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David in Setouchi

@david.setouchi.social

600 followers 540 following 1.4K posts

- Frenchman teaching English at a Japanese university by the Seto Inland Sea's art islands - Friend of crows https://japanartislands.com/ The rest is on my other account @DavidBHimself.online #Takamatsu #SetouchiTriennale

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · Nov 9

One thing that's missing here are #introduction posts for newcomers or welcoming them. I'll start: I'm #French, settled in #Japan. I mostly post about #nature (the good and the bad), my corner of Japan (the one with the #art #islands), #crows and sometimes #English #education in the country.

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 39m

Definitely one of the most beautiful views of the Inland Sea.

David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 22h

Your autocorrect doesn't like Megijima, apparently. 😉

Reposted by David in Setouchi

Photography by Alfie Goodrich @alfie.photography · 1d

Yes. What Kneecap said. And from today’s Guardian on the topic. Plus, some Palestinian hostages the Israelis said they’d be releasing have instead been deported out of the country.

Israel cannot ever be trusted.
They never stop their cruelty.

www.theguardian.com/world/2025/o...

From the Guardian website.

Israel also forbade people from celebrating the release on Monday, firing teargas at family members and journalists waiting near Ofer prison in the occupied West Bank, where detainees were kept. A flyer distributed by the Israeli military warned people that "we are surveilling you everywhere" and threatening that if they supported "terrorist organisations" they could be arrested.
Six different relatives of prisoners all said they had been visited by Israeli security services in recent days.
"They came to warn us not to hold celebrations, not to raise flags or banners, not to gather in the diwan [hall]. These days, the hardest thing is to speak the truth," said a relative of the prisoner Hani al-Zeer, who asked not to be identified by name out of fear of security repercussions. Zeer had been imprisoned for 23 years, and the relative, as well as Zeer's son, had also been imprisoned several times.

From the Guarfuan website.

She waited anxiously as the buses arrived to the drop-off point in Ramallah, waiting for her brother to emerge. When the last man got off the buses with no sign of her brother, she clutched her cheeks and wailed.
Others evidently had been told their loved ones were to be returned home, only to find out at the last minute that they were being deported. "Why are they deporting him?" a woman screamed in tears, as police officers rushed her away from the crowd.
"It would have been easier if they just told us from the beginning. We don't know where he is. Egypt? Gaza? We are devastated," said Raed Imran, as he led Umm Abed to the car where she had been preparing to receive her brother.

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Reposted by David in Setouchi

Marco de Blois @marcodeb.bsky.social · 1d

Je ne connaissais pas du tout le Répertoire bibliographique universel. C'est inouï.

Il y a 130 ans, l'ancêtre d'internet et des moteurs de recherche était créé en Belgique

Né à la fin du XIXe siècle, le Répertoire bibliographique universel avait pour but de rassembler l'intégralité des savoirs humains en un seul endroit.…

www.slate.fr

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Reposted by David in Setouchi

The Japan Times @japantimes.co.jp · 1d

Yuichiro Tamaki, leader of the opposition Democratic Party for the People, indicated willingness to hold talks with Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan chief Yoshihiko Noda.

DPP and CDP chiefs likely to meet over prime minister nomination

Tamaki told reporters in Yamaguchi that he accepts Noda's proposal for them to meet for discussions on the possibility of opposition parties putting up a unified candidate.

ebx.sh

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Reposted by David in Setouchi

Flint Crow @flintcrow.bsky.social · 1d

😉

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 1d

A lot of Japanese people are so disconnect from and ignorant about nature that for them, animals are divided into two categories: "cute" and "not cute." Cute animals are safe, can do no wrong, can be fed and hugged and played with. Not cute animals are scary, disgusting an must be eliminated.
🤦‍♂️

Unseen Japan @unseenjapan.com · 1d

ICYMI: A brown bear in Hokkaido, well known to locals as the “Mother of Iwaobetsu," was normally calm. After being fed by tourists, her behavior changed. On August 14, 2025, she attacked and killed a 26-year-old hiker on Mt. Rausu.

Tourists Feeding Bears in Japan Has Deadly Consequences - Unseen Japan

A sad story from Hokkaido illustrates how tourist behavior altered the disposition of a bear that came to view humans as food.

buff.ly

Reposted by David in Setouchi

David B. Himself @davidbhimself.online · 1d

I'm kinda glad I stopped using #Chrome before it was too late.

Fun fact: you too, can stop using Chrome, it's not something you have to do, you know?

#internet #enshittification

Alex Kain @tdcpresents.bsky.social · 3d

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Reposted by David in Setouchi

Nature @nature.com · 1d

A surge in global temperatures has caused widespread bleaching and death of warm-water corals around the world.

go.nature.com/4n8cvHn

Coral die-off marks Earth’s first climate ‘tipping point’, scientists say

A surge in global temperatures has caused widespread bleaching and death of warm-water corals around the world.

go.nature.com

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 1d

Yesterday, I heard of around 1,000 people waiting in line shortly before 5pm. Both ferries have a capacity of about 500 people, so I hope they could fit everyone in this time. In any case, this is insane.

David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 1d

#SetouchiTriennale update: Tonight, two ferries were running from #Naoshima to Takamatsu. The "Seto" and the "Naoshima" (that's the ferry's name). It's true that I hadn't seen the latter in a little while. Did it have a technical problem? No idea.
Anyway ⤵️

The Seto Inland Sea at dusk. Two ferries are returning from Naoshima to Takamatsu. The "Seto" (on the left) and the "Naoshima" on the right.

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 1d

Hopefully, I'll get a Myaku-Myaku eventually. I was hoping they'd be on sale from today? Maybe? I doubt it, though.

#Japan

The Japan Times @japantimes.co.jp · 1d

Merchandise sales for Myaku-Myaku, the official mascot character of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka, will continue through next March, after the end of the event Monday.

Sales of Expo mascot Myaku-Myaku goods to continue through March

The sales period has been extended by over five months thanks to an unexpected surge in the popularity of Myaku-Myaku.

ebx.sh

Reposted by David in Setouchi

Stephen Barlow @steb77.bsky.social · 1d

What people mean by a solution to climate change, I mean the media, politicians etc, is a magical plan, that allows them to carry on with business as usual BaU, without the unpleasant effects. That is just delusional. It is the argument of the super rich, and neoliberals.
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Reposted by David in Setouchi

Stephen Barlow @steb77.bsky.social · 1d

As I make clear. Greta Thunberg did have all the solutions in her early speeches. Total system change, and start treating the climate crisis as if it was an actual crisis and real. There is nothing she or anyone else can add to that. Plans are useless, if you are in denial about that.
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Stephen Barlow @steb77.bsky.social · 2d

Very stupid people, have said, but Greta never has any solutions. However, when asked why didn't she become a climate scientist, and find a solution to the climate, to the climate crisis, she answered that the solution was known well over 30 years ago.
2/

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 1d

"relatively little-known"

Are you sure about that? It's been one of the most touristy places in this part of the Inland Sea for decades.

David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 2d

Keeping fingers crossed.

#Japan

Financial Times @financialtimes.com · 2d

Japan opposition in talks to challenge Takaichi after coalition collapse on.ft.com/48xpr69

Japan opposition in talks to challenge Takaichi after coalition collapse

Disintegration of ruling bloc complicates arch-conservative’s route to premiership

on.ft.com

Reposted by David in Setouchi

David :SetouchiExplorer: @david.fediverse.setouchi.social · 2d

30°C here today.
This is fine.

https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20251013/p2g/00m/0na/004000c

#globalheating #climatediary

Japan sets new record for latest-ever extremely hot day - The Mainichi

TOKYO (Kyodo) -- Japan's record for the latest date temperatures have reached 35 C or higher was broken Sunday in Kagoshima Prefecture, as the western

mainichi.jp

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 2d

As well as "hafu" people (including my kids), I know they'll be the target of racism too (Fucking Sanseito already wants to deny them full citizenship).

(5/5)

#Japan #xenophobia

David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 2d

I'm worried for all the brown and other Asian people, they're the ones who're going to suffer the most for it (and most are already at the bottom of the social ladder here).

(4/5) ⤵️

David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 2d

I'm not scared for myself. White people are white privileged even in Japan (don't listen to white people complaining about racism in Japan, they're just whiny clueless people experiencing the outside world for the first time - usually white Americans not used to not be the "supremacy").
(3/5) ⤵️

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 2d

Right wing parties have started amping up xenophobic rhetoric. And as always when the economy of a country is bad, this rhetoric works. This is not going to end well.

(2/5) ⤵️

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 2d

mainichi.jp/english/arti...

This scares me to no end. Despite Japan's reputation, I've always found it a much less xenophobic and racist country than pretty much any country in the world that has a white majority. But these past few months... (1/5) ⤵️

#Japan #xenophobia

'Don't bring in foreign culture': Outburst on train leaves Nepali man in Japan fearful - The Mainichi

When Jigyan Kumar Thapa, a Nepalese national living in Kanagawa Prefecture just south of Tokyo, was traveling home on the train one day, a man appeari

mainichi.jp

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Reposted by David in Setouchi

Christian Hubicki @chubicki.bsky.social · 2d

“Our findings highlight how market-driven optimization pressures can systematically erode alignment, creating a race to the bottom”

Sounds bad.

Large language models are sloppy messes inside. I’m not surprised they can easily contort to deceptively market, disinform, and promote harmful behaviors.

Seamus Blackley @seamus.bsky.social · 3d

futurism.com/future-socie...

New Paper Finds That When You Reward AI for Success on Social Media, It Becomes Increasingly Sociopathic

Stanford scientists unleashed AI bots in different environments, including social media, and they started behaving unethically.

futurism.com

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Reposted by David in Setouchi

David in Setouchi @david.gram.social.ap.brid.gy · 2d

"Time Falls" by Kayoko Nakashima is now the oldest artwork in Takamijima, but it's still one of the most stunning.

#art #japan #setouchitriennale #darkness #light

I have no idea how to describe this. A dark room. A bunch of "blades" made of plexiglass seem to be cutting though the space in a chaotic fashion, they all shine a strange light that doesn't have to have a source except for the blades themselves. Not sure if that makes sense.

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David in Setouchi @david.setouchi.social · 2d

#art #Japan #bunny #rabbit

David in Setouchi @david.gram.social.ap.brid.gy · 2d

Not sure if this cute little rabbit has a name, but his maker is Tomio Okayama, a local artist who makes anthropomorphic animals. Fun fact: he was there, just off-camera. He's often on-site during the Setouchi Triennale (his art that's part of the festival is in […]

[Original post on gram.social]

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