bsmall2Jan 4

> ... Ito has seen off all of the legal challenges launched against her and is one of the few people who can claim to have permanently changed the debate in Japan on sexual assault. Her case was a catalyst for revisions to Japan’s rape laws in 2023, which redefined rape to focus on non-consensual acts.  By any definition, she has answered her critics. 

https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/matter-survival-0
#DavidMcNeil with #ShioriIto #IsokoMochizuki

A matter of survival | FCCJ

January 2026 | Black Box Diaries Shiori Ito answers her critics at bad-tempered Black Box Diaries screening Shiori Ito at the FCCJ in December

bsmall2Dec 2
> Tomomi Akasaka of Kyodo News is among several journalists who have complained about being harassed after covering hate speech against Kurds in Saitama Prefecture. Japan’s small Kurdish community, clustered in the cities of Kawaguchi and Warabi, have been targeted by rightwing groups seeking their expulsion. Reporters who cover the story can often expect a tsunami of abuse.
https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/trolling-votes
#DavidMcNeil #JapanesePressBashing
Trolling for votes | FCCJ

December 2025 Japanese journalists face routine harassment and intimidation.

bsmall2Nov 25
> Takaichi was citing a legal principle established in 2015, that Japan is authorised to dispatch its Self-Defence Forces (SDF) during an armed attack against a foreign country that is in a close relationship with Japan.
> If US military forces were, for example, trying to break a Chinese naval blockade of Taiwan, the SDF could be sent to help.
Discussion has raged since on whether such a scenario actually threatens Japan’s survival.
https://www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-pacific/2025/11/24/japans-iron-lady-weathers-diplomatic-storm-with-china-but-choppy-waters-lie-ahead/
#DavidMcNeil #JapanAmdTaiwan #JapanAndChina
Japan’s ‘Iron Lady’ weathers diplomatic storm with China - but choppy waters lie ahead

China may be taking advantage of wavering US commitment to defend Taiwan in its spat with Japan

The Irish Times
bsmall2Nov 7
> Death row inmates in Japanese jails are kept in solitary confinement and forced to wait for years, and sometimes decades, while the legal system grinds on. A prison rule that inmates cannot be told of their execution until the morning it happens means they live every day believing it will be their last.
https://www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-pacific/2025/11/06/japans-death-penalty-in-the-spotlight-after-inmate-freed-from-decades-on-death-row/
#DeathPenalty #DeathPenaltyJapan #DavidMcNeil #死刑　#日本死刑
Japan’s death penalty in the spotlight after inmate freed from decades on death row

Experts gather in Tokyo this weekend to push for abolition of the death penalty in Asia

The Irish Times
bsmall2Oct 29

> Reading the letter aloud to journalists in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic centre, he jokingly called it a “rather curious love letter from an embassy”, while telling any organisations hoping to invite him to the United States “not to waste their time”.
“I have no visa. I am banned,” Soyinka said.
The US embassy in Abuja, the capital, said it could not comment on individual cases, citing confidentiality rules.

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/28/wole-soyinka-nobel-us-visa-trump
#WoleSoyinka #SoyinkaAndTrump #IdiAmin #SoyinkaVisa #SoyinkaBanned
/HT #DavidMcNeil FB

Wole Soyinka, Nigerian Nobel laureate and Trump critic, says US visa revoked

Soyinka, 91, who recently compared US president to Idi Amin, says ‘I have no visa – I am banned’

The Guardian
bsmall2Oct 5
> ... Takaichi won the leadership with votes from party members and lawmakers, representing less than 0.24 per cent of the population.
https://www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-pacific/2025/10/05/japans-next-prime-minister-an-iron-lady-and-the-myth-that-helped-her-win/
#DavidMcNeil #SanaeTakaIchi #TakaIchiSanae #JapanPol
Japan’s next prime minister: an Iron Lady - and the myth that helped her win

Right-wing Sanae Takaichi set to be Japan’s first female premier

The Irish Times
bsmall2Oct 2

> This initial transgression is disclosed by whistleblowers or investigative journalists. The transgression must be denounced by the public once it is framed by the media. “If the public doesn’t feel anger, there is no scandal,” Prusa explained. The final act, he said, is sanctions for the transgressor. “Punishment means loss of face, position and status”, which is “very important in Japan”.

https://www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shimbun-article/victim-blaming
#DavidMcNeil #ScandalJapan

Victim blaming | FCCJ

October 2025 A string of celebrity scandals has exposed the misogyny at the heart of Japan’s media and entertainment industries Igor Prusa speaks at the FC

bs2Nov 16, 2021
> My first trip to #Japan ... was linguistics, purely, though on my own I met with people from #Beheiren (Citizen’s League for Peace in Vietnam). I’ve returned a number of times since, always to study linguistics. I was quite struck by the fact that Japan is the only country I visited — and there were many — where talks and interviews focused solely on #linguistics and related matters, even while the world was burning. #Chomsky #DavidMcNeil #JapanTimes
- https://chomsky.info/20140222/
Noam Chomsky: Truth to power | Noam Chomsky interviewed by David McNeill

The Noam Chomsky Website.