Speakeasy: Emergency Powers and the Constitution
This SNA Speakeasy features Lawrence Repeta on the theme of “Emergency Powers and the Constitution.”
Monthly Archives: May 2020
Visible Minorities: The Guestists and the Collaborators
We shouldn’t wait for the government to deign to divvy out what it thinks foreigners want, as if it’s the omotenashi (hospitality) Japan offers any guest. Instead, NJ residents should be telling the government what they want, on their terms.
Softening the Soft Lockdown
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of May 2020.
The Challenges of Transitional Justice in Taiwan
Two recent incidents reveal of the long road ahead for transitional justice to be achieved in Taiwan.
Speakeasy: The News Media Under Duterte
This SNA Speakeasy features Sara Gomez Armas on the theme of “The News Media Under Duterte.”
Japan’s Covid-19 Subsidy and Relief Programs for SMEs
Covid-19 has thrown the global economy into disarray. People have been forced to stay home, and businesses to stay closed, with little idea of when normal activity will resume. The government of Japan, in order to mitigate the virus’ impact on the economy, has proposed multiple measures to help workers and small and medium enterprises.
Taiwan’s Health Minister: The Hero With Bags Under His Eyes
His reputation has grown along with the bags under his eyes. Taiwan’s hardworking health minister is now the country’s most popular man.
Speakeasy: Interrogating Japan’s Covid-19 Data
This SNA Speakeasy features Azby Brown on the theme of “Interrogating Japan’s Covid-19 Data.”
Misreporting, Bias, and Fake News
Defense Minister Taro Kono’s denunciation of NHK and the mainstream news media as “fake news” for reporting that his ministry had decided to give up the Araya Training Area in Akita city as host for an Aegis Ashore facility was a cynical ploy on his part, but it did highlight once again that many people misunderstand the news media in rather fundamental ways.
Future and the Arts: AI, Robotics, Cities, Life
This exhibition at the Mori Art Museum in Tokyo, held from November 2019 to March 2020, featured more than a hundred projects, and provided a window from which to contemplate the changes that are developing right now due to the advances in AI, biotechnology, robotics, and AR.
