ALEX DASHWOOD WRITES — There exists a myth in the United States that the addition of monosodium glutamate (MSG) to food, which is predominantly used in Chinese cuisine, is a health risk causing negative side effects. Some consumers of it purport to experience symptoms such as dizziness and palpitations after…
Author: Asia Media Staff
CHINA: IS TIK TOK AN INNOVATIVE SOCIAL MEDIA APP OR A GLOBAL SECURITY THREAT?
HEATHER CREAMER WRITES — While Chinese-based social media app Tik Tok is changing the social media landscape, world leaders are growing concerned about the effect it may have on national security. Even as the app was under almost constant threats of banishment by the former U.S. president due to the…
ASIAN AMERICANS: AS COVID-19 SURGED, ANTI-ASIAN SENTIMENT INFECTED AMERICA
SHAE KUROKAWA WRITES — Nearly a year since the United States began experiencing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, violent attacks against Asian-Americans have alarmingly increased. At the start of this new year, San Francisco’s Bay Area reported a handful of xenophobic assaults against Asian-Americans, many of whom were elderly.…
TAIWAN: LINSANITY AND THE COURT OF PUBLIC OPINION
ANDREW DAHI WRITES – Jeremy Lin. Five foot three. A freshman in high school. And a dream. A dream to play basketball at the highest level, on the biggest stage in the world, the NBA. By the time Lin, a Taiwanese-American, was a senior in high school, he had grown…
ARMENIA: TIKTOK BRINGS LIGHT INTO A CULTURE OF DARKNESS
MELANIE MARGARYAN WRITES — If you don’t know much about Armenia, that’s not really surprising. Armenia is a tiny country in the Caucasus, where nothing interesting really happens. Well, besides war and really sad stuff. But let’s talk about something great that’s been happening for Armenians, for once: TikTok. If…
CHINA: THE NEW, LUXURY LINE OF MAHJONG: NO DICE FOR CULTURAL DECIMATION
SOPHIA JARAMILLO WRITES — Recently, three women of Dallas, Texas took it upon themselves to launch a ‘refreshed’ version of the traditional Chinese tile-layering game, Mahjong. This event definitely sparked controversy, as none of the women involved in the project of The Mahjong Line are of Chinese descent, but rather,…
JAPAN: SLAMMING THE OLD-SCHOOL BASKETBALL ‘TABOO’ OFF THE CULTURAL COURT
KATHERINE PETERSON WRITES- ‘Slam Dunk,’ a 1990’s Japanese anime, tells the story of a high school basketball team from Shōhoku High. Critics believed the program would lack viewers, as editors claimed that “basketball was a taboo in this world.” But without manga viewers, the No. 8 draft pick and Japan…
JAPAN: SOMETHING’S FISHY IN THE SEAFOOD RESTAURANT BUSINESS
MILES WHITTINGHAM WRITES — Japanese cuisine is among the most popular in the world. But the Japanese fish market has been hit especially hard among the multitude of things affected by COVID-19. The most extensive wholesale fish trade located in Tokyo, Toyosu, has seen its sales halved in recent months.…
JAPANESE MANGA: GORO MIYAZAKI’S NEW FILM PALES BESIDE HIS DAD’S COLORFUL CINEMATIC CONFECTIONS
JONAR COWAN WRITES — Despite Studio Ghibli’s notable reputation for warm, whimsical stories, Goro Miyazaki’s punk and dark art-style Earwig and the Witch fails to reach the expectations for a “Studio Ghibli” animation. Earwig and the Witch was released on Feb. 5. The studio, which was founded by Hayao Miyazaki,…
CHINA: ARE INVESTORS DROPPING THE BALL ON EUROPEAN SOCCER?
NICOLAS PAPA WRITES — The European footballing landscape, or soccer, as we Americans call it, is undoubtedly the pinnacle of competition for the world’s most popular sport. The greatest players from around the world congregate in Western Europe to play against the best of the best, while some of the…
SINO-U.S. RELATIONS: REMEMBERING U.S. PRESIDENTS’ DIPLOMATIC TRIPS TO CHINA
CLAIRE GUTE WRITES — While our country rings in a new era with the election of President Biden, he has yet to travel abroad on any diplomatic trips, and it is unlikely that such a trip will occur in the coming months due to COVID-19. In 2019, the United States and…
BOOK REVIEW: THE HOLE BY HIROKO OYAMADA
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES (in the third of three reviews of new Japanese books) – Oyamada’s protagonist is not much different from Alice who fell down the rabbit hole. As Asahi descends deeper down the chasm, reality itself tears at the seams and breaks open, folding in all around her. The…
US-CHINA RELATIONS: POINTILLISM IS THE WAY TO GO
TOM PLATE WRITES — The late George Kennan became a diplomatic legend for advocating, while stationed in Moscow, a singular foreign policy idea that famously worked. It was called “containment”. Its steadfast observance by the US and its allies undoubtedly helped lead to the welcome collapse of the Soviet Union.…
INDONESIA: CORONAVIRUS CRISIS TURNS INTO COMPOUNDED CATASTROPHE
KEZIA LAKSMONO WRITES — My home country is known for many cultural myths and rich folklore. I’ve always been skeptical of such stories. But folklore about New Year’s Day weather? For me, that’s always been an exception. Historically, rain comes pouring down on the city of Jakarta – the place…
SOUTH KOREA: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE IS MUSIC TO OUR EARS
RYAN FRAZEE WRITES — South Korea is on a path to revolutionize artificial intelligence (AI) in the music industry. Supertone, a company based in Seoul, recently developed a cutting edge hologram concert of a Korean folk artist who died in 1996 from an apparent suicide. Despite his tragic and untimely…
MYANMAR: THE DEATH, AND RECYCLING, OF DEMOCRACY
LIAM ROGERS WRITES — With the arrest of Aung San Suu Kyi, the former Nobel Peace Prize winner and founder of the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Myanmar-she who had also supported the genocidal actions of the Myanmar armed forces against the Rohingya in 2017-the Myanmar military has usurped…