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,…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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.…
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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…
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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…
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CHINA: HOW LONG CAN CLUBHOUSE LAST?
MANAGING EDITOR ZHI JIAO DANIELLE GOH WRITES — Clubhouse has recently gained media and investment attention, having secured roughly a billion valuation-10 times higher than its actual app valuation. But what, exactly, is Clubhouse? It’s an audio chat-based social media app created during the pandemic. Users can hop in and out of…
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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…
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BOOK REVIEW: EARTHLINGS BY SAYAKA MURATA
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES (in the second of three reviews of new Japanese books) – As you read this thoroughly entertaining yet gruesome tale, you will wonder, is this narrator mentally ill? Or does the problem lie in an evil society where humans are reduced to being baby-making, money-making cogs in…
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BOOK REVIEW: BREASTS AND EGGS BY MIEKO KAWAKAMI
ELLA KELLEHER WRITES (in the first of three reviews of new Japanese books) — The title of the novel itself poses a compelling question: does pregnancy and what comes with it (having both breasts and eggs) determine the destiny of the female body? Breasts and Eggs (2020) tells the story…
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US-CHINA RELATIONS: WILL BIDEN REIN IN AMERICA’S DEBILITATING DELUSIONS OF MORAL SUPERIORITY?
TOM PLATE WRITES – The first major American post-election-result return is being able to feel that the ground under your feet isn’t always shaking and your head isn’t always aching. Yes, US President Joe Biden is doing that for us, especially in this early wave of foreign-policy appointments. He is…
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UPCOMING EVENT: CHINA STUDIES FORUM 3
ABOUT THE EVENT China Studies Forum 3 Date: Thursday, February 4, 2021 Time: 7 pm – 8.30 pm PT Zoom Link: https://lmula.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwuf-uvrDkiH9Pc3jBI64b4cbOcmlhgC-Zy Flyer credited to Professor Li Yu, who is in charge of the Chinese Language Program at Loyola Marymount University’s Modern Languages & Literatures department.
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KOBE BRYANT: A YEAR GONE, NEVER FORGET
JOSEPH LITTAUA WRITES – It was a year ago when I was getting ready to go to mass on a Sunday morning when the news broke on Twitter about Kobe Bryant and a helicopter ride that seemed very ill-advised. I still remember it vividly, looking angrily at news outlets and…
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ASIAN PERSUASION: THE US NEEDS HELP
KISHORE MAHBUBANI WRITES — “Ask not what America can do for you! Ask rather what you can do for America.” If US President Joe Biden were in a position to send a sincere and honest message to the rest of the world in his recent inaugural address, these are the…
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BOOK REVIEW: THE POLITICS OF JAPAN REARMED
REI KITAGAWA WRITES – Japan Rearmed, authored by the renowned Sheila A. Smith (and recently published by Harvard University Press), offers an extensive and intimate account of U.S.-Japan relations, arguing that the Japanese government is reconsidering its dependence on the United States amidst increasing threats from North Korean missiles and…
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