From early morning, and under cloudy skies, on August 15th, the 72nd anniversary of the end of World War II, visitors continued to gather at the Yasukuni Shrine grounds in Kudankita, Tokyo. Ahead of the 6 am opening, more than 200 people had queued up in front of the shrine gates, which were embossed […]
It has been four decades at least since dozens of Japanese citizens were abducted by North Korean state agents in Japan, yet the problem has yet to be resolved, anything bold and significant yet to be done by the government to get them back home. What can—and should—be done, immediately? Kyoko Nakayama, […]
Megumi(center) had happy time travelling to Hiroshima with her parents Shigeru and Sakie Yokota, and her little brothers Takuya and Tetsuya. Hello, Megumi. Summer has come in Japan. It is greener and greener by the day. Your favorite flowers are in bloom all over. Megumi, we remember you with such fondness! […]
The reporters were invited to Fukushima Daiichi to observe the decommissioning process of the plant on June 21, 2017. What would be the impact on Japan of a nuclear accident in Korea? That was the subject of a frightening article in a Japanese newspaper published on May 21st this year. The […]
In July 1937, Amelia Earhart, American aviator lionized for her bravery, and navigator Frederick Noonan left New Guinea, then a territory of Australia, for the tiny United States-owned outpost of Howland Island. The two were attempting to fly around the world and were in the middle of the most perilous leg of their journey: the island-hopping […]
(Last of 3 Parts) Part 1: Lie Debunked: Historical Data Show No Forced Labor for Koreans Part 2: Forced Labor Propaganda: When You’ve Got No Historical Facts, Use Fake Graffiti On April 4, Lee Soon-deok, the oldest living former comfort woman, died of old age at a hospital in Seoul. She was […]
(Second of 3 Parts) Part 1: Lie Debunked: Historical Data Show No Forced Labor for Koreans On February 8, South Korean MBC TV’s Evening News program aired a special report on the Hashima coal mine, known as Gunkanjima, in Japan’s Nagasaki Prefecture. The broadcast was intended to refute the Sankei […]
(First of 3 Parts) There is a widely accepted view in Korea that, under Japanese rule, mobilized Koreans were made to work like “slaves” in poor conditions at domestic coal mines and elsewhere. They were paid little to nothing. There are sectors in the international community that compare it with the forced […]
Since it was given World Heritage Status by UNESCO in 2015, “Battleship Island” (Hashima) in Nagasaki has been a focal point of the anti-Japanese movement in Korea, connecting it to the conscription of Korean laborers during the Pacific War. It is getting attention once again in Korea. It was discovered that to […]
(Last of 4 parts) Part 1: Comfort Woman Statues: A War Against the US, Not Japan Part 2: Comfort Women Issue: Why Do the Japanese Keep Apologizing? Part 3: Americans, Comfort Women Myth Makers from Asia Think We’re Too Naive Getting Down to Business: Statues about Politics, Power, and Money Talking with […]
(Third of 4 parts) Part 1: Comfort Woman Statues: A War Against the US, Not Japan Part 2: Comfort Women Issue: Why Do the Japanese Keep Apologizing? I have discussed the what and the how of the comfort women system, but what about the why? Why do military forces prefer to have designated […]
(Second of 4 parts) Part 1: Comfort Woman Statues: A War Against the US, Not Japan Believe it or not, American Southerners find some commonalties with Japanese culture. This is important. I understand Southern culture. Much of my family was from North Florida, South Georgia, and Oklahoma. We would swim in […]
