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…
Tokyo Olympic jitters over the Coronavirus crisis with some 45 related cases in Japan Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Tokyo was expecting heavy media attention over the Tokyo Olympic Games that will start in less than six months. However, the coronavirus crisis that emanates from Wuhan in China is a growing…
Local Government of Osaka at odds with the Japanese Government over Coronavirus Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The coronavirus emanating from China is creating different political views in Japan. Thus, with eight cases of coronavirus being known in Japan, the Osaka Prefectural Government is taking a different approach to that of…
The United Kingdom and the Huawei 5G fine balance between America and China Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Prime Minister Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom (UK) sought to placate America and China. Of course, it appears that America will be slightly aggrieved and disappointed while China is more upbeat. Either…
Japan to evacuate nationals from Wuhan: 56 dead from Coronavirus and 2,000 infections Kanako Itamae and Sawako Utsumi Modern Tokyo Times The Foreign Ministry of Japan is preparing to evacuate Japanese nationals from Wuhan. Hence, the Hubei Province is being monitored daily by Japan. Therefore, arrangements are ongoing with the government of China to evacuate…
A subdued Chinese Lunar New Year in the shadow of the coronavirus Chika Mori and Kanako Itamae Modern Tokyo Times The Chinese Lunar New Year is extremely subdued this year because of the growing shadow of the coronavirus. Initially, the new coronavirus hit Wuhan. However, now the growing menace is spreading throughout parts of China.…
WHO meets over new coronavirus in China that is spreading Sawako Utsumi and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The initial new coronavirus hit Wuhan in China but now this virus is spreading to other cities and outside this nation. For example, it is known that four cases have also been found in Japan, South…
Tsai Ing-wen of Taiwan is re-elected based on pro-independence and the Hong Kong effect Chika Mori and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Tsai Ing-wen was re-elected based on her opposition to China’s approach to Taiwan and Hong Kong respectively. Hence, the Hong Kong effect boosted her chances of winning the election and holding the…
Planting the Seed: Ethnic Policy in Xi Jinping’s New Era of Cultural Nationalism By: James Leibold The Jamestown Foundation The recent leak of secret Chinese Communist Party (CCP) documents in Xinjiang provides irrefutable evidence of the CCP’s radical plan to fundamentally remake Xinjiang society and transform the thoughts and behaviour of its Muslim minorities (ICIJ,…
Chinese Use of Marmaray Subsea Tunnel Another First for Belt and Road Initiative Publication: Eurasia Daily Monitor By: John C. K. Daly The Jamestown Foundation On November 7, at 3:30 A.M., a westbound train from Xi’an, China, for the first time ever used Istanbul’s $4 billion Marmaray sub-Bosporus railway tunnel to dispatch goods to central…
