Latest news with #SBSInsight
Japan Forward
2 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Forward
WWII Through the Eyes of Hideki Tojo's Great-Grandson
For many, the 80th anniversary of the end of WWII is an exercise in remembrance. Recalling dates, paging through black-and-white photographs, or watching grainy footage in history documentaries. Surviving combat veterans, Holocaust survivors, and others who lived through the 1940s mark the day with a weight few of us can fully grasp. For the descendants of wartime leaders, however, the anniversary carries a different burden — what one might call an imposed representation. Born long after the guns fell silent, they inherit not the actions, but the legacies, of those in power. The challenge is to transcend inherited enmity and help build a better world from the rubble of history. Hidetoshi Tojo, great-grandson of wartime Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, knows this struggle well. Speaking to JAPAN Forward ahead of the August 15 anniversary, he reflected on his journey from keeping silent about his family history to confronting it openly. "It was difficult for the Tojo family after the war," he recalled. "Even though I knew from a young age that the man in the history books wearing that uniform was my great-grandfather, I kept quiet for a long time." A family photograph of Hideki Tojo. (©SBS Insight screenshot) That changed in 2015, during the 70th anniversary of the war's end. Tojo agreed to a series of interviews, including one for Insight , a talk show on Australia's SBS network. The program brought together an unlikely group: the son of an Australian POW, Josef Stalin's great-grandson, Harry Truman's grandson, a Polish couple who had survived Auschwitz, and Niklas Frank, son of Nazi official Hans Frank. The filming took place before a live audience under hot studio lights. "Truman's grandson couldn't be there in person, but we spoke remotely," Tojo recalled. "It was important for me to meet one of President Truman's descendants," he said. "I found him to be a man of great understanding. He has visited the sites of the atomic bombings, met survivors, and you could feel in him a kind of pang of conscience over their suffering." Hidetoshi Tojo (center) appears on the Australian TV program Insight in 2015 alongside John Dunlop (right), son of Australian surgeon and POW Weary Dunlop, and Niklas Frank, son of German Nazi politician Hans Frank. (©SBS Insight Screenshot) Clifton Truman Daniel, the eldest grandson of former US President Harry Truman, appears on Insight via remote video. (©SBS Insight screenshot) That encounter shaped Tojo's view of history. "Of course, the United States was a victor in World War II. But when you think about Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and sense in someone like Truman's grandson the moral weight of that, then you realize there were no real winners in that war." Over the years, his exchanges with other descendants of wartime leaders gave him a broader perspective. "In many ways, not much has changed since then," he reflected. "The cast of characters is different, but the structural exploitation from the colonial period has simply been repackaged as global capital. That's neo-colonialism." While he values studying history, Tojo believes the future must take priority. "History is important, but the world hasn't moved much beyond eighty years ago. I've decided to leave the fine details to the professional historians. As citizens, our role is to move forward." Part of that forward motion came from unexpected affirmation. During the Insight taping, Tojo mentioned two acts by his great-grandfather that he views positively. The first was the 1943 Declaration for Greater East Asian Co-operation, issued at the Greater East Asia Conference in Tokyo. Framed as a call for Asian self-rule free from Western colonial domination, it was promoted as a vision of mutual prosperity among Asian nations. Hidetoshi Tojo (front row, fourth from right), great-grandson of former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo, meets Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican on June 18, 2025. (ⓒVatican Media/Kyodo) The second was the Otpor Incident of 1938–1940, when Lieutenant General Kiichiro Higuchi, supported by then-Kwantung Army commander Hideki Tojo, helped thousands of Jewish refugees escape Nazi persecution by allowing them safe transit through Japanese-occupied territories. "After the filming, the Polish Auschwitz survivors told me, with tears in their eyes, that my great-grandfather had done a wonderful thing in helping to save Jews," Tojo said. "That moment began to change my relationship with my family's past." His reflections are also shaped by the work of Shinsho Hanayama, a philosopher and Buddhist priest who served as chaplain at Sugamo Prison and was present at Hideki Tojo's execution in December 1948. Hanayama recounted to younger Tojo that his great-grandfather shook hands with prison guards before being led to the gallows. It's a gesture the priest saw as "a handshake of friendship between former enemies, a symbol of peace to be told to future generations." Former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo listens as his death sentence is pronounced at the Tokyo Trials in November 1948. For Hidetoshi Tojo, Hanayama's message was clear: reconciliation is not a passive state but a deliberate choice, even in the most bitter of circumstances. Carrying the Tojo name in modern Japan has not been without challenges. Some people regard him with skepticism, assuming he must defend every action of his great-grandfather. Others avoid the topic altogether. Yet Tojo insists that descendants must be allowed to engage with history in their own way. Today, his focus is on cultural preservation. He is involved in a project to connect people with Japan's Shinto heritage, including an online platform that helps users locate local shrines. For him, reconnecting with cultural roots is not about nostalgia but about grounding society in values that can endure beyond political conflict. Author: Jason Morgan, Kenji Yoshida
Sky News AU
02-07-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Woman with impressive superannuation balance stuns SBS Insight audience with surprising advice on financial planning
An Australian woman has delivered brutal advice to young people on how to prepare for retirement. On Tuesday's episode of SBS Insight, 37-year-old Julia said she has as much money in her superannuation account as the average 60-year-old. When asked by Insight host Kumi Taguchi what advice she would offer young Australians in order for them to find more financial freedom and success in the future, she suggested two controversial life choices. 'I am here tonight to empower the next gen[eration] of women and my advice would be aimed more so towards them,' Julia said. 'It is going to sound super controversial but I would say one thing is, don't get married and, if you do, make sure someone is benefiting from it." The second piece of advice she acknowledged would be "really controversial" was that people might want to think about "refraining from having children". 'Because, by the time that kid leaves your home, it will have cost you as much as a Lamborghini. And you could be driving a Lamborghini or that sum could be sitting in your superannuation growing,' she said. The Melbourne woman said she came from a migrant family and that money was an important conversation point at the dinner table when she was a kid. She said she had also been putting money from her salary "aggressively" into her super since beginning her working life at 15. Working currently as an HR professional, Julia has still been building her super, sacrificing more than a quarter of her yearly salary. Even if she stopped adding money to her super, she would still be set to have more than $1 million in her balance for her retirement. At 21, she bought her first home after finishing university before going on to buy more properties and picking up two more university degrees. Young Aussies in the program's audience appeared stunned at Julia's advice but she believes retirees in Australia will become poorer in the future. 'I think we're going to have a lot of poor retirees in Australia in my generation – not enough people are contributing to superannuation via salary sacrifice, in my opinion,' she told 'I think we should be teaching Australian tax systems and superannuation as a subject to Aussie kids in high school.'
New York Post
17-06-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
60-year-old woman ‘booed' on the street for dating much-younger man
A 60-year-old woman has revealed how she was once booed in the street for dating a man 20 years her junior. Anne, from Melbourne, was married to a man who she'd been involved with for two decades before the couple decided to call it quits. Advertisement At the age of 39, when the marriage broke down, she realized there was a societal expectation that getting married was a 'given' and she didn't necessarily agree with it. 'We're not really taught how to choose the right person for us,' Anne told ahead of her appearance on SBS Insight's Taboo Relationships episode. 5 Anne was married to a man who she'd been involved with for two decades before the couple decided to call it quits. Supplied 'We don't understand that love is about more than your emotions — you have to pick someone who's going to be right for you long term.' Advertisement She said there is another layer when picking someone who was going to be the father of your children. Anne said her ex-husband was relatively traditional, and she was a free spirit. The 60-year-old said it was a weird experience to start dating again after her marriage breakdown, as many men expected her to jump back into the role of the wife when the relationship was relatively new. She said it was so much pressure — so much so that it led to a panic attack. 5 At the age of 39, when the marriage broke down, she realized there was a societal expectation that getting married was a 'given.' Supplied But, while being out with girlfriends playing barefoot bowls, a younger guy started chatting to the Melbourne local. Advertisement 'I was just being friendly to this guy, and we were getting on well. My girlfriends said he was hitting on me big time, but I thought he was just being friendly,' she recalled. But then he asked her if Anne wanted to go to another event after that. She made excuses due to his age, and her friends questioned why she did that. 5 Anne said her ex-husband was relatively traditional, and she was a free spirit. Supplied 'I sort of stood there and asked why I said no. I was facing my own ageism at the time, and I started to think about what would happen if I didn't say no,' she said. Advertisement Anne said forgetting societal frameworks around age allowed her to have more meaningful relationships with people who had the same values, energy and attitudes as herself — rather than 'rushing to pick rocking chairs'. She believes younger men actually enjoy relationships with older women because they're not trying to 'hunt them down' for marriage and babies. 5 While being out with girlfriends playing barefoot bowls, a younger guy started chatting to the Melbourne local. But, that doesn't mean society doesn't still have something to say about the relationships she's had with younger blokes. 'I could be walking down the street and see a man and a younger woman and no one would flinch — but I was once walking down the street with a younger guy and was booed,' she said. 'It was so judgmental.' Anne said one of the women that appeared alongside her on Insight was a sex worker who paid to take place in role play. 5 Anne said forgetting societal frameworks around age allowed her to have more meaningful relationships with people. Anne Miles / Linkedin Advertisement 'She told me I was brave, and when I asked why she said, 'Of all the taboo subjects — an older woman with a younger man is the ultimate taboo',' Anne recalled. 'I've definitely had to face it myself — but her who's had all kinds of experience with fetishes even acknowledges it's a hard one.' Anne said a lot of people project into the future — asking what she will do when she's 90 — or make ridiculous comments like: 'When you were 20, he would've been a baby'. She said at the end of the day, everyone involved is a consenting adult and who you are matters a lot more than age. Anne also called out language such as 'toy boy' which implies the relationship is all about sex. She said she doesn't use dating apps, and all connections are organic, adding typically the age gap is about 10 years.
Yahoo
11-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Investor with 15 properties denies crisis as Aussie with three jobs 'can't afford a home'
The "haves and have nots" have painted two very different pictures of Australia's housing crisis. Millennial property investor Jack Henderson said it's never been easier to buy a property "with all the incentives out there", denying the existence of a cost-of-living crisis. He made the claim on SBS Insight as he sat next to Chris Booy who works 60-70 hour weeks juggling three different jobs. The 35-year-old renter said he has been "chasing his tail" as no matter how much he saves, price rises keep him from entering the property market. Henderson, who bought the first of his 15 properties when he was 18, said there was a "cost-of-spending crisis". New Millennial vs Boomer debate ignites after $10 million discovery: 'Selfish' Surprise winner after Woolworths and Aldi comparison grocery shop: 'More expensive' 'Red flag' NAB banker noticed before blocking $440,000 payment: 'Didn't add up'"A lot of people want everything right now," he said. "It's very easy to spend money with everything at our fingertips... we also want our cake [and] we want to eat it too. "So I think everyone can do their bit to try and earn more money and try and cut what they spend but to say that there's a cost of living crisis, I think it's a little bit over the top." Henderson admitted times had been tough for some, but that there was no shortage of ways to help first-home buyers. He pointed out federal incentives like the First Home Guarantee and state-based first-home owner policies allow borrowers to shave down their deposit amount to 5 per cent and avoid both lenders' mortgage insurance and stamp duty. "The only thing easier than that would be giving you a house for free," the property investor said. Booy has three jobs, one in insurance, one in food delivery, and the other in social media, and he said he still can't afford to buy his own home. "Ever since I was a kid, I was told, if you get a job, you work hard, you get a house," he said. "My dad was 30 when he settled down and got his first house. My grandfather was 25. I'm at 35 right now, and I can't get in." He said his long work weeks were "killing him" as he had virtually no time to himself. "I felt like the afterburners were on, and that was only after two years, and I'm still holding down three jobs right now, still doing the same thing, throwing what I can at it to try and get through this cost of living crisis," he added. Economist Evan Lucas backed Booy and refuted Henderson's claim, noting "at no point in history have you had to work harder" to save up that 5 per cent deposit to buy a home. He claimed property prices have spiralled so far out of control that many are forced to buy in areas far away from their desired location. According to Finder data, the average loan amount to buy a home in 1984 was $42,277, which is $154,641 today. However, in 2025, the average loan amount has skyrocketed to $642,121. That loan from four decades ago was just over twice a person's annual income. In 2025, the average home loan size is roughly 6.4 times the average annual income. Interest rates were at 11 per cent in 1984, compared to 6.22 per cent per cent in 2025, but with a much smaller principal amount, repayments don't reflect that interest rate disparity. All up, homeowners in 1984 were spending $418 per month on their mortgage (which works out to be $1,529 today), while people in 2025 pay $3,962 per month. Despite all the headlines highlighting people like Booy and their struggles, Henderson thinks people could tighten their belts a bit more. He pointed out that there ere new-looking cars on the road and new phones in peoples' hands, highlighting that many have a long way to go until they were at their financial limit. Henderson is not alone in this belief. Mortgage broker Jess Phillips told Yahoo Finance that despite what everyone is saying about the cost-of-living crisis, many of her clients aren't "struggling". "I see their bank statements and, I mean, someone who's spending $500 a month on takeaway food doesn't seem like they're in a crisis to me,' she said. 'Or $200 a month on subscription TV and all those types of things. I see a lot of it all the time.' Phillips said these clients aren't super wealthy either, with many having an "average salary' between $60,000 to $80,000. Economic expert Jakob Madsen, from the University of Western Australia, also believed that most Aussies are still in jobs and doing well. "During the Great Depression, real wages fell by more than 30 per cent in Australia. In Italy, real wages fell to 75 per cent over the period 1450-1900. During WWII, real wages plummeted in most countries," the economist said. "Seen from this perspective, calling it a cost-of-living crisis is a stretch." We've asked Yahoo Finance readers how they've been faring in the tough economic conditions and this is what they've said over several polls: 68 per cent said they're spending less because of the economic crisis 68 per cent said they'd put off having children 58 per cent said they'd stopped buying certain foods because of an increase in costs 42 per cent said they found it difficult to save money 19 per cent feared they would've been forced to sell their home if there wasn't an RBA interest rate cut in FebruarySign in to access your portfolio
