Social Credit System in China

In the West, narratives towards China and its supposed control over its population are prevalent. One topic that often comes up to the conversation is the social credit system. This article from the South China Morning Post details new laws passed by the CCP.

Lookism & social pressure in South Korea

Lookism can be defined as prejudice or discrimination based on physical appearance and social beauty standards, and in Korea, lookism is a big deal. Indeed, through pressure of reaching perfection, South Korea became n°1 in terms of cosmetic surgery rate.

Environmental Issues in Japan

One of the biggest environmental issue being currently tackle in the media in Japan is undoutedly the rising tempreature in the country. Unprecedented temperature records and heatwaves have been impacting the country these last few years.

Hikikomori in Japan

Hikikomori are individuals living secluded from the society, avoiding social interactions at all costs and represent extreme case of isolation (to the point that some don't even see/talk to their parents while some still live with them).

Sexual harassment in Japan and the representation in the media.

This article from The Japan Times tackles the case of Hideo Kojima, mayor of Ginan. Accused of repeated sexual harassment on female employees (sexual comments & behaviour, molesting or even revealing his chest), the mayor resigned.

Social pressure in South Korea: how to address the issue?

Social pressure including lookism, high professional and educational standards have a negative impact on young Koreans as shown through the 2022 record suicidal rate of 25.2 for every 100.000 persons (the highest in the OECD countries).

The Chinese diaspora in the media

The Chinese diaspora is a prominent phenomenon, historically taking place in South East Asia, it has nowadays spread pretty much everywhere troughout the globe. But what do people think about this diaspora and how is it pictured in our media?

Overtourism in Japan

According to what seems to be a national consensus, Japan is overwhelmed by tourists. But is it really the case? This article by The Japan Times agrees with this consensus to a certain extent: Japan feels overtouristed, but the datas show the opposite.

Democratic People's Republic of Korea and Orientalism

In the the following article, "Kim Jong Un’s Emphasis on Chongryon" by The Diplomat, the author depicts the influence of the DPRK government and of Chongryon (an organization for Zainichi Koreans) over the Chōsen Korean schools in Japan.

How is Taiwan culturally and socially distinct from the PRC?

China is the third biggest and second most populated country in the world. It counts with many distinctive local cultures, beliefs and languages. As for Taiwan, the island is much smaller, with a smaller cultural and language diversity.

Japanese declining population : a positive phenomenon?

The article tackles the challenges Japan is facing due to its ageing population. The traditional narrative argues that the rising in the elderly population will slow down the country's economic growth.

This article from the Mainichi Shimbun covers the commemoration of the 30th anniversary of the subway sarin gas attack by AUM, a Japanese religious minority group.

First of all, the article is written from a person-blame persepctive.

Person-blame VS. System-blame

These are two opposite concepts that respectively explain the cause of a problem by blaming the individual (lack of ambition, laziness etc.) or the system (inequalities, lack of government policies etc.).

This article deals with the lack of home caregivers in Japan.

Representation Theory in the media: a case study of insects in the food chain.

Social representations are concepts and tools used to link new ideas to already-existing concepts in order to better understand them.

Here, the article deals with the inclusion of insects in western diets.

Framing Theory: an exemple from The Japan News journal.

In this article, the author tackles the handling of harassment within Japanese assemblies from her own perspective (frame). The title "Few Local Assemblies Have Moved to Curb Harassment [...]" implies that, she judges the actions unsufficient.