User talk:Amake

Yo

These talk pages are funny to me.

Anyways, it's gonna take a while before I actually get going on the wiki Matsuyama page. For some reason, I found myself obsessing over the wikitravel page - and getting into it with this dude who wrote the mind-blowing piece on Dōgo Onsen - so yeah. Wish me luck. It's much easier doing the travel page due to the lack of citations, thank god.

If updating the Matsuyama page counts for the Wiki Project Japan, I'm "in".

l8r,

P, wait lemme try the sign feature. Ojousama 06:24, 5 June 2007 (UTC)

assume good intent. over reactive patrolers are one of the things heavily hurting wikipedia. Shawnlandden (talk) 10:45, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Arigatō

You simplified that derivation of arigatō from...

arigatō < arigatau < arigataku < arigatasi < ari + katasi

to...

arigatō < arigataku < arigatashi < ari + katashi.

Your note says: "Clarified arigatō derivation: removed arigatau, as it's simply old kana for the same thing".

There are a few problems with this. It glosses over the change from -aku to -ō. The medial -k- drops out leaving -au. -au becomes [ō] via regular phonological rules. Without listing the intermediate -au- stage, it is not clear how -aku become -ō. It is not merely old kana.

Perhaps the original passage was not as clear as it could have been. Perhaps we can work together to include the -au- stage and make it clearer. Regards. Bendono 04:01, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

I was taught that consensus in the field was that 旧仮名 and modern kana were pronounced identically. If that's the case, listing arigatō and arigatau separately would be redundant. I've studied Heian-era Japanese, but I'm certainly no expert. If you feel strongly about this then feel free to revert my change. Amake 04:31, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Not "were", but "is now". In Japanese literature classes, historical spellings are now read as if they were modern spellings. This is primarily due to comprehensibility, as well as to diachronic variation in pronunciation. There is no doubt that the sounds were quite different. Much is actually known about how older Japanese probably sounded, and when.

Besides the phonological difference, the morphological difference here is very important. How do you account for the change from -aku to -ō? There is not actually a single common sound between the two. There are a few steps missing. Specially, 1) -k- drops, and 2) /au/ -> [ō] (regular phonological process).

For a full derivation, I do think that this detail must not be overlooked. However, it may be difficult to write it clearly and concisely. I'll work on it a little later.

Just for reference, my expertises lie in Nara and Heian period Japanese. I am fairly versed in the other periods as well, but am not as interested. Regards. Bendono 05:05, 23 March 2007 (UTC)

Diacritic notes

Hello again. I would like to thank you for moving several articles to their correctly spelled forms with macrons. It is always appreciated to have assistance.

However, you need to be aware of a few particular issues. There are a significant number of editors who despise diacritics in English writing. There are various arguments, as well as various solutions.

• Wikipedia category sorting is simple and does not consider diacritics. Thus, for any article whose title includes macrons, please make sure to include a {{DEFAULTSORT}}. For example, Myōdō District, Tokushima would need DEFAULTSORT:Myodo District, Tokushima.
• Make sure that redirects exist for non-macron titles to the correctly spelled macron title. Myodo District, Tokushima should redirect to Myōdō District, Tokushima.
• When moving a page due to macrons, please list "Per WP:MOS-JA" (or something similar) as the reason. (Make sure that you are familiar with that document first, of course.)

These are the pains that we must go through to ensure appropriate macrons. And even then, there may still be some opposition. Follow these guidelines and hopefully you will not run into many problems. Feel free to follow up with me or WP:MOS-JA if you need any assistance. Regards. Bendono 08:59, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Yes, I'm aware that it's controversial.

• Didn't know about sorting. Thanks for the tip.
• Redirects are created automatically for moves, and I've been creating them for new articles (see Kaiyo, Tokushima).
• I'll do that from now on.

Do you know of any way to automatically resolve double redirects? Amake 23:08, 26 March 2007 (UTC)

Automatically, no. I know there are bots and utilities to assist with updating links, but they are probably not for double redirects. I have tried some in the past, but prefer to work manually.

One other note that I neglected to mention. When creating redirect pages in regards to missing macrons, you may find the {{R from title without diacritics}} template useful. Bendono 00:14, 27 March 2007 (UTC)

WikiJET

Nice work on the geo-coordinates. I was using Google Earth myself the other day and I did notice that quite a few of the articles were incorrectly placed, so thanks.

I see from your user page that you're a JET, so I was wondering if you'd seen the website I started recently called WikiJET? I'm trying to get the site off the ground at the moment, so it would be great to have some input from somebody wiki-savy, like yourself. Take a look and tell me what you think. Cheers, Bobo12345 11:16, 29 March 2007 (UTC)

Tokyo Kodomo Club

Hey, since you're there in Japan right now, are you able to fill in more details for this article on the Tokyo Kodomo Club? Thanks. CJLippert 18:04, 2 July 2007 (UTC)

I like your pictures

You find such unique subjects. -Theanphibian ^{(talk • contribs)} 06:52, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks. I'm just trying to fill the gap of interesting pictures in the area I'm currently living in. -Amake 11:51, 11 July 2007 (UTC)

This may come off as strange but..

I'm currently trying to find information on a subject that was only in Japan, therefore the only information I find on them is only is Japanese. So seeing how you are fluent in Japanese (your userbox), I need you to translate this for me. I only know a little bit of Japanese. This is from the Japanese Wikipedia:

「ミュウ・ファイヴ」は、『東京ミュウミュウ』におけるプロモーション活動の一環として2001年7月25日に結成された、小中学生5人組からなるコスプレアイドルユニットである。

活動など

事実上の「実写版東京ミュウミュウ」として扱われ、平均年齢が12歳の少女達によって構成されたこともあり、結成時には大きな注目を浴びることになった。 しかし、東京キャラクターショーをはじめとするイベントでいくつかの公演を行ったものの、その公演総回数は10回に満たず、中途で活動を休止し、自然消滅となった。

「守りたいから」

2001年7月21日発売

作詞・作曲・編曲: 梶浦由記

発売されたCDは1枚のみである。これは「なかよしフェスティバル」をはじめとするイベント限定販売商品だったが、講談社の「なかよし」通信販売サイトでも購入できた。

I reallly hope this is not too much of a bother for you...Thank you. THROUGH FIRE, JUSTICE IS SERVED! 17:31, 18 July 2007 (UTC)

Japan edits

Thanks for the comments - I am combing through all the articles because I am doing the map of the various administrative levels - you can see an example of this on the Government of Japan page. But I must say, it is confusing to see some names with the shortened version like "-cho" and some with it all spelled out. I say one way or the other, IMHO. :) Rarelibra 00:19, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I agree, which is why I've been standardizing them to use the full romaji, and at the same time applying the {{nihongo}} template, macronizing (from -cho to -chō, etc.) and so on. I encourage you to do the same.

Keep up the good work.

-Amake 00:56, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Help with Hamamatsu

Amake - on the page for Hamamatsu, it lists the city being divided into 7 wards (ku), but I cannot find anything with a reference to a map of the wards. Can you assist me? I can help provide maps for the articles, if that is the case... thanks! Rarelibra 18:21, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I found a map on the Hamamatsu city website: [1]. I don't have a clear understanding of what your usage rights would be relating to derivative works. -Amake 23:04, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

I wouldn't worry about usage rights and derivative works. All of the stuff I create is original - and there are limits when it comes to public units. If I draw my lines based on their shapes, so be it. Thank you so much for your help! Rarelibra 23:16, 26 July 2007 (UTC)

Thanks

for the cleanup of Uji, Kyoto. It'll take me some time to get the knack of these templates... Fg2 12:44, 2 August 2007 (UTC)

WikiProject Japan taskforces

In order to encourage more participation, and to help people find a specific area in which they are more able to help out, we have organized taskforces at WikiProject Japan. Please visit the Participants page and update the list with the taskforces in which you wish to participate. Links to all the taskforces are found at the top of the list of participants.

Please let me know if you have any questions, and thank you for helping out! ···日本穣^{? · Talk to Nihonjoe} 08:13, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Tokkeitai

As your knowledge of Japanese is much better then mine, I do not question that Tokkeitai is the correct romanization. Unfortunately, this organisation affected the lives of many people outside Japan, so in the last six decades Tokeitai has become the common name to denote this organisation. You can check this statement on Google. At present the name of the article is the only place in Wikipedia where Tokkeitai is used, everywhere else, even in the body of the article itself, Tokeitai is used. Of course it is a good thing that the opening of the article points out what the correct romanization should be. But in line with Wikipedia guidelines the article should keep its original name. I took the liberty to change the article accordingly. If you feel my interpretation of the guidelines is wrong, please present your arguments at the Talk-page.

♥ Stuart LaJoie → talk2me 14:11, 7 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for the advice

Hi,

Thanks for the advice regarding the Saito page. I will have another look at it and see what can be done, unfortunately Saito doesn't have a CIR and I don't speak Japanese well meaning that this has been hard going.

The Ikata page is great btw, keep up the good work.

Stephen Stephen.walrond 01:23, 15 August 2007 (UTC)

Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan

The move at Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan appears to be controversial, so I've moved the talk page back (and removed the speedy deletion notice on the other page). Please list this at Wikipedia:Requested moves. Thanks. --- RockMFR 17:35, 20 August 2007 (UTC)

おつかれさま

		WikiProject Japan Barnsensu Award
		For gruelling template, macron and page ordering work for Japanese municipalities

Cheers from a small Hokkaido town.Saganaki- 06:55, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Thanks! Cheers from a small Ehime town. -Amake 00:56, 5 September 2007 (UTC)

Random Smile!

WarthogDemon has smiled at you! Smiles promote WikiLove and hopefully this one has made your day better. Spread the WikiLove by smiling at someone else, whether it be someone you have had disagreements with in the past or a good friend. Happy editing!
Smile at others by adding {{subst:Smile}} to their talk page with a friendly message.

-WarthogDemon 07:11, 29 August 2007 (UTC)

Ikata, Ehime on Hold at GAC

ご無沙汰しております、Hirohisatです。

Sorry about the funky Japanese at the top. Anyways, I have put Ikata, Ehime on hold for now. I have addressed the minor problems with referencing on the talk page. Good luck! --Hirohisat ^Kiwi 20:57, 3 September 2007 (UTC)

Thanks for getting the review process going! I'm getting a lot of good feedback. -Amake 02:03, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Can Language be sourced? That'll attract a lot of "de-listers" since that's the one where people catch a lot of original research. For a Japanese like me, I'm assuming it's correct, but sourcing would be a excellent idea. --Hirohisat ^Kiwi 02:47, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

Yep, there's an ok one here. -Amake 02:55, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

There, I passed the article since my concerns were fixed. Well done! --Hirohisat ^Kiwi 03:26, 4 September 2007 (UTC)

質問なのですが・・・

コモンズから削除された画像の説明ページ、Image:Wikipedia-Flag.png[2]の削除を依頼したいのですがどうすればいいのでしょうか？方針などを読んでみたのですが私にはこれがどれに該当するのかよくわかりません・・・。（しかも英語であんまり他人と意思疎通できないので日本語の分かる人を頼るしかない状態なのです・・・。）--Marine-Blue [ talk contrib. ] 11:46, 9 September 2007 (UTC)

返事が遅くなってすみませんでした。週末は旅行していました。

問題なく削除できたようでよかったですね。役に立てなくて申し訳ありませんが、また何かあれば気軽にご連絡ください。 -Amake 12:07, 10 September 2007 (UTC)

Japan municipality map images

Hi: I like to use ja:画像:北海道羅臼町道内位置図.svg, too. After I confirm the GFDL of these map, maybe I will change to use these later. Thank you. --BOW-WOW 01:01, 12 September 2007 (UTC)

So it's not just me then?

Oh dear, you might hurt some people's feelings.

Well done on your peninsular article, by the way; and pardon my ignorance about 誌. -- Hoary 07:48, 14 September 2007 (UTC)

I expected to be flamed for that, but so far so good. I'm glad not everyone is an anime freak.

No problem about 誌; I myself hadn't seen it used in that context until I encountered that book. If it helps put things in perspective, the verb associated with 誌 is しるす, which makes sense for both this case, and the more common modern uses (雑誌, etc.). And thanks for your help with the article.

-Amake 05:59, 15 September 2007 (UTC)

Lincun's maps

I notice that the Lincun maps of Ehime that I assume you uploaded come in two varieties: Japanese municipality names on them, and Japanese municipality names not on them. Whenever I download the svg file to upload to the commons, I get the kind with the Japanese written on it. I'm not sure which I prefer (though I'm leaning towards the less cluttered, no Japanese version), but I'm just curious if you know how to download/upload the no Japanese version...? BilabialBoxing 17:06, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

I'm pretty sure they all have Japanese on them if you view the original SVG file (compare preview | original). I think Wikipedia's SVG renderer was updated at some point to support text, so the PNG thumbnails of the more recently-uploaded ones have text. If you were to manually re-generate the thumbnails (there's a way to do this) of the ones without text, they should appear with text.

As to which version to use, I say just go with the original. It doesn't seem worth the trouble of forking his entire collection of images.

-Amake 23:11, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

Coor

Question! I noticed you made a change to a coor template in Genkai, specifically switching the order of the "region" and "type" parameters. Does this matter? Just curious. BilabialBoxing 12:48, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

I'm fairly sure it does not matter at all. The reason I changed them was this: There were two different sets of coordinates in the article. I didn't know which was correct, so I used my script to re-generate the coords from scratch. My script just happens to output the "region" and "type" parameters in the opposite order. Sorry for the confusion. -Amake 12:52, 3 October 2007 (UTC)

Japanese Names

I always 迷う when I'm writing Japanese names of things. For example, you recently changed the name of the Heigen Matsuri to "The Flat Plain Festival", but that's really just a useless literal translation of the name and I've never heard anyone call the festival that before. Whenever I write about the festival (even in English) in publications and whatnot, I always write Heigen Matsuri or Heigen Festival. So it kind of puts names like this into a gray area. What made you decide to give it the name "Flat Plain Festival"? Shouldn't we stick to the more commonly used name instead of giving it an awkward, traslated name? I always have trouble deciding what to do with names like that. Yaki-Gaij —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yaki-gaijin (talk • contribs) 04:15, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

Well I think I changed it because you were using the {{nihongo}} template wrong, with the Japanese, rōmaji, and English parts in the wrong order. But ultimately I think that if you're going to give a translation, you might as well just have the translation be the English name. By that I mean that rather than

Heigen Festival (平原まつり, heigen matsuri, lit. "Flat Plain Festival")

you should do

Flat Plain Festival (平原まつり, heigen matsuri)

If there is an official English name, then by all means use that. But otherwise I think it's too much minutia and completely unhelpful for English speakers to list every little detail.

You're in a position to decide on the official names, so it's really up to you. I generally prefer translations, and then always make sure the Japanese name is written in rōmaji somewhere. That way people know what it's about (most important for outsiders who will never ever come to any of these festivals), and can also ask Japanese people about it (for locals who can't read the original Japanese).

-Amake 04:27, 7 October 2007 (UTC)

So, there's not actually some kind of protocol about these things eh? I guess I'll continue my internal debate... —Preceding unsigned comment added by Yaki-gaijin (talk • contribs) 12:44, 8 October 2007 (UTC)

"Flock" is pretty good, but I wanted a word that meant "Loud, sweaty, and stuffed to the brim!" Yaki-gaijin 06:10, 18 October 2007 (UTC)

About all Districts in Ehime Prefecture articles

I was able to translate some of the articles but I was able to create two out of at least 20 articles. After I translate the currently present articles, could you help clean all of them up after I translate straight from the Japanese version. User:BigBang19 15:48 1 November 2007 PST

I have a better idea: Why don't you follow the suggestions I gave you, and then I won't have to clean up the articles at all. -Amake 06:25, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

I was able to translate Iyo District but it is not cleaned up yet. Also, I'm not going to waste time to fix the translation because some of the translations were changed with the wrong translation. BigBang19 14:02, 15 November 2007 (PST)

If you're referring to changes I've made as "wrong" then please point them out to me. To be honest, based on the poor grammar and complete disregard for English WP conventions of your submissions, I don't think you're qualified to decide what's a wrong translation. And then to say you won't clean up your own article because someone else edited it? Are you serious? You do know that this is Wikipedia, right? Where anyone can and will edit anything? If you don't want people changing your articles, please do as I've suggested to you many times: Put them in your userspace until you're done. -Amake 23:13, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Also, FYI, please see here for an example of what other people think of your work on these district articles. -Amake 23:16, 15 November 2007 (UTC)

Dejima

In August, you proposed that the article on Dejima would be made better by moving the unwieldy list of VOC Opperhoofden to a sub-page. I demurred mildly; but a short time later, I noticed that the Dutch Wikipedia article on nl:Dejima had been modified precisely as you suggested. Thank you for waiting while I mulled this over. Sometimes I'm slow to see the obvious.

I now agree with you entirely. At this point, it seems clear that my reservations had little merit -- but again, thank you for giving me time to see it for myself.

I've tried to create a sub-page along the lines you suggested. Please look over what I've done, and perhaps you'll see something more which can be improved. At this point, the only intra-wiki link to VOC Opperhoofden in Japan is nl:Lijst van opperhoofden van Dejima. In December, perhaps, I will try to modify fr:Dejima in a similar manner by creating fr:Liste des opperhoofden du japon. --Ooperhoofd 22:02, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Hello. I had actually forgotten all about that.

I think things look much better now. My only suggestions for the VOC Opperhoofden page is the following:

1. The article isn't actually a subpage (subpages look like "Page/subpage"); it is merely a related article. The introductory paragraph should follow standard WP formats.
2. The article is not a location, so it should not have coordinates.
3. Dates should be in a more readable format--Month (spelled out) Day, Year (as in, November 6, 2007) or similar.

Otherwise it looks good. Keep up the good work! -Amake 23:44, 5 November 2007 (UTC)

Disputed fair use rationale for Image:Logo-yawatahama.svg

Thanks for uploading Image:Logo-yawatahama.svg. However, there is a concern that the rationale you have provided for using this image under "fair use" may be invalid. Please read the instructions at Wikipedia:Non-free content carefully, then go to the image description page and clarify why you think the image qualifies for fair use. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to ensure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If it is determined that the image does not qualify under fair use, it will be deleted within a couple of days according to our criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the media copyright questions page. Thank you.BetacommandBot 07:59, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

Minamikyūshū

Did you try moving the article before placing the speedy delete notice on Minamikyūshū, Kagoshima? You should have been able to move over redirect. —Tokek (talk) 02:44, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

I didn't know there was a special case for redirects with only one line of history. Thanks for the tip -Amake (talk) 03:59, 9 December 2007 (UTC)

Iwamuro, Niigata

Hi Can you please put back the information you deleted from this article. The article is now as dry as it was two years when I first read it. Besides the article is now wrong. It states that Iwamuro is a village. A single urban entity within it's own border. Actually Iwamuro is a district consisting of two townships and 20 villages. The area takes it's name from a 200m strip of high-class onsens that have been there for more than 350 years. Also why the past tense? Iwamuro district might be part of Niiagata-shi now, but for the residents of the area, I can assure that their local identities are very much in existence! And therefore Iwamuro is still an 'is'. Please put the information back as I spent two enjoyable years in Iwamuro. Yours

Phil —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.151.94.108 (talk) 17:54, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

Hi. No, I will not put back the information I removed from the article, because it is wrong. "Village," "town," and "district" in Japan refer to specific kinds of government entities; the article wrongly claimed that:

• Iwamuro is a district. This is completely untrue. Iwamuro was a village. Now it is a region (地域 chiiki) of Niigata, Niigata.
• Iwamuro contains multiple villages and towns. This is impossible; towns are larger than villages, and a village cannot contain multiple villages. Municipalities contain neighborhoods (集落 shūraku).

Beyond these inaccuracies, the fact of the matter is that the government entity that was the Village of Iwamuro no longer exists, as it has been merged into Niigata City. No amount of nostalgia on your part can change that fact, and Wikipedia exists as a repository of facts, not as a place for you to wax nostalgic.

If you'd like to write about Iwamuro, and I encourage you to do so, please a) get your facts straight, and b) consider adding your information to the Niigata city article. Also, a simple listing of every neighborhood is completely uninteresting and unhelpful to the average reader, so I don't recommend re-adding that unless you can provide a lot more information.

-Amake (talk) 23:02, 10 December 2007 (UTC)

arigataugozaimasu

Thank you (Arigatau: transliteration of classical script by EHS) for your comment on EHS. I think one of the most prominent features of EHS is disambiguation of ジ(zhi) and ヂ(ji), But arigataugozaimasu anyway. --Kmns tsw (talk) 02:27, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

Yes, sorry, I forgot that one. EHS is an interesting system, but it's completely useless for people who don't know the Japanese writing system. The goal of a general-use romanization system like Hepburn, etc., is to write Japanese in a way that is intelligible and pronounceable by readers of the Latin alphabet. To that end, there is no need to disambiguate ジ and ヂ or ズ and ヅ, since they are pronounced identically in modern Japanese.

I can see EHS being useful for scholars of ancient Japanese, but that's really about it. It is completely unsuited for use on Wikipedia, or really anything that has even a remote chance of being looked at by non-Japanese readers or non-scholars. -Amake (talk) 04:01, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

I appreciate your saying that it is an interesting system but I am not sure if it is comletely useless for people who don't know the Japanese writing system. Perhaps it may be so. But I got the impression that MOS-JA members were talking as if the general-use Hepburn system were transliterational. Apropos of "ancient Japanese", I should like to say "panchronic Japanese", because it covers from Man'e`u (マンエフ) to Seuwa (セウワ) as far as writing system is concerned. By the way will you please read ja:ノート:戦友/過去ログ1? --Kmns tsw (talk) 04:30, 11 December 2007 (UTC)

re:Template_talk:Infobox_City_Japan#Google_Earth_doesn.27t_like_this_infobox.27s_coords.3F

Hello, I think I might know why Google Earth did not show the articles which have coordinates in the infobox. It seems according to this that coordinates have to be present at the top of articles (as they are in articles without an infobox) to be properly processed. There is a way to do this while still having the coordinates in the infobox, this is by putting "|display=inline,title" in the code for the coordinates, and using the "coord" template. I think it might be good to make this change in all Japanese city infoboxes. This style is also used in, for instance, New York City and Berlin, so it is an accepted practice. The coordinates section of Template:Infobox City Japan recommends the use of "display=inline,title", but for some reason it does not seem in use in articles on Japanese municipalities, except for some articles where I changed it myself. Arthena^(talk) 16:47, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

No, the reason was that Google was only parsing certain coordinate templates if they were labeled in certain ways. The problem was fixed by changing the variable label in the infobox from coord= to coords=. I was going to mention to you that switching to the coords template at this point may be premature—I'm still not clear on whether Google is parsing it correctly—but it's got to be done eventually. I think people were planning to do the conversion by bot when the time is right, so there's no pressing need for you to do it manually. FYI I will continue to use coor for the time being. -Amake (talk) 22:35, 8 January 2008 (UTC)

Your bot request

Hi Amake I wanted to let you know that Wikipedia:Bots/Requests for approval/JMuniBot has been approved. Please visit the above link for more information. Thanks! BAGBot (talk) 23:10, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

You're welcome :)

Happy to remove that userpage vandalism. Thing is, nobody properly laid out the rules for the editor. I figure he deserves at least a full explanation of our policies, so he cannot claim ignorance. Since he has now been suitably informed of our rules here, any further disruptive edits we don't have to assume good faith and can block accordingly. Trust me, I'm keeping my eyes open! :) ~Eliz81^(C) 10:37, 20 January 2008 (UTC)

Daijō-kan and Kugyō

Last August, you proposed a plausible edit to Dejima; and when I demurred, you patiently waited until I came to appreciate that your views were superior to mine. As you know, in November 2007, I edited the text accordingly and the related page was created -- VOC Opperhoofden in Japan.

In that context, could I persuade you to take a look at Daijō-kan and Talk:Daijō-kan#Simplification. Similar unsettled issues are mirrored in Kugyō and Talk:Kugyō#The list ....

Setting aside the derisive tone in User:Bueller 007's criticism of my work on this page and elsewhere, I wonder if it is possible to construe similarities between the text of "Daijō-kan" today and the text of "Dejima" in August 2007. If you can find time, I'm guessing that there may be some value in bringing your critical eye to bear on the current state of this article.

Related, but not precisely congruent questions may be raised about the following as well:

• Daijō Daijin and Talk:Daijō Daijin#Proposed deletion of Eight Ministries
• Sadaijin and Talk:Sadaijin#Proposed deletion of Eight Ministries
• Udaijin and Talk:Udaijin#Proposed deletion of Eight Ministries
• Naidaijin and Talk:Naidaijin#Proposed deletion of Eight Ministries
• Dainagon and Talk:Dainagon#Proposed deletion of Eight Ministries
• Chūnagon and Talk:Chūnagon#Proposed deletion of Eight Ministries

In a sense, the genesis of this specific dispute arise from my disagreement with Bueller's merge proposal for Naidaijin and Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan -- see Talk:Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal of Japan#Merge proposal.

My resistance to Bueller's edit strategies are informed in part by thinking further about issues raised in a related thread -- Daijō-kan#Query. My views been moderated somewhat in light of Yukio Ozaki's account of Meiji political structures before 1885.

I need to say I'm sorry for presenting this with all its related complications; but there you have it. In any case, please accept this unanticipated inquiry as an oblique reminder that your contributions in the "Dejima" article were appreciated. --Ooperhoofd (talk) 02:41, 22 January 2008 (UTC)

RE:Useless Vanity Images

NOt to be rude, but these aren't "Vanity Images"; other users can use them, for example, you could link to My User Page with them, or edit them for your User Page, I admit that the posting was a bad Idea, and I will nominate these for deletion. Oh, and by the way, that comment named "Useless Vanity Images" was classed under Personal Attacks. Sorry about the tone of this message, but you have bought something up that I didn't think of, so in a way, thanks, but that wasn't very nice. akira-otomo (Talk) Have Fun Editing! 18:47, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

1. Please put new talk page posts at the bottom.
2. There was nothing resembling a personal attack in my completely accurate assessment that those images served no purpose other than to be vanity decorations for your own userpage. They had your username in them. How in the world would anyone else find a use for that?
3. Please refrain from putting obnoxious, oversized userboxes in your signature.

-Amake (talk) 22:18, 23 January 2008 (UTC)

Untitled

fromWikipedia:User page:
"The removal of a warning is taken as evidence that the warning has been read by the user." —Preceding unsigned comment added by Shawnlandden (talk • contribs) 11:15, 11 February 2008 (UTC)

Itoigawa

This is just a very small handful of the sites that come up wih the terms Nou-machi / Nou-town or Oumi-machi / Oumi Town. As you see, these include official government sites (both prefectural and national) and links to official sites.

http://www.traveljournals.net/explore/japan/map/m361301/nou-machi.html http://www.maff.go.jp/soshiki/koukai/muratai/21j/english/no5/mura12.html http://www.maff.go.jp/soshiki/koukai/muratai/21j/english/no7/mura22.html http://www.snowjapan.com/e/resorts/resortdetail.php?resid=288 http://www.towninfo.jp/c/urls/pref/Niigata.html http://www002.upp.so-net.ne.jp/mineralhunters/main05_11.html http://news.speeple.com/yahoo.com/2007/07/16/an-aerial-view-of-a-landslide-over-railway-tracks-at-oumi-town.htm http://content.karger.com/ProdukteDB/produkte.asp?Aktion=ShowPDF&ArtikelNr=89413&Ausgabe=231486&ProduktNr=224270&filename=89413.pdf http://www.city.niigata.jp/info/sansei/boeki/asp/kigyou/mainte/english/form1.html http://www.watanabesato.co.jp/link/linkse/niigatae.html http://academic1.plala.or.jp/itoigawa/link.htm

Need I go on?

Amake, your smug response is totally inappropriate. You do not live in the area and therefore cannot make such a judgement on what is common usage. I am not a JET and have a long association with the Chubu region. Please do not be so pedantic, especially when people are trying to help. FYI, Nou/No, as listed in the references, is also sometimes rendered as 'Noh'

I have changed the edits back and will add the above to the reference list if you like. I hope you will now respect the information provided. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.53.168.192 (talk) 15:23, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately those just show that the pronunciation is indeed "Nō." If you would like to debate the WP:MOS-JA, please do so in a more appropriate forum. I will be reverting any changes you have made. -Amake (talk) 22:37, 9 March 2008 (UTC)

Response:

I am not disputing pronunciation but, as first stated, common usage. The above references show the towns and prefecture utilising the romaji spelling Nou and Oumi. This commonly used romaji (not just local JET's as you insinuated) may not fit with guidelines but it fits with what one sees and is used in the area every day. That is the purpose of the a.k.a. - to show that locally it is rendered in more than one manner. Wikipedia is about collective knowledge isn't it?

Searchability - what about searches OUTSIDE of wikipedia? These may not pick up the alternate spelling and redirects are of no use in this case.

I am not violating wikipedia's rules by posting anonymously and I have no intention of signing up. I noticed this post during one of my very irregular peeks into the site and felt I could help contribute. Obviously I shouldn't have bothered.

You might like to note that I emailed this link to former Japanese colleagues in Niigata who are bemused by your steadfastness. A current senior colleague in the language department once told me, "Never go to war with a language nazi - you'll die of attrition." So I won't bother getting into a revert war as I've wasted enough time already. Good luck in your life of petty bureaucracy because that is surely your calling in life... ;)

Oh well, I guess this is all good fodder for my blog. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 60.53.168.192 (talk) 12:42, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

There are numerous ways to romanize Japanese. Just in this case there are Nō, Nô, Noh, Nou, Noo, and No. However, for need of consistency and professionalism, Wikipedia utilizes a consistent romanization system as defined at WP:MOS-JA. This is essentially the system used by universities and found in professional edited texts. If you have ever been to 能生駅, then you may recognize this sign. That is how it should be romanized.

Redirects can take care of the rest. As for outside of Wikipedia, here is a Google search: nou niigata. The very first hit is for Nō, Niigata. Again, no problem#.

I support Amake in this issue. 222.145.139.116 (talk) 13:08, 10 March 2008 (UTC)

1. search Nou-machi or Nou Town or Nou Japan and wiki doesn't show up. Interestingly neither does Nō+niigata. Perhaps a case for common usage?

About the merger consolidations prior the Meiji Era

Has it been always thay way even as of April 1889 (with the "modern town and village system") and prior to Meiji era? jlog3000 (talk) 19:19, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm sorry, I don't understand your question. Has what always been what way? The modern system was introduced in the Meiji era; before that it was the feudal system with domains and fiefdoms. -Amake (talk) 21:47, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

six feet under and shiatsu

Not so irrelevant... Popular culture sections have been added to a lot of articles.. And of course the information is present in the series article. Yours, --Karibou 02:14, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

I disagree. Six Feet Under is irrelevant to the subject of shiatsu. Shiatsu may be relevant to Six Feet Under. These are completely different relationships and should not be confused.

Just because other articles have pop culture sections doesn't make them necessary or appropriate (in fact the vast majority, if not all, are probably both unnecessary and inappropriate). -Amake (talk) 15:30, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

Oku no Hosomichi

Hi! According to the lead of ja:奥の細道, the original title was おくのほそ道. Could you please put it in somewhere appropriate? Thank you. Oda Mari (talk) 13:47, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Done. -Amake (talk) 14:00, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Thank you. Happy editing! Oda Mari (talk) 14:06, 15 June 2008 (UTC)

Omi, Niigata

(→Famous people: this section shouldn't be here if you don't actually know the correct names)

Hi Amake, I was hoping someone could help me out with the correct rendering of the names, which is why I left them there with the kanji. I was able to sort one and parts of the others. I don't like to hassle my fellow staff members too often for translations so if you can help out on translation and reinsertion of this section, or know someone who could, that would be much appreciated. Arigato. Bestvivi (talk) 03:59, 16 June 2008 (UTC)

Sorry I didn't get back to you in time. It looks like you found the names. -Amake (talk) 08:35, 17 June 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for the corrections Amake 124.82.43.135 (talk) 00:30, 18 June 2008 (UTC)

Kurashiki, Okayama

Please leave the "Sister/Friendship" City section as is. "Friendship City" (友好都市) is the commonly used term to describe these kinds of relationships between Japanese and Chinese cities. This is because the Chinese characters for "Sister City" (姉妹都市）include the Chinese characters of "elder sister" (姉)and"younger sister" (妹) which can be interpreted as implying that one city is the senior of another. Kurashiki uses the term "友好都市" (not "姉妹都市") in all of it's official literature/materials when discussing it's relationship with it's Chinese partner city. This name was carefully discussed and agreed upon by both cities when they established their relationship.Cityhallnemesis (talk) 21:42, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

Great. Then please just use the term "Friendship City" and perhaps link it to the article on town twinning via a pipe. "Sister/Friendship" is awkward. -Amake (talk) 22:18, 6 July 2008 (UTC)

The term that Kurashiki uses is "Sister/Friendship Cities". Kurashiki's relationship with Christchurch, Kansas City, and St. Polten are officially called "sister Cities" in both Enlglish and Japanese. Only it's relationship with the Chinese City of Zhenjiang is officially called a "Friendship City". "Sister/Friendship" may seem awkward to you, but that is the terminology that Kurashiki and these other cities have agreed to use (see links below). You can change the Wikipedia links if you want, but please do not change this header anymore and leave it as is.

http://www.city.kurashiki.okayama.jp/kurakoku/english/SisterCities/E_SisterCities.html http://www.christchurch.org.nz/SisterCities/ http://www.kcsistercities.org/

Thank you - Cityhallnemesis (talk) 01:12, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

That's quite unfortunate, because it's really terrible. -Amake (talk) 09:44, 7 July 2008 (UTC)

Naming of Mountains and Islands

Hi Amake,

Looks like no one reacted to my posting on Wikipedia_talk:WikiProject_Japan#Naming_of_Mountains_in_Japan. We could collaborate and create an entry in the MOS:JA. What do you think? imars (talk) 15:46, 28 August 2008 (UTC)

Translation Memory

Welcome to Wikipedia. Although everyone is welcome to contribute constructively to the encyclopedia, one or more of the external links you added do not comply with our guidelines for external links and have been removed. Wikipedia is not a collection of links; nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Since Wikipedia uses nofollow tags, external links do not alter search engine rankings. If you feel the link should be added to the article, please discuss it on the article's talk page before reinserting it. Please take a look at the welcome page to learn more about contributing to this encyclopedia. Thank you.

Yeah, you should not just delete an entry on that page because you think something is more popular. More popular does not equal better. Thus, you should not have removed the entry for OmegaT+. It has been replaced now. If you want OmegaT there, add it in, don't delete OmegaT+. More and more people are using OmegaT+ over OmegaT, so popularity is a moving target and not an unbiased way to judge something. Please do not remove it since this entry actually directs Internet traffic to OmegaT+ and makes it more popular, which seems to be the criteria by which you judge something to be good, allow it to become good. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.252.85.227 (talk) 14:50, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Um, source: Sourceforge

OmegaT project stats

OmegaT+ project stats

See that huge difference in downloads, project ranking, and Sourceforge traffic? (The only reason OmegaT+ has more project web traffic is because OmegaT's website is not hosted by Sourceforge). How about this discussion between actual translators that confirms OmegaT as being the preferred tool. On top of that, Wikipedia has an article about OmegaT, but not OmegaT+. Internal links should be given priority over external ones, especially where the internally linked one is obviously far more popular than the other.

I've reinstated my changes.

-Amake (talk) 16:50, 6 November 2008 (UTC)

Please do not add inappropriate external links to Wikipedia. Wikipedia is not a collection of links, nor should it be used for advertising or promotion. Inappropriate links include (but are not limited to) links to personal web sites, links to web sites with which you are affiliated, and links that attract visitors to a web site or promote a product. See the external links guideline and spam guideline for further explanations. Since Wikipedia uses the nofollow attribute value, its external links are disregarded by some search engines, including Google. If you feel the link should be added to the article, please discuss it on the article's talk page rather than re-adding it. Thank you.

Use common sense when editing sections and stick to the Wikipedia guidelines(check them). Promoting one application over another constitutes SPAM (check it for yourself) and you can be barred from editing pages for doing so. Regardless of how many downloads, pages accesses or whatever, it has nothing to do with the fact that Wikipedia is about providing facts. It is not a popularity contest.

Thus, since OmegaT+ and OmegaT are two separate projects and applications, each has a place on the translation memory page. Like I said before, do not delete the entry for OmegaT+, add one in for OmegaT if you want. If you keep removing the entry for OmegaT+ I will report you as a spammer. Wikipedia does not allow promotion of a product, which is essentially what you are doing when you remove OmegaT+ in favor of OmegaT. Compare OmegaT and OmegaT+. OmegaT+ is not one application, OmegaT is. They are different, not exactly the same and all readers of the page in question deserve to have the facts (as an encyclopedia is supposed to present them). OmegaT+ provides a TM application and is not the same as OmegaT. Therefore, it has every right to a section on that page so that all readers can know of it. Anything else is favoritism. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.252.85.38 (talk) 16:13, 7 November 2008 (UTC)