links for 2011-02-10

Henry Tricks, Tokyo bureau chief for The Economist, wonders whether Japan is entering another period of isolation from the world – a meditation on the Edo period and Japan's history of connection and disconnection

NYTimes traces Egypt protests back to the murder of Khaled Said, online/Facebook campaign to memorialize, react to his deal

Excellent essay by Charles Hirschkind on the political and technological changes in Egypt that have preceded the anti-Mubarak revolution. Emergence of alliance between Islamists and progressives under Kefaya was important, as was emergence of digital public sphere

Kirkpatrick story focuses on the tactics of some Egyptian activist leaders, revealing a great deal of strategy behind protests, indication that internet organizing was helpful