Visible Minorities: Tokyo 2020 Olympics Postmortem
The Tokyo 2020 Olympics are now past. This is a postmortem.
Farhadi a Film Director, Not a Hero
When Iranian director Ashgar Farhadi was awarded the Grand Prix at this year’s Cannes Film Festival for his new film A Hero, many regime opponents expected him to use the media spotlight to denounce the Islamic Republic. What he actually had to say, however, disappointed their expectations.
Australian Leader Still Crazy About Coal
The climate crisis has forced most nations to accelerate their clean energy transitions. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report released this week underlined the urgency. However, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison has never moved off his position that his nation’s coal industry will remain in place for decades to come.
Beijing Olympics Facing Potential Boycott
As the tumultuous and controversial Tokyo Olympics came to an end, the world set its eyes on Beijing, where the Winter Olympics is to be held in just six months. The 2022 Games could become even more contentious than the event which just closed.
Toyota Called Out for Funding “Sedition” in the United States
The Toyota Motor Company recently found itself in the political hot seat after it emerged that it was the No. 1 financial donor to US Republican politicians who had refused to certify the 2020 election victory of Joe Biden.
From Red to Gold in the Philippines
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz is being revered as the Philippines’ first Olympic gold medalist, but it has only been two years since she found her name “red-tagged,” or blacklisted, by the Duterte regime.
Japanese Students Taught Lesson in State Repression
On June 24, about 140 police officers, including the riot police unit, conducted a raid on a student dormitory at Kyoto University, ostensibly to investigate an individual who had filled out an application for a driver’s license extension with a false address.
NDI Warns of Japan Risk from US-China War
New Diplomacy Initiative (NDI), Japan’s only progressive think tank, has issued its latest report on Japanese foreign and domestic affairs, and the challenges the world faces in the coming decades.
Anti-Vax Olympians Sending Unwelcome Message
For most of the world, the Olympic Games serve as a point for celebration and national unity. This time, however, many Japanese are gripped by worries about how the Games may serve to intensify the pandemic, and the fact that some of these athletes are promoting anti-vaccination ideology only deepens these concerns.
The Olympics as a Nationalist Loyalty Test
Sports fans around the planet are beginning to sit around their televisions to watch the world’s greatest athletes compete head-to-head in Japan’s capital. However, as the Olympic Games launch, the linkages between this international sports event and nationalism must be discussed, especially in the context of promoting a vibrant culture of democracy.