Tuesday, July 19, 2005

Introducing Japan Focus

Japan Focus, the version here part of ZNet’s Asia Watch section, is actually a subsite of the even larger main Japan Focus site.  Though there is a very clear progressive thread that runs through many of the articles (many originally in Japan and translated into English), the website even includes articles from right-leaning sources in order to present a broader overview of social issues confronting Japan, such as U.S. military bases on Okinawa, relations with North Korea, China and Taiwan, the Pacific War/WWII and revisionist history, the environment, minorities, people’s movements and much more. In particular, their articles on North Korea present viewpoints rarely seen in the mainstream Japanese press, which tend to be too gullible in reporting the received wisdom of tainted sources like the Japanese and U.S. governments. One reason for the often high quality is no doubt the fact that many respected writers as David McNeill, John Junkerman, Herbert Bix, Yuki Tanaka, Gavan McCormack, Mark Selden, John Dower, Adam Lebowitz and Doug Lummis are associated with the website.