Islamization and Bengali Muslim migration: Indigenous of Assam, the Chittagong Hill Tracts, and Rakhine Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The international media is negating the serious issue of Bengali Muslims overwhelming the indigenous in Assam (India), the Chittagong Hill Tracts (Bangladesh), Rakhine (Myanmar), and other areas. Indeed, it appears that Buddhists,…
Japan art and the window of Nagasaki in the Edo period: Chinese Artist Shen Quan (Nanpin) Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The window of Nagasaki in Japan enabled the Chinese artist, Shen Quan (Nanpin), to enlighten several important Japanese artists for roughly two years during the relative isolation of the land of the rising…
Myanmar is hoping to attract more tourists from China, Japan, and South Korea: Eco-tourism Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The government of Myanmar is hoping to increase the numbers of tourists from China, Japan, and South Korea respectively. This is based on the introduction of special visa allowances to people from…
Russia Makes Further Gains in Syria After Helsinki Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Pavel Felgenhauer The Jamestown Foundation In the past several days, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and the first deputy defense minister and chief of the General Staff, General Valery Gerasimov, went on an unprecedented joint trip to Israel, Germany and France to…
Japanese art and the exile of a holy Buddhist priest Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Nichiren (1222-1282) was born during a very unstable period in Japan because of internal political convulsions, the devastation of nature, and belief that the world was entering a bleak period based on growing backwardness. Debates took place around the…
Trump administration warns NATO Turkey to end its persecution of a Christian pastor Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times President Donald Trump of America and other powerful members of his administration have warned Turkey, a fellow NATO member, to stop persecuting Andrew Brunson who is a Christian pastor. Of course, given the…
Mexico in an endless nightmare of homicides: Who needs a civil war? Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Mexico resembles a nation blighted by civil war because the homicide rate is alarmingly high. Hence, with the homicide figure in the first six months of 2018 reaching a shocking 15,973 people, then Mexico…
At least 94 dead from the brutal heat wave gripping Japan: Precautions for children Kanako Itamae and Chika Mori Modern Tokyo Times The death rate in Japan keeps on growing because of the brutal heat wave that isn’t abating. Once more, like other natural tragedies that have hit Japan, the elderly are especially at risk.…
Japan art of the twelfth century: Annual rites and ceremonies Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The twelfth-century Japanese artist, Tokiwa Mitsunaga, resided in a world of power politics related to blood and prestigious holy Buddhist temples. Sadly, the passages of time and the tragedy of fire means that originals perished. At the same…
The heat wave is responsible for many deaths in Japan after highs in excess of 40 degree Celsius Kanako Itamae and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The heat wave in Japan is still not abating with temperature highs in excess of 40 degree Celsius. It is known that at least 30 people have perished…
Art of Japan and the remaining shadow of Shintoism Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Buddhist temples from various sects appear to dominate the religious discourse in Japan but inwardly the faith of Shintoism remains within the soul, irrespective of cultural, religious, or secular. Indeed, the splendor of ultra-modern cities, for example, Tokyo and Osaka,…
Canada is Funding and Supporting Terrorism Front Groups with Taxpayers’ Money by Tom Quiggin Special to IPT News Investigative Project on Terrorism The government of Canada plans to funnel $23 million into a multicultural program, Member of Parliament Iqra Khalid announced last week. The money is an outgrowth of Canada’s M-103 “Systemic racism and religious…
High culture and the Japanese Tea Ceremony: Legacy of history and formal settings James Jomo, Kanako Itamae, and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese green tea ceremony was first documented in the ninth century but elements emerged in the eighth century according to some historians. Not surprisingly, major modifications and deeper meanings –…
Japan and EU trade deal is a sign that both entities oppose protectionism and Trump’s America First Chika Mori and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The signed economic agreement between Japan and the European Union (EU) will account for roughly 37 percent of all international trade in terms of value. Equally important for Japan,…
Soga Shōhaku (1730-1781) and Japanese art: Richness of the Muromachi Period (1336-1573) Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Soga Shōhaku (1730-1781) is a very intriguing artist because he wasn’t conventional. Equally important, Shōhaku did not follow the artistic trends of the Tokugawa Period. Instead, he was adamant that his artistic soul should dictate the style…
President Putin of Russia is optimistic after meeting President Trump of America in Helsinki Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times President Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation is optimistic of resetting better relations with America after meeting President Donald Trump of America in Helsinki. The two powerful leaders spoke frankly at times…
At least 217 die after floods and landslides hit Japan with the elderly especially suffering Sawako Uchida and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The death toll now stands at 217 after severe floods and landslides his Western and Southwestern Japan. Yet, with at least 20 known people still missing, then most likely the…
President Xi Jinping of China and power concentration: the legacy of Deng Xiaoping is being threatened Kanako Itamae and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Deng Xiaoping radically altered China from a tainted one-party-state based on power concentration under an all-encompassing leader, into a party that focused on the path of modernization and furthering the…
President Erdogan of Turkey is sullying NATO: Endless arrests to power concentration Nuray Lydia Oglu and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The nation of Turkey in recent years is witnessing the relentless imprisonment of Kurdish political activists, arrests of supporters of Fethullah Gülen, and anyone not towing the Islamist-leaning government of President Recep Tayyip…
Art of Japan and the Bridge in the Rain: Van Gogh and Hiroshige Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese artist, Ando Hiroshige (1797-1858), is one of the most esteemed ukiyo-e artists to hail from the land of the rising sun. Internationally, Hiroshige inspired many Western artists including Vincent van Gogh (1853-1890). Therefore, several…
Art of Japan and changing times: Yokohama-e and Western encroachment Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Utagawa Sadahide (Gountei Sadahide) witnessed the first years of modernization in Japan that emerged after the 1868 Meiji Restoration. Yet, prior to this dramatic period in Japanese history, the artist Sadahide depicted aspects of Western encroachment. Indeed, while many…
Japan death toll now reaches 156 after brutal floods and landslides kill many Kanako Itamae and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Intense flooding and landslides in Western and Southwestern Japan are known to have killed at least 156 people. However, with approximately 60 people still missing, then people in Japan are waiting for more…
China’s Intensifying Pressure Campaign against Taiwan Publication: China Brief By: Russell Hsiao The Jamestown Foundation China has significantly ramped up pressure on Taiwan since Tsai Ing-wen was democratically-elected as the country’s president in January 2016. As Beijing’s external pressure on Taiwan grows, pressure for action is building on the Tsai administration, both from the opposition…
Art of Japan and Nichiren Buddhism in the soul of Rinpa 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,…
At least 81 dead in Japan after floods and landslides wreak havoc in Western and Southwestern Japan Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Severe flooding and landslides in Western Japan and Southwestern Japan is wreaking havoc because the death toll is now 81 individuals. Also, with others still missing, then it is…
Japan art and the legacy of Tensho Shubun: Buddhism to the power of the Middle Kingdom Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese artist Tensho Shubun was deeply influenced by landscape artists from the Middle Kingdom (China). Indeed, Shubun is noted for being one of the founding fathers of introducing Chinese-style ink painting in…
Japan floods and landslides have killed at least 50 people with Hiroshima and Ehime being hard hit Chika Mori and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times At least 50 people have perished after severe flooding and landslides hit vast areas of Western Japan. It is feared that more dead bodies will be found because approximately…
Execution of 7 Aum Shinrikyo members in the Tokyo Sarin attack is bringing Heisei Era to a close Sawako Uchida and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The reverberations in Japan of an internal religious cult that utilized terrorism and fear remains in the memory today, just like the brutal events of the Tokyo Sarin…
India deemed the most dangerous for women according to the Thomson Reuters Foundation Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times According to the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the country of India is deemed to be the most dangerous in the world for women. The survey and outcome were based on 548 experts, of which…
Japanese Buddhist poetry of the fourteenth century: Jakushitsu Genkō (1290-1367) Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Jakushitsu Genkō (1290-1367) is a famous Japanese Rinzai Buddhist preacher who became the first abbot of the Eigen-ji temple that was built in his honor. He reportedly said about poetry, “Why pursue words, when one truly seeks silence?” This…
The poetry of Japan and Arakida Moritake (1473-1549): The natural flow of Shintoism Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The poetry of Arakida Moritake (1473-1549) was inspired by the flows of the past, the reality of nature, and the Shinto faith that meant so much to him. Not surprisingly, in the history of Japan prior…
Myanmar and the anti-Buddhist media agenda: Aung San Suu Kyi and path of stability Chika Mori and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The situation in Myanmar remains critical in 2018 because ethnic, religious, and political issues are extremely complex despite many positive regional measures. On top of this, it is notable that certain militias…
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