Japancasting has been well received in Japan and abroad. The Stanford JGuide or Japan WWW Virtual Library lists only one regular blog along with Japancasting under Society & Culture > Weblogs & Commentary. Similarly, on 18 Oct 2005 Japancasting received a 4-star rating, very useful for research, from the Asian Studies WWW Virtual Library at the Australian National University and was in The top 500 resources from “The Asian Studies WWW Monitor”. That in turn led to posts forwarded to Michigan State’s leading H-Net Discussion Networks on history and contemporary issues, H-Japan and H-Asia.

Also, perhaps the most widely read journal on English education in Japan, Eigo Kyoiku in Japanese, will have a column on technology in the December issue recommending Japancasting for English as a Foreign Language study and featuring the pioneering work at Osaka Jogakuin College in the second year of giving all students iPods with English listening materials, the first school in the world to do so. The Stanford in iTunes project was just announced, and already several universities are collaborating with the Apple Music Store. Colleges will have to share the platform with entertainment and challenge listeners to choose to learn.

With all this gracious attention it’s time to serve various audiences with more podcasts. This one discusses the Pilgrimage of Shikoku, how even scholars or educators can get personally involved, and how different it is to investigate the same religious phenomena through the academic Study of Religion.

An earlier podcast on July 9th, 2005 had delved into the psychology of religion: “Reincarnation or What? Stone-Hand Temple and the Pilgrimage of Shikoku.” A link for further study is our Shikoku guidebook that is available online in five languages. Or see three related encyclopedia articles with photos starting with “Shikoku, the Pilgrimage Island of Japan.”