Met a #SEAsian in Japan who uses an abbreviation to mask their clearly Islamic name.

I certainly know Indians who hide their family names to avoid caste discrimination (or, in some cases, to hide their association as an upper-caste).

I know that #Japanese people don't perceive Islam as positively as many do Hinduism, unfortunately, and perhaps, they had good reasons to change their name here.

Some fascinating data on #tourism in #Japan

Only 1-2% of #US, #Europe and #Australia visitors stay outside major metro areas (#Kyoto, #Osaka and #Tokyo)

For Asian (#Taiwan, #Korea, #HongKong #SEAsian tourists? 20-40%.

Interesting, according to this data, #Chinese tourists act more like #westerners than Asians.

The worst type of #tourist in #Japan are the westerners who complain about #Chinese tourists (quite often, actually #Taiwanese, #Korean or #SEAsian but they don't know or care to tell the difference) and don't realize that it's actually them who are the most annoying.

I see way more bad or stupid behavior, especially in #Kyoto, from western tourists than Asian tourists.

Here are the details on another amazing #BigBadOnline2024 panel with @tanshaohan and @curiouschimeras!

Join them as they we provide some #SEAsian perspective that aren't the "Western" experiences of culture! #RepresentationMatters

https://www.bigbadcon.com/events/some-seasian-perspectives-working-with-culture-and-heritage-in-game-design/

Euphemisms in a #climate talk - in one #SEAsian country, "anti-corruption" drive is creating "policy uncertainty" that harms progress on the #energytransition.

Of course, the "anti-corruption" drive they are referring to is the arbitrary arrest of environmentalist and human right defenders by an increasingly #authoritarian government.

#ContextMatters

Observations on food in #Taiwan.

- So many great vegetarian options compared to Japan.
- At the same time. nearly no #Indian/South Asian restaurants - whereas so many in #Japan. Why is that? Lack of diaspora or lack of interest?
- Despite the large #SEAsian diaspora, very few #Indonesian/#Vietnamese restaurants outside migrant neighborhoods.
- #Japanese is definitely the most popular foreign cuisine in Taiwan.