Seeing quite a bit of this recently - Europe benefitting from Japanese business "de-China-ing" - Mitsubishi Materials plans to a build smelter in Europe that will handle recycled circuit boards, an effort to shield itself from China-related supply disruptions. asia.nikkei.com/business/mat...

Japanese manga publishers interested in Zimbabwean manga artists because Zimbabwe also has a shamanic culture, and these themes appear in their work. asia.nikkei.com/business/med...

Wish I hadn't said this now. Apparently Japan is also going to make becoming a Japanese citizen tougher. Admittedly, it is currently a bit of an anomaly in that it was 5 years residence to become a citizen and 10 years residence for permanent residency. japantoday.com/category/nat...

Isn't the usual sorry not sorry term "I never *meant* to hurt anybody" not that "I never *tried* to hurt anybody"? A telling difference. 🎵I didn't try to hurt you, I'm sorry that I made you cry. Oh no I didn't try to hurt you. I'm just a zealous guy 🎵

I'm a Fire Horse and as I will be in Japan in February 2026, I'm thinking of tracking down the Japanese Fire Horse women who were my school friends when I lived in Japan in the 1970s, and see if they ended up devouring their husbands (mine is still alive, undevoured) asia.nikkei.com/editor-s-pic...

Richard Tice, March 2025: "I have never met Nathan Gill, and he has never had anything to do with Reform,"

Police are investigating former British MEPs who were tasked by Nathan Gill on behalf of his handler Several EU forces are investigating others who may have been instructed directly by Oleg Voloshyn, and an international investigation team has been started www.nytimes.com/2025/11/21/w...

Japan is quintupling foreign residency renewal fees to.... $190! Application fee for permanent residency is around £50 Current fees are still "low when compared with overseas," says a Japanese official. Indefinite Leave to Remain in UK = £3,0000++ asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/ja...

What is it with making small boys at prep schools wear shorts in this weather? Surely it can't be the schools insisting? Do parents think it makes a MAN out of them?

If you're at the receiving end of discrimination + bullying at school, you have crystal clear recollection, even from 40 or 50 years ago. “If things like this happened a very, very long time ago, you can’t necessarily recollect what happened” the [Reform] spokesperson claimed tinyurl.com/ym5x25my

Nice (and free) FT article on what Japan is doing to integrate foreign workers - interesting to see that employers are stepping up to help as well as immigrants putting a lot of investment into learning the language + customs because they want to be (+ are wanted) there. on.ft.com/4o7TTrE

Ah yes, I was just exchanging emails with noted Japan experts -- check notes -- Evan Callister and Devin Flowers.

NH Foods UK annual report (NH stands for Nippon Ham) makes sobering reading - their European exports to Japan + Asia are losing market share to cheaper alternatives eg Brazilian pork. Instead, NH are finding success in selling processed chicken + Japanese style sausages in Europe

The basic problem with the temporary refugee status policy - especially one lasting up to 20 years - is it leads to very few removals (based on Denmark's experience) but does significantly worsen integration.

Just looked up Sofonisba Anguissola and she turns out to be wonderfully talented with quite a life story. share.google/ENdQerJoJmp6... not having kids would have helped. No death in childbirth, fewer distractions.

She was always THE woman. Looking right at you from 1590: Infanta Catalina Micaela (almost surely), painted by Sofonisba Anguissola (probably). Surely one of the greatest renaissance portraits.

What will happen to children of asylum seekers born here ? Will they be forcibly removed to a country they don’t know now deemed to be safe ? What will happen to older children who came with parents and doing well in education ? Will refugee parents be removed from British partners and children?

I came to this country as a child refugee. No English, no certainty, no idea what my life could become. Britain gave me refuge. Not on a timer, not with conditions attached, but with a chance to grow roots. A thread 🧵 1/8 www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

This policy will lead to even more mental health issues amongst refugees. Human beings want to belong. If you deny them that possibility, they are traumatised. Even after just a couple of years, humans change to fit the culture they are in, it becomes home. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

If we accept someone is a genuine refugee and they build a life here, perhaps have children born here, what is the advantage to us of expelling them once we’ve persuaded ourselves that their country of origin is safe?

It was entirely predictable from the American cultural perspective that Trump would reject the BBC apology, whatever the legal rights and wrongs, claiming "when you say it's unintentional, I guess if it's unintentional you don't apologise." 1/

Japanese ball bearings manufacturer NSK is in consultation to close both its manufacturing sites in County Durham UK. Around 350 jobs at risk. NSK steel costs doubled due to having to import steel from EU instead of Japan after UK quota limit hit. 1/2 www.nsk.com/company/news...

Another nice piece from Karen Hill Anton, a Black American who has lived in Japan for fifty years. karenhillanton.substack.com/p/what-racis...

No headline income tax rises as predicted by @oilsheppard.bsky.social a week ago and seconded by me Dividend tax rises and a myriad other tax twiddles to come.

Really should stop groom scrolling* *Reading all the analyses and threads of the Epstein emails.

While it would have been soon enough to stop quoting Larry Summers as an expert after his first comment about women while president of Harvard, perhaps this email will be enough to finally do so.

Peter Thiel. bsky.app/profile/timd...

Jeffrey Epstein in 2018: "i know how dirty donald is."

As I said 4 days ago www.cityam.com/rachel-reeve...

Binning the entire Today programme including all its baggage such as Thought for the Day and the combative 8:10 interview and all who sailed in her, Rajan, Barnett, Robinson, Mason, replacing it with World Service News.

Honestly I could watch this over and over. Yes I have had a tiring day.

I think this may be correct + that one of the tax rises that will happen instead is a hike in dividend tax which will mean business owners like me will switch to paying more income tax. Also why NICs being proposed for partnerships to prevent that being used as an escape route. on.ft.com/47xPSGo

Looks like the cover of Danielle Steel novel.

Oh wow Virgin Money bot told me to use Internet Explorer (support discontinued in 2022) because I couldn't get their site to work in Chrome or Firefox.

Over 60% of people in the Japanese automotive sector think Honda and Nissan should merge, including merging with Mitsubishi Motors + others. Toyota + suppliers strongly in favour, Nissan + suppliers too, but Honda + suppliers relatively less keen on such a merger. diamond.jp/articles/-/3...

"elderly immigrants with limited English are among the most vulnerable to feeling isolated in their new environment. Yet some have found meaningful ways to connect. At Sutton's largest food bank, around 90% of the volunteers are Hong Kongers, mostly retirees." asia.nikkei.com/spotlight/im...

The Grand Egyptian Museum, one of the world's largest museums and built with Japanese support, fully opened to the public on Saturday near the famous Giza pyramid complex.

Commentary: Policy critics frame the new prime minister’s diplomacy through sexist lenses while ignoring her policies.

Physician-researcher Dr. Marthe Gautier discovered that people with Down syndrome have an extra chromosome; a fellow doctor stole the credit. Dr. Gautier died on April 30, 2022. She was 96. For some reason the New York Times published her obituary yesterday. www.nytimes.com/2025/10/30/h...

Still, at least he’s got low friends in high places.

Quite a scoop from Japanese business magazine Diamond. Nippon Sheet Glass, who acquired UK's Pilkington Glass in 2006, have postponed plans to sell off their overseas automotive glass business because there is too much of a gap between its internal + external valuation. diamond.jp/articles/-/3...

most people don't want politics that hurt other people. we just want a long overcoat like david bowie and affordable housing

I've been feeling recently that The Last Leg had somewhat jumped the shark. But this is spot on.

Another great post by @mattalt.bsky.social. I was just thinking myself that despite or maybe because of the Galapagos syndrome (thrives in Japan but not in other ecosystems), Japanese culture has become much loved and is not seen as inaccessible at all.

'Fog: Ladies crossing Piccadilly' (from 'The Colour of London', 1907) by Yoshio Markino

"Japan must continue to accept foreign nationals who contribute to industrial innovation + other fields," Justice Minister Hiraguchi said. Also "stronger measures to address foreign nationals who illegally overstay their residencies" + "the creation of a society that accepts coexistence."

Liz Truss’ dream of boosting British cheese exports falls flat in Japan www.politico.eu/article/liz-...

Even in Japan you only need to have lived in Japan for five years to become a Japanese citizen. You do have to give up any other nationality though.