Baye McNeil - The Japan Times

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Baye McNeil

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

May 15, 2016

Laid-back baker finds luck and love in Tokyo

Once shunned by his in-laws because of his race, father of four hopes to change minds in Japan, little by little.

Japan Times

CULTURE / Music

May 8, 2016

Soul music's icons bow down to King

In 2011, consummate music curator Questlove tweeted how impressed he was by the debut EP from Minneapolis-based soul trio King. And according to its members — twin sisters Paris and Amber Strother and their friend Anita Bias — the compliment took them from obscurity to fame "overnight."

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Mar 20, 2016

Playwright brings voices of America's enslaved to the Tokyo stage

Follow-up show to an upcoming Huck Finn musical grapples with how to strike a balance between relating the true horror of slavery and telling the whole story.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives

Feb 21, 2016

In Japan, don't just celebrate black history, be black history

There are a number of annual celebrations of Black History Month here in Japan. I've attended dozens of them over the years. Have even spoken at several, and in fact will be speaking at one later this month. And more often than not, I'll be asked the question, "Why?"

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Jan 17, 2016

'Being black can be more fun than being gay'

A look at the experience of two black men in the LGBT community in Tokyo, a 'minority of a minority of a minority.'

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Dec 20, 2015

Celebrating success with catfish and cupcakes

A look at two power couples of African descent who have focused their skills, talents and wherewithal on introducing tastes of the West to Eastern palates.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Nov 22, 2015

Bring back that Kobe feeling, 'cause it's gone, gone, gone

From the moment I stepped off the shinkansen at Shin-Kobe Station, I could feel a subtle difference between the Yokohama-Tokyo area and this city.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Oct 18, 2015

Dan teaches us how to be 'the man' in Japan

Every time I turn around, it seems, people are always asking me, "Do you know Dan Smith?" Or, they'll assume I already know him — what with his being black, working in the media and living in Japan for, like, forever and all. Sometimes I nod that I do, sometimes I even front like I know him ("Oh yeah,...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Sep 20, 2015

'Don't sell your soul for a Japanese man'

Having overcome isolation and a loss of self-confidence in Japan, one American mother now finds herself doling out advice to women seeking Asian men.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Aug 23, 2015

'Are you serious, God? An Asian dude? Really?'

When I approached Tara Kamiya — a 38-year-old housewife, mother of three biracial kids and self-professed workforce dodger — about being interviewed for this story, explaining to her the goal not only of this series (about black women and their Japanese guys) but of Black Eye as a whole, she was...

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Jul 19, 2015

Women of color bound to Japan by love and family

Part 1 of a series looking at the black women who have taken vows binding their fates — and sometimes that of their children — to Japan, for better or for worse.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Jun 21, 2015

One year in, issues and inspiration are still driving Black Eye

Last week's killings in Charleston show that ignorance and fear over race are still driving people to violent extremes.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

May 17, 2015

Black filmmakers 'find their edge' in Japan

This month's green-tinged Black Eye focuses on black filmmakers in Tokyo — a group of brothers forging their dreams into reality, getting it done here in the Land of the Rising Sun.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / BLACK EYE

Apr 19, 2015

Meeting Miss Universe Japan, the 'half' who has it all

Progress occurs when people of substance assume the mantle of leadership, and it appears Ariana Miyamoto is equal to the task.

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Mar 18, 2015

From a minstrel no-show to a black beauty queen, in a week

From preventing a blackface TV broadcast to the nation embracing a black face as the embodiment of Japanese beauty, it's been quite a week.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Feb 18, 2015

Time to shut down this modern-day minstrel show

If Fuji TV airs the modern-day minstrel show it has planned for next month, it will shine a national spotlight on Japan's extreme ignorance about issues of race and discrimination.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives

Feb 1, 2015

Bringing a 'cesspool to sushiland' life to the stage

"Coming to Japan was the best decision I've ever made," says Stefhen Bryan, loud and enthusiastically, contrasting with the frown he was making a moment earlier at the miso-flavored ramen he'd ordered and just tasted. "Should've gotten the salt-flavored."

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Jan 14, 2015

African-American community gets a voice in Tokyo

The African American Youth Travel Program NPO, which organized a recent demonstration in Tokyo in response to the Ferguson case, brings black U.S. youths to Japan to broaden their horizons.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Dec 17, 2014

Japan and others gain from Jamaican brain drain

In the last part of this series on Jamaicans in Japan, Baye McNeil speaks to a teacher, author and poet in Yokohama and an attorney in Tokyo.

Japan Times

COMMUNITY / Our Lives / BLACK EYE

Nov 28, 2014

A world away from Ferguson but feeling the flames

I went through an entire day in Yokohama without a single person mentioning that my country was on fire. Of course, they knew, but what could they have said, anyway?

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.

Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.

By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

Smile! It’s ‘Sanrio Time,’ now and ever after

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