Josetsu and Art: Relations between China and Japan are based on “Catching a Catfish with a Gourd” Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times China and Japan have so much in common based on the richness of Buddhism, Confucianism, the arts, culture, gardens, Zen, and a plethora of areas related to high culture. Yet, relations in…
East African States Need To Keep Gulf Powers At Bay: Al-Shabaab Massacre in Kenya Boutros Hussein and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The latest massacre by al-Shabaab (al-Shabab) in Kenya highlights the entire danger to East Africa and this reality is trickling down to Central Africa. This threat applies to Takfiri Islamists that are…
Mali: Last Chance in Algiers Africa Briefing N°104 International Crisis Group OVERVIEW As northern Mali experiences renewed violence, peace negotiations in Algiers offer a unique opportunity to resolve the crisis. But after almost two months of negotiations, peace remains a distant hope. The Malian government and participating armed groups have struggled to find common ground.…
NATO Turkey, Erdogan, Davutoglu and Terrorism: The FSA, al-Qaeda and ISIS Conduit wants Syria to be Bombed Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times President Erdogan and Prime Minister Davutoglu of NATO Turkey are continuing to call for direct military intervention against Syria alongside funding proxies on the ground to an even higher…
Bank of Japan, PM Abe and Kuroda: Shirakawa Warned about No Quick Fix Joachim de Villiers and Kanako Itamae Modern Tokyo Times The Bank of Japan witnessed the changing of the guard from Masaaki Shirakawa to Haruhiko Kuroda in 2013. However, the former governor of the Bank of Japan appears to be more accurate in…
Three Women from the 100 Ogura Poets By toshidama The current show at the Toshidama Gallery has three sheets from the peerless series of woodblock prints A Comparison of the Ogura One Hundred Poets of 1847. This series of 100 prints is one of the outstanding achievements of woodblock printing in Japan in the nineteenth century.…
Economy of Japan in Nosedive: Prime Minister Abe and Bank of Japan Noriko Watanabe and Michel Lebon Modern Tokyo Times The economy of Japan continues to be blighted by negative economic data therefore the usual signs of hope appear to be hitting new depressive waves. Latest statistics stress that the Japanese economy between July…
Iranian-Turkish Relations Vis-à-Vis Turkey’s Energy Transit Policy Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 204 By: Orhan Gafarli The Jamestown Foundation Despite Western economic sanctions, Iranian-Turkish relations have been developing in many different directions in recent years. Illustratively, on October 24–25, the Eastern Anatolia Development Agency (DAKA), Iran’s Foreign Ministry Institution for Political and International…
Syrian Government is an Essential Pivot in the Stabilization of the Region: US Confusion Continues Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The government of Syria continues to fight tenaciously against many outside nations and international jihadists, that both seek to destroy the secular fabric of this country under President Bashar al-Assad. In…
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi and Japanese Art: Edo, Meiji, Poverty and the Ravages of Depression Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The artist Tsukioka Yoshitoshi literally lived in two worlds and this applies to not only the Edo Period and Meiji Period but also to his chaotic lifestyle. However, despite this, Yoshitoshi produced stunning art and he…
Yasui Sotaro and Art of Japan: Paris and Domestic Influence Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yasui Sotaro (1888-1955) was born in Kyoto and he is famous for yoga (Western-style) portraiture. It is clear that this talented individual understood his vocation because he pursued a career in art despite his family desiring a more commercial career. Therefore,…
Bangla Terror in West Bengal: Political Opportunism? Bhaskar Roy, C3S Paper No.2070 Chennai Center for China Studies An explosion in a house in Khagragram, Burdwan district, West Bengal, on October 02 opened the eyes of the Indian central intelligence to a burning fire building up in this region. The explosion was purely accidental, while…
Tentative Steps in the Pipeline between China and Japan: Territorial Dispute, or not? Kanako Itamae and Jay Doggett Modern Tokyo Times It is firmly believed that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and President Xi Jinping of China will meet next week. According to various sources this will take place during the summit of the Asia-Pacific Economic…
Torii Kiyonaga and Japanese Art: Bijinga and Nishiki-e Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) was an extremely stylish Japanese woodblock (ukiyo-e) artist who belonged to the Torii school. His rise to the top of this school highlights many aspects of Japanese culture within the art world because he wasn’t related to the Torii…
Conflict Alert: Looming Military Offensives in South Sudan International Crisis Group Warring parties in South Sudan’s civil war are preparing for major offensives as seasonal rains ease. Hardliners in both the government and the Sudan People’s Liberation Army-In Opposition (SPLA-IO) are entrenching their positions, and think, as one opposition commander declared, “we will settle this…
Utagawa Yoshitaki and Cultural Art of Japan: Namazu and Oni Demon Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Utagawa Yoshitaki (1841-1899) produced several stunning pieces of art related to the oni demon. In the main image in this article called the Oni Demon and Catfish you have two very powerful forces at play. Therefore, the individual in this image faces…
