Talk:Japan/Archive 4

message: would you like to publish this article? -- Zondor 22:51, 27 November 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: We're interested in learning more about it. After reading the article you linked to, I'm not sure just what the process and results are. But if it provides some protection from the frequent vandalism that this page receives, and still reflects the consensus of the community, it has promise. Fg2 00:24, 2 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  publication 

message: The following question is from anonymous user 131.215.7.209 (talk • contribs):
I have a question about this image. The position of "Szichwan" may be wrong.
It should be far west. (Please refer to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:China-Sichuan.png)
As far as I know, the Szichwan province of China remains unconqered by Japan during World War II.
Sorry I don't know how to send this message to the original author of the image,
so I put it here. Hopefully someone more experienced would do it for me. Thank you very much!!''
(taken from main article)
--bbatsell | « give me a ring » 08:56, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Fixed, thanks. Mark1 22:26, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question regarding image 

message: Hi all. This edit was made by an anon user where he/she asked a question on the article itself. I reverted the edit but thought I should mention it here incase someone knows what that user is talking about. - User:Akamad Merry Christmas to all! 08:57, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: As above, fixed. Mark1 22:26, 22 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  Question 

message: Hi everyone, just like to say that I'd like to see more on certain aspects of the Japanese culture, such as diffidence around others and the sort of, well, reluctance to accept outsiders.  Thank you.    MondoManDevout 07:57, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
replies: text: Hi MondoManDevout, Wikipedia has so much information about Japan that it's impractical to put it all in this one article. So, you'll find more in the articles it links to, including some in the Miscellaneous Topics section. And like anyplace else on the Web, those articles link to more articles, and on and on. Meanwhile, try Gaikokujin and see if that contains the information you seek. Happy hunting! Fg2 08:03, 25 December 2005 (UTC)
thread_title:  More on Culture 

message: I'm changing "Muromachi shogunate" to "Ashikaga shogunate".  Woogums 09:55, 9 January 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Japanese history 

message: I just placed a request for semi-protection because of the persistent attempts of vandalism by anonymous IP users. Hermeneus (user/talk) 20:41, 1 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Semi-protection Feb 2 2006 

message: The old version (upto 06:14, January 29, 2006 JST) of the language section writes as follows:
::Before the 5th century, the Japanese had no writing system of their own. They began to adopt the Chinese writing script along with many other aspects of Chinese culture after their introduction by Korean monks and scholars during the 5th and 6th centuries AD.
::At first, the Japanese wrote in Classical Chinese, or in a mixture of Chinese, used both ideographically, phonetically, and otherwise to create Japanese meanings. An example of this mixed style is the Kojiki, which was written in 712 AD. They then started to use Chinese characters to write Japanese in a style known as man'yōgana, a ten thousand syllabic script which used characters depicting their own values.
::Over time, a writing system was constructed. Chinese characters (kanji) were used to write either words borrowed from Chinese, or Japanese words with the same or similar meanings. Chinese characters were also used to write grammatical elements, were simplified, and eventually became two syllabic scripts: hiragana and katakana.
::Japanese literature reached a high point during the 11th century with the Genji Monogatari ("Tale of Genji") by Lady Murasaki Shikibu. Many other Japanese literary works were also written by women.
::Modern Japanese is written in a mixture of hiragana, katakana, and kanji. Japanese texts may also include rōmaji (letters from the Latin alphabet) as well as various special symbols.
Japanese language is a language. It is a tool of communication that is used in speech as well as in writing. Yet the old version talks almost exclusively about the writing system, spending the majority of the space on how Chinese language helped the Japanese, who previously did not have a writing system of their own, to develop one. Although it is true that Chinese language greatly influenced Japanese writing system, its description should not take up such a large space in a limited summary section of Japanese language. Japanese language itself belongs in a different language family than Chinese language and is not a derivative of Chinese language. Hermeneus (user/talk) 14:35, 2 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Perhaps the section needs a bit more on the spoken word and a little less on the written, but to delete almost the entire section is unwarranted.--Sir Edgar 01:03, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: We don't need a detailed history of the development of Japanese writing system in the summary section of Japanese language. Nor do we need an equally detailed description of the history of spoken Japanese either because it will make the language section too long for a summary. It suffices to say that the Japanese language system was greatly influenced by Chinese language and direct readers to Japanese writing system if they are interested in the subject.   Hermeneus (user/talk) 01:40, 3 February 2006 (UTC)

text: Agreed. I've moved it to the Japanese Language article.--Sir Edgar 02:16, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Language 

message: Please read this...
Japanese archaeologist who fooled so many for so long leaves dark legacy of flawed theories:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/news/archive/2001/08/19/international1219EDT0439.DTL
Excerpts-
Since Fujimura was caught red-handed and confessed last year that he planted many of his finds, textbooks have been revised, artifacts quietly removed from the National Museum, and theories on Japan's earliest humans reconsidered. 
The Fujimura affair, among the worst cases of academic fraud ever in Japan, exposed fundamental problems with the way archaeology is conducted here. And in a country where finds are frequently front-page news, the damage to its reputation may be irreparable. 
Japanese nationalism also may have had a role. 
Amakasu acknowledged that archaeology in Japan, where people were taught they were a unique race until the end of World War II, is largely expected to reinforce a sense of national identity rather than uncover the history of humankind. 
Fujimura fed into that by telling people what they wanted to hear about the depth and importance of Japanese history and widely publicizing his findings, Keally said. 
"We seem to be back to zero on this question of humans in Japan before 35,000 years ago," concluded Keally, who has worked in Japan for 30 years.
--Sir Edgar 01:04, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: The year is changed back to 30,000. Hermeneus (user/talk) 01:29, 3 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Ancient History: 600,000 years and Japanese nationalism 

message: Does Japan have a national motto?  If not, I need to know so I can put "none" in that field.--naryathegreat | (talk) 22:44, 4 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: There isn't one.  We are not that damb. :) FWBOarticle 19:02, 10 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title: Motto

message: The template contains several dates: Formation 710; Shogunate 1185; Meiji Restoration 1866; Taisho democracy 1919; Democracy May 3, 1947. I'm not sure what was formed in 710; why 1185 is given as the date of Shogunate (and why not dates of other shogunates, which were revolutions against previous shogunates); why 1866 for Meiji Restoration; why Taisho democracy deserves to be in table or how a date was arrived at; or why the extreme emphasis on modern events (three dates in eight decades but no dates for nearly eight centuries). What is the purpose of the dates, and the rationale behind the choices? Fg2 09:30, 7 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Dates in template 

message: Hello. I was wondering how common the name "Nisshoki" is for the flag. I used the spelling similar to this, but I found nothing. Using the term I pasted, I found a very things. User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) Fair use policy  00:46, 15 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: Correction, I had an extra T in the name for some reason  User:Zscout370 (Return Fire) Fair use policy  07:56, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Flag of Japan 

message: I've just remove the newly added section "Notes", which said:
: The name Japan is derived from the Mandarin Chinese name, Riben in Pinyin, Jih-pen in the old Wade-Giles transliteration system. In Chinese, as in Japanese, it is written 日本.
This is not sourced, and is not mentioned in the more detaild Names of Japan. (And in case anyone is wondering: in Wade-Giles jih corresponds to ri in Pinyin, and pen corresponds to ben, i.e. there is no j sound in jih-pen. See e.g. http://www.library.ucla.edu/libraries/eastasian/ctable2.htm )
::I don't know Chinese, so I can't comment on the content, but as you hinted by referring to it in the edit summary, information about the derivation of the name makes most sense in the article Names of Japan. Fg2 07:30, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: According to the American Heritage Dictionary entry for Japan.... Japan is derived from "Middle Chinese" nzyet-pwun (日本) or nzyet-pwun-kwuk (日本國), which then evolves into "early Mandarin".  The early Mandarin word was borrowed into Malay as Japang, which was encountered by Portuguese traders in Moluccas in the 16th century. These traders may have been the ones to bring the word to Europe; it is first recorded in English in 1577, spelled Giapan.  So technically, Japan isn't derived from modern Mandarin, but from early Mandarin.--Endroit 08:27, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: I stand corrected.  I was unaware of the Names of Japan article, which is far more detailed than what I had been taught.  Should there be a link to that article somewhere in this one?  Fan 14:42, 17 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Removed section "Notes" 

message: Why is it inapproriate to post a link to http://www.japan-golf-tours.com/ under the other links section? This website offers valuable information about golf courses in japan and an overall review of golf in japan. Check out these pages: http://www.japan-golf-tours.com/japan-golf-tour-information.html and http://www.japan-golf-tours.com/japan-golf-tour-courses.html
I argue that this is perfectly fine to post and offers valuable information and services to people interested in Japan!
:Wikipedia is not an advertising billboard. siafu 22:58, 21 February 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Other Links 

message: This article seems to be very comprehensive, and I think with a little bit of work referencing, this could easily meet the criteria...we should nominate this article.  What do you think?
Mkaycomputer 22:55, 1 March 2006 (UTC)
replies: text: A noble goal. It's a bit long, but with leadership from someone who's good at responding to all the objections that invariably come up, it could make it. Of course, it should go through Peer Review first to get suggestions from a wider community. Go for it! Fg2 00:27, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

text: I'm ecstatic to see Japan become a "good article"! Congrats to everyone who's contributed to getting the article to where it's at today!--Sir Edgar 07:04, 16 March 2006 (UTC)
thread_title:  Featured Article Status