Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Aug 8, 2018
The incoherent, divisive dogma of cultural appropriation outrage
by Shaun O'dwyer
Clueless online crusaders risk doing real harm to the very cultures they claim to represent
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Jul 4, 2018
Until real change is achieved, LGBTQ people in Japan have no reason to be grateful
by Trevor Campbell
When the first same-sex partnership was recognized in Shibuya in 2015, the mayor called it "a first step." So why, nearly three years later, are we still taking first steps?
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Jun 6, 2018
Fans of Japan and East Asia are reinventing Orientalism with a friendlier face
by Andreas Neuenkirchen
The Western entertainment industry presents a distorted image of Asia. But it also inspires hordes of fans to learn more.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA May 23, 2018
by Damian Flanagan
Can the success of Alex Ferguson's 'kids' and Arsene Wenger's 'Invincibles' be linked to Buddhist philosophy? It's worth a try.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Apr 11, 2018
Pick up a secondhand book in Japan and unearth a mystery
by Mark Gottlieb
Perhaps the greatest pleasure to be derived from shopping at secondhand book stores in Japan comes from never knowing what might turn up between their pages.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Mar 14, 2018
The Japanese lessons of a 'plastic Paddy'
by Damian Flanagan
A Briton of Irish stock finds the "Irishness" he seeks not on the Emerald Isle itself but in the expat pubs of his adopted land.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Mar 11, 2018
A shooting at my school, Florida's Douglas High, viewed from afar in Japan but still so close
by Melissa Uchiyama
The rest of the world cannot understand America's problem with guns. This hit home for me when yet another school shooting occurred at my alma mater in Parkland, Florida.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Mar 7, 2018
by David Caprara
When it comes to thinking of the role that they themselves should play in Japan, many progressive expats are actually more in line with the Tiki-torch-carrying nationalists back home than against them.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Jan 14, 2018
Japan still has much to learn from Martin Luther King's nonviolent struggle
by Patrick Parr
Could Dr. King's nonviolent methods work in Japan, a country with a completely different relationship between government and citizen than in America?
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Dec 6, 2017
Looking back at 2017's Trump-triggered resurgence in American activism in Japan
by Sarajean Rossitto
The Women of the World March in January that brought hundreds onto the streets of Tokyo was the highlight of a year of action.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Dec 6, 2017
In Japan, rarefied manners abound but courtesy is less common
by Mark Gottlieb
Japanese manners are often remarked upon with awe and wonder by visitors, but you seldom hear a word about Japanese courtesy.
Voices | FOREIGN AGENDA Nov 26, 2017
Japan is seen through a lens warily in 'You Only Live Twice,' James Bond's sole sojourn to Tokyo
by Philip Patrick
Beyond the kitsch, this 50-year-old film speaks volumes about how the West viewed a resurgent nation.