From the Editor
Justin McCurry
The arrest of dozens of members of the Kan’nama union of concrete workers has attracted precious little attention in the Japanese media. David McNeill explains why in this month’s cover story. Ilgin Yorulmaz interviews Selina Cheng, weeks after her controversial dismissal by the Wall Street Journal, while Dan Sloan looks forward to the summer high school baseball tournament at Koshien as the famous old stadium marks its centenary year. Mark Schreiber revisits the Teigin Incident, while Karyn Nishimura looks back at media coverage of the Tokyo governor’s election. Elsewhere in this issue, Nishimura reports on a recent FCCJ appearance by Hideko Hakamada, sister of former death row inmate Iwao Hakamada, Suvendrini Kikuchi marvels at the brilliance of novelist Banana Yoshimoto, and Peter McGill explains why former US secretary of state Mike Pompeo is courting the Unification Church. In their regular columns, Philip Brasor delves into the financial mess caused by Japan’s millions of abandoned homes and Eric Johnston gets hot under the collar about Hokkaido’s lack or readiness for increasingly fierce summers.
Cover artwork: Julio Shiiki