Couple of quick notes from across the sea…today is National Foundation Day in Japan. Calculations derived from the Kojiki and the Nihon Shoki date the beginning of the Japanese imperial line and the founding of the Japanese nation to February 13, 661 B.C.E., with the Emperor Jimmu getting the credit for both occasions. While the early [...]
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On this date in 1979, Vietnamese forces ousted Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot, ending the Cambodian leader’s three-year grip on power. From 1975 to 1979 between 1.5 and 3 million people died in Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge reign of terror. The Khmer Rouge government of Pol Pot enjoyed considerable economic, military, and political assistance from [...] Following up on yesterday’s post about the Japanese Supreme Court hearing two cases involving forced labor and forced prostitution. In a ruling early yesterday, the court overturned a lower court ruling awarding five laborers compensation for forced labor on Japanese construction sites. Late Friday afternoon, the court denied two Chinese women compensation despite their claims [...] Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, seeking to shore up his crumbling base domestically, ripped open old wounds by publicly questioning the accounts of thousands of women forced to work as sex slaves by the Japanese army during World War II. Abe suggested that “no historical proof exisisted” that these women had been coerced [...] What a horrible euphemism: “comfort women.” Just needed to be said. A recent article by Howard French in the IHT’s Letter from China series begins: Why would they [...] Chow Yun-fat is starring in the third installment of Pirates of the Caribbean as Chinese pirate Sao Feng. (Whose name refers to the classical Chinese poem: “The Asian market, he whispered/at a board meeting for Disney/how best to capture it/hire a Chinese guy/said the marketing rep softly.”) Piracy in China has a long, [...] Interesting weekend for Japanese history: December 23 is a public holiday in Japan to celebrate the official birthday of the reigning emperor, Akihito. Akihito used the occasion of his 73rd birthday today to remind Japanese not to forget the lessons of World War II nor forget those who [...] Today is the 69th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre (“Rape of Nanking”). Perhaps no other event in the Pacific Theater of World War II has been more controversial. Japanese accounts figure as few as 100,000 non-combatants were killed and there are those still in Japan, and elsewhere, who deny the incident ever took place. Contemporary Western [...] I’ve been to Paris, it certainly has its moments. The French love their intellectuals, can’t pick up after their dogs, and can speak without the slightest trace of irony about ‘race relations in America’ whilst their suburbs burn in rings around their cities. (Anyone else notice how so many French suggest that the Blacks and Arabs [...] Some random notes courtesy of the History News Network: A recent study shows important DNA and linguistic links between the native peoples of Taiwan and those of the Pacific Islands. “The 12 original tribes of Taiwan are Austronesian by language and culture, as are the great majority of the island peoples who settled the Pacific islands. Since [...] In the news on Wednesday: The French government is seriously considering a ban on smoking in public places–including restaurants and bars–to take effect as early as next year. Some French seem resigned to it, others are annoyed that they won’t be able to continue their unbridled support for large, greedy, American tobacco corporations. (Je deteste le capitalisme [...] It’s official. Yesterday Shinzo Abe beat Taro Aso by a landslide to become the next leader of Japan’s ruling Liberal-Democratic Party, all but assuring Abe of the PM post when elections are held next week. A conservative by blood, as prime minister Shinzo Abe will likely look to strengthen ties with the US, take a harder [...] |
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