Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Japan

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Invite to help on Portal:Japan

JadeFox and I have been working hard on the Portal:Japan lately, trying to get it up to Featured status someday soon. I think it has come a long way and a lot of the mechanisms needed are now in place. I have created archives and templates for all of the weekly features and all that needs to be done now is they need to be filled out. I've added several entries that will last a few weeks, but more will be needed in order to make the Portal fully automated. Also, we have a lot of great Japan-related pictures on Wikipedia. As of now, the Featured picture section is only a weekly feature, but my goal is to make it daily. The problem is that it requires 360 pictures in the queue - a load I simply cannot handle by myself. Finally, the "On this day" section is in need of real help. We have run out of the queue (the rest through April are in Japanese). As it is a daily feature, it needs immediate attention. Any help on these matters are greatly appreciated! Torsodog (talk) 08:15, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Need help at Talk:Pellet drum

Is the pellet drum in Japan called den-den or den-den daiko (でんでん太鼓)? If so, what is the Japanese spelling? Badagnani (talk) 02:08, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

The description of a pellet drum sounds like a denden daiko. I copied and pasted でんでん太鼓 into the Search box of the Japanese Wikipedia and arrived at でんでん太鼓. Fg2 (talk) 02:21, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks, I've added it. Is "denden daiko" better than "den-den daiko"? Badagnani (talk) 02:27, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm not aware of a formal guideline on it. "Chicago" recommends avoiding excessive use of hyphens in Japanese terms. On the other hand, the word's probably an onomatopoeia, like "bang-bang," which I'd hyphenate. Either seems OK. Fg2 (talk) 03:38, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

WP:MOS-JA also recommends against excessive hyphen usage, so I'd recommend against the hyphen. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 05:16, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Help needed with an inscription

Inscription at Kubota Garden, Seattle, Washington

Could someone translate this inscription? If so, please click through to the commons page and edit the description. Thanks. - Jmabel | Talk 03:52, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

If I'm not mistaken, 記念碑 is the kanji for monument. See the lead of ja:モニュメント. Badagnani (talk) 04:13, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

But how come the kanji on the left in the carving has only three lines rather than four over the box? Badagnani (talk) 04:16, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

There is a fourth stroke in 記, it's just smalled and angled upwards, the way it would be when written by hand. Jpatokal (talk) 08:17, 26 April 2008 (UTC)

Name verification

I found Satoshi Akao while going through the Category:Japan stubs. The ja: wiki says that his name was Bin, not Satoshi (the same kanji); and, they usually are pretty thorough about listing the proper name at the top. Both articles say that he was nicknamed "Bin"; so, I'm a bit confused (although, the Japanese nickname is hiragana, so, maybe that had something to do with it). I did a quick google, but didn't find enough to convince me either way. So, I'll throw it out there for anyone else who might be interested. Should it be moved, or not? Neier (talk) 14:18, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Originally Japanese aritlce claimed that his name was Satoshi, but it was modified by an IP user without explanation.

In my understanding, he is publicly known as Akao Bin and not Satoshi. It also seems he called himself Akao Bin, as announced in the introduction of his official speech for election campaign. I am not perfectly sure about the naming convention, but I think it should be moved. --Sushiya (talk) 14:48, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

Encarta JP says Bin, so it is probably safe to no only move the article, but remove all traces of "satoshi" as well. Neier (talk) 00:36, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Deletion proposal

See Wikipedia:Templates_for_deletion/Log/2008_April_27#Template:Chinese. Badagnani (talk) 14:29, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

The result of the debate was Speedy Keep. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 05:00, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Asama-Sanso incident

I think I've improved this article as much as it can be using English sources. I'm going to nominate it for Good Article. I notice that the Japanese version of the article appears to have much more information. If someone who can read Japanese is willing and able to expand the English version using Japanese sources, that would be very helpful. Cla68 (talk) 02:06, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm rather surprised at that enwiki doesn't seem to have an article about Mt. Myogi Purge incident. Or does it? --Aphaia (talk) 12:02, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Nope, there isn't one. There isn't much in English on the web about it, pretty much the same sources as listed for the Asama Sanso article. There probably also needs to be an article about Yoko (Hiroko) Nagata. I believe that she's the only woman on Japan's death row (unless the Wakayama curry poisoner, Hayashi, received the death penalty) as well as one of the prisoners who has been held the longest with a death sentence hanging overhead. I've heard, but don't have a source to back it up, that she hasn't been executed yet because no Japanese justice minister wants to be known as the one who ordered a woman's execution. Cla68 (talk) 12:39, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

The name is given as Nagata Hiroko in ja:永田洋子. See also 限界の思考: 空疎な時代を生き抜くための社会学 Shinji Miyadai and Akihiro Kitada, page 157, footnote 55, Google Books. Fg2 (talk) 13:21, 28 April 2008 (UTC)

Can the kanji in her name also be read as Yoko? Perhaps that is why Schreiber used Yoko instead of Hiroko. Since Japanese sources use Hiroko, I'll change the name in the Asama article. Thanks for the help with the article, by the way. Cla68 (talk) 00:42, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, "Yōko" is a very common reading of the name "洋子." (For an example, see Yoko Ono.) I bet you're right about Schreiber using that name for that reason (whether directly or indirectly). Fg2 (talk) 02:42, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

To Cla68. For Nagata Hiroko (yes her name is Hiroko) and why she hasn't been executed, I would add {{citation needed}} :) According to jawiki (no citation though)

• She was the 6th woman death sentenced after WW2.
• Japanese minister of justice tend not to sign in the order of death penalty execusion.

And her penalty was not determined until 1993. It is not rare execution was delayed for decades, e.g. Teigin incident (the alleged murderer wasn't executed and died in the prison after all). --Aphaia (talk) 04:28, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Aphaia, that's a helpful explanation. Do you have a reliable web source (in Japanese is fine) that gives her story, such as her birthdate, the story of the purge that she led, the history of her trial, sentence, and current status? If so, I can start an article on her and use that link as a major source. Cla68 (talk) 04:37, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Oh, I didn't notice that you got that information from the Ja.wiki article and that it wasn't cited there. By the way, I'm planning on adding a fair use image of the Asama lodge, scanned from Schreiber's book, to the article's infobox, but I'm going to wait until after the GA review because the reviewer might object to a fair use image. Cla68 (talk) 04:40, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Sorry to say that, I tried to find, but results are not favorable.

I found two copies of an news website article (Sankei Shinbun)[1], now the original was expired. While they themselves are not reliable, but say the same things, and perhaps loyal copies of the original. They suggests jawiki statement is false. According to them, Nagata appealed the Tokyo Regional Court against her sentence and requested for review, and was rejected on 2006-11-28. It is impossible in Japanese jurisdiction to perform the execution with such a legal ongoing process like appealing. So I think it is rather an urban folklore "because she was female" ...

WWW seems not to help write an article about her. Nagata and other United Red Army people wrote many books. I didn't read them at all, but seems they and their supporters are not active online but rely on printed matters heavily. Japanese Wikipedia articles seems to refer to those books (some parts were cited, but not given the page or other details). --Aphaia (talk) 12:05, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

I'm not sure of its reliability, but an detailed account about female death sentenced prisoners available at [2]. The author claims to be a freelance writer (writing in profession). --Aphaia (talk) 12:14, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

Thank you for searching for the links. I'll try to start the article during the next several days. I understand that she has a support group. It's too bad that they don't run their own website. They might have a photo of her that they'd be willing to surrender the copyright to so that we could use it in the article about her. She's an interesting person, to say the least. Cla68 (talk) 13:28, 29 April 2008 (UTC)

OK, I started the article. Cla68 (talk) 01:59, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Han: Article renamed

The article Han (country subdivision) has been renamed Han (administrative division). As we create new articles, we can link to it at its new title. There are hundreds of indirect links via Han (Japan), Han (feudal domain), and other redirects. Fg2 (talk) 00:46, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Indirect links (a.k.a double redirects) will be taken care by bots, right? -- Taku (talk) 01:01, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Double redirets will be taken care of by a bot, but regular redirects likely won't be. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 02:09, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Shirō_Hara

Hello, can you start a stub about Shirō_Hara, historian, and his works. The article Hirohito talk about him in this terms:

« Many historians such as Akira Fujiwara (Shōwa Tennō no Jū-go Nen Sensō, 1991) and Peter Wetzler (Hirohito and War, 1998), based on the primary sources and the monumental work of Shirō Hara, have produced evidence suggesting that the Emperor worked through intermediaries to exercise a great deal of control over the military and was neither bellicose nor a pacifist, but an opportunist who governed in a pluralistic decision-making process. »

220.135.4.212 (talk) 13:10, 1 May 2008 (UTC)

Sagara Sanosuke

Hello, could anybody give me the kanji Futae no Kiwami (lit. "Mastery of the Two Layers") for the Sagara Sanosuke article. Thanks.--Tintor2 (talk) 00:38, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

二重の極み. The second one might alternatively also be spelled 窮み, given the anime's tendency towards obscure and kyuujitai characters. TomorrowTime (talk) 07:29, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

極み is much more common, though I should point out that 窮 is neither obscure (it's a 常用漢字) nor is it 旧字体 (極 is not the 新字体 version of 窮; the only simpler version is 穷, which is Chinese only). (You may not have meant to imply these things, but I thought clarification was in order.) Also ja:相楽左之助 and some others use 極み. -Amake (talk) 15:06, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Japanese film editors wanted

WikiProject Films has solicited interest in creating a Japanese cinema task force. We'd like to cordially welcome all regular editors of these articles to voice their interest in starting this task force so as to see if there is sufficient support. Many thanks! Girolamo Savonarola (talk) 02:19, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

You may also ask over at WikiProject Anime and manga as there are likely people there who'd be interested, too. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 05:59, 2 May 2008 (UTC)

Neapolitan vs Naporitan

An article called Naporitan about the Japanese version of Neapolitan sauce has been created recently. I remained unconvinced that this is necessary, and so do several others, but the article's creator is holding onto his view firmly -- third opinions at Talk:Naporitan would be welcome. Jpatokal (talk) 12:54, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

I posted my thoughts ... honestly, I find the vague Neapolitan sauce article more problematic than the Naporitan article, which at least refers to be a specific cuisine. It's hard to say A should be merged with B if it's not all together clear what B is. CES (talk) 18:53, 7 May 2008 (UTC)

Proper Reading for 土岐成頼

I just started the article Toki Shigeyori based on the related article on Japanaese Wikipedia. As I started searching for sources, however, I discovered that some places give the reading as "Toki Nariyori." Does anyone have any books or other credible sources that can solve this? Is one reading correct? Are they both correct? I don't want to get too involved with the article until the naming is cleared up. The talk page is here. Thanks! Douggers (talk) 02:52, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Google search for 土岐成頼 しげより gives these sites:

• Encarta
• Gifu gov
• Gifu gov
• Chiba University See number 402

Fg2 (talk) 04:04, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, the Gifu Prefectural Museum uses Nariyori, and that's where he's from, so I'd trust them. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 04:08, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Hmmm... He probably wasn't from the museum, but then again he wasn't from the local government either. We've got Gifu sources both ways. Sounds like it's unresolved. Fg2 (talk) 04:16, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

True, bad wording on my part. (^_^;;

So, I recommend mentioning both readings of the name in the intro, with references for each. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 04:25, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Sounds like a good plan. Academic, governmental, and museum sources are enough to warrant the two readings. Then later in the article pick one and go with it consistently. (I have no preference for either.) Fg2 (talk) 04:34, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the input. I'll stick with "Shigeyori" as the main reading, but mention "Nariyori" as a possible reading. Douggers (talk) 04:37, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Categories for discussion: Category:Visitor attractions in Hiroshima Prefecture

Category:Visitor attractions in Hiroshima Prefecture has been nominated for unspecified renaming based on a discussion at Wikipedia:Categories for discussion. To see the discussion, visit the category and click the link to "this category's entry." Fg2 (talk) 07:52, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

Quick request

I'm about finished, I think, with this article about a Japanese Christian doctor serving in the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II and who was killed during the Battle of Attu. I hope to nominate it for featured consideration soon. I found a link [3] to a very informative Japanese website on the subject, but I'm unable to find the website's author's name in the link so I can add it to the reference in the article. Would someone more proficient in reading Japanese than me (I'm at the beginner level) mind looking at the link and finding the site's author's name? Cla68 (talk) 01:12, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

The page source contains the line <meta name="Author" content="大村　紀征"> Fg2 (talk) 01:30, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. I'm sure that name has several readings but I'll try to figure one out and post it. Cla68 (talk) 01:56, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm going to write it as Omura Norimasa. Cla68 (talk) 02:46, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

Don't forget the macron (Ōmura Norimasa). Douggers (talk) 04:12, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

It could be Noriyuki, too. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 04:37, 9 May 2008 (UTC)

This page says "Ohmura Tomoyuku". Though it is not a natural reading of 紀征, the url of the home page of the link cited above (http://www.h4.dion.ne.jp/~t-ohmura/) can be interpreted that the initial letter of the author's given name is T. --Sushiya (talk) 12:04, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Okay, I'll change it to Tomoyuki and add the macron. Thanks again. Cla68 (talk) 06:34, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Potential new Article to investigate: Shibuya Heaven

I've run across mention of a Shibuya Heaven, Shibuya, Tōkyō-to in several external articles, in addition to the current Stub-class article on the J-pop musical ensemble W-inds., within the scope of WPBiography in addition to this WikiProject. Are you aware of enough writeups on the venue itself to qualify for an article hereon, or at least an addendum to the existing Article Shibuya, Tokyo? B. C. Schmerker (talk) 07:04, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Google initially says it has 145 hits for "shibuya heaven" with the quotation marks, but it runs out after 35. A lot of them share the same text. Seems to be one of the many "live houses" Tokyo is full of, and doesn't sound particularly noteworthy. Don't see it in the Japanese Wikipedia's disambiguation page HEAVEN, or in the section 「主な施設」 in 渋谷; various searches involving ヘヴン and ヘブン come up dry. But if you have more information, let us know. Fg2 (talk) 03:22, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

For the record, I tried "渋谷天国" as a search term, but that didn't yield much relevant results. -- Taku (talk)

I believe "Heaven" is a mistranslation in the English article. The Japanese article says "2000年11月から代々木公園や渋谷でストリートパフォーマンスを開始し、2001年3月のデビュー直前には渋谷ホコ天に8,000人を動員し..." It sounds like "Shibuya Heaven" was a translation of "渋谷ホコ天." According to a few places online including this link, ホコ天 is short for 歩行者天国, or Car-free zone. Since the above Japanese excerpt also mentions Yoyogi Park and Shibuya, I'm assuming 渋谷ホコ天 refers to that long pathway in Yoyogi Park that leads to Shibuya City Hall where tons of musicians are always out playing. It also sounds like 8000 people came to see them play during the month of March, not in a single show. I hope that helps. I could be mistranslating though, so someone please correct me if it makes more sense to them. Megaversal (talk) 10:12, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

I bet that's right. Good catch. Fg2 (talk) 10:16, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Very well, any recommendations on a rename of this car-free zone (lit. "Sky-Country" according to the Kanji but a pedestrian zone for practical purposes) for both Shibuya, Tokyo and W-inds.? B. C. Schmerker (talk) 03:48, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

I haven't been about to find an official name anywhere. The bands that have played there all list playing there as "a street show in Yoyogi Park" and that pathway doesn't come up labeled on any maps/directions. A google search of "渋谷ホコ天" is 95% links for profiles of W-inds., so maybe they're the only people to try to name it. It might just be easiest to describe it depending on the situation ("Yoyogi Park," "the walkways of Yoyogi Park," "the south side promenade in Yoyogi Park"). Megaversal (talk) 06:00, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Isn't that walkway the area between NHK studios and the Metropolitan gymnasiums? I was up there a few months ago to watch a Daido Juku tournament and saw several pop music bands standing out there performing and some goth and anime-costumed girls standing around getting their pictures taken by passerby. It's a wide, cinder-and-dirt lane that ends on the edge of Yoyogi park. Cla68 (talk) 06:49, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

That's the place. You wouldn't happen to know what it's called do you (besides 代々木／渋谷歩行者天国? Megaversal (talk) 08:01, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

I'll ask around and see if I can find out. It's probably going to be awhile before I'm back up there and could ask one of the street vendors what the lane is called. Cla68 (talk) 08:26, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Roger the situation. Here in the United States, parks occasionally use official names for specific areas with stages or raised pavements, but that's very much the exception. I await your findings concerning the area 渋谷歩行者天国 at Yoyogi Park, Shibuya, Tokyo. B. C. Schmerker (talk) 04:32, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Amejo and kokujo

The new articles amejo and kokujo are dictionary definitions. They are both referenced to Encarta World English Dictionary, and say the same things in different words. Do these have any prospects of growing beyond dictionary definitions, or should they be transferred to Wiktionary? Fg2 (talk) 11:31, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

I had the same question when I found them during the new page patrol. I saw "amejo" sometimes used in news reports in a mainstream newspaper, so the words certainly have some currency. Maybe they can be described in an article on a broader topic, like the relationship between okinawa locals and American armed forces. In any case, if they are here to stay, then they have to be merged; that's for sure. -- Taku (talk) 12:53, 10 May 2008 (UTC)

Someone has proposed deletion of both articles Fg2 (talk) 03:03, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

I would recommend merging them into an article on Okinawa or one about the US military in Okinawa. It would basically be a sentence giving both words and explaining what they meant. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 17:40, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Help finding name of shrine

So, I was wondering if there was anyone good at reading calligraphy, because I am certainly not. The reason I ask is because I have this picture of the entrance to a shrine I took in Kyoto with the name plaque visible, but I cannot read it and I can't remember the name of the shrine. I'm hoping someone else will be able to. This is the shrine. And only the plaque. Torsodog (talk) 08:13, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Sorry; can't read the plaque. I browsed Category:京都市の神社 but couldn't find anything likely. Do you have any detail in the sign to the left or the one in the middle of the overall photo of the shrine? Fg2 (talk) 09:06, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

I couldn't really make out the calligraphy either, but the first character appeared to be 今, so based on the link Fg2 provided I believe it is Imamiya Shrine (the picture of the shrine appears to match). I think the first three characters are 今宮大 but I'm not sure about the last one ... it does not appear to be 社 as would be expected. Anyway, I hope this helps. Maybe someone else can complete the mystery! CES (talk) 14:47, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

I cannot read either, but an expert says it's 今宮大明神. --Sushiya (talk) 15:34, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

That's it! Great job guys and thanks so much! Torsodog (talk) 15:57, 11 May 2008 (UTC)

Portal:Ancient Japan

Looks like someone is starting up a Portal:Ancient Japan. If anyone is interested in helping, please do. This would be a nice sub-portal to Portal:Japan, and a nice addition to useful tools for finding Japan-related articles. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 06:18, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

China and PRC articles request to be renamed

User:SmuckyTheCat is requesting that China be renamed, and replaced by the People's Republic of China article at "China". This will greatly affect articles that use the link to China to refer to Imperial China, as they will need to be fixed. 70.55.88.176 (talk) 08:04, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

If the move happens at all, which I doubt would. -- Taku (talk) 10:50, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

The support side in favor of the move seems to have more proponents than the oppose side at the moment. 70.51.10.58 (talk) 08:45, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

But it could be a POV issue, and if it is the option that does not violate POV is non-negotiable. WhisperToMe (talk) 02:04, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

True, though one of the people mentions putting a dab page at China for total NPOV-ness. 74.15.105.204 (talk) 05:05, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Shrine naming conventions

With the creation of a template:infobox Shinto shrine a couple of months ago, I and a few others have been adding it where needed when we can. I've decided, however, to launch an all out standardization of the current shrine articles at Category:Shinto shrines (if anyone would like to join me, I'd love some help!). Anyways, I've noticed that there are a few discrepancies when it came to naming shrine articles. I've looked over the MOS-JA and noticed that it states that ONLY shrines with the names jinja and jingū are to be translated into "Shrine." I've found many, however, that do use Japanese terms such as gū or taisha but are translated into "Shrine" in the article name, and other terms such as daimyōjin are not mentioned in the MOS-JA at all. What is the rule here? Should I be changing these? Are we sticking to jinja and jingū being the only exceptions? Torsodog (talk) 23:45, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

Gū should definitely be kept as is, nobody visits the Nikko Tosho Shrine. Taisha could go either way. Do you have any examples for daimyojin? Jpatokal (talk) 03:48, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

Imamiya Shrine is the only example I have found so far. Also, when you say taisha could go either way, do you mean as a whole or on a case-by-case basis. If the latter, what would be a deciding factor? Torsodog (talk) 06:54, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

I think taisha (all four or five of them) could be translated as "grand shrine". TomorrowTime (talk) 06:58, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

I mean that I could be convinced into either keeping "Taisha" or using "Grand Shrine", but yes, we should definitely standardize on one or the other. At the moment, I think I'd prefer keeping "Taisha" as is, it's unambiguous and perhaps less misleading -- the Ise Shrine is no less grand for not being a 大社. Jpatokal (talk) 07:32, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

I would say taisha should be translated as "Grand Shrine", as it seems to be the most common usage. English-language tourist pamphlets in Japan use that translation, at least as far as I have seen. For "jinga" and "jingu", "shrine" is an acceptable translation. When translating these, one should keep in mind the original name, and not make a judgement call as to whether or not a shrine deserves the designation "grand" or not. MightyAtom (talk) 21:27, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

2002 Japan animal cruelty case

Is anyone fluent in Japanese willing to search news sites to source this article? I cannot find any news sources in English that can be used to source this article. WhisperToMe (talk) 02:05, 14 May 2008 (UTC)

"Create an Article about a Japanese Subject Outside Your Rut" Week

I sometimes read that en:WP has an article -- however perfunctory, bad or vandalized -- about just about everything of note, or anyway just about everything of note to the anglosphere.

I don't think so. For example, Ikegami Honmonji is a great big temple complex for Nichiren, a major chunk of Japanese Buddhism, and it has a stonking great festival every October. Though the index to the latest Rough Guide to Tokyo doesn't mention it, it gets an entire densely-packed two-column page in A Handbook for Travellers in Japan (8th ed, 1907). (Murray, Baedeker and Nagel make the guidebooks of today look pretty feeble.) Till today, there wasn't the weediest little article about it in en:WP (despite the articles about the humdrum stations nearest to it).

As I tend to doze off after reading two sentences or so about Buddhism (and as I'm pretty ignorant of architecture too, despite my interest in it), I'm definitely not the right person to be writing about this handsome place. But nobody else did, so I kicked it off during the last hour.

I've also been struck by the paucity of articles about municipal and prefectural art galleries in Japan. The galleries often take the trouble to put out catalogues with parallel texts in English, but there seems to be little or no interest among en:WP editors. Are our particular obsessions concerns really that much more important?

How about a WikiProject Japan "Create an Article about a Japanese Subject Outside Your Rut" Week? -- Hoary (talk) 12:10, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Outside our rut = outside of our area? Hmm, seems doable. User:Zscout370 ^{(Return Fire)} 14:29, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

A very good idea, Hoary. Like you, though, I've often come across major subjects/articles which we did not have started here. Unlike you though, the ever-present, annoying and time-wasting threat of AfD prevented me from digging up the sourcing necessary to put up an attack-proof stub. On the other hand, every episode of Family Guy gets its own article... One of my long-standing Wiki-gripes: Those subjects with the most editors/defenders survive, while an article on-- I kid you not-- a Rimsky-Korsakov opera gets put up for deletion within five minutes of its birth... Makes one want to crawl back into his rut and defend it from deletion... Dekkappai (talk) 16:00, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Holy copulating ordure. The article even pointed out at that early stage that the subject was an opera by RK. To Composed in 1898, the opera was used as a prologue to Rimsky-Korsakov's first opera, The Maid of Pskov in 1901 the author should of course have appended something about its appearance in The Simpsons. My personal favorite had previously been this: granted that the "article" wasn't worth the electrons it was written with, the notability warning was slapped on by a soi-disant "Photo Editor- New York" (check his user page). ¶ So anyway, Dekka, in which direction will you be venturing out of your particularly delectable valley? -- Hoary (talk) 16:17, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Right... The Rimsky-author was yours truly. Even after I pointed out that an Opera can hardly qualify as a non-notable BIOGRAPHY, the guy stuck to his guns. Makes one wonder... My rut is pretty fun, isn't it :-) Give me time, I'll think of something non-pinky... Possibly... eventually... Dekkappai (talk) 16:21, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

Wow, some of the examples you guys are showing are ridiculous. I'm glad they avoided getting the ax, but that's still pretty sad. Torsodog (talk) 18:43, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I think this is a good idea. I wonder if we could bend it to taking care of some of the requested articles. There are over 1000 of them, I believe, perhaps over 2000. ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 04:28, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

JapanWiki

Hey guys. I started JapanWiki.org before I realised the existence of Portal:Japan. I was wondering what you guys think about the idea of a completely independent site dedicated to Japan? I think running our own site would provide more flexibility. What do you think? I know a lot of work has already been done here so I was wondering if people think it would be a good idea to move content over to Japanwiki and continute the work there? Any thoughts would be appreciated Jubeidono (talk) 20:19, 15 May 2008 (UTC)Jubeidono

I don't know... Wikipedia is well-known, so the work here is more useful. --ざくら木 20:45, 15 May 2008 (UTC)

I think both could be useful. Perhaps some of the information that doesn't really fit here might be able to put there? ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 04:25, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

If you're GFDL compatible, you could import articles from WikiPedia... 70.55.86.34 (talk) 05:11, 16 May 2008 (UTC)

Is JapanWiki.org english only? Japanese also, romaji also? 70.55.86.34 (talk) 05:14, 16 May 2008 (UTC)