Public dismay with the Japanese government's response to this year's triple disaster - earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown - is driving some to become more politically engaged, helped by social and alternative media.
While still fledgling, it is the kind of grassroots activism that some say Japan needs to shake up a political system that has allowed the country's problems to fester for years.
Mrs Mizuho Nakayama, for example, is one of a small but growing number of Internet-savvy activist mums.
Worried about her two-year-old son and distrustful of government and television reports that seemed to play down radiation risks, she scoured the Internet for information and started connecting with other mothers through Twitter and Facebook, many of them using social media for the first time. (todayonline.com)
Public dismay with the Japanese government's response to this year's triple disaster - earthquake, tsunami and nuclear meltdown - is driving some to become more politically engaged, helped by social and alternative media.
While still fledgling, it is the kind of grassroots activism that some say Japan needs to shake up a political system that has allowed the country's problems to fester for years.
Mrs Mizuho Nakayama, for example, is one of a small but growing number of Internet-savvy activist mums.
Worried about her two-year-old son and distrustful of government and television reports that seemed to play down radiation risks, she scoured the Internet for information and started connecting with other mothers through Twitter and Facebook, many of them using social media for the first time. (todayonline.com)