ASP News

You are browsing the archives of 2009 September.

In this first part of a series of articles I will discuss the situation of different minorities within China. — Most Foreigners tend to think of China as a monolithic culture and are able to give a detailed description of precisely what they consider Chinese culture. This description does not include a region such as [...]

( Co-writer Christian Nicolai Støttrup Strange) From May 2010, Shanghai will be the host of the world exhibition. An event that has been going on for 150 years and now reaches the borders of China. The world expo is not only a huge opportunity for China, but also for all the participating countries. It is [...]

In the general history of human civilization the death penalty has been persistently present as a punishment by rulers, governments and other authorities. In modern history it has tended to disappear or be greatly restricted, perhaps most drastically in the western world. When looking at Chinese capital punishment one is often confronted with the fact that [...]

In our modern day western society we see it as completely out of place for arranged marriages to take place. But Japanese culture is different. The Japanese have a long tradition of involving the family when it comes to marriage – the so-called practice of omiai. It is important to remember that an arranged marriage [...]

Mucc ムック is a Japanese rock band formed in 1997. Their name is a bit interesting in the sense that it carries two different meanings. First, it’s inspired by a Japanese children’s TV-show, and furthermore they are known as “69” too, since 69 can be pronounced as “muku” in Japanese. Some would call Mucc a part [...]

My confidence starts to falter as I walk through the gates of Shinjuku Station.  This place is huge! How am I ever going to find – oh there it is, “Harajuku, Shibuya”. That’s my train, yay!  I walk down the stairs to platform 14/15 and think to myself: that wasn’t so bad. (When I later [...]

In this series of short articles, we will take you through the history of Japan. Easy and understandable.

“My so-called Love” A tense and intriguing film by – I actually don’t know!  (I have done my research, not that at all; but it seems to me that the director just doesn’t want to be known or something.)  Anyway, the plot revolves this shy and very innocent girl named Kitty. We see Kitty through [...]

With the elections over and now the Democratic Party of Japan in power, we stand in front of a new era and new exciting changes in the land of the rising sun. As the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) leaves the political throne in Japan with their former prime minister Taro Aso, the Democratic Party of [...]

Welcome to a new issue of the Renmin Shimbun and a new semester for the Asian Studies Programme! There will be a few changes in the Renmin Shimbun. We will have new journalists joining us as the ASPY0 starts, and we will have a new Editor in Chief, yours truly, as the former Editor in [...]