PM Suga of Japan to visit Vietnam and Indonesia: Anti-China hawks need silencing Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga claims to want to preserve the mantle of his predecessor, Shinzo Abe. Yet, some individuals in his Cabinet appear more hawkish towards China and the Russian Federation. Therefore, if…
Southeast Asia: Crucible of Indigenous Survival Special Contribution: Gideon Sim The misleading portrayal of Southeast Asia as an oasis of economic growth and calm in global media belies the boiling over of ethnic tensions and discontent. From Mindanao where Philippine government forces extrajudicially kill indigenous Lumad and Moro minorities; to West Papua where the Indonesian…
Japan protests after China patrol incursion: Early test for PM Suga Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan is facing his first geopolitical test after two Chinese patrol ships entered the vicinity of the Senkaku Islands. This comes shortly after recent anti-China stances according to political elites…
Covid-19 deaths and infections in China are estranged: Why mainly Hubei? Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Over one million people are known to have died from coronavirus (Covid-19) internationally. However, the initial epicenter of Hubei province in China remains an enigma. Therefore, while Wuhan in Hubei is synonymous with the coronavirus,…
Prime Minister Suga showing early nationalist signs Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga is showing early nationalist signs even if not overtly. Hence, it is striking that several members of his Cabinet and policies announced seem to have a nationalist slant. Of course, some of this is natural…
PM Suga of Japan and President Xi of China talk by phone Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga of Japan and President Xi Jinping of China held their first talks by phone since Suga became the new leader of Japan. Unsurprisingly, both leaders promised to foster closer relations…
Japan and diplomacy with China: Australia, India, Japan, and America to meet Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Miniter Yoshihide Suga is the new leader of Japan. Thus, the meeting between senior officials from America, Australia, India, and Japan in Tokyo early next month will be analyzed carefully. It is known…
The foreign policy of Japan in the post-Abe period: America, China, Mekong, and Russia Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The geopolitical challenges for Japan throughout Northeast Asia and the Asia Pacific are enormous. Thus with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe resigning then a challenging period will ensue. After all, unlike many other…
Japan and South Korea and the GSOMIA merry-go-round: Japan should focus on China and Russia Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Korean Peninsula is divided between North Korea and South Korea because both Korea’s don’t trust each other. Thus with South Korea repeatedly turning against Japan when relations between both Korea’s…
Bubonic Plague Deaths in China, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Mongolia Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The bubonic plague conjures images in the head of vast deaths from distant centuries. However, while no longer the potent killer disease of the past, people are still becoming infected and dying each year.…
Japan is hoping that America and China will take a more diplomatic stance Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The increasing stoking of the fire by America and China is worrying many in Japan. After all, the coronavirus (Covid19) crisis and economic convulsions are horrendous enough – so Japan doesn’t need more…
America, Australia, and Japan in Naval Exercises in Asia Pacific waters Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The nations of Australia, Japan, and the United States are currently holding trilateral naval exercises in the waters of the Asia Pacific. Thus democratic nations are showing commitment toward the freedom of sea-lanes throughout the…
Japan and its first wave of subsidies to help companies leave China: Covid-19 supply chain Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The coronavirus (Covid-19) economic convulsions will continue for a long-time to come. Of course, the size of the crisis depends on each individual nation. However, for Japan, it became apparent that…
Chinese art and Shen Quan: A brief period in Japan but a lasting legacy Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Edo Period (1603-1868) is known for keeping foreign people out and gradually closing the country. However, the past cultural bonds that shaped Japanese high culture preserved. Hence the small window of Nagasaki enabled a…
Czechia and the China and Taiwan issue: Miloš Vystrčil promises to visit Taiwan Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The nation of Czechia (Czech Republic) fully understands the legacy of Communist rule. Hence, the diplomatic balance for Czechia between China and Taiwan shouldn’t be defined by economics. Instead, the Chinese Communist Party…
Japan poetry and Okura (660-733): Influence of Confucianism and East Asia Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yamanoue no Okura (660-733?) lived a dynamic life by the standards of the day. Of course, many areas of his life remain shrouded in mystery based on the passages of time. Therefore, it isn’t fully known if he…
Japan needs pragmatism on Hong Kong issue: Geopolitics of Northeast Asia Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of Japan should focus on pragmatism and the geopolitical reality of Northeast Asia. Of course, the new Hong Kong security law is draconian. However, Japan must not be dragged into the…
Anti-US media bias: Discrimination in China, Cuba, Indonesia, Nigeria, Saudi, and Turkey Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The media in America, parts of Europe, and other areas of the world are highlighting discrimination and Black Lives Matter (BLM) to an extreme. Yet, unlike America that welcomed people from every continent in…
K-Pop, BLM, and amnesia: Commercial savvy (Tibet, Xinjiang, and West Papua) Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times K-Pop emanates from South Korea and is a very popular music style that is followed in many parts of Asia and further afield. However, recently many powerful K-Pop groups are involving themselves in Blacks Lives…
Russian Military Seeking to Counter Growing Chinese Role in Central Asia Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: Paul Goble The Jamestown Foundation In March 2019, Dmitry Zhelobov, a specialist on China at Russia’s Urals Federal University, warned that Beijing was shifting from relying on soft power in Central Asia to using hard power. If Russia did…
India loses 20 soldiers in a border clash with belligerent China: Covid-19 convulsions Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times At least 20 soldiers from India have died after border clashes with China in an area claimed by both. It remains unknown how many soldiers from China were killed in violent clashes. Reuters…
North Korea and South Korea tensions ratchet up: Moon Jae-in is in a spin Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times North Korea warned South Korea to reign in defectors who were spreading anti-Pyongyang propaganda. Hence, the liaison office designed for communicating between both Korea’s was blown up by North Korea in the…
Japan is pragmatic about Hong Kong: China versus Australia, Canada, US, and the UK Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The nations of America, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom have rebuked China over Beijing’s proposed security law in Hong Kong. Thus some voices have been raised by the pragmatic approach of…
Japanese Buddhist art and Kaō: Fourteenth-century art and the Middle Kingdom Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese painter Kaō Ninga belongs to the world of the fourteenth century. Hence, this Buddhist holy monk imbued high culture and religion within his art. Therefore, immediately you can feel art, Buddhism, cultural dimensions, and ideas. Artistically…
China sensing Covid-19 chaos in America and Europe is upping the ante in Hong Kong Kanako Mita and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis erupted in China and then spread to all corners of the world. Unlike China, which is emerging from the coronavirus crisis, the same doesn’t apply to America…
Israel sends humanitarian aid from Wuhan to Europe: Assisting against coronavirus Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The city of Wuhan in China is infamous for being the epicenter of the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic that is sweeping across the world. Yet, the international airport serving Wuhan is also highlighting the fact that…
Deaths in France, Italy, Spain, and the UK is 75,000 compared to 450 people in the modern Asia Pacific Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The coronavirus (Covid-19) crisis emanated in Wuhan and then spread throughout China. In time, China got on top of the first wave of coronavirus. However, what is…
Japan to assist companies in leaving China: Coronavirus economic convulsions Kanako Itamae and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The government of Japan under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is to assist Japanese companies in leaving China. This new policy is part of the ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) convulsions. Therefore, from the European Union to Japan major…
Clashes in China over coronavirus: Police in Jiangxi seek to keep out people from Hubei Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Images coming from a bridge between Hubei and Jiangxi provinces show clashes between the police and people from Hubei. Meanwhile, news from other areas in China entails discrimination against people…
Japanese 8th-century poet enriched by the high culture of the Tang Dynasty Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The eighth-century Japanese scholar and poet Abe no Nakamaro (698-770) belongs to the cultural world that was inspired by the Middle Kingdom (China). From a very young age, he showed exemplary skills suited to the world of…
Northeast Asian powers of China, Japan, and South Korea face major economic coronavirus problems Noriko Watanabe and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The nations of China, Japan, and South Korea have respective issues related to territorial disputes. Despite this, all three nations are part of an integrated economic chain that accounts collectively for just…
Over 900 dead from Coronavirus in China and over 40,000 cases internationally Sawako Utsumi and Noriko Watanabe Modern Tokyo Times The number of deaths sadly keeps on rising from the coronavirus crisis in China that emanated in Wuhan. Thus, the latest figure says that just over 900 people have died from the coronavirus. At the…
