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Hannah Beech
For Hannah Beech's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
A tourist poses for a photograph under signs for karaoke nightclubs in the Mong Kok district of Hong Kong. The government crackdown on neon signs stems from safety and environmental concerns, but the campaign evokes the fading of the city itself.
ASIA PACIFIC / Society
Dec 11, 2023
Where did all the Hong Kong neon go?
A government crackdown on neon signs stems from safety and environmental concerns, but the campaign evokes the fading of the city itself.
U Moe Zaw Oo, the deputy foreign minister of the National Unity Government of Myanmar, a shadow government seeking recognition as the legitimate leadership of the country, at the group’s headquarters in Washington on July 17
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Nov 13, 2023
Fighting to govern Myanmar, from a teeny office in Washington
The U.S. capital attracts political refugees from all over the world who hope proximity to power will draw attention to their national plights.
A boat piloted by a Philippine fisherman is intercepted by Chinese coast guard boats as they tried to enter the Scarborough Shoal in disputed waters of the South China Sea.
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Sep 25, 2023
With bullhorns and water cannons, Chinese ships wall off the sea
The world’s most brazen maritime militarization is gaining muscle in the South China Sea, waters through which one-third of global ocean trade passes.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 2, 2022
For China’s Xi and other strongmen, Gorbachev showed exactly what not to do
This lesson has been taken most to heart in China, where Xi Jinping is expected to be anointed to a third term as the countryu2019s top leader during a Communist Party congress this fall.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 31, 2022
Driven from city life to jungle insurgency
More than a year after Myanmaru2019s military seized full control in a coup, the country is at war, with some unlikely combatants in the fray.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 17, 2022
‘They don’t know about war’: The legacy of forgotten horrors
On Cambodian soil still stained by the legacy of genocide and crimes against humanity, new blights have taken root: kleptocratic rulers, runaway corruption and a chasm of inequality.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 14, 2022
On Pacific islands COVID-19 once spared, an outbreak accentuates inequality
Serious coronavirus infections have disproportionately affected New Caledonians of Pacific Island descent, highlighting social inequalities in the territory.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 25, 2021
Worldly, charming and quietly equipping a brutal military
An investigation of Myanmar's Kyaw Thaung family exposes a vast web of military procurement that was strategically hidden from the public.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 7, 2021
In Qatar, the Olympic team (like much else) is mostly imported
Armed with cash, coaches and state-of-the-art training facilities, Qatar has been trying to assemble an athletic force worthy of the host of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 5, 2021
Why India struggles to win Olympic gold
The government has overhauled an athletic system that was once underfunded and corrupt, but the pressure to perform weighs on competitors.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Aug 3, 2021
One sport has gifted Indonesia all its Olympic golds. The streak continues in Tokyo.
A womenu2019s doubles badminton victory was the first gold for Indonesia in Tokyo and the eighth in the countryu2019s Olympic history.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 31, 2021
Olympic success gives Hong Kong an emotional lift in hard times
As China clamps down on its civil and political rights, Hong Kong is finding solace and hope in its best-ever Olympic showing.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 30, 2021
The Chinese sports machine’s single goal: the most golds, at any cost
China relies on a system that puts tens of thousands of children in government-run training schools. Many are funneled into less prominent sports that Beijing hopes to dominate.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Jul 27, 2021
Weightlifter makes history, securing the Philippines' first Olympic gold medal
Hidilyn Diaz broke the country's nearly century-long drought by capturing a gold in the womenu2019s 55-kilogram division while setting two Olympic records.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
May 1, 2021
‘Now we are united’: Myanmar’s ethnic divisions soften after coup
Amid the resistance to military rule, some are saying that democracy canu2019t flourish without respecting the minorities that have been persecuted for decades.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 29, 2021
Inside Myanmar’s army: ‘They see protesters as criminals’
Four officers spoke about life in the feared Tatmadaw, which has turned its guns on civilians again. u201cThe Tatmadaw is the only worldu201d for most soldiers, one said.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Mar 7, 2021
After coup in Myanmar, a career diplomat takes a stand
In Myanmar embassies around the world, diplomats are struggling with whether to represent a military that has locked up their elected leaders.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Feb 24, 2021
A digital firewall in Myanmar, built with guns and wire cutters
The military has repeatedly shut off the internet, isolating a country that had only in the past few years linked to the outside world.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC
Dec 21, 2020
A company made gloves for the world. Now its workers have the virus.
Top Glove's low-paid workers in Malaysia began to suffer from a ferocious outbreak of COVID-19, the result of its own inadequate protections, critics say.
Japan Times
ASIA PACIFIC / Politics
Dec 1, 2020
‘Trump Is Better’: In Asia, pro-democracy forces worry about Biden
Some pro-democracy campaigners in Asia are drawn to Trumpu2019s willingness to flout diplomatic protocol, abandon international accords and keep his opponents off-balance.

Longform

A statue of "Dragon Ball" character Goku stands outside the offices of Bandai Namco in Tokyo. The figure is now as recognizable as such characters as Mickey Mouse and Spider-Man.
Akira Toriyama's gift to the world