Thu, Oct 7, 2004 -- 6:30 PM

Pacific Time
Find out how both parties are searching outÃ? the 120,000 American voters inÃ? Japan,Ã? and how Asian American Christians are approaching NovemberÃ?â??s election.Ã?  And hearÃ? a composer's response to the terrorist bombing in Bali two years ago.

Audio currently not available for this program.

Host: Nguyen Qui Duc

Democrats Try to Reach Expatriate Voters in Japan
Japan is home to one of the largest groups of expatriate Americans, and because of its military bases and conservative-leaning business community, has always posed a challenge for the Democrats. While it's business as usual for Republicans, Democrats claim to have gotten a boost from anti-Bush sentiment this year.

Christian Asian Americans and Politics
Conventional wisdom has it that Asian Americans tend to vote Democratic. But Christians lean Republican. So what about Asians who are Christians? Theology professor Fumitaka Matsuoka argues that the Asian American community is so diverse that issues of religion and politics aren't easily understood.

Guests:

Music Bridge #1
"Old/New -- "Modern" Third Movement" by the Yoshida Brothers, from "Yoshida Brothers II" (Domo Records 73032-2). Also released in Japan as "Frontier" on Sony Music Japan.

Beijing's Monument to Commerce
It may not have the grandeur of the Great Wall or the Forbidden City, but Beijing's Silk Market is a monument of sorts ... to the universal desire to get a bargain. A visit to the Silk Market is high on the to-do lists of most foreign tourists. But that's about to change, as the Beijing government prepares to tear down the outdoor market and move it indoors.

Music Bridge #2
"Sweet Talking With Oling" by Sambasunda, from "Return to the Greatest" (GNP Music CMNW-017, an Indonesian release)

Faces of the Khmer Rouge's Victims
In the 1970s, photographs from Cambodia showed human skulls stacked floor to ceiling behind prison walls. For 25 years, those photographs have remained for many the definitive images of Cambodia's Killing Fields. But photographer Binh Danh is now showing this dark era in a new light, offering an unexpected and profoundly personal take on the subject.

Remembering the Bali Bombing Through Music
The terrorist bombing in Bali two years ago inspired Gamelan Sekar Jaya, a highly regarded group performing traditional Balinese music and dance. At its anniversary concert, the orchestra will play a song to remember the bombing in Bali -- not a requiem for the dead, but a musical reflection on how the Balinese people have looked inward to move beyond being victims of terror.

End Music
"Swia" composed by Wayne Vitale, performed by Gamelan Sekar Jaya