Buddhist Light from Times of Despair: Death and Folklore in Japan Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Japanese folklore focuses on an array of subjects, from the beauty of light to areas of extreme darkness. The subject area involving oyasute (the abandonment of a parent – or relative) and ubasute (the abandonment of an elderly…
Christian Lady Paraded Naked by Muslim Mob in Egypt: President el-Sisi Vows Justice Boutros Hussein, Michiyo Tanabe, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The President of Egypt, President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, promises that everything will be done to bring a Muslim mob to justice for parading an elderly Christian lady naked through the streets.…
Oman as a Counter-Terrorism Model for the GCC States Publication: Terrorism Monitor By: Alexandria Caputo The Jamestown Foundation Omani youth, according to one recent poll, see the ideology of Islamic State (IS) as the largest obstacle facing their Gulf nation (Times of Oman, April 16). The survey, conducted by international polling firm Penn Schoen Berland,…
Kobayashi Kiyochika and Japanese Art: Meiji Entanglements Tomoko Hara and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Kobayashi Kiyochika (1847-1915) fought on the wrong side of history if you happen to be a pro-Meiji reformer. The alternative view is that he fought on the side that desired to preserve the status quo against reforms being implemented…
Business Sentiment Remains Negative in Japan: Wise Words of Shirakawa Kanako Itamae, Noriko Watanabe, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Corporate Japan remains unconvinced by the current policies of the government of Japan. Indeed, despite the optimism of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Bank of Japan to beat the deflationary spiral, it now…
South Sudan’s South: Conflict in the Equatorias International Crisis Group EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS The formation of a transitional government following Riek Machar’s return to Juba in April marked the most significant milestone of the August 2015 Agreement on the Resolution of the Conflict in the Republic of South Sudan (ARCSS) that ended the twenty-month…
Kintaro in Japanese Folklore and Art Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Kintaro remains extremely popular in modern Japan because of the power of animation and other aspects of modern culture that maintains his rich visibility. In the Edo period the world of noh, kabuki and ukiyo-e provided a rich vein of information about Kintaro.…
Yuzo Saeki and Art of Japan: France, Poor Health, and Isolation in Paris Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yuzo Saeki was born in 1898 and died in 1928 at the tender age of 30 but despite his short time on this earth he left a rich legacy. He was born in Osaka which is…
Sunni Islamists Slaughter Many in Syria after Targeting Alawites: Russian Federation and ISIS Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Sunni Islamists in Syria target predominantly Alawite areas in Tartous and Jableh. Immediately, ISIS (Islamic State – IS) claimed responsibility for the suicide and car bombing attacks that have left at least 78…
Recent Attacks Illuminate the Islamic State’s Europe Attack Network By: Daveed Gartenstein-Ross, Nathaniel Barr The Jamestown Foundation The recent major terrorist attacks in Paris and Brussels represent a watershed moment not just for the Islamic State (IS), but for the entire jihadist movement. The attacks mark the first time that a single jihadist network has…
Rinpa and Art of Japan: Nichiren Buddhism, Kyoto, and Modern Art Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Japanese historical art is blessed with many forms inspired internally and from the richness of ancient China and Korea. At the same time, religious and philosophical influence naturally flowed within the historical legacy of Japanese art. Therefore, it…
FSA-linked Commander Threatens Kurdish Civilians by John Rossomando Investigative Project on Terrorism A radio transmission between the commander of an Islamist brigade with ties to the U.S.-backed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and a Kurdish man contained a chilling message threatening to slaughter Kurdish civilians in Syria. “My fighters are just like lions, and you know…
Air Flight from Paris to Cairo Crashes into the Mediterranean Sea Boutros Hussein and Noriko Watanabe Modern Tokyo Times Civil aviation authorities in Egypt have announced that an EgyptAir Airbus A320 is missing after plunging into the Mediterranean Sea. It is believed that 66 passengers and crew were on board the flight leaving Paris to…
Shia Muslims Killed by ISIS Sectarian Terrorists in Iraq: Shia Cleric Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr Ramazan Khalidov, Takeshi Hasegawa, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times In the last two weeks, hundreds of mainly Shia Muslims have been killed in the capital of Iraq by brutal Sunni Takfiris. This applies to many different sectarian terrorist attacks…
Light of Sendai to Northern English Reality: L.S. Lowry and Sawako Utsumi Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times L.S. Lowry (1887-1976) and Sawako Utsumi come from two very different cultures that have been shaped by the respective faiths of Buddhism, Christianity, and Shintoism. Of course, in modern day Japan and the United Kingdom then secularism…
Implementing Peace and Security Architecture (III): West Africa International Crisis Group This report is also available in: français EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), now in its 41st year, has a formidable record, both in its efforts to enhance regional economic integration, its initial mandate, and to promote peace…
Japanese Art and Gyoshu Hayami: High Culture, Modernity, and Individuality Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Gyoshu Hayami (1894-1935) sadly passed away at a relatively young age. However, despite this, the power of history and momentous changes influenced his artistic soul. Indeed, Gyoshu Hayami highlights much about the history of Japanese art based on the…
Alawites Massacred in al-Zara by Sunni Takfiris: Alawites to the grave, Christians to Beirut Murad Makhmudov, Noriko Watanabe, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Sunni Islamist Takfiris from Ahrar al-Sham and al-Nusra overran a mainly Alawite village in central Syria several days ago. Since then, reports stress that many Alawite civilians have been butchered.…
INF Treaty Increasingly in Danger, as Russia Balks at New Missile Defense Base in Romania Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Pavel Felgenhauer The Jamestown Foundation The United States missile defense (MD) base near the Romanian town of Deveselu, west of Bucharest, became operational this week, armed with 24 SM-3 Block IB interceptors, guided by a…
President Obama in non-Political visit to Hiroshima: Abe and Obama in Dignified Approach Kanako Itamae, Michiyo Tanabe, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times President Barack Obama of the United States of America will pay a poignant visit to the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima. Given the devastating nuclear attack that killed vast numbers of…
Art of Japan and Keisai Eisen: Tenaciousness in Adversity Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The artist Keisai Eisen (1790-1848) matured quickly based on many deaths within his family. This reality meant that Eisen was extremely brave to focus on art because of the enormous uncertainty of making a living in this field. Eisen also…
Tunisia: Transitional Justice and the Fight Against Corruption International Crisis Group The full report is available in: Français The executive summary is also available in: العربية EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Political tensions between supporters and opponents of Tunisia’s transitional justice process and of its application in the economic realm are delaying the implementation of policies necessary to stimulate…
Christian Refugees in Germany Suffer Discrimination in Camps by Muslims: Mirror of Pakistan Jibril Khoury, Noriko Watanabe, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Open Doors Germany, and others, continuously report attacks and open discrimination against Christians and other non-Muslim minorities including the Yazidis in various refugee/economic migrant housing centers. The perpetrators in these…
Waka Poetry in Old Japan: Ono no Komachi and Myths Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The waka poet, Ono no Komachi, is a noted poet in Japan. This reality is abundantly clear because Komachi is numbered within the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals in the land of the rising sun. Komachi, according to tradition, was born…
Yoshu Chikanobu (1838-1912) and Japanese Art: New Japan Emerges Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yoshu Chikanobu (Toyohara Chikanobu) lived between 1838 and 1912, therefore, much of his art highlights the changing nature of Japan. The opening up of Japan after the Meiji Restoration provided many new dreams for Japanese citizens. However, it also was…
Emails Show Clinton Was Told About MB-AQ Links by John Rossomando IPT News Investigative Project on Terrorism Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s emails suggest that she may have known about connections between the Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and hardcore jihadist groups such as al-Qaida early in the 2011 Arab Spring. Clinton confidante Sidney Blumenthal noted…
Prime Minister Abe of Japan to meet President Putin of Russia: Territorial Window? Galina Zobova, Noriko Watanabe, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan will shortly meet President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation. This meeting is potentially important because it provides both nations the chance to move forward…
Art of Japan, Historical Revolution and Sadahide: Bijin-ga to Yokohama-e Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The artist Utagawa Sadahide (Gountei Sadahide) lived to see the first years of Japanese modernization that began in 1868 with the start of the Meiji Restoration. Intriguingly, he also focused on depicting foreign nationals that were now allowed to…
Erdogan Expands His Assault on Journalists Beyond Turkish Borders IPT News Investigative Project on Terrorism Ebru Umar was angry. A Dutch journalist of Turkish heritage, she has been known to take that anger to the page. On the night of April 24, from her summer home in Kusadasi, Turkey, she took it instead to Twitter,…
Art of Japan and Influence on Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec: Impressionism and Ukiyo-e Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec (1864-1901) adored Japanese ukiyo-e and many famous international artists also fell in love with this art form. Toulouse-Lautrec and his lifestyle would certainly have fit in well with the environment of Yoshiwara in Tokyo,…
Persecution of the Shia and Holy Pilgrimage: Institutional Hatred and Takfiri Islamists Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times It is difficult to imagine that Shia Muslims are being constantly targeted by Sunni Takfiri Islamists during religious pilgrimages in modern day Iraq. Yet for the Shia religious persecution is sadly a common reality…
Iraq and Shia Mobilization under Cleric Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr: Reform Push Murad Makhmudov, Sawako Uchida, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The political crisis in Iraq needs addressing according to the Shia holy cleric Sayyid Muqtada al-Sadr. This is based on political cronyism, endless terrorism, the weakening of Iraq, corruption, a fragile infrastructure,…
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