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December 03, 2024
 

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Gearoid Reidy
Alarmo and other recent products reflect Nintendo's strategy of using its iconic intellectual properties to engage users while preparing for the inevitable transition to a successor console after the Nintendo Switch.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 24, 2024
Nintendo’s latest device, the Alarmo, is a $100 wake-up call
Alarmo and other recent products reflect Nintendo's strategy of leveraging its iconic IPs to engage users as it prepares for the successor to the Nintendo Switch.
Sony's potential acquisition of Kadokawa, the publisher behind Elden Ring, represents an opportunity to expand its intellectual property across gaming, anime and other media provided it learns from past failures.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 22, 2024
Like in Elden Ring, Sony must learn from its mistakes
The Japanese firm’s proposed deal for Kadokawa has great potential — if it can avoid getting stuck in the same mazes as before.
Originally debuting on a coin purse, Hello Kitty became a national phenomenon in Japan and is now the second highest-grossing media franchise worldwide.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 20, 2024
Hello Kitty looks pretty at 50 (and is worth more than ever)
Kitty’s broad appeal, especially to adults, helped popularize the Japanese concept of kawaii (cuteness), which has since become a global trend.
There is a broad shift in Japan’s business environment, where long-standing relationships are being challenged by foreign and activist investors looking for merger and acquisition deals.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 15, 2024
Japan's newfound love of M&A makes for strange bedfellows
There is a broad shift in Japan’s business environment, where long-standing relationships are being challenged by foreign and activist investors.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other Cabinet members and lawmakers attend a session of the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 13, 2024
Trump return leaves Japan’s leader with no time to snooze
The prime minister drew headlines for a moment after he was caught napping in parliament during proceedings for his own nomination as Japanese leader.
Matt Groening (right), creator of the show "The Simpsons," attends the premiere of the "The Simpsons Movie" along with characters from the series in Springfield, Vermont, in July 2007.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 11, 2024
‘The Simpsons’ has become a parody of itself. That’s a good thing.
With the "The Simpsons" viewership down to just 10% of its peak, the show is often in the news for controversies rather than content.
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba bows to Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday, a day after the party recorded disappointing results in the Lower House election.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 29, 2024
A disastrous poll puts Japan politics on shaky path
The Japanese public was crying out for change, but Ishiba entirely failed to offer it, instead using warmed-over catchphrases from Kishida.
The ruling Liberal Democratic Party looks set for a bruising election night. The question for its leader, Shigeru Ishiba, is how bad the damage will be.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 23, 2024
Ishiba and the LDP race to stem the electoral bleeding
Weeks into Shigeru Ishiba's premiership and mere days out from a general election, red alert signals are sounding in Tokyo’s corridors of power.
Shohei Ohtani's success symbolizes a broader resurgence in Japanese sports, with contributing factors including increased investment in sports, modern coaching techniques and a generational shift in mindset.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 11, 2024
What baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s success says about Japan
The phenom has had what many are calling the greatest season ever. But his success is also a story of change in his home country.
As streaming services like Netflix invest in Japanese content, the hope is to revitalize the nation’s cultural exports and elevate its television landscape.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 9, 2024
Netflix’s ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ reveals some surprising truths
"Tokyo Swindlers" can reveal some home truths — even when they’re presented by a group of fraudsters.
Shigeru Ishiba's nascent administration is attracting something of a reputation for flip-flopping — and it hasn’t even been a week.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 4, 2024
Don’t take Japan's new leader literally. But should you take him seriously?
Ishiba will discover that his supply of capital with the public will run out quickly if he offers no break from his predecessor.
A woman holds up sign reading "defeat Ishiba," Japan's new prime minister, as a small group of protesters gather outside the parliament building in Tokyo on Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2024
Japan’s new leader has barely the concept of a plan
If Ishiba follows through on some of his stated policies, that might be where the endearment ends.
Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates in Tokyo with party rival Shigeru Ishiba after Abe won the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote in September 2018.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2024
Shigeru Ishiba made his career as an anti-Abe
Over the years, Ishiba's opposition earned him few friends; indeed, he has a reputation for being a "traitor” due to his public criticism of party orthodoxy.
Shigeru Ishiba speaks at a campaign meeting on Sept. 12 in Tokyo in the lead-up to the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's presidential election scheduled for Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 24, 2024
Japan’s next leader will be different — and flawed
While nine LDP lawmakers are contesting the race to become the country’s next leader, the field has narrowed to just three.
Japan might have created the PlayStation brand, but the cost of the latest generation of the console will exclude all but the most hardcore fans.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 18, 2024
PS5 Pro price is a sticker shock for the country that made the PlayStation
With even an entry-level PS5 now costing some ¥72,980 following the latest hike last month, an entire generation of Japanese could be cut off.
Ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader and prime minister, Fumio Kishida, attends a campaign event with then-LDP candidate Junko Mihara and lawmaker Shinjiro Koizumi (left) in Kawasaki in July 2022. Koizumi is viewed as a potential front-runner in the party's upcoming leadership contest.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2024
Japan’s public wants change. Can the ruling party deliver?
The LDP's upcoming leadership contest features a diverse field of candidates, including Shinjiro Koizumi, who is viewed as a potential front-runner.
Osaka is set to open Grand Green Osaka in the city’s Umekita area. It is a sprawling redevelopment that combines a park with mixed-use skyscrapers and is part of a push to rejuvenate the merchant city.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 5, 2024
Japan’s second city can finally make Tokyo jealous
For the first time in years, Osaka has something that will make Tokyoites jealous. It might also serve as a symbol of the merchant city’s push for a comeback.
Alimentation Couche-Tard’s bid to acquire Japan’s Seven & I Holdings has sparked discussions about Japan’s approach to foreign investment and whether rejecting or accepting the bid reflects an openness to international business.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 4, 2024
7-Eleven deserves more than shareholder supremacy
While Japan should consider investor interests, it should not forsake the broader social and community benefits that its businesses provide.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda "predictably unpredictable" actions and policy shifts highlight the need for improved communication, reflecting modern central banking practices.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 28, 2024
How long can the BOJ get away with rate shocks?
The BOJ’s shifting policies and Kazuo Ueda’s unpredictable approach reflect the need for better alignment with modern central banking practices.
A cardboard cutout of the Monkey King character, or Sun Wukong, from the Chinese action role-playing game Black Myth: Wukong is displayed on the day of its launch in Beijing on Aug. 20.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 27, 2024
Black myth, Black samurai and gaming nationalism
While China has to date enjoyed success in mobile and PC gaming, those lucrative sectors carry relatively little prestige. That makes Wukong’s breakout a landmark event.
Princess Aiko, only child of emperor, turns 23
Princess Aiko on Nov. 22 ahead of her 23rd birthday on Sunday at the Imperial Palace
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
Ukraine war reinvigorating Finland’s fighting spirit
A Finnish soldier operates a towed 155 mm field gun during the Northern Forest land force exercise in Rovajarvi, Finland, in May 2023.
Europe eyes 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine as possible peace deal option
A serviceman with the Ukrainian Army's 24th mechanized brigade fires a machine gun during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Donetsk region on Friday.
Japan’s 2024 buzzword of the year urges a reevaluation of past norms
Sadao Abe, who played the role of a time-traveling Showa Era teacher transported to present day in a popular TV drama, receives the 2024 buzzword of the year award for the word "futehodo," the nickname of the series.
Europe eyes 'boots on the ground' in Ukraine as possible peace deal option
A serviceman with the Ukrainian Army's 24th mechanized brigade fires a machine gun during an exercise, amid Russia's attack on Ukraine, in the country's Donetsk region on Friday.
Seven strangers and an algorithm: Can this new dinner app help you make friends?
Timeleft uses an algorithm to match its users with five or six strangers in an effort to prompt “human connection” over dinner at a restaurant. It determines the attendees with the help of a simple personality quiz available when you sign up for the service. 
Don’t worry, you can still use your Japan health insurance card — for now
A My Number card reader at a pediatric clinic in Tokyo. While the government will stop issuing new health insurance cards on Monday, most people will remain unaffected by the move in the short term as existing health insurance cards can still be used for another year.
The Geisha bean is the leading lady of Tokyo's coffee scene
Discovered in the 1930s, the Geisha coffee plant came to worldwide fame in the early 2000s and now represents some of the best coffee on the planet — Tokyo's top cafes included.
Ukraine war reinvigorating Finland’s fighting spirit
A Finnish soldier operates a towed 155 mm field gun during the Northern Forest land force exercise in Rovajarvi, Finland, in May 2023.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

The National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo is a popular place to foster curiosity in the natural sciences.
Can Japan's scientific community rebound from a Nobel nosedive?
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world
mission sustainability vol.12 : Kose Corp.Kose takes pride in creating beauty in the world

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