Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Japan/Archive/November 2006

message: Hi,
Not really relevant to the project as a whole, but, since people on this project are (obviously!) interested in Japan, I thought you mignt like to know that on Tuesday there was the worst tornado ever to strike Japan, which killed 9 people, injured 25, and left several more unacounted for. The article on this unusual event is the 2006 Saroma tornado. - Blood red sandman 17:41, 10 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks. I listed it on Template:Newest Japan-related articles. That's the place where the general community goes to post info about new articles and to find out about them. Everybody's welcome to post their latest articles! And it was enlightening to read the article on the tornado. Fg2 11:33, 11 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  An article that may be of interest 

message: Does anyone here know if Japan has a top singles/albums chart?  Britain has the UK Singles chart and the US has the Billboard 100 - does Japan have something similar?  Thanks!  Wickethewok 08:28, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: They have Oricon. ···日本穣? · Talk to Nihonjoe 09:14, 13 November 2006 (UTC)

text: *Thank you very much.  :)  Wickethewok 14:35, 13 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Japan singles/album chart?

message: I'm working on bringing Kitsune up to at least GA status.  There's a lot to be done, but I don't think it's too far out of reach.  I'd appreciate any feedback at its peer review. Shimeru 01:51, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Peer review for kitsune 

message: As someone interested in Japanese literature I thought I'd bring up an ongoing project that I only recently discovered.  Apparently, Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels has taken it upon themselves to rate the importance of every novel known to man ... and done a spectacular job of messing it up, IMHO.  A Tale of Two Cities has the same importance as God Emperor of Dune apparently, and don't even ask about Japanese literature (most are not rated, and of those that are ... well, let's just say that Kokoro rates the same as the eternal classic Boogiepop Returns: VS Imaginator Part 1).  I have voiced my concerns here ... I'd rather this system be eliminated altogether, but if it is to continue, it seems like multiple and diverse perspectives are needed, particularly from the more specialist areas like ours. CES 01:56, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree. Such internationalized "ratings" will only serve to further enforce the western bias on WP, nevermind the fact that it makes a joke out of the poor quality of articles on topics from other parts of the world.  freshofftheufoΓΛĿЌ  03:18, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: GEOD shouldn't even be in the same Project as A Tale of Two Cities. They've messed up indeed. --Gwern  (contribs) 05:34, 15 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Novels Assessment 

message: Hi. It is likely that I have found a possible sockpuppet of User:Cute 1 4 u whose name is User:Pumpkin Pie. On User:Pumpkin Pie, the user claims to have a Japanese userpage. Can someone who has previous experience with the language please translate the main userpage here and please check out her Japanese contributions. Please send a message back to my talk page. Thanks.--Ed ¿Cómo estás? 01:54, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Got it. Dekimasu 05:53, 16 November 2006 (UTC)

text: Not that it wasn't already done by someone else. Dekimasu 05:57, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Requesting help from a Japanese reader 

message: Operation Downfall is up for a featured article review. Detailed concerns may be found here. Please leave your comments and help us address and maintain this article's featured quality. Sandy (Talk) 21:58, 16 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: [[Operation Downfall]]

message: :What steps should we take to comply with Wikipedia:Avoid trivia sections in articles [....]? Cut all the junk from an article, note this in the relevant talk page, see if anyone wants to bother to justify its existence or reintegrate it; if not, forget all about it. To what extent should we implement the proposed guideline, Wikipedia:Trivia? To the fullest extent. -- Hoary 00:25, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I agree with Hoary.  I would support any effort to clean up the cruft from a lot of these articles.  The first line in the popular culture section of Toyotomi Hideyoshi is sufficient, and would serve as a good model for many articles to follow.  Although, since he is a major part of the NHK drama, that could be left as well.  If the work is acclaimed, and the subject was integral to the work (book, movie, video game), then it ceases to be trivial because it DID have an impact on popular culture.  Saying that Tokugawa Ieyasu was the basis for Shogun (novel) is one thing.  Saying that he is a playable character who wields a cannon-like spear is something entirely different. Neier 00:42, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: This is one of the things I feel most strongly about on Wikipedia, and I'm very glad to see it brought up here. The important criterion for inclusion is that the trivia must add to the reader's understanding of the article topic rather than the trivia topic. I have attacked these sections before (see Talk:Raijin, Talk:Melonpan, Talk:Ganguro, etc.), and I'll be more than happy to support aggressive pruning of these sections. Look at the history of the Raijin page to see what these things can do to an article. Dekimasu 01:28, 17 November 2006 (UTC)

text: This is another perfect example of ridiculous use of trivia sections! (Wikimachine 16:33, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Opinions

message: Hello! I officially signed onto WPJapan a little while ago, and have been working on the article for the town I live in as a bit of practice. I would really appreciate a more experienced wikipedian taking a look at Natori, Miyagi and giving some feedback in the talk page. Thanks to Jaredmellis for roughly translating the japanese article faster than I could have. Erk|Talk -- I like traffic lights -- 03:21, 17 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Article on Natori

message: Do we want to create a few specific taskforces to help focus various efforts in the project? We seem to have a decent number of editors who wish to help out, but I wonder if some might be wondering where to jump in and help. We could model it after the task forces used by other projects such as Military History. Thoughts? Ideas? Opinions? Please share them! (^_^) ···日本穣? · Talk to Nihonjoe 08:10, 21 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Task forces are a great idea, but I have found them hard to keep together.  The Japanese Mythology project pretty much disintigrated, and I think I am the only remaining active editor. However, if anyone else wants to ressurect it, I am happy to be on board again! MightyAtom 23:42, 26 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I've been thinking smaller projects like Japanese Mythology might work better if they were more integrated here, especially if we could find some way to better highlight them for interested parties. ···日本穣? · Talk to Nihonjoe 06:02, 27 November 2006 (UTC)

text: I'd be really intressting in helping out with a task force on politics, but I agree with the poster before me that project need to be more integrated. --Jonte-- 22:11, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Task forces 

message: Hi in Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Indian Standard Time, I've accidentally noted similarity in names of different users participating in the vote & so I guessed that they might be from the same nationality -India. And 6/7 at the time were Indians.
I think that this is an "internal" systemic bias, since Indian articles are written mostly and only by Indian users & they're mostly likely to be the only voters on featured article nominations on India-related articles & in result, making Indian articles attaining featured article status inevitable.
(I want to note that Indians are a special exception from other nationalities in Wikipedia because most of them can speak and write fluent English & thus can participate more in English Wikipedia while other foreigners can't & thus limit their participation in fields related to their nationality/culture & making participation of other third parties more likely.)
I think that there is need for third party, especially across different nationalities. And I would like members of this project to come participate in the vote & read what I've written & what they've replied with & see the article & voice your opinions. Thanks a lot! (Wikimachine 17:01, 23 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I'm not sure I agree with your feelings here, but I have left some comments on the page as if it were a FAC review for this project. Dekimasu 01:09, 25 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  [[Wikipedia:Featured article candidates/Indian Standard Time|Featured Article Vote on Indian Standard Time]] 

message: Could someone look into creating a stub/article for Momijigari? Related content is located at Hanami, Color change in leaves, leaf peeping and Maple#Symbolism, but the only mention I just added in Color change in leaves. Circeus 17:44, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I've created a stub. -- Grgcox 19:29, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Thanks! Circeus 19:33, 28 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Momijigari 

message: Are the question marks in the lead japanese characters that I cannot read? If so, what is the policy for such things. Should they be removed? Jpeob 04:32, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Hmmmmm....you must not have your computer set to read Japanese fonts.  I can read them just fine.  Probably shouldn't remove them.  Maybe you should just download Japanese fonts for your computer! :P MightyAtom 06:10, 29 November 2006 (UTC)

text: Yes, they're Japanese characters, and they should be readable if you have a reasonably modern operating system and the correct fonts installed. See Wikipedia:Enabling East Asian characters to enable East Asian character support in your operating system. Cheers, Tangotango 16:50, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question marks on [[Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution]] 

message: A fair use updated policy proposal is being created here before it is actually proposed. Anyone interested in being able to use fair use photos of Japanese celebrities and high-profile individuals here on Wikipedia without having to fight tooth and nail with the self-appointed fair use police who currently (IMHO) have too narrow a view of the interpretation of the current guidelines (that was a long sentence!) is encouraged to come assist in the discussion. Ability to read Japanese (due to having to research Japanese law to find supporting information for the policy change) would be very useful, but is not required. ···日本穣? · Talk to Nihonjoe 18:46, 29 November 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Fair Use for Japanese celebrity photos