https://www.scmp.com/rss/509944/feed Jonathan joined the SCMP In 2021, moving to Hong Kong from Jakarta, Indonesia. He has worked in journalism for more than 15 years, first as a text reporter and now as a video producer. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Jonathan Vit Jonathan Vit The prison cell, it turns out, is no obstacle to running a criminal empire. All you need is a smartphone, an encrypted messaging app and an overwhelmed corrections system, even if it is thousands of kilometres away. That was the conclusion law enforcement officials in South Korea and Japan reached after tracing a string of drug deals, home invasions and brazen robberies to inmates already serving time in the Philippines. The cases exposed a darkly inventive new chapter in Southeast Asia’s... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3353095/how-philippine-prison-kingpins-ran-japan-south-korea-crime-rings?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3353095/how-philippine-prison-kingpins-ran-japan-south-korea-crime-rings?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2026 04:25:09 +0000 Claudia Hinterseer,Jonathan Vit Claudia Hinterseer,Jonathan Vit US President Donald Trump has promised for years to bring manufacturing back to American soil. Since returning to office in January, he’s started a trade war with China in bid to make this happen. SCMP Plus subscribers enjoy early access to selected SCMP videos. https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3307782/trump-challenges-china-bid-make-american-manufacturing-great-again?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3307782/trump-challenges-china-bid-make-american-manufacturing-great-again?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 24 Apr 2025 10:16:19 +0000 It was a place Kyoko Tsuchiya could finally call home. As a child, her father was frequently transferred across Japan for his job at the national phone company. Later, as an adult, Kyoko fell in love with a man who worked for the post office. After they married, she continued to move around, rarely staying long enough in one place to truly feel at home. Suttsu, with its unique charm, was different. This small town, nestled among scenic landscapes, is where Kyoko’s husband, Kazuyuki, grew up. Now... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3292482/japans-fishing-town-suttsu-faces-nuclear-waste-dilemma-amid-population-decline?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3292482/japans-fishing-town-suttsu-faces-nuclear-waste-dilemma-amid-population-decline?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 29 Dec 2024 07:00:08 +0000 It was a bit of old fisherman’s lore that saved Haruo Ono’s life. “According to an old saying, when a tsunami hits, you should take your boat out to sea,” he said. On the afternoon of March 11, 2011 after a massive magnitude 9.0 earthquake violently shook his seaside home in the town of Shinchi along Fukushima prefecture’s northern coast, Ono was quick to act. He piloted one of the first boats out of port, sailing several kilometres out to sea before the tsunami struck. The ocean that far out... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3275672/fukushimas-radioactive-residue-nuclear-waste-fears-cloud-japan-coasts-slow-rebirth?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/people/article/3275672/fukushimas-radioactive-residue-nuclear-waste-fears-cloud-japan-coasts-slow-rebirth?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 25 Aug 2024 10:00:14 +0000 Thirteen years after the Japanese prefecture of Fukushima was rocked by an earthquake, tsunami and nuclear disaster, towns that were once deemed too radioactive for long-term habitation are in the midst of a building boom. But as Japan struggles with a falling population, will people move to an area that remains blighted by the threat of radiation and ongoing release of treated water from the Daiichi nuclear power plant? In this edition of SCMP Films, we visited towns along the Fukushima coast,... https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3274975/finding-future-fukushima-after-japans-worst-nuclear-accident?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/3274975/finding-future-fukushima-after-japans-worst-nuclear-accident?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 19 Aug 2024 03:46:14 +0000 It was an outfit few could ignore. Nico arrived at the Harajuku railway station in Tokyo in Japan dressed in a bright outfit of pinks and blues, her head adorned with a crown of hair slides, bows and hairpins so thick that it hid her two-toned hair, her wrists rattling with thick stacks of multicoloured plastic bracelets. “I am used to the stares,” says Nico. “But I think it’s scary for people joining us for the first time.” Nico, age 18, is the founder of Neo-Decora Kai, an event dedicated to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3263303/japanese-fashion-subculture-decora-making-comeback-it-takes-hello-kitty-cute-look-extreme?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3263303/japanese-fashion-subculture-decora-making-comeback-it-takes-hello-kitty-cute-look-extreme?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 21 May 2024 04:45:08 +0000 Tokyo’s Harajuku neighbourhood has long been associated with colourful and eye-catching fashion. But how did this once-quiet corner of the Japanese capital’s Shibuya Ward become an international fashion mecca? The Post explores the history and legacy of Harajuku and meets some of the rising stars working to build the neighbourhood’s foundations for future generations. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3263206/japan-tokyos-harajuku-district-experiencing-fashion-rebirth-heres-how-it-became-global-trendsetter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/fashion-beauty/article/3263206/japan-tokyos-harajuku-district-experiencing-fashion-rebirth-heres-how-it-became-global-trendsetter?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 20 May 2024 04:34:08 +0000 One miserable failure that seems to endlessly haunt Hong Kong is its inability to house underprivileged residents in humane conditions. While a well-off minority lives in luxury, many Hongkongers struggle to find affordable flats. Some of the poorest members of society are crammed into what, at best, can be described as “coffin homes”. How bad is the situation for this demographic, and what hope do they have for the future? In this special episode of Talking Post, managing editor Yonden Lhatoo... https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3257407/hong-kongs-coffin-homes-grim-reality-life-citys-subdivided-flats?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3257407/hong-kongs-coffin-homes-grim-reality-life-citys-subdivided-flats?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 01 Apr 2024 03:15:14 +0000 Showa City Club is easy to miss – the unassuming shopfront sits next to a home appliances store in a rapidly changing corner of Hong Kong’s Sham Shui Po neighbourhood in Kowloon. Its shelves hold a colourful collection of vintage Japanese pop culture ephemera – anime figures sit next to lava lamps and vintage Casio digital watches, and a shelf of vinyl records is well stocked with albums by bubble-era hitmakers like Toshiki Kadomatsu. The vintage store, however, is more than just an altar to... https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3247259/1980s-japan-lives-hong-kong-future-funk-music-finds-home-we-meet-fan-vintage-pop-culture-whos-helped?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/entertainment/article/3247259/1980s-japan-lives-hong-kong-future-funk-music-finds-home-we-meet-fan-vintage-pop-culture-whos-helped?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Jan 2024 03:15:15 +0000 Christmas didn’t take off in mainland China until the 1990s when the country was well on its way to opening up following the economic reforms of former leader Deng Xiaoping. The holiday, which focused more on the shopping and Santa side of Christmas, quickly grew to become a common fixture in the mainland, with the country even hosting its own chilly Christmas village in the northern Heilongjiang province. At the same time, there was a battle over where Santa came from. https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3246018/battle-santa-clauses-when-christmas-first-came-china?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/lifestyle/article/3246018/battle-santa-clauses-when-christmas-first-came-china?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Dec 2023 22:15:14 +0000 Almost as soon as Hyangsu Park had arrived in the North Korean city of Wonsan, she could tell something was very wrong. It was supposed to be a routine visit with her mother to see her uncle’s family – but her uncle was nowhere to be seen. Instead, there were only the distraught faces of her three cousins and their mother, Park’s aunt, all sat in stunned silence. “My mum asked, ‘Where’s your daddy? Where’s my brother?’, but they said nothing,” Park recalls. Later – before Park and her mother... https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3232333/return-paradise-north-korea-urged-japans-zainichi-their-reward-so-much-pain-and-regret?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/politics/article/3232333/return-paradise-north-korea-urged-japans-zainichi-their-reward-so-much-pain-and-regret?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 26 Aug 2023 03:30:14 +0000