The artwork above appeared in the cover of the April 2020 issue of the Number 1 Shimbun, the monthly magazine of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. Weeks after it first appeared, the Tokyo Olympic Organising Committee demanded that it be withdrawn from public circulation.
Immediately after the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake, many began to imagine a physically and conceptually transformed Tokyo. While we may be nowhere near the end of the slow-motion train wreck that is Covid-19, imagining a post-pandemic Japanese society that can benefit citizens is the beginning of revitalization, and hopefully, a more substantial set of transformations.
This SNA Speakeasy features Lawrence Repeta on the theme of “Emergency Powers and the Constitution.”
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.
A roundup of the most significant news stories from Japan reported in the first half of May 2020.
Two recent incidents reveal of the long road ahead for transitional justice to be achieved in Taiwan.
This SNA Speakeasy features Sara Gomez Armas on the theme of “The News Media Under Duterte.”
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.
His reputation has grown along with the bags under his eyes. Taiwan’s hardworking health minister is now the country’s most popular man.
This SNA Speakeasy features Azby Brown on the theme of “Interrogating Japan’s Covid-19 Data.”