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April 13, 2026
 

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Gearoid Reidy
AI translation and algorithm changes on X unexpectedly connected American and Japanese users through shared content, highlighting the social media platform¡¯s promise of cross-cultural exchange.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 1, 2026
Japanese X is now America¡¯s favorite corner of the internet
Japanese Twitter has been insulated from the culture wars and manipulation by foreign bots, one reason political discourse remains reasonably sane.
Japan is set to impose a "singles tax" next month as part of financing for measures to boost fertility rates.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 26, 2026
Japan¡¯s ¡®singles tax¡¯ is just one battle after another
The plan has attracted vitriol due to its name and the fact that it burdens single-person households, which are now the most common type of household in Japan.
The last two students at Yumoto Junior High School attend their graduation ceremony in Ten-ei Village, Fukushima Prefecture, in March 2023.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 19, 2026
We have to stop discussing 91²Ö¿â birthrate like this
Declining Asian fertility is often framed negatively: a backlash against a crushing society. When it happens in the U.S., though, it's young women taking control over their lives.
People wait in line to play Capcom¡¯s Resident Evil 2 during the E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in June 2017.?Bloomberg.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 16, 2026
How Pokemon and Resident Evil rewrote gaming history
1996 was a seminal year for gaming, an era of rapid iteration and change that stands in contrast to the tedious yearslong development schedule of today.
Many Japanese companies ¡ª from Toto, a toilet manufacturer, to Fujikura ¡ª are quietly becoming key suppliers in the artificial intelligence supply chain but often fail to communicate their transformation effectively to investors and global audiences.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 11, 2026
From toilets to fiber optics, Japan¡¯s unlikely AI players
Japanese firms often struggle to tell their success stories, particularly if they¡¯re diversified or in niche industries.
Japanese Ambassador Hiroshi Suzuki presents his credentials to King Charles at Buckingham Palace in May. Japanese diplomats like the ambassador are using social media, humor and local culture to win hearts and project soft power in ways traditional diplomacy cannot.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Mar 2, 2026
Paddington, pints and the art of modern diplomacy
"48 times the Japanese ambassador made us proud to be British,¡± gushes one typical headline.
Passersby walk past a billboard atop a building featuring a giant 3D cat in 4K resolution in Tokyo's Shinjuku district.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 25, 2026
Hello, little kitty ¡ª Japan¡¯s $20 billion cat boom
In recent years, Cat Day has exploded, as companies embrace a growing market for felines.
Prime Minister Takaichi should consider funding AI subscriptions because widespread use could help Japan overcome language barriers, programmer shortages and productivity challenges.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 20, 2026
Give everyone in Japan a subscription to Claude
Generative AI is transforming sectors across almost every country. But Japan is in a position to benefit more than most.
Sanae Takaichi¡¯s historic win reflects Japan¡¯s longstanding conservatism and practical policy priorities, but claims that she represents an extreme rightward shift or ultraconservative agenda are exaggerated.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 16, 2026
Sanae Takaichi is not who you think she is
Judge Takaichi for who she is. Watch what she says, and more importantly, what she actually does.
Sony has effectively handed control of its TV business to China¡¯s TCL, allowing the Sony brand to live on screens made by others while the company concentrates on higher-value areas.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Feb 2, 2026
Sony switches off the TV and that¡¯s just fine
It is the end of an era as Japan¡¯s iconic electronics giant, Sony, cedes TV business to TCL.
Japan¡¯s Forex trading world, once symbolized by 'Mrs. Watanabe,' has moved on from investing housewives, with the young largely avoiding the markets.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 29, 2026
'Mrs. Watanabe', 91²Ö¿â FX investing housewife, gets an anime update
The stereotype has been out of date for years. In Japan, as elsewhere, housewives are a near-extinct breed with most households dual-income.
A monitor at the foreign exchange trading company Gaitame.com in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar at the company's dealing room on Monday.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 28, 2026
Japan is getting creative with its response to the weak yen
But if Tokyo is indeed coordinating policy ¡ª or messaging at least ¡ª with the U.S. to strengthen the currency, it marks a new and more creative era.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi¡¯s plan to cut the consumption tax on food to zero sent Japanese bonds into a meltdown, jarring global debt markets.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 22, 2026
Takaichi¡¯s bad tax plan isn¡¯t worth this freak-out
Temporary tax cuts have a habit of becoming sticky. What government will be strong enough in two years to let it expire, and hit consumers with an 8% increase at the checkout?
Members of the Vietnamese community take part in a Buddhist ceremony at Daionji temple in the city of Honjo, Saitama Prefecture, in August 2024. Just under half of the roughly 450,000 technical interns under Japan's Technical Intern Training Program as of June 2025 were from Vietnam.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 16, 2026
Japan is right to rethink its immigration approach
In the past decade, arrivals have surged as the population ages. The number of foreigners has doubled since 2012 to top 4 million.
Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi marks the end of trading in 2025 at the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Dec. 30. If she can leverage her popularity into an election win, she could restore the LDP¡¯s majority in the Lower House that it lost in 2024.?
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 15, 2026
Can Japan¡¯s popular new leader beat the heat with a snap election?
The timing makes sense, and not just for the temperature. After three months in office, her polling numbers remain off the charts.
Japan¡¯s measured response to Chinese coercion reflects over 15 years of efforts to diversify its economy and blunt Beijing¡¯s ability to weaponize trade.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Jan 14, 2026
Japan can keep calm and carry on decoupling from China
The goal isn¡¯t to bring trade with Beijing down to zero ¡ª that¡¯s impossible. It¡¯s to dull Xi Jinping¡¯s ability to weaponize it when he wants something.
Nintendo¡¯s upcoming film, Super Mario Galaxy Movie, is positioned as a major 2026 soft-power moment for Japan, with expectations it could replicate the franchise¡¯s 2023 $1.36 billion box office success.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 29, 2025
Takaichi, Mario, baseball and the Year of the Fire Horse
2026 marks the Year of the Horse in Japan. It¡¯s one demographers have been awaiting for decades ¡ª the return of the Fire Horse.
Bank of Japan Gov. Kazuo Ueda attends a news conference in Tokyo on Friday. The BOJ raised its benchmark interest rate to the highest in 30 years and indicated more increases are in the pipeline if conditions allow.
COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2025
Bank of 91²Ö¿â rate hike likely first of many
Today¡¯s Japan is different. Friday¡¯s decision is a milestone. To hear it from the bank, there is still some distance to go.
Japan has moved in a decade from pacifist protest to broad acceptance of stronger defense, driven by regional threats and doubts about U.S. protection.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 16, 2025
What¡¯s left of Japan¡¯s pacifism meets reality
Despite the ruling LDP¡¯s struggles in recent years, it¡¯s striking how little support has shifted to traditional left-leaning parties that oppose revising the pacifist Constitution.
A visitor to Osaka's World Expo 2025 wears Myaku-Myaku headgear in April. The mascot¡¯s runaway popularity surprised many, turning what some expected to be a liability into one of the event¡¯s biggest draws.
COMMENTARY
Dec 10, 2025
Myaku-Myaku and the year of the mascots
Myaku-Myaku was the event¡¯s mascot and its breakout star. One report has the expo bringing in over ?3 trillion to the area, some ?300 billion ahead of estimates.
Japan team discovers why cats leave meals unfinished
An Iwate University team said it has confirmed that cats' appetites wane once they get used to the smell of their food.
Japanese researchers look at 800-year-old books and trees for signs of extreme solar events
A drawing of Fujiwara no Teika, known as a courtier, <i>waka</i> poet and scholar of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods
Debt-laden Japan should review spending on gender equality, survey finds
A woman holds a handheld fan bearing the image of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi&#039;s wedding photo, during an election campaign event in Tokyo on Feb. 7.
Jehovah's Witnesses followers sue Japanese government
According to court records, the plaintiffs include the Japanese branch of Jehovah&#039;s Witnesses in Ebina, Kanagawa Prefecture.
Chinese payment apps raise questions in Japan
Alipay has been mentioned by legislators in discussions about the use of foreign payment apps in Japan.
Where Tokyo goes to sweat and soak
As Tokyo&#039;s public bathhouses age, many are embracing more contemporary aesthetics to stay relevant for a younger class of customer.
At Ueno Station, ¡®Freedom¡¯ restored
¡°Freedom,¡± a mural in JR Ueno Station, created in 1951, has been repaired three times, most recently in 2025.
Inside Iizukatei, a 200-year-old home turned boutique hotel in Tochigi
Recognized as a tangible cultural property in 2003, the former residence of the Iizuka family is now a boutique hotel in Nakagawa, Tochigi Prefecture.
Tokyo¡¯s sake calendar is filled to the brim
The recently concluded Sake Park invited younger brewers to make sake more approachable for attendees in their 20s and 30s.
Japan¡¯s tighter immigration controls yielding results
An immigration control passport stamp issued in Japan. A surge in arrivals from overseas has coincided with a tightening of immigration controls under a government initiative aimed at reducing overstayers.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo¡¯s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo¡¯s ¡®stadium of desire¡¯

Longform

Projects like the BuddhaBot aim to re-create dialogue once lost to time, raising questions about whether AI can extend the teachings of Buddha or merely simulate them.
Can AI replace a priest? Japan¡¯s temples and shrines are testing the limits.
By Alex K.T. Martin

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