User talk:MC MasterChef/Scratch pad/WP:Japan-related topics notice board Redesign/2004

Proposal: COTW
We will put Japan-related stubs or nonexistent articles on /ToDo (your collaboration will be greatly appreciated). How about picking up one of them as our Collaboration of this week? First why not list up stubs on en.wp? Newspaper, cities or historical names ...... and put Template:Japan-stub :) --Aphaea 17:28, 22 Oct 2004 (UTC)
 * Without opposition, I made Japanese Collaboration of the Week thanks for WP:ACOTW. The current COTW has been set as Setouchi, Okayama, a newly foundd city just this week (sorry, without vote; only for the purpose of demonstration). Feel free to join, recommende and vote on WP:JCOTW! --Aphaea 10:52, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * I like this idea very much, but the real question is not whether we ought to do this but whether we are really willing to work! I certainly am. Anyone else? -- Taku 17:20, Nov 2, 2004 (UTC)
 * In my opinion, it is not mundatory but an invitation for collaboration; fun for us and informative for all including others. Anyway there are many stubby or nonexistential articles related to Japan. And I found intensive collaboration works well to improve the article. --Aphaea 17:41, 2 Nov 2004 (UTC)

I nominate Han (Japan) for a future collaboration of the week. About 40 articles link to it, but it's only a few sentences long. I'm going to put suggestions on the article's discussion page. Everybody's welcome to participate! Fg2 07:05, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)

Images on prefectures
How about browsing each city article on Japanese Wikipedia?&#12288;--Aphaea 16:00, 23 Oct 2004 (UTC)


 * Hello, I just started browsing around the Japan section and plan to add some photos. The public domain requirement kind of irks me, but I have some decent images (especially festivals) that I would not mind donating. Sorry, but they won't be my best shots. I'm also knowledgeable about Shiga Prefecture, so my activity will be centered on that prefecture. I've already written the Tourism article there (will be improved) and photos are coming. Photojpn.org 09:12, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * Phil, please note that material does not become "public domain", but rather that the owner of the copyright grants publication on Wikipedia. Most material comes under the GFDL, which has some important differences from public domain.  Other than that, welcome!Davejenk1ns 10:55, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * Hello Phil, Some of the major festivals don't have photos. For example, Hyakumangoku Matsuri, Jidai Matsuri. Some others don't even have articles: Sanja Matsuri, for example. And some of the big shrines don't have articles. Sumiyoshi, Usa Hachiman, Munakata, ... . Even Matsuri doesn't have a picture. Your photos would be great for illustrating any of these. Fg2 07:57, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)
 * Also Ice sculpture --- snow festivalFg2 12:24, Nov 8, 2004 (UTC)


 * OK, give me some time to pick out some photos. I'll let you know when I upload and insert them. My priority will be Shiga Prefecture and I will adopt it as my baby (at least one photo for every single city and town). So what's the difference between the list of Participants above and the List of Japanese wikipedians? How do you get on the list of Participants above? -Phil Photojpn.org 20:26, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * I've got five photos in the Okinawa Prefecture article, and I bet you can outdo me (in quality, for sure!) in Shiga. BTW, there's a nice article on Lake Biwa and another on Hikone Castle. To put your name on the list, click on the [Edit] link to the right of the word "Participants" and jump in anywhere you like. (The last few people have put their names at the bottom of the list, but it's not a rule, as far as I know.) Fg2 07:57, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC)

Soon I'll start adding photos to the prefecture pages. But I want the image to be displayed at the top, above the prefectural symbol. Almost all the prefecture pages with images have the image(s) toward the bottom. So the first thing you see on the prefecture page is the prefectural symbol. Is it that important?? I don't think most people care what the prefectural symbol is. I'd rather see a more representative image of the prefecture. If it's okay to put my image on the top, then I will proceed. But I couldn't figure out how to do it without ruining the layout. I tried to do it for Shiga Prefecture, but it ruins the layout when you widen the browser window (looks fine with a narrower window). Tokyo Prefecture has the top image inside the data box. This would solve the problem, but I looked at that code and it looks outdated. Can anybody suggest a better code or way to do it? Photojpn.org 15:01, 19 Feb 2005 (UTC)


 * First, the formatting question. If you enclose both the image and the table generated by the template in a ...  block, the image and table will appear vertically stacked with the text on the left (which I suspect is the formatting you're after, for other suggestions see Picture_tutorial).  Regarding image at the top of the article rather than prefecture symbol, I agree the prefecture symbol may not be the most useful thing to see at the top of the article but I'd much prefer we swap the symbol and locator map than add a photograph (and if we add a photograph, I think it should be included in the table rather than outside the table).  The point of the template and table is to have a visually consistent spot (top right) for the basic information about the article.  I'd include prefecture symbol and locator map in "basic information". For biographical articles and articles about some geographic features (mountain peaks, waterfalls) I think it's possible for a photograph to be considered "basic information", but I don't see how a single photograph can possibly encompass an entire prefecture (I'm assuming you're not talking about a photograph from space).  So for the prefecture articles I think photographs should follow the table.  I've deferred converting the table in the Tokyo article to the template partly because the existing layout can't be preserved with the current template (Gunma also hasn't been converted due to the same reason - its table lists the prefectural fish).  If you read this and still favor adding photographs, I think we might want to consider trying to convene a vote. -- Rick Block 18:07, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Yep, the div tag does the job. See Shiga Prefecture. In this case, the image cannot be wider than 285px, which is fine with me. The page looks much more interesting and colorful now. I don't favor putting it inside the data box if we can leave it outside like that on top of the data box. If this is okay with people, I will start inserting images in the same way for other prefectures. I really think there should be a nice picture at the top, the first thing that people see on the page. I can do this for the cities and towns, so why not for the prefectures? I don't mind swapping the pref. symbol and map. But if you're going to do this, why not use the map the Japanese page uses? It looks much better (and includes the Northern Territories). Also add the Japanese page's prefecture map too (if it has been redrawn to match the municipal mergers/dissolutions). And on the Japan map, it would be nice to see pointers to the major cities. A lot of work to be sure... Photojpn.org 20:28, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)


 * Swapping the symbol and existing map is trivial (only requires editing the template). Taku has previously expressed a preference for the English wikipedia maps (I prefer the ja: ones, but don't care enough to pursue this - although feel free).  Per above, I don't think there should be a photograph in the position you've put the one for Shiga.  Perhaps before adding more we should try to get a community consensus.   -- Rick Block 22:58, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

Well, I'm in no rush to add photos so take your time to vote on it. I've already started adding photos for some cities and towns in Shiga. (Eventually all the cities and towns in Shiga will have at least one image.) The image is always at the top of the page (mainly because there's so little text that the image would float on the top anyway). So I don't see why we can't do it for prefectures too. What I was trying to say from the beginning is that, seeing a photo is more interesting than seeing the prefectural symbol which is the first thing the eye looks at on the page. Photojpn.org 23:37, 20 Feb 2005 (UTC)

category
It seems to me we are better to re-organize Category:Japan. There are Category:cities in Japan and Category:towns in Japan, but most of cities are uncategorized yet, and some cities are not categorized as so, but directly put in Category:Japan. I think it is same for persons and cultural topics. Your help will be very appreciated. --Aphaea 22:17, 27 Oct 2004 (UTC)

Request for comments
It's not an affair on en.wp, but on ja. i would like to listen to your cooment on town template. Please see ja:Template:& and leave your comment on its talk. My interest is what information is necessary for translators; I hope to have all ja town article provide anyone the minimum enough information in its first paragraph and this table. --Aphaea 05:38, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)

A question
I wonder whether some Japanese Wikipedians could help me out. The article on Adolf Hitler contains the sentence: "However in the East, he and Nazism are seen in a much more neutral context, sometimes even favorably, such as in Japan and India and much of the Islamic world." Is that true as far as Japan is concerned? Many thanks for any help you can give me. jguk 20:05, 6 Nov 2004 (UTC)


 * It is not true. I live in Tokyo, and have studied Japan's Foreign Policy and History for some 16 years now.  Granted, Hitler is not seen as the Devil Himself in Japan, but that is more because there was no direct effect on Japan (i.e. no Jewish Community or Holocaust Survivors group to remind society of his evil).  Japanese would rather forget about the war and that portion of history-- they have moved on. If any memories remain, they center on Japan's atrocities in China, and/or the bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Davejenk1ns 03:20, 7 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * Precisely it is not true "no direct effect on Japan"; I would like to say quite small effect. Most of Japanese didn't notice or mind Hitler's racism actually, and the reason is has no substantial effect on the diplomatic relation between two states in those days. But it doesn't mean there was no effect. For example, there were actually Jewish communities in Japan (in Tokyo and Kobe) nad they received the effect, even if it was smaller than in Europe. On the other hand, it was entirely a community of foreigners in very limited area and most of Japanese had no relation to those communities. So it has been difficult for most Japanese to recognize the effect of German policies in those days. --Aphaea 02:32, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Japanese name order in the Wikipedia
There is currently a reworked vote going on about Japanese name order for the Wikipedia at Manual of Style for Japan-related articles/Naming order. Since they are trying to establish a consistent policy for the Wikipedia, I suggest everyone participate. gK 01:52, 8 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Draft of article on Japanese name order
I've voted on some of the issues related to name order, and drafted an article that could be useful, depending on how the voting comes out. Everyone's invited to view the draft at (article removed) and to comment on the Discussion page. Fg2 10:59, Nov 9, 2004 (UTC)
 * Sounds good and simple solution. Makes it clear as to what the problem is, and why this solution was chosen.--ZayZayEM 02:02, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)
 * I like the idea of the page, and I agree with the text, except for the idea that we would go with the Meiji divide-- I thought that got the least amounts of votes... no? I'm sorry, but the reasoning behind the Meiji divide is simply unsound, for all the reasons we have argued on the discussion pages.  Do I edit that draft page?Davejenk1ns 03:54, 30 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Kimi Ga Yo
Could some of the Japanese members take a look at the Kimi Ga Yo article. To me, it looks rather POV. If the article does a fairly good job of representing the arguments being used in Japan, then it looks like the pro-Kimi Ga Yo camp are misrepresenting the facts (see my remarks at Talk:Kimi Ga Yo). gK [[User talk:GK|&iquest;?]] 10:39, 16 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Japanese name from an image
Hi. I found the characters of a Yu-Gi-Oh! character named "Murashibe" here http://www.janime.net/images/series1_11/02/45.jpg - I want the characters so I can post them on the English Yu-GI-Oh! articles. Can someone please post the characters in text here so I can copy and paste them?

I posted the same prompt back at "Chatsubo" on the JA wikipedia. WhisperToMe 22:38, 15 Dec 2004 (UTC)

More on various Japan-related Categories
User:JesseW has created some tools for looking at how verious categories are organized. When I asked for his help, he created a couple of pages to show the organization of everything under Category:Japan. There are at User talk:JesseW/Children of Category Japan list and Image:Japan_category_graph.png (warning:a very large file). gK [[User talk:GK|&iquest;?]] 14:24, 17 Dec 2004 (UTC)

Graphic for japan-stub?
There is discussion going on at Template talk:Japan-stub on what would be an appropriate graphic to add to the japan-stub. If someone knows of a good drawing (or photo maybe) that would look good shrunk down to approx. 40 pixels square that is in the public domain or could be used under the GFDL license, please join the discussion. gK [[User talk:GK|&iquest;?]] 08:12, 22 Dec 2004 (UTC)