Record Prices for Japanese Art Hide Unbelievable Prices for Japanese Vintage Postcards

Kjeld Duits, Saturday, December 22, 2007 Posted: 08:12 AM JST

This year saw record prices for Japanese art. Japanese artist Maruyama Okyo's Cranes sold for an incredible 1,105,000 dollars, three times its estimated pre-auction price.

Katsushika Hokusai's famous Pink Fuji was sold for 602,100 dollars. Also three times as much as the estimate and a world auction record for a Japanese woodblock print.

Another woodblock print, Cats Suggested by the Fifty-three Stations of the Tokaido by Utagawa Kuniyoshi, sold for 81,184 dollars, setting a world auction record for an Utagawa print.

Hidden in the shadows of these headline grabbing bids is a development in auction prices for lowly vintage postcards.

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Political Rally Cry Becomes Japan's Hottest Buzzword

Kjeld Duits, Tuesday, December 4, 2007 Posted: 11:19 AM JST

A rally cry that helped win former comedian Hideo Higashikokubaru win the governorship of Miyazaki Prefecture has been chosen as this years hottest buzzword. Higashikokubaru, who decided to run after his predecessor was implicated in yet another money scandal, repeatedly told voters "Dogenka sento ikan" or "I have to do something". The local dialect he used and his message touched the hearts of Japanese nationwide in a year that saw a huge flood of such money scandals.

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