Today in Japan (12.31.17)
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on December 31, 2017.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported on December 31, 2017.
Japanese anti-racism activists hold memorial at Shibuya Crossing in Tokyo for Heather Heyer, the victim of a deadly attack in Charlottesville.
Livestreaming via Periscope of a protest against Shibuya city’s eviction of homeless people from Miyashita Park, done as part of an urban renewal project associated with the 2020 Olympics.
Protesters march as part of Black Lives Matter movement in Tokyo on August 6, 2016.
The Japan Islamic Trust purchases land in Chiba Prefecture to begin construction of a new mosque to serve the local community.
Host Michael Penn interviews journalist and book author Tim Hornyak and learns about the development and purposes of drones.
Tokyo’s LGBT community marched in the annual Tokyo Rainbow Pride on April 26 to raise awareness for social acceptance. The estimated three thousand participants in the parade departed from Yoyogi Park and traversed various parts of Shibuya Ward. This year they not only celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Tokyo pride events, but also the passing of a same-sex partnership registration ordinance in Shibuya Ward in March
For seventeen years a private aid group has been feeding the homeless of Shibuya Ward during the winter holiday period when city services are otherwise unavailable. In the early years, about one hundred homeless would show up and participate, but in recent years that number has swelled to about two hundred, according to the organizers.
Shibuya is one of Japan’s most iconic locations.
Once described as the oldest form of masked theatre in the world, Noh has a history that stretches back in current form to the 14th and 15th centuries; even earlier if you consider its predecessors. As is, however, modern Japanese Noh is an almost exclusively male discipline of theatre in which actors never rehearse together, but rather come together as well-practiced individuals on the day a play is to be performed, to engage in what is essentially a one-off event.