It's actually pretty cool how much you can make out once you know what it's supposed to say. It's actually kind of encouraging, like I might actually be capable of learning this eventually... LordAmeth (talk) 02:28, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

About a bit of misinfo I think I found.

I found what appears to be incorrect info on the year Banjou Ginga was born, and it says in JP wiki that he was born 1948, but other sites say he was born 1933, so I'm getting a tad confused. I'm also getting the feeling that someone may have put incorrect info in the JA article about him, so can someone look at the JA article and figure this out? I put the birthyear listed in the English article back to 1933, since that's what other sites say, just so you know. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you.Kitty53 (talk) 01:31, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

To be more specific, I can't find a single site that lists Banjou Ginga's birthyear as 1948.Kitty53 (talk) 01:39, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

In the JA article, it states:

長らく生年は不詳とされさまざまな憶測を呼んでいたが、山梨日日新聞（平成20年10月7日付）『ときめきゾーン芸能』に於いて生年を1948年と発表した。

For a long time, his year of birth was unknown, with a lot of speculation about it. In the "Tokimeki Zone Geinō" column of the October 7, 2008 issue of the Yamanashi Nichinichi Shinbun, it was revealed that his actual birth year was 1948.

Hope that helps. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 03:52, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Template:Infobox Japanese Royalty

User:Iamwisesun created the infobox and edited some of the royal family member articles. Do we use the infobox from now on? Oda Mari (talk) 06:08, 22 October 2008 (UTC)

Keiko Agena

An anonymous IP just added the Japanese spelling of her name to her article. Could someone who reads Japanese please check to see that it's not vandalism. It's under "Personal life". Thank you! :-) -Duribald (talk) 09:51, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

The Japanese Wikipedia gives a different writing with a soft "g." I'd suggest adding a citation-needed template. (The Japanese is not sourced, either.) Fg2 (talk) 10:48, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Thank you very much! :-) -Duribald (talk) 13:07, 26 October 2008 (UTC)

Ten-go

I was surprised to discover that none of the books on my shelf (e.g. "Eagle Against the Sun", "World at War", "Why the Allies Won") list Operation Ten-Go in their index. So I have no good indications as to how typical it may be that this event is called "Ten-Go" in English sources, rather than a romanization which more correctly indicates that 天号 = てんごう = "tengō" or "ten-gou" and not てんご ("ten-go"). ... For now, I have left that term alone, and not changed the romanization of the Operation name, but I am wondering if anyone else has an opinion on the matter. Personally, I would like to make as few exceptions as possible, and to represent as many things as possible in correct romanization. Thoughts? Opinions? Sources that directly indicate one way or the other the common English-language rendering? LordAmeth (talk) 02:22, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

"Ten-Go" seems common enough, from looking through Google Books. "Ten gou" gets no hits, while "ten gō" just picks up hits for "Ten-Go". By the way, the English name for this event would seem to be Operation Ten-Go or some variant, but currently the article sits at Ten-gō sakusen. The move was justified with the edit summary: "Operation Ten-Go" is neither Japanese nor English". I think this may yet be further confusion over English words of Japanese origin. --C S (talk) 03:44, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Samuel Eliot Morison calls it 'Operation TEN-GO' in his authoritative and still definitive History of United States Naval Operations in World War II (Victory in the Pacific, p. 199). I think that the article should be moved back to Operation Ten-Go as this is probably the closest thing there is to a common English-language name (something like Sinking of Japanese Battleship Yamato would also work as this is a common name for this event). Nick Dowling (talk) 03:54, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

I've moved it back to Operation Ten-Go per the reference you give above. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 05:38, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

When I was working on that article, the sources I was using used Ten-Go or Ten ichi-go. Either one, I think, is fine. Cla68 (talk) 06:28, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Having in-article Kanji link to Wiktionary

What is everyone's opinion on linking kanji to relating articles in Wiktionary? (ex: Yasukuni Shrine) Personally, I think it is very unnecessary as most of the ((nihongo)) templates we use include the direct English translations. I only ask this question, however, because User:Badagnani has added these links in a significant number of articles containing kanji and insists upon having these links there. Furthermore, these links often direct users to pages that have not even been created yet. Has there been any previous discussion on this issue or is there a precedent that has been established for other languages? --Torsodog^Talk 04:10, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

I would prefer not to have the links as they will likely only confuse people. I've tried discussing this with Badagnani but have gotten nowhere. I think this would be a discussion for WT:MOS-JA, though. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 05:28, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Thanks. I've moved the conversation there. Anyone interested, feel free to join in! --Torsodog^Talk 13:53, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Japan-related hidden categories

The article Japan was placed in a hidden category by this edit today. A hidden category is one without a link at the bottom of the articles in it. I was unaware of hidden categories. It turns out there are some Japan-related categories. Check out this link to see the ones with names beginning with "J." Probably, exploring would unearth some more.

No particular action in mind; just wanted to call them to the attention of the community. Fg2 (talk) 10:21, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Wow, more than 10,000 page views a day...that's a lot! And presumably they aren't all from project members obsessively reloading the article. --C S (talk) 10:30, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Some other projects have a page where you can see the most frequently viewed articles. Is there such a page for this project? --C S (talk) 10:31, 27 October 2008 (UTC)

Debito Arudou proposed edits for Debito Arudou article

Debito Arudou proposed various revisions for Debito Arudou at Talk:Debito_Arudou#Subject_of_BLP.27S_suggestions_for_proper_edits_of_article_.28Oct_20.2C_2008.29 WhisperToMe (talk) 04:13, 28 October 2008 (UTC)

TBS Top 100

Hi. Would someone be able to tell me what kind of ranking this is? Does it have any relation to the Oricon raking? I'm asking this because I've found that a single by a group that is up for deletion (Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Nochiura Natsumi) reached the 4th place on that ranking but WP:MUSIC says an artist needs to have "a charted hit on any national music chart." And as far as I understand, the national music chart of Japan is the Oricon raking. So, could someone shine some light on this?--Cattus ^talk 00:10, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

It's a weekly countdown of the top 100 on a TBS music show called Count Down TV. I'd say it qualifies as a national music chart at least as much as an MTV or VH1 ranking. TBS broadcasts nationally in Japan. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 05:25, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

OK. Thanks. --Cattus ^talk 16:40, 29 October 2008 (UTC)

List of governors of Japan

I did a little updating of that article(including updating a migrated ref),but the one sticking point to finishing the update is that Yoshiko Shiotani's replacement and possibly other newly-elected first-time governors lack English articles at the present time. Based on what I updated so far, the incumbents that were up for re-election last year have all been re-elected through 2011... Ranma9617 (talk) 04:34, 29 October 2008 (UTC)