AGNES CHONG WRITES – It started over two years ago when the hashtag “don’t be silent” was created by political activist Keio Nojo, as she has made big strides in the fight against gender inequality in Japan. The hashtag was created in response to remarks from Tokyo Olympics chief, Yoshiro…
Category: East Asia
SOUTH KOREAN BASEBALL WRAPUP: A HOME RUN FOR THE SSG LANDERS
TRISTIN CLINT WRITES – On November 8 the SSG Landers, of the Korean Baseball Organization (KBO), put the final stamp on its incredible season, winning the Korean Series by defeating the Kiwoom Heroes in six games. This marked the fifth championship in franchise history for the Landers, and the first…
BOOK REVIEW: SOLO DANCE (2022) BY LI KOTOMI – A TANGO WITH DEATH AND QUEER IDENTITY
**Trigger Warning: This article recounts experiences of homophobia, suicide, physical abuse, and rape. BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – “Love conquers all” – we are often taught this maxim as children. We are persuaded to believe the very essence of love can solve all life’s problems. Yet, for those…
CHINA AND THE CIA: INCISIVE NEW BOOK MAKES YOU WONDER
CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES — Maybe the lady intel officer who sought to recruit me for a CIA operation involving PRC espionage on the U.S. West Coast didn’t look the part – though, then again, perhaps she did. Modest in dress, controlled in comportment, she sat with me in…
SPACEY CHINA: LEAVING THE U.S. ORBITING BEHIND?
ABDULLAH ALHAJERI WRITES – “We too will make satellites.” These are the words of the ever-ambitious Mao Zedong, late leader of the Republic of China — words that have since reigned true. Zedong had dreams of making China the powerhouse of not only Asia but the world. How positively spacey…
U.S. RELATIONS: HIGHLY SENSITIVE INTELLIGENCE ON CHINA AND IRAN AMONG MAR-A-LARGO DOCUMENTS WHILE COUNTRIES FACE THEIR OWN ISSUES AT HOME
HEATHER CREAMER WRITES – Documents with highly sensitive intelligence on Iran’s missile program and China were part of materials recovered by the FBI during an August search of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s home in Florida, according to recent reporting from The Washington Post. Citing at least two sources familiar…
JAPAN: INCREASING THE APPETITE FOR BAGGING ALL THAT PLASTIC
AGNES CHONG WRITES — Can the Plastic Resource Circulation Strategy put an end to the extensive amount of plastic embedded in Japan’s food culture? In Japan, food has both cultural and gastronomic appeal. A key element of the national food is its appearance, emphasizing arrangement and stylization as well as…
SOUTH KOREA: BASEBALL GOLD
TRISTIN CLINT WRITES – October is the culmination of a long baseball season, with the potential for team jubilance at winning the championship or the despair of final defeat. Look towards either side of the Pacific Ocean and you will see the glorious moments of postseason baseball that both fans…
BOOK REVIEW: DEAD-END MEMORIES (2022) BY BANANA YOSHIMOTO – A MEDITATION ON MODERN LOVE
BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – Why do people assume relationships could ever make logical sense? Love and relationships – the shimmering red strings that tie humans together – are convoluted at best. At their most devastating, they are temporary and ephemeral, like the changing ginkgo leaves that pile on the…
JAPAN: CAN ONLINE THERAPY TRANSFORM OUR MENTAL HEALTH LANDSCAPE?
AGNES CHONG WRITES — Can the rising popularity of online therapy transform the current landscape of mental health practice in Japan? Before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, online healthcare services were considered a risky niche practice, but now telehealth has emerged as a prominent force in the healthcare industry—especially…
BOOK REVIEW: FISH SWIMMING IN DAPPLED SUNLIGHT (2022) BY RIKU ONDA – WHO IS THE KILLER?
BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – Japanese suspense author, Riku Onda, presents us with a psychological thriller that spans the course of a single night. A man and woman decide to spend one final evening together in their shared Tokyo apartment before going their separate ways. Over the course…
BOOK REVIEW: I’LL GO ON (2018) – DAY WILL BREAK BEFORE LONG
SARAH LOHMANN WRITES – “Does it hurt?” When we hear this question, it is often with an urgent or melancholic tone. Korean author Jungeun Hwang frames the question differently when it is asked of thirteen-year-old Nana by her childhood friend Naghi after he strikes her across the cheek. She confirms it does…
OPINION: HOW THE US, NOT JUST RUSSIA, HELPED BRING THE WORLD CLOSER TO NUCLEAR WAR
This column originally appeared on October 5, 2022, in the South China Morning Post. CLINICAL PROFESSOR TOM PLATE WRITES – To lose one’s sense of decency by raising the threat of nuclear weapons just once – here we’re talking directly to you, Mr. Vladimir Putin – may be dismissed as…
JAPAN: HOOP DREAMS COME ALIVE AT THE SAITAMA SUPER ARENA
TRISTIN CLINT WRITES – The NBA Japan Games 2022 concluded this past weekend with the Golden State Warriors winning both exhibition games over the Washington Wizards. This two-game set, which began September 30th, marked not only the sixteenth NBA game that Japan has hosted, but the first to be played…
CHINA: ONE PODCAST TAKES A DIFFERENT APPROACH
RYAN BYRNE WRITES – In recent years, the rhetoric between China and the United States has grown more intense. A trade war, endless diplomatic wrangling over the South China Sea and conflicts with Taiwan have helped make China a point of political interest for more and more Americans. As the…
BOOK REVIEW: COUNTERFEIT (2022) BY KIRSTEN CHEN – HOUSEWIFE TURNS CRIMINAL MASTERMIND
BOOK REVIEW EDITOR-IN-CHIEF ELLA KELLEHER WRITES – Kirsten Chen’s latest novel, Counterfeit (2022), follows Ava Wong – a straight-edge Chinese-American lawyer shackled to an agonizingly mundane routine of house chores and taking care of her maddening infant, Henri, who cannot seem to cease his daily tantrums. Married to a successful yet always…