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East Asia

Japan’s oldest village tries to attract new, younger residents

Japan in Focus

Nearly one-third of Japan’s population is over 65, making it the oldest country in the world. Small rural towns nationwide are seeing these demographic changes most acutely as younger residents leave for larger cities. Nowhere is this more evident than in the village of Nanmoku, where officials are using the allure of cheap property to bring a newer, younger generation of residents to town.

Darjeeling is nestled amid lush tea gardens and overlooking the snow-capped Himalayas in India’s northeast. But landscapes like these pose challenges while conducting elections.

What it takes to pull off the world’s largest election in India

Elections

Women voters expected to play significant role in India’s general election

Politics
People walk past a board full of pictures celebrating AAPI heritage month

Students push for adding Asian American history to school curriculums across the US

History
Kazakhs protest what they see as excessive expansion of Chinese influence in Kazakhstan, including new Silk Road investments, in Almaty, Kazakhstan, Dec. 2019.

China’s new Silk Road traverses Kazakhstan. But some Kazakhs are skeptical of Chinese influence.

On China's New Silk Road
Military tanks pass by a building featuring traditional Chinese architecture.

Misusing culture in international politics: Part I

Critical State

Neoconservative intellectuals have long turned perceptions of East Asian culture into ammunition for a global political agenda, according to historian Jennifer Miller. Critical State takes a deep dive into Miller’s new article that charts these patterns.

black and white photo of three women and a man standing on stage

60 years before BTS, the Kim Sisters were America’s original K-pop stars

Immigration Rewind

Sixty years before today’s “K-pop invasion,” the Kim Sisters, a Korean girl group, landed on US shores and rocketed to stardom — singing American hits before they even learned English.

A woman works out with apartment buildings behind her

How single women are driving gentrification in Hong Kong and elsewhere

Not only are single women emerging as a growing and critical aspect of the economy in cities around the world, they are also driving increasingly unaffordable real estate markets. But women at the other end of the income spectrum, particularly single mothers, bear the brunt of gentrification.

Takuya Yokota in Tokyo in November 2017. He continues to speak out about North Korea's abduction of his sister in 1977.

Japan could ease tensions with North Korea — if North Korea comes clean on its abduction of Japanese citizens

Conflict & Justice

Last year at the UN General Assembly, Donald Trump brought up the issue of the Japanese citizens abducted by North Korea. This year, he praised North Korea’s leader for his courage.

Trump meets with Jinping in China

The next cold war? US-China trade war risks something worse

Commentary

The US and China once again exchanged fire in their escalating trade war. Tariffs have been the main source of ammunition thus far, but China has other weapons it could begin to deploy.