Miyavi is on a mission to change Japan's tune on refugees
In his lesser-known role as a refugee advocate, Miyavi, aka the samurai guitarist, asks that people look beyond the headline numbers before declaring Japan unwelcoming to asylum-seekers. Despite Japan taking in only 42 refugees in 2018 — accepting less than 1 percent of applicants — ...
The U.N. Security Council is considering action to push Myanmar to work with the United Nations to address the Rohingya refugee crisis, although China and Russia have so far boycotted talks on a British-drafted resolution, diplomats said Monday. The draft resolution aims to put a ...
Nagoya High Court overturns rejection of Ugandan woman's refugee status
A high court in Nagoya on Thursday authorized refugee status for a 41-year-old Ugandan woman, overturning a lower court ruling that upheld the government's rejection of her claim. The Nagoya High Court recognized that the woman was warned to stop participating in political activities by ...
Introducing the complex refugee experience to Japan
The plight of refugees is dauntingly hard to comprehend for the majority of Japanese who have been brought up believing they live in a racially homogeneous nation. (Let's reserve the falseness of this belief for another story.) Eri Ishikawa, chair of the board of the ...
Manga artist Hasumi stirs outrage again with new book slammed as racist
After gaining the spotlight at home and abroad a few months ago over a controversial manga illustration denigrating a Syrian refugee girl, artist Toshiko Hasumi seemingly remains unrepentant. On Monday, anti-racism campaigners criticized the release of Hasumi's latest book featuring a series of what they ...
It's a small world, with no respect for islands
To what extent are your problems my problems? To what extent are Syria's troubles Japan's? To no extent at all, judging by the paltry number of refugees Japan admits. Europe, of course, is engulfed. But that's Europe's problem. Is it still possible to think that way? ...
Refugee Film Festival comes as world's eyes are on crisis
Last month, a heartbreaking photograph of 3-year-old Alan Kurdi's dead body washing up on the shore of Turkey was published by media outlets worldwide. He had fled his home in war-torn Syria with his mother, brother and father. Only his father survived the journey. Alan ...
Former child soldier and refugee Ger Duany finds a future in Hollywood
Ger Duany was only 13 years old when he became a child soldier in his home country of what is now South Sudan. Spending his childhood living in constant fear of being killed, he did what he had to — he picked up a ...
