Very cool entries... I've definitely learned a lot and I'm actually even surprised at how much technology topics there still are to write about!
P.S.: There's a small typo... It's NihongoUp, not Nihongo Up ^^
Lang-8 & smart.fm are already on the list... Because you've published your reviews very recently, I'll enter them into the competition if you'll add a mention of the resources page...
As for your next article, you still haven't reviewed NihongoUp ;)
P.S.: Don't worry, I've gout your Twitter DM and I'll change the description with the next update ^^
Moscow != Russia... They are like two different countries :) There are several reasons why Japanese food is popular in Moscow... First of all, Russians are very revolutionary/inquisitive by nature. Additionally, everything that is exclusive/expensive/luxury is popular in Moscow, even among those who can't afford it ^^ Also, IMHO Russians have a lot in common with Japanese, and I'm not even talking about how interlaced the history of the two countries are. Combine all that with the worldwide craze of everything Japanese in the 90' and you've got perfect conditions for the proliferation of Japanese culture (and cuisine, for that matter).
When it's true that Japanese people tend to visit doctors way too often even with small injuries etc. it was confirmed many times that their high life expectancy is mostly due to their lifestyle, and especially food consumption.
IMHO the only real competition to Ghibli's movies are some of the Soviet animations like for example Hedgehog in the Fog and other Nordstein's movies. The aforementioned film was selected as the "№1 Animated film of all the time" at a 2003 Tokyo festival and Miyazaki cited it as one of his favorite animations. I would really suggest you to watch it :) There are some good Russian film coming up in the near future that could hopefully attain the old standards but lately there are too many delays caused by the economic crisis :(
I'll consider writing about it at the NihongoUp blog in the future...
That's what I'm always telling everyone... use as many sources and as many senses as possible as diversity is what's most important when learning a language. Otherwise it'll be a painful process and, most importantly, you'll risk becoming a very one sided person who knows perfectly one aspect of the language yet fails completely in another. While it may be satisfying, it's definitely not enough for you to be considered as proficient in the language you are trying to learn.
Exactly! Miyazaki is in a completely different league...