Last week, people in Korea and Japan enjoyed a series of holidays and major tourist sites were crowded. The holidays overlapped with my visit to Kyoto, so I could experience the effects of hypertourism first hand. I lived in Kyoto for seven years at various points during the 1990s and 2000s and spent most of my time at secondary sites off the beaten path. Kyoto is a city of 1.46 million people so it is big enough to get lost in.The full extent of the tourist impact hit during transit and during

While running for office, Donald Trump repeatedly blasted the Iran nuclear deal, calling it “the worst deal ever negotiated.” Recently, however, his administration reluctantly acknowledged that Iran is complying with its obligations under the deal, which require it to halt its development of nuclear weapons in order to avoid further international economic sanctions.　As the Trump administration struggles to find a plan for dealing with North Korea’s nuclear program, it can take several important

Emmanuel Macron was the “can’t lose” candidate in the French presidential election. Impeccably well-credentialed. Handsome and sharp. Running against a far-right populist who spurs frightened talk of fascism. The polls showed him comfortably ahead, said the analysts. There was little chance that his opponent, Marine Le Pen of the National Front, could close such an enormous gap.　“Where have we heard that before?” muttered Americans.　As Election Day waned on on Sunday, slight traces of nervousnes

Maybe we have been making this whole “why does President Trump do what he does?” thing too complicated.　Albert Einstein said, “The definition of genius is taking the complex and making it simple.”In this regard, Donald Trump is a genius. Trump makes every complex problem simple. Health care is an exception, but it was Trump himself who discovered that health care was complicated. Before that, “Who knew?”　Critics (or “losers” in Trump’s parlance) have made complicated attempts to analyze and deco

There is a frightful interview with Dean Rusk -- the second-longest serving US secretary of state, and one of the two American military officers tasked with dividing Korea on Aug. 10, 1945, using a rudimentary map -- that should be required viewing for every student of contemporary Korean history and of the 1950-53 war.　The decision to bisect Korea was enacted in blatant defiance of expert warnings, disregarded the most basic and most essential needs and wishes of all Koreans and caused catastro