The Japanese anti-war group Zenko, whose 37th annual conference just closed in Tokyo, is a critical voice of dissent to the controversial Yasukuni shrine, where “Class A” war criminals like Hideki Tojo, as well as many hundreds of common soldiers,… Read moreWW4 Report visits Yasukuni shrine
Hiroshima marked the 62nd anniversary of the world’s first atomic bomb attack Aug. 6, where Prime Minister Shinzo Abe scrambled to mend fences with survivors still outraged by comments from a cabinet member apologizing for the bombings of Hiroshima and… Read moreAbe covers for war crimes gaffe at Hiroshima Day
On Aug. 4, the National Assembly for Peace and Democracy opened at a conference hall in Kamata, a city within the Tokyo metropolitan area. Attended by some 500 activists from throughout Japan, as well as participants from South Korea, the… Read moreJapanese anti-war conference unites Okinawan, Iraqi struggles
Well well, look who’s running for the Diet. An almost perfect analogy to the vile Alessandra Mussolini in Italy. She was (officially) “shunned” by the “post-Fascist” National Alliance—even as doing so only helped legitimize and mainstream the party whose roots… Read moreUS abets Japanese remilitarization —and revisionism
International inspectors July 15 confirmed that North Korea had shut down the nuclear reactor at its Yongbyon research facility, the fruit of a painstaking diplomatic effort in which the DPRK will immediately start receiving oil aid from South Korea. (WP,… Read more“Bad nuke” closes in North Korea; “good nuke” leaks radiation in Japan
Police in southern China’s Guangxi region arrested 28 as thousands staged angry protests against draconian local enforcement of the government’s family-planning policy. In Bobai county, more than 3,000 people smashed through the gates of a town government compound, setting fire… Read moreChina: repression follows peasant protests over reproductive rights
As a campaign of nonviolent protests mount in Okinawa over construction of a new off-shore US military heliport at Henoko, an e-mail alert from the local anti-militarism group “Project Disagree” informs us that the the Japanese government has dispatched the… Read moreJapan dispatches warship to Okinawa as anti-base protests mount
Thousands of protesters formed a human chain May 13 in Okinawa, Japan, to protest the US military presence. The human chain symbolically encircled the 17-kilometer perimeter of the Kadena Air Base. Banners demanded a withdrawal of the 22,000 US troops… Read moreProtesters block US base in Okinawa
A farmer in southwest China killed a village leader in a suicide bombing that also seriously injured nine other local officials following a land dispute April 15. Yue Xiaobao detonated explosives strapped to his body as he approached officials from… Read moreChina: suicide bombing over land dispute
China’s Premier Wen Jiabao opened the annual session of the country’s parliament March 5 with a call for economic growth to be balanced with environmental protection and efforts to tackle a growing urban-rural wealth gap. “Protect social equity and justice,… Read moreChina moves to appease peasant unrest
US military officials and Japanese police have confirmed an explosion near the Camp Zama base outside Tokyo, adding no one was hurt and there was no damage from the blast. A similar incident was reported near Camp Zama in 2002,… Read moreJapanese armed left re-emerges?
From the China Daily, Jan. 18: An online campaign initiated by a television host to drive Starbucks out of the Forbidden City has won the backing of more than half a million netizens, who see the presence of the coffee… Read moreBloggers in the news: China
