Miki Dezaki’s Documentary on ‘Comfort Women’ Debate Now Streaming
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Filmmaker Miki Dezaki, a second-generation Japanese American who learned about “comfort women” from his Japanese immigrant parents, has questioned why accounts in the Western media have often sided with the nationalists.
His latest documentary, “Shusenjo: Comfort Women and Japan’s War on History,” is a deep dive into this impassioned subject, bringing to light the hidden intentions of the supporters and detractors of Korean women who were used as sexual objects for Japanese soldiers during World War II.
Monuments dedicated to comfort women have been a source of controversy in the U.S. and other countries.
Love-Hate Relationships: The Divergent US Perceptions of Japan and China
A pervasive pro-Japan bias in the U.S. has blinded Americans to the dangers of Japan’s far-right leaders – and reinforced enmity with China.
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January 20, 2021
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An acquaintance of mine lamented recently that some new friends of hers were palpably disappointed when they were told that she was “half-Chinese.” Their words to her were to this effect: “Oh, I thought you were half-Japanese. I like the Japanese.” In this small but intriguing exchange between individuals, we gain some insight into how public attitudes toward cultures and societies are influenced by geopolitics. Since the end of World War II, and with the exception of the 1980s when Japan’s economic rise was seen as a threat, the American public has on the whole maintained a highly positive view of Japan’s culture, politics, and society. On the contrary, the public perception of China has beco
Why No One Lives In These Uninhabited Places Shutterstock
By Sarah Crocker/Jan. 20, 2021 11:18 am EDT
Sometimes, it seems as if our species has fully colonized all of planet Earth, from one pole to another. Sure, a few spots are a little tough to live in fulltime, like Antarctica s McMurdo station or remote islands like Tristan da Cunha, but there are a brave few that live in these places anyway. What can defeat us, after all?
Turns out, quite a lot. Though the worldwide human population now stands at over 7.5 billion (as of 2019), according to the Population Reference Bureau, many of us are packed into urban and suburbans settlements. The United Nations expects that more and more humans will move into cities and towns in the future, leaving rural areas increasingly uninhabited.
Book about POW camps in Taiwan during WWII launched
01/14/2021 02:39 PM
Michael Hurst (left). CNA Photo.
Taipei, Jan. 14 (CNA) Never Forgotten, a new book that tells the story of the Japanese prisoner of war (POW) camps in Taiwan during the Second World War, was recently published in Taipei.
According to the website of the Taiwan POW Camps Memorial Society (TPCMS), the 620-page book is a product of 24 years of research and more than three years of writing.
It is illustrated with 850 photos, drawings and other historical materials, many of them provided by the surviving POWs or their families.
At the book launch held in Taipei Jan 9, Michael Hurst, director of TPCMS and author of the book, said he decided to write the book in 1996 after learning about the notorious POW camp in Jinguashi, a mountainous district in northern Taiwan.