David McNeill

Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan celebrates 80 years at the forefront of press freedom Since its founding in 1945, the club has been an important professional hub and played host to a startling array of political and cultural figures from around the world.

The Japan Times on the 80th anniversary of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan: www.japantimes.co.jp/community/20...

2025 Press Freedom Predators For International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, celebrated on 2 November, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) is unveiling the profiles of 34 press freedom predators who attacked jou...

RSF 2025 list of press freedom predators, including Elon Musk. "Their methods differ, but their objectives converge: silencing independent media voices, trampling on the right to news and information. Murder, imprisonment, smears, propaganda, troll armies" rsf.org/en/2025-pres...

It doesn't go live until today....

"Peace is a structure we build together", press conference by Gregory Kulacki, Kim Joon Hyung & Sayo Saruta, Friday, Nov 14, 2025, 14:00 - 15:00
Conference Room 1, 2nd Members' Office Building of the House of Reps. Joint Statement (online on Friday):
nd-initiative.org/research/140...

Russia bars 30 Japanese individuals in response to Ukraine sanctions | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis Russia imposed entry bars on Tuesday on 30 Japanese individuals, including a foreign ministry official, in response to sanctions introduced by Tokyo as part of moves to denounce Moscow's actions in it...

Russia has banned 30 Japanese citizens, including academics, journalists with the Asahi, TBS, Fuji TV, the Nikkei and Yomiuri newspapers, and a foreign ministry official in response to Tokyo sanctions for the Ukraine War: www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Japan’s death penalty in the spotlight after inmate freed from decades on death row Experts gather in Tokyo this weekend to push for abolition of the death penalty in Asia

Experts gather in Tokyo this weekend to push for the abolition of the death penalty in Asia. My piece for The Irish Times: www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-p...

Percentage of foreigners in Japan per municipality, amid a growing political backlash led by populist and anti-immigration parties. Shimukappu (しむかっぷむら) in Hokkaido tops the list (36.6%). Average for all localities is 3%. H/t Eric Johnston and Akira Yanagimoto.

Yuichi Kaido, Yuji Ogawara,Raphaël Chenuil-Hazan, "Is It Time to Abolish Japan's Death Penalty?" I'll be emceeing this press conference *tomorrow* at 2pm. Join us, online or in person, if you can. www.fccj.or.jp/event/press-...

Japan rolls out praise, putters and orders for pickup trucks as Donald Trump tours Tokyo Sanae Takaichi started where Shinzo Abe left off, lavishing the US president with compliments

Sanae Takaichi, Shinzo Abe’s protégé and successor, seems set to follow the same obsequious playbook toward Donald Trump. My piece in The Irish Times: www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-p...?

Japan rolls out praise, putters and orders for pickup trucks as Donald Trump tours Tokyo Sanae Takaichi started where Shinzo Abe left off, lavishing the US president with compliments

www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-p...

Thanks! Good points.

Trial of man accused of Shinzo Abe’s murder to shine light on dark side of Japan Tetsuya Yamagami, seen by some as a ‘folk hero’, bore grudge over Moonies’ links to Japanese elite

"Some see Yamagami as a desperate, even romantic victim of an unscrupulous elite. Prosecutors will argue he's a cold-blooded killer who carefully planned his attack on Abe." My piece on the trial of Tetsuya Yamagami in The Irish Times: www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-p...

YouTube video by 自民党 違法外国人ゼロへ。国民の安心を最優先に ─ 小野田紀美参議院議員が自民党の外国人政策を徹底解説

Kimi Onoda, who was born in the US to a Japanese mother and an American father, has been appointed minister for promoting an "orderly coexistent society with foreigners". Here she is pledging to create a Japan with zero illegal foreignesr: www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDLX...

No honeymoon for Japan’s first female prime minister Sanae Takaichi Takaichi’s fragile minority coalition will need to form alliances with other conservative parties to pass laws

www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-p...

RIP Tomiichi Murayama. I interviewed him in 2015 and found him to be a decent, principled man, still sharp as a tack in his nineties. “Japanese schools didn’t teach much history (of World War 2) because the government couldn’t decide if it was a good war or a bad war,” he said.

"Some of the emperor’s more candid remarks surprised even me. He frequently voiced dissatisfaction with the provisions of Article 9 and repeatedly advocated for the necessity of rearmament through constitutional revision." My interview with Ryuichi Kitano: apjjf.org/2025/10/mcne...

“The Showa Emperor Repeatedly Advocated For The Necessity Of Rearmament”: I interviewed Asahi journalist Ryuichi Kitano about his new book on Hirohito: apjjf.org/2025/10/mcne...

Japan’s next prime minister: an Iron Lady - and the myth that helped her win Right-wing Sanae Takaichi set to be Japan’s first female premier

"For most ordinary Japanese, such views, which have been part of the DNA of Takaichi’s party since 1955, matter far less than bread and butter issues". My piece in The Irish Times: irishtimes.com/world/asia-p...?

Liz Truss on X: "Congratulations to @takaichi_sanae on becoming Japan's Prime Minister. It demonstrates growing pushback against economic stagnation, excessive migration and the diminution of national sovereignty. Exciting news! https://t.co/n89Xp5SHwF" / X Congratulations to @takaichi_sanae on becoming Japan's Prime Minister. It demonstrates growing pushback against economic stagnation, excessive migration and the diminution of national sovereignty. Exciting news! https://t.co/n89Xp5SHwF

Liz Truss is happy that Takaichi Sanae has won, which is not a good sign. x.com/trussliz/sta...

A string of celebrity scandals has exposed the misogyny at the heart of Japan’s media and entertainment industries. My piece: www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shi...?

【Mishima: A Life in Four Chapters】｜ 38th Tokyo International Film Festival(2025) Paul Schrader's visually stunning, collage-like portrait of the acclaimed Japanese author and playwright Mishima Yukio (played by Ogata Ken).

Paul Schrader’s Mishima will be screened in public for the first time in Japan, 40 years after it was made: 2025.tiff-jp.net/en/lineup/fi...

Amid the horrors of Gaza, Russia's ongoing invasion of Russia risks being forgotten. Journalists in Japan and around the world have a major stake in opposing Putin's war on democracy, says the head of Ukraine's biggest union of journalists. My piece: www.fccj.or.jp/number-1-shi...

You can follow the progress of the freedom flotilla live as it nears Gaza here: www.globalsumudflotilla.org/live/?

EDITORIAL: LDP must talk about coexisting with foreigners, not xenophobia | The Asahi Shimbun: Breaking News, Japan News and Analysis Detailed discussions based on objective premises and data are needed in debating and assembling policy.

Asahi Shimbun: The policies espoused by Kobayashi, Motegi, Hayashi, Takaichi and Koizumi emphasize strengthening restrictions and making it more difficult for foreigners to enter Japan. "LDP must talk about coexisting with foreigners, not xenophobia": www.asahi.com/ajw/articles...

Japan's Supreme Court has ruled that the government's decision not to reissue a passport to journalist Jumpei Yasuda, who was held captive in war-torn Syria for more than three years, is illegal. Jumpei sued after his passport renewal was rejected. japantoday.com/category/cri...

Announcement regarding the “JICA Africa Hometown” Initiative ｜ News＆Publication - JICA

JICA has canceled its "Africa Hometown" initiative because it says the term led to "misunderstandings and confusion within Japan". Doesn't this capitulate to a distorted online narrative and send the message that fake news works? www.jica.go.jp/english/info...?

The richest man on earth owns X.

The second richest man on earth is about to be a major owner of TikTok.

The third richest man owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

The fourth richest man owns The Washington Post.

See the problem here?

Japan PM Condemns Israeli Ground Operation in Gaza, Says Recognition of Palestinian State a ‘Matter of When’ <p>NEW YORK — Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba strongly condemned Israel’s ground operation in the Palestinian territory of Gaza during his speech at the U.N. General Debate on Tuesday night and demanded...

Unusually blunt criticism of Israel by a Japanese PM: "Israel's offensive significantly worsens the humanitarian crisis and is absolutely unacceptable". “We condemn it in the strongest possible terms; the suffering of the people in Gaza is "unforgivable": japannews.yomiuri.co.jp/politics/pol...

Republicans against Trump on X: "Fox News Host Jesse Watters: “What we need to do is either leave the UN or bomb it.” https://t.co/EGnbDrvOlK" / X Fox News Host Jesse Watters: “What we need to do is either leave the UN or bomb it.” https://t.co/EGnbDrvOlK

Even harder than usual to to keep track of the Fox morality compass these days. Violence against our side is unforgivable...but let's bomb the UN (laugh). x.com/RpsAgainstTr...

高市早苗氏「外国人が奈良公園のシカ暴行」　突然の主張はどうして？　急伸した政党に乗っかったとの見方も：東京新聞デジタル 奈良公園（奈良市）のシカが外国人観光客に暴行されている──。自民党総裁選が告示された22日、候補者の1人、高市早苗・前経済安全保障担当...

Takaichi Sanae ignites her campaign to lead the LDP with tales of tourists attacking deer in Nara. On a scale of national priorities, bad behavior by foreigners apparently ranks higher than inflation, poverty, income/wealth disparities, welfare, etc. H/t Jeff Hall: www.tokyo-np.co.jp/article/437743