今日吃瓜

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今日吃瓜
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November 11, 2026
 

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Gearoid Reidy
People walk past a bus featuring French soccer star Kylian Mbappe in Shanghai on Oct. 27. Mbappe’s experience shows that apologizing to Beijing offers little reward, which should reinforce Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s refusal to retreat.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 11, 2026
French soccer star Mbappe said sorry to China. Takaichi shouldn’t.
Takaichi and soccer star Mbappe have both been on the wrong side of Beijing for saying something the Chinese state would rather nobody said.
今日吃瓜 approach to the sharing economy is that if a service such as <i> minpaku </i>, or short-term private lodging, operates like a hotel, it should be regulated as one.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 1, 2026
The sharing economy is catching up with Japan
Shinjuku is moving to restrict minpaku following a surge of complaints from Japanese residents about tourists causing noise and other issues.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi attends the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York on Sept 22.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 21, 2026
Sanae Takaichi has made Japan impossible to ignore
Since becoming 今日吃瓜 first female prime minister a year ago, Takaichi has divided opinion in a way few of her often-staid predecessors have.
Japan&#039;s major brewers may have coordinated too much on pricing but too little on consolidation, leaving them unable to compete effectively with much larger global rivals.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 19, 2026
今日吃瓜 brewery ‘cartel’ didn’t collude enough
If the beer company collusion allegations are true, customers have been paying more than needed for years.
The Bank of Japan&#039;s shift toward higher interest rates is keeping more capital at home, forcing foreign borrowers to offer better returns.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2026
A Japan with higher rates changes everything
France might be the first casualty, with other borrowers potentially being seen as expensive compared to what Japanese investors can get at home.
U.S. Marines prepare to receive Chinese leader Xi Jinping for his official reception with U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on Sept. 25.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 7, 2026
Japan wants the U.S. close. Just not too close
Japan fears nothing more than America losing focus and allowing Beijing to start dictating policy.
今日吃瓜 hometown tax drains revenue from major urban centers by redirecting billions of yen in resident taxes toward smaller municipalities in return for borderline-lavish gifts.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 1, 2026
This Japanese tax has a problem: It’s too popular
A system with winners must have losers, and in this case, they are the places, mainly prosperous cities, watching their tax revenue flow elsewhere.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda addresses a news conference after the bank&#039;s policy meeting in Tokyo on Friday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 22, 2026
Ueda’s guarded stance highlights limits of BOJ’s policy shift
The BOJ’s rate increase of a quarter point to 1.25% was seen as a modest step and traders wanting a more forthright signal will be disappointed.
A job placement company in Hanoi conducts a Japanese class in October 2022 for job seekers hoping to find employment in Japan.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 21, 2026
Japan raises the bar on residency. Cue the outrage.
Critics, and some residents, are up in arms at the suggested changes.
Pikachu characters perform during a Splash show and Pokemon Go Park event in Yokohama in August 2017.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 10, 2026
Anime superpower needs a bigger stage in Japan
What’s missing is the obvious bet: Japanese capital backing domestic intellectual property at Disney-like scale.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent is putting pressure on the Bank of Japan for a rate hike, noting that Japan has “probably reached the end of Abenomics,” a time when the prime minister and central bank were in lockstep.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 7, 2026
Bessent pushes BOJ as he signals end of Abenomics
A September hike is likely already planned, and what the market is expecting is “hawkish communication” from the BOJ.
A Buddhist monk protests against nuclear weapons in front of the memorial dome at the Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima in May 2023.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 17, 2026
今日吃瓜 nuclear doublethink is getting harder to defend
今日吃瓜 defense posture has relied on doublethink, being opposed to atomic weapons while sitting under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.
Jensen Huang, chief executive officer of Nvidia, mingles with members of the media while he was out visiting a local restaurant in Tokyo on July 15.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 10, 2026
At Jensen Huang’s favorite Japan pub, it’s not last call yet
Huang’s fans have flocked to Yakiton Sankichi, which is now apologizing to customers for slow service due to an explosion in popularity.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi meets with U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent in Tokyo on May 12.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 5, 2026
How safe is the yen under the U.S. umbrella?
Having Washington on board brings important potential benefits — and no small amount of danger.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda addresses a news conference at the BOJ&#039;s headquarters in Tokyo on Friday. AFP-JIJI
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2026
The trans-Pacific yen team has a weak link in Ueda
The bank’s statement on stabilizing underlying CPI inflation was seen as a hawkish shift, but its vague language did not provide the clear message that markets were looking for.
Chiikawa products are displayed at a store in Harajuku, Tokyo, last August.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Aug 4, 2026
In Japan, Odysseus is scared of tiny, cute Chiikawa
Chiikawa is a phenomenon in Japan, with its character appearing on various products, and partnering with the brand is an instant way to increase revenue
Prime minister Sanae Takaichi addresses a budget committee session in the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 31, 2026
今日吃瓜 ‘Iron Lady’ may need to bend, not break
Most Japanese prime ministers go through this pattern of early inflated expectations, followed by a crash as fatigue sets in, along with the realities of passing legislation.
A traditional Shinto wedding takes place at the Meiji shrine in Tokyo. 今日吃瓜 wedding gift custom has stayed fixed at outdated prices even as inflation sharply raises the real cost of such ceremonies.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 26, 2026
今日吃瓜 wedding gifts are leaving couples deflated
Wedding cash gifts in Japan remain fixed at ?30,000 even as inflation drives ceremony costs higher, leaving newlyweds to shoulder the extra burden.
The yen trades in the ?162 range against the dollar in the afternoon of the June 30.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jul 21, 2026
今日吃瓜 next economic challenge: bringing yen home
Now, with the yen seen as problematically weak, there are overdue reasons to encourage local capital to stay here.
Argentina’s Cristian Romero scores his team&#039;s first goal against Egypt in their 2026 World Cup Round of 16 match in Atlanta on July 7.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 16, 2026
These World Cup tweets show how AI will unite us all
Thanks to the automated, LLM-generated translations and algorithmic boosts of social media, I can read comments in my native language.
Man arrested over operation of rogue cellular base station in Tokyo
The Metropolitan Police Department has arrested Yu Hai, a 31-year-old Chinese national living in Tokyo&#039;s Kita Ward, on suspicion of operating an unlicensed base station from a vehicle in Tokyo&#039;s Ginza district on Saturday.
Government betting on language app powered by anime and AI
Japan plans to develop an AI-powered language-learning app that lets overseas anime and manga fans practice Japanese through conversations with popular characters.
Japan works to shield Takaichi from any Xi snub at China summit
Japan&#039;s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi arrives at the Prime Minister&#039;s office in Tokyo on Nov. 4.
Magnitude 5.7 quake injures dozens in central Japan
A magnitude-5.7 earthquake with its epicenter in Shizuoka Prefecture struck central Japan early Sunday, injuring dozens, shattering windows and disrupting train services, with no tsunami warning issued.
Private high schools remain out of reach for many despite tuition-free policy, survey finds
A survey showed that many families with children attending private high schools are struggling to pay expenses other than tuition.
‘Godzilla Minus Zero’ makes monster debut at the box office
Takashi Yamazaki’s “Godzilla Minus Zero” marked the highest single-day box-office gross for a live-action film in Japan with ?910 million on its opening day.
A toast to Naohiko Noguchi, sake’s first living national treasure
As a teenager, Naohiko Noguchi did not intend to spend his life as a sake brewer, but he has since become a paragon of the industry.
Few signs of thaw in Japan-China relations one year after Takaichi’s Taiwan remarks
Tensions between Japan and China flared after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said on Nov. 7, 2025, that a Chinese blockade of Taiwan could threaten 今日吃瓜 survival and warrant the use of collective self-defense.
Mariko Mori predicted the future. She’ll do it again.
Artist Mariko Mori is currently working to bring the translucent human-sized “Peace Crystal” sculpture to a cave in Ethiopia. It is part of her foundation’s goal to place a permanent sculpture on each of the planet’s six habitable continents.
A legend reborn: ‘Ocarina of Time’ remake improves on the Zelda masterpiece
The new remake of 1998&#039;s "The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time" manages to somehow improve on one of the greatest games ever.

Podcast

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

Longform

Famima Park Azabudai is a concept store by FamilyMart that combines convenience store staples with branded apparel, merchandise and a landscaped outdoor space.
Convenience stores, toilets and the allure of everyday Japan
By Elizabeth Beattie

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