Bloomberg @Opinion columnist. I mostly cover Japan,japanification, softpower and so on. Follow for more “chuhai tweets”. Retweets ≠ endorsements, opinions mine.
Sony's decision to get rid of discs and move to an all-digital PlayStation future makes perfect sense -- for Sony.
But for gamers, it means less choice, no resale and fewer customer rights.
My latest, free to read:
The manager of a Lawson in Yamashiro Onsen accidentally ordered 999 kombu onigiri with an expiration date of only one day. If you're nearby, please help consume them.
Penny for the thoughts of the McDonalds Japan social media manager who is trying to make sense of the absolutely nuclear-grade-insane American culture war nonsense that this innocuous commercial has found itself at the center of
Covid deaths per capita in New Zealand have now surpassed Japan. That means Japan, which never once locked down, now has the lowest deaths per capita of all 38 OECD countries. Lessons from the country, that could be useful in future pandemics, have been largely ignored.
Noted Japanese voice actress Megumi Hayashibara -- the voice of Rei in Evangelion -- is dividing opinion with her latest blog, in which she calls for a crackdown on rule-breaking foreigners and laments foreign students being prioritized above Japanese. A reference to Japanese
Kabashima Ikuo served 4 terms as governor of Kumamoto prefecture (from 2008 to 2024). In 2010 his government created Kumamon, a mascot character that has become internationally famous. Here is a video of Kumamon saying goodbye to the retiring governor.
And amazingly, only in Tokyo (among major metropolises) is there not a housing crisis, and young professionals can afford to buy new property downtown.
Coincidence, I'm sure.
This is terrible - the most useful account on this site for spreading reliable information on the quake in both Japanese and English has reached its API limit on X and can no longer send automated tweets on quakes and tsunamis. Sort it out please @elonmusk
It's ironic that after years of US media coverage bashing Japan's status in gender equality rankings, Japan is now set to have its first female leader years ahead of the US.
A lot of people have been asking the same question: why do things seem so calm in Japan over the virus when in the West, people are losing their minds? Does Japan have it under control, or is it sweeping things under the carpet? We took a look (1/)