This article studies the narratives of counter-urbanization as presented in contemporary South Korean documentaries. In recent decades, there has been a surge of ethnographic media productions with a return-to-nature theme, highlighting urban-to-rural migration. What appears as a Thoreauesque pursuit of pastoral life in the woods reveals the traumatic aftereffects of the 1960s-80s rapid industrialization as well as the 1990s Asian Financial Crisis that resulted in layoffs, bankruptcies, homelessness, and migration. This article analyzes a selection of counter-urbanist documentaries through the dual lens of social class and masculinity, especially considering South Korea's hypermasculine industrialization and neoliberal ethos of survivalist individualism. It also examines cross-generational perspectives on counter-urbanization to recover human agency.

IM.G. Sheftall's oral history of the dawn of the nuclear age, Hiroshima: The Last Witnesses, is published this month. The book is based on interviews Sheftall, a historian and professor at Shizuoka History, conducted over eight years with dozens of hibakusha survivors and others in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. Sheftall, who previously wrote an acclaimed oral history of wartime kamikaze pilots, said he was prompted to take on his latest project after an epiphany during U.S. President Barack Obama's historic visit to Hiroshima in 2016. Over 545 pages, the book plunges into the horrors of the bomb, its victims and its occasional ironies, among them that a Japanese scientist, Hideki Yukawa, had indirectly helped the development of the bomb by being the first to mathematically show the existence of strong nuclear forces in the universe.

Sheftall notes that while Hiroshima was considered a military target, most of its residents were too young or too old to evacuate; the population had fallen from 420,000 in 1942 to 245,000 in 1945, leaving mostly children, caregivers, adults in war work, government employees and 40,000 soldiers. The book makes no pretense at being ‘objective’ on the subject of nuclear weapons, describing bodies carbonized and blown apart by their impact. “If you are going to defend these weapons’ use, it is morally imperative that you own that image,” Sheftall says, after dismissing antiseptic alternatives such as ‘vaporized.’

“Turn it around in your head a bit. Imagine it happening to ten thousand children or even a single child. Imagine it happening to your child.”

The following contains edited extracts from an interview with David McNeill.

After a decade of effort, China has established its geopolitical influence in Southeast Asia through its rail projects, which will grow further as more lines are completed. Chinese rail projects, especially those involving high-speed rail (HSR) systems, are and will be of considerable benefit to Beijing's geopolitical ambitions, but their impact may be limited by lack of progress, lack of connection, and unstable situations in some host states. Further, although China is actively shaping the landscape of Southeast Asian rail, there are opportunities for Japan, China's competitor with regards to infrastructure investment in rail systems, to explore.

This article uncovers the journey of a Nepal educator, poet, and writer who found inspiration in a Japanese philosopher's search for the self through love, care, happiness, and the “golden” moments of life. Nandu Uprety opened Kenji's International School to follow Miyazawa Kenji's philosophy of humanity, working for people experiencing poverty, developing society, and nurturing nature. This is not to say that Nandu Uprety did not face challenges, as he sold all his property for this school and never sought donations. Yet he adored the blooming flowers in the gardens, the echoes of Sirbuba, and the happiness in the children's smiles.

This edited transcript of conversations among a group of scholars and practitioners is the culmination of a multi-year, multi-platform dialogue intended to capture the work and motivations of memory activists towards addressing both historical justice and current social and political needs of Asian American communities.