Weekly Rewind: China's Funeral Revolutionaries, North Korea's Art Scene, and the First Asian-American Hulk

Oarsmen row boats during the traditional annual boat race festival at a Rudra Sagar lake in Melaghar, India on September 6, 2015. (Arindam Dey/AFP/Getty Images)

Welcome to Asia Society’s Weekly Rewind, featuring some of the best Asia-related content you may have missed. This week:

Stories

China’s Funeral Revolutionaries
Jonathan Kaiman | The Guardian

Entrepreneurs Wang Dan and Xu Yi are on a mission to revolutionize the funeral industry in China, a country where the elderly population is projected to grow by 100 million in the next 15 years.

Everything You Need to Know About Marvel’s First-Ever Asian-American Hulk, Amadeus Cho
Claire Landsbaum | Slate

Marvel Comics has revealed that the character Amadeus Cho, a Korean-American boy genius, will assume the title role in Totally Awesome Hulk, a new comic series that will be released in December.

Cartopolitics and Sri Lanka: Rereading and Repainting Twenty-First Century Asia
Daniel Alphonsus | The Caravan

Is Sri Lanka a South Asian state or an Indian Ocean one? Daniel Alphonsus explores the politics of regional identity and boundary-making from the perspective of modern "cartopolitics," using Sri Lanka as a case study on 21st-century global trade.
 

Multimedia

How Myanmar's Partisan Astrologers Could Swing an Election
Stateless Media, Peter Savodnik, Kannan Arunasalam, Charlie Phillips, and Juliet Riddell | The Guardian

A new mini-documentary profiles Myanmar’s astrologers, who are advising politicians leading up to the country’s elections in November.

Video: How Myanmar's Partisan Astrologers Could Swing an Election (The Guardian)

North Korea's Art Scene Is Just As Mysterious As The Nation Itself
Sara Boboltz | The Huffington Post

A glimpse of the artwork coming out of the Mansudae Art Studio, the “heart of North Korea’s fine art scene”

Photo Zines That Explore Singapore’s Identity
Rena Silverman | New York Times

Photographers in Singapore are producing a series of photo “zines” that offer an inside view of the country. 

Overheard This Week

"Justice has been done for the people of Mumbai. I will ask for the strictest punishment when I argue for their sentences.”

— Public prosecutor Raja Thakre spoke to reporters after a Mumbai court found 12 men guilty for their roles in a 2006 commuter train bombing. [BBC] 

By the Numbers

61,568 — The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan, which has hit a record high for the 45th straight year. [Japan Times]

66,000 — The estimated number of South Koreans on the waiting list for reunions with family members in North Korea. [USA TODAY]

129,700 — The number of total applicants in South Korea for reunions of families separated by the Korean War; about half of the applicants have since died. [USA TODAY]

Each week, Asia Blog will feature highlights from Asia-focused feature writing, photography, and multimedia. Do you have recommendations? Please email a link and any related details to blog@asiasociety.org (we regret that we won’t be able to respond directly to each inquiry).

Opinions expressed on highlighted articles are solely those of the author(s), not of the Asia Society.