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WikiProject report

WikiProject Japan

WikiProject news
News in brief
Submit your project's news and announcements for next week's WikiProject Report at the Signpost's WikiProject Desk.
Sakura producing cherry blossoms in a field of Phlox subulata
The skyline of Tokyo with Mount Fuji in the background
Sumo wrestlers
The Tokyo Stock Exchange
The Itsukushima Shrine is a Shinto shrine and a UNESCO World Heritage Site
Bullet trains of the East Japan Railway Company
The Great Wave Off Kanagawa, the most famous painting by Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai
A fire at the Cosmo Oil refinery in Ichihara caused by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake
Search and rescue activities in Miyako, Iwate after the subsequent tsunami
Japanese and international teams construct temporary buildings for disaster victims

This week, we turned our attention to WikiProject Japan. Started by Nihonjoe in March 2006, the project has 323 members and is home to 84 pieces of Featured material, 78 Good and A-class articles, an enormous list of DYKs, and 31 task forces. Our initial interview with WikiProject Japan was scheduled for March 14, but the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami prompted us to postpone the report. We followed-up with some of our interviewees from March 15 through March 23 to update our readers on the situation following the disaster. Our interview included Nihonjoe (日本穣), Cla68, Frank (Urashima Tarō), Hoary, Oda Mari, bamse and Torsodog.

Nihonjoe is an admin and bureaucrat who used to live in Japan and says he can read Japanese better than he can speak it. He started the project "because it didn't exist and I thought it would be a useful way to help coordinate work on Japan-related articles." His work helped prepare the article on Japan for Featured status. Cla68 is from the US and began living off-and-on in Japan since 1994, spending a total of about 10 years in Japan. Married into a Japanese family, Cla68's Japanese is improving, "but I would still put myself at a beginner's level." Frank is from Italy but has lived in Japan since 1982 and would prefer to be a citizen of the world. He reads and writes Japanese, writes almost exclusively about Japan, and decided that joining the project "seemed the thing to do." Hoary is an admin who lives in Japan and speaks and writes the language, "but very unsatisfactorily." Oda Mari is a native Japanese speaker, living in Japan: "I'm here to use my knowledge of the country and my language skill to help English speaking editors and provide correct information on Japan." Bamse used to live in Japan and is interested in Japanese art, architecture, and history. He is currently working on improving coverage of the National Treasures of Japan. "WikiProject Japan has been a very helpful and friendly place for translation and other questions, so I eventually joined it." Torsodog lives in Chicago but has contributed to a number of Japanese articles and the project's portal. He is particularly interested in Japanese baseball.

Have you contributed to any of the project's DYKs, Featured, or good articles? Are you currently working on a FA or GA nomination? Do you have any tips for Wikipedians trying to improve articles about Japan to FA or GA status?

Have you ever translated information to or from the Japanese Wikipedia? Does the project collaborate with WikiProject Intertranswiki?

The project has a lengthy list of unreferenced biographies of living persons. Why does WikiProject Japan take such an active role in BLPs? Should other projects undertake similar efforts to provide relief for the editors at WikiProject Unreferenced Biographies of Living Persons?

The Japan Portal is a Featured portal. Share with us some of the planning and effort that went into this portal.

Were you or anyone you know directly impacted by the earthquake and tsunami?

Has activity at the project changed since the disaster? What articles, new and old, are in the greatest need of updated information?

What can our readers do to help the people of Japan?

What are the project's most pressing needs? How can a new member help today?

Anything else you'd like to add?


Next week, we'll check out the WikiProject WikiProject. Until then, refer to the resources in our archive.


















Wikipedia:Wikipedia Signpost/2011-04-11/WikiProject_report