From the Editor
Justin McCurry
No one is pretending that the media are responsible for rising regional tensions centered on Chinese military activity in the East and South China seas. But, as David McNeill and Nao Kato explain in this month’s cover story, there is a case for arguing that coverage in Tokyo and Beijing can shed more heat than light on a complex bilateral relationship. Elsewhere, Raphael Rashid, a Korean speaker, argues that lack of fluency in the local lingo isn’t necessarily a dealbreaker for foreign correspondents, Mark Schreiber guides us through the Edo period’s criminal justice system via the Hibiya Line, and Stephen Mansfield previews Tokyo’s summer fireworks extravaganzas. In their regular columns, Philip Brasor casts a critical eye over the city’s rampant redevelopment and Eric Johnston wonders if Sapporo’s baseball fans will realise their dream of watching Shohei Ohtani play in the city where he began his professional career.
Cover artwork by Julio Shiiki