PM Abe of Japan: US Realism and Political Confidence in Tokyo Hiroshi Saito and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times It appears that aspects of the media in Japan are beset by Western “gilt trips” and the trappings of “multi-cultural apologetics.” This certainly applies to the English speaking media on a whole in Japan. However,…
Yoshu Chikanobu and Art of Japan: East or West? Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yoshu Chikanobu (Chikanobu Toyohara) was a Meiji artist who highlighted many aspects of this revolutionary period in Japan. Chikanobu, like other Meiji artists, was often overlooked in the past but today the art world is changing. Therefore, artists who belonged…
Ukraine’s Tale of Two Elections James George Jatras Deputy Director, AIU AIU American Institute in Ukraine On October 26, Ukraine – minus Crimea and the part of Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts controlled by anti-Kiev forces – will hold elections for the Verkhovna Rada. On November 9 (probably: it’s still unclear whether they will be pushed…
Torii Kiyonaga and Japanese Art: Bijinga and Torii School Tomoko Hara Modern Tokyo Times Torii Kiyonaga (1752-1815) was an extremely stylish 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 family. However,…
Water Pressures in Central Asia International Crisis Group EXECUTIVE SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS Water has long been a major cause of conflict in Central Asia. Two states – Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan – have a surplus; the other three say they do not get their share from the region’s great rivers, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya,…
NATO Turkey Under Erdogan Knows No Shame: ISIS Waiting to Slaughter the Kurds Nuray Lydia Oglu and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times President Bashar al-Assad warned the world that by allowing Gulf petrodollars, Turkey and the murky role of several Western governments to embolden sectarianism and terrorism, that this reality would come to haunt…
Kawanabe Kyosai and Art of Japan: Folklore, Shinto, the Spirit World and Tengu Lee Jay Walker and Modern Tokyo Times The Japanese artist Kawanabe Kyosai is extremely fascinating because of his individualistic spirit and this is witnessed in his art. Kyosai, just like the mysterious Tengu, belonged to two worlds and this applies to the…
Kenya: Al-Shabaab – Closer to Home International Crisis Group OVERVIEW One year after the Westgate Mall terrorist attack in Nairobi, Al-Shabaab is more entrenched and a graver threat to Kenya. But the deeper danger is less in the long established terrorist cells that perpetrated the act – horrific as it was – and more…
Beslan and Chechen Terrorism: Caucasus Jihadists still killing in Syria and Gulf Petrodollars Ramzan Khalidov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times On the morning of September 1, 2004, all seemed normal in Beslan in North Ossetia. This part of the Russian Federation was basically a backwater when it came to international news. However, sadly…
Images of Men and Women in Japanese Woodblock Prints Toshidama Gallery The current exhibition at the Toshidama Gallery shows twenty-four prints of men and women, all of them from the nineteenth century. Immediately obvious is how, despite stylistic and technical development, images of men remain pretty consistent throughout the period; yet women go through a…
US, Feudal Alliance and Syria: Sponsors of ISIS and no Religious Freedom in Saudi Arabia Murad Makhmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times President Obama of America is not only fooling himself, he is trying to fool the entire world. After all, Obama states America will train more sectarian and terrorist forces in the…
Yuzo Saeki and Japanese Art: A Rare Flower Cut Down by Tuberculosis in France 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…
Ukraine’s Collapsing Economy Anthony T. Salvia Director, American Institute in Ukraine AIU American Institute in Ukraine With the ceasefire now in its fourth week, Ukraine commentators are shifting their attention from the military state of affairs to the economic. If the battlefield is largely quiescent, the same cannot be said for the economy, which is…
Italian Fashion and Simonetta Sala: Adorable Designer based in Milan Kanako Itamae and Sarah Deschamps Modern Tokyo Times Simonetta Sala is a very exquisite fashion designer who works in the elegant city of Milan. Italian fashion is known internationally because of the remarkable creativity of major fashion houses based on sublime designers. This reality can…
Zimbabwe: Waiting for the Future International Crisis Group OVERVIEW The July 2013 election victory of the Zimbabwe African National Union-Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) failed to secure broad-based legitimacy for President Robert Mugabe, provide a foundation for fixing the economy, or normalise external relations. A year on, the country faces multiple social and economic problems, spawned by…
Tokyo Times and Kichijoji Lifestyle: Fashion and Living Environment Sarah Deschamps and Kanako Itamae Modern Tokyo Times Tokyo lifestyle provides a wealth of different options that appeal to different individuals. The district of Kichijoji is one of many lovely places to reside in Tokyo. This is based on this delightful area being blessed with a…
Art of Japan and Traditional Fashion: Ito Shinsui and Bijinga Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Ito Shinsui (1898-1972) is a “famous son” of Japanese art because his art is blessed with elegance, sophistication, and serenity. This is equally matched with natural simplicity and adorable color schemes when applied to his images of beautiful ladies…
Taliban Devise New Strategy in Afghanistan: Territorial Control and War on Afghan Intelligence Headquarters Publication: Terrorism Monitor Volume: 12 Issue: 18 By: Waliullah Rahmani The Jamestown Foundation On September 10, 2014, Kunduz province’s police chief, Ghulam Mustafa Mohseni, announced that a longtime Taliban stronghold, the Chahar Dara district of northern Afghanistan, had been cleared of…
Myanmar and Religious Tensions: China, Japan, India and US in Geopolitical Game Ri Kuk-Chol and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The nation of Myanmar (Burma) appears to be at a major crossroads because past intransigence is now being followed by a possible thaw, whereby this nation comes in from the “international cold.” Of course,…
Art of Japan and Rich Influence of China: Tani Buncho Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times In the history books it is stated that Japan in the Edo period was cut off from the outside world but the old ways persisted and certain daimyo maintained aspects of past trade depending on geography. Therefore, culture, ideas,…
Statement on Ebola and Conflict in West Africa International Crisis Group The Ebola health crisis threatens to become a political crisis that could unravel years of effort to stabilise West Africa. The hardest-hit countries now face widespread chaos and, potentially, collapse. Adding social breakdown to the epidemic would create disaster perhaps impossible to manage. To…
Man of Mystery in the World of Japanese Woodblock Prints: Isoda Koryusai Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Isoda Koryusai is a man of mystery even today because much remains up in the air about important aspects of his life. Koryusai was born in 1735 and died in 1790 and he was active during the…
Shared Concerns Over Salafi Extremism Steer Iran and Tajikistan Into Security Agreement Eurasia Daily Monitor Volume: 11 Issue: 166 By: Mark Vinson The Jamestown Foundation On September 11, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani arrived in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, to attend the Shanghai Cooperation Organization’s (SCO) annual summit (Ozodi, September 11). On the sidelines of the summit, Rouhani…
Russia Should Send Covert Operatives to Syria: Chechen, Caucasus Angle and Iran Murad Mahkmudov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times The conflict in Syria continues unabated whereby the supporters of terrorism, sedition and sectarianism fear no international consequences and now the ISIS threat in 2014 is being manipulated by America in order to attack…
Japanese Art and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 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, which is famous for prostitution. Indeed,…
Syrian Brotherhood Stands Nearer to ISIS Than to U.S. by Ravi Kumar IPT News Investigative Project on Terrorism While the United States tries to build a coalition of Arab allies to join the fight against the terrorist group ISIS, now known as the Islamic State, one group which stands to benefit directly is coming out…
Obama and the Syria Agenda: US to Utilize Covert Allies of ISIS via Draconian Saudi Arabia Ramazan Khalidov and Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times President Obama of the United States must be employing many spin-doctors because his policy against tackling the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS – now Islamic State IS) is…
Yorozu Tetsugoro and Art of Japan: Famous Son of Iwate Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yorozu Tetsugoro was born in 1885 and died of tuberculosis in 1927 after severe complications from pneumonia which finally took its toll. Sadly, all too often many artists in this period died very young and the same fate awaited…
Yukio Mishima: Nationalist, Genius and the Perfect Death Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yukio Mishima states: “If we value so highly the dignity of life, how can we not also value the dignity of death? No death may be called futile.” This comment is poignant because for many people who have never read Mishima,…
Iran’s Two-Pronged Problem with the Islamic State: At Home and Abroad By: Alex Vatanka The Jamestown Foundation Executive Summary The authorities in Iran consider the Islamic State to pose two different kinds of threats to Iranian regional interests and domestic stability. On the one hand, the rise of the Islamic State in Syria and in…
Yumeji Takehisa and Japanese Art: Taisho Romanticism and Shadow of Shusui Kotoku Lee Jay Walker Modern Tokyo Times Yumeji Takehisa produced many stunning pieces of art but he never received the international acclaim that he fully deserved during his lifetime. He was born in 1884 and passed away in 1934 because of illness. Indeed, the…
Ebola Deaths Keep on Mounting: Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone Noriko Watanabe and Paul Joseph Nzeribe Modern Tokyo Times The Ebola crisis is showing few signs of abating therefore with each new passing day more people are dying in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Other nations, like Nigeria, have also witnessed deaths but on a dramatically…
