For almost a decade I had been living in Tokyo, Japan. With my wife Haruki and our seven-year-old daughter, Kantra we were on a 13-hour flight from Tokyo to JFK airport in New York City. It was the day before 9/11 and it was our first touchdown in the States. NYC was one of the global epicenters of COVID. At JFK we had to go through immigration and transfer to a connecting flight to Charlotte. Throughout the weeks leading up …
Tag: guns
Welcome to Salvation Mini Mart, America’s holiest of holies, where science is fear-mongering and shopping is worship. We got “AntiChrist” insect repellent, “Holy Water” for electrolytes and exclusive “Blood of Christ” wine imported from Bethlehem Valley. C’mon, “get drunk on Jesus.” There’s no forsaken sin that our assortment of immaculate merchandise won’t sanctify. Freaking out about a Black Messiah? Try “White Jesus” skin bleach. A single spray washes historical facts away that contradict your Christian ways. After all, “A dark prophet …
Three weeks ago when my latest Tokyo Weekender piece, “A Shut Door: ‘Japanese Hip-Hop Has Sectioned Itself Off’” was published online, it got more attention than I anticipated. I got to talk on The BBC. The article was to expose an extension of Japan’s xenophobia and its rejection of multiculturalism, even while it is straining western influences through a Japanese filter. To avoid talking about it is like braving a sand storm. Taping one’s windows, doors, and air vents still …
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