Examples of feature articles I broke on various news outlets.
‘Suffocated’: Art becomes form of protest against Olympics
AP (Co-byline with Chisato Tanaka) – Miwako Sakauchi stands in her studio and brushes spinning swirls on torn cardboard and drawing paper, using the five colors designated as symbols of the modern Olympiad.
Titled “Vortex,” her paintings show the “anger, fear, sense of contradiction and state violence” over the residents evicted and the trees felled so enormous Olympic stadiums could be built, Sakauchi said. “I can’t think of it as a ‘festival of peace’ in this situation. It’s totally nonsensical.” …
‘Like hell:’ As Olympics loom, Japan health care in turmoil
AP (Co-byline with Mari Yamaguchi) – As she struggled to breathe, Shizue Akita had to wait more than six hours while paramedics searched for a hospital in Osaka that would treat her worsening COVID-19.
When she finally got to one that wasn’t overwhelmed with other patients, doctors diagnosed severe pneumonia and organ failure and sedated her. Akita, 87, was dead two weeks later.
“Osaka’s medical systems have collapsed,” said her son, Kazuyuki Akita. He has watched from his home north of Tokyo as three other family members in Osaka have dealt with the virus, and with inadequate health care. “It’s like hell.” …
The rise of Japan’s loyalty point influencers
REST OF WORLD (Co-byline with Andrew Deck) – Chuken, a Japanese Twitter influencer with over 12,000 followers, promises to teach his fans how to escape poverty — not by learning personal finance hacks or leaning on welfare programs, but by using loyalty points.
Chuken, which means “loyal dog,” calls himself one of Japan’s top-tier point stars, someone well-versed in the complicated art of “point alchemy.” The loyalty rewards he’s accumulated have helped him pay for everything from utility bills and vacations to the occasional trip to the salon. “I’m one of probably up to 100 people in Japan who earn more than 1 million yen [nearly $10,000] a year from points,” he told Rest of World.
Despite being the birthplace of payment technology like the QR code, Japan is still stubbornly addicted to using cash: Around 80% of people in the country say they choose it over debit cards or payment apps for small purchases. The generous rewards programs that Chuken promotes are a way for digital payment companies to encourage consumer adoption. But the incentives have also given rise to an enthusiastic poikatsu, or “point activities,” subculture that wants to max out as much as possible. …
These Companies Kept Their Dividends but Cut 401(k) Matches
BARRON’S (Paywalled) – The coronavirus pandemic has claimed millions of jobs in the U.S. Some workers who are still employed are taking another kind of hit: their companies are reducing or suspending matches to their retirement accounts. A few have done so while keeping dividend payments to shareholders.
In early August, energy giant Exxon Mobil (ticker: XOM) told employees that, as of Oct. 1, it would suspend matching contributions to employees’ 401(k) accounts. Exxon had a program that matches employees who make contributions of at least 6% of their salary with a 7% company contribution.
Exxon’s move followed dozens of companies that had announced similar measures. According to the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College, 67 large companies have suspended matching contributions to their employees’ 401(k) accounts this year as of Aug. 27. …
Many College Classes Will Be Online This Fall. These Education-Technology Stocks Are Making the Grade.
BARRON’S (Paywalled) – In March, when colleges and universities shut their campuses due to the coronavirus outbreak, many students, faculty, and administrators expected to return to campus in the fall.
Now, with the new semester looming, extensive in-person classes are becoming less likely, as schools pivot to online or hybrid instruction (allowing some students on campus but holding many classes remotely). Harvard, Princeton, Rutgers, Emory and California State universities are among those that announced that most classes would be held online.
The shift to remote learning has been a boon to some publicly traded education technology companies that provide everything from digital course work to tutoring services to writing tools. Two companies, Chegg (ticker: CHGG), and 2U (TWOU), have seen double-digit returns in their stocks so far this year, but some analysts think there’s more room to run. …
Tourists Are Fueling a Boom in Personal Translation Devices
BLOOMBERG (Paywalled) – Takehiko Fujita wouldn’t be able to do his job selling eye drops and pain relievers without his pocket translator.
Instead of an app, language dictionary, or call-in translation service, the clerk in a Japanese drugstore uses Pocketalk, a 25,000 yen ($230) device made by Sourcenext Corp. that looks like an oval puck. The gadget translates phrases to and from 74 languages, helping Fujita communicate with customers from Sweden, Vietnam and other countries. …
(This article has won the 2020 Overseas Press Club of America Foundation Scholar Award and the Associated Press Stan Swinton Fellowship.)
My life savings for my daughter’s life – a mother’s desperate struggle
MALAYSIAKINI (Co-byline with Faisal Asyraf) – It was in October 2009 when Yuko Takeuchi’s nightmare began. It started with a long-distance phone call from her only child, Mariko.
Yuko heard her crying for a moment before she uttered the words: “I’m arrested.”
Mariko, then 35, was calling from Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) after she was caught at the arrival hall following a flight from Dubai with 3.5kg of syabu (methamphetamine) in her bag.
“I was dumbfounded. I was shocked. I couldn’t think of what to do. I had never even heard of Malaysia before her arrest,” the 71-year old Yuko told Malaysiakini in a recent interview. …
19-year-old CEO creates app to bring Japan’s voters and politicians together
THE JAPAN TIMES – A 19-year-old Keio University student is aspiring to bridge the gap between politicians and citizens, especially young people, with an online platform app called PoliPoli that uses innovative technologies to facilitate communications between them.
Kazuma Ito, CEO of PoliPoli Inc., believes most voters seldom get an opportunity for direct contact with politicians except during elections, and the distance between them has not narrowed despite online political campaigning being legalized in 2013 and the voting age being lowered from 20 to 18 in 2016. …
Cultural Differences – Some students ask: What’s the big deal about drinking?
THE DEPAUW – In her first year at DePauw University, sophomore Area María Guede Ramos from Moaña, Spain, was surprised at the lack of self-awareness among binge-drinking students, intent on going beyond their physical limits, even if that meant being hospitalized.
“I kind of thought that once you get into college, people get more responsible with their drinking, Ramos says. “But that was not the case.”
Ramos is a member of the international contingent of more than 200 students who comprise 10 percent of the student body, representing more than 30 countries. Some come from countries with lower or no drinking ages, according to the World Health Organization, so their perspective provides insight on how the drinking norms are experienced by students who come from vastly different places. …
Holi, the festival of colors, sketches vibrant spring on campus
THE DEPAUW – On a sunny Thursday afternoon, the splash from a water gun painted people in white shirts pink, hazes of green and yellow powder and the shouts, “Happy Holi!” filled the air.
Hosted by the Interfaith Council and Media Free Dinners, the annual Holi Celebration event at DePauw attracted students and local families to enjoy the Hindu-origin color festival. …
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