David Marx, who’s been prolifically blogging since 2004 about all the dysfunctional things we love (or love to hate) about Japan, has started a new collective site called néojaponisme (note the accent aigu on néo – how very Japanese to use French as name decoration).

There isn’t anything in term of content on the new site yet (apart from the manifesto), but it already has a gold mine : the Neomarxisme Archive. It is a page featuring the best articles and essays from David Marx’s old blog neomarxism, arranged by subject matter. There are some good reads in there about everything Japanese, such as:

- Japanese culture aka “Gross National Cool” taking over the world (or failling to do so ?)
- Why everyone really hates the ganguro
- Saaya Irie and the underage “idol” obsession
- The underbelly of Japanese politics : Uyoku the “black trucks” yakuza-based right wing groups or Shinzo Abe and his Class A war criminal grandfather Kishi Nobusuke
- Why it’s “cute” for gaijin tarento (in this case Leah Dizon) to speak adorably broken Japanese
- The otaku boom
- The gaijin complex : all foreigners with interest in Japan hate all the other foreigners with interest in Japan
- Japanese universities : “fun time” before a life of dull employment ?

And of course David Marx’s personal obsession: CanCam, the number one fashion magazine in Japan.

Sometimes the articles are just a starting point and the most interesting part is the discussion that follows.