“The U.S. is a total outlier in how much people suffer.” - Keio University Prof. Ikegami comparing the Japanese universal healthcare system to the U.S. healthcare system. Japanese conservative broadly support the existing system. www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-assa...

Nissin is going to produce and sell cup curry using the special recipe of the President of the APA Hotels chain, which is known for having historical revisionist literature in its hotel rooms, denying that Japan waged a war of aggression in World War II. news.livedoor.com/article/deta...

Prime Minister Takaichi's official supporter merch shop is also selling a "Fight On!! Sanae For Japan" toothbrush for 6,600 yen ($42). They only plan to sell 200 of them, so I guess that makes this a very special toothbrush?

The official Takaichi supporter shop is selling versions of the "JAPAN IS BACK" hat she prepared for Trump's visit to Japan. It is priced at ¥13,200 ($85), which is considerably more expensive than the $55 that Donald Trump's official shop charges for MAGA hats. veanas.theshop.jp

FT reports that there is "deep disappointment" in the Takaichi Administration over the lack of public support she has received from Trump over her remarks about defending Taiwan. The article notes that Elbridge Colby had been pushing Japan to take such a stance. www.ft.com/content/bf8b...

Japanese Justice Gang cosplayers today at Tokyo Comic Con 2025:

The article has also been translated into Japanese: ｢鬼滅の刃｣中国で大ヒットも日本アニメ公開中止相次ぐ－台湾巡り対立 www.bloomberg.co.jp/news/article...

I was interviewed for this Bloomberg article about China delaying the release of Japanese films after Takaichi's Taiwan remarks: "Japan-China Spat Clouds Anime Boom’s Momentum in China" bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-11-25/japan-china-spat-clouds-anime-boom-s-momentum-in-china

Japan's NTV notes that Takaichi happily greeted South Korean President Lee at the G20 Summit, but when Chinese Premier Li showed up one minute later, he briefly looked at her and turned away to talk to other leaders (perhaps because of Takaichi's Taiwan remarks). www.youtube.com/watch?v=G_zY...

If you haven't checked out @mrjeffu.bsky.social's interview on Lemonade Stand you should! A very good, really informative overview of Japanese politics and current social issues. youtu.be/Dc0z0ulibtk?...

I appeared on Australia's ABC News today to talk about China's ban on Japanese seafood and a possible reduction of Chinese tourism to Japan: "China bans seafood from Japan, calls on PM Takaichi to retract Taiwan remarks" www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2sr...

The Lemonade Stand podcast interviewed me for their Japan episode! We spoke about Prime Minister Takaichi, immigration, Sanseito, historical revisionism, territorial disputes, conspiracy theories, and a whole lot of other stuff! www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc0z...

Prime Minister Takaichi's new Justice Minister, Hiraguchi Hiroshi, reportedly spent over 8 million yen on "gasoline" from 2021 to 2023 - enough for his political support organization's cars to drive 34 trips around the Earth. www.news-postseven.com/archives/202...

Goto Teruki, a Japanese perennial candidate who is known for his odd election speeches and posters, is running for Tokyo's Katsushika ward assembly. He is wearing a penis costume on his election posters, and apparently police ordered him to censor them with a black marker.

@rmarcantuoni.bsky.social provides a summary of his recent research article on the far-right conspiracy party Sanseitō. Responding to the media's portrayal of the party as a catch-up moment for Japanese politics, he instead argues that its conspiracy ideology is a novel form of political action.

A very informative article explaining the conspiracy theories and ideologies motivating Japan's new far-right party, Sanseitō, which made substantial seat gains in last July's upper house election. Thanks to @rmarcantuoni.bsky.social & @robfahey.net for writing this.

My latest piece for Tokyo Review:

Viral on Twitter in Japan: Prime Minister Takaichi used to be TV presenter and gave a magazine interview in the 1990s in which she said Japanese men were too timid if they directly asked for consent from women. She criticized men who ask “Can I kiss you?” instead of just taking decisive action.

I really do need to research the occult in Japanese subcultures at some point. H/T @mrjeffu.bsky.social

I just find it impressive that he left his longtime HoC seat in 2021 and moved to the lower house in the hopes of doing just this, and now here he is in second place. Even if he doesn’t get it, I think he’s played his cards really well these past 4 years.

NBC News interviewed me about tomorrow's LDP leadership vote, which will decide who will take over Japan's ruling party and become Prime Minister: www.nbcnews.com/world/japan/...

The overseas betting market doesn't appear to be reacting much to news that Hayashi might make it to the second round of the LDP leadership election. Most still have confidence in Koizumi, who is at 82%.

Japan's LDP race projections from FNN: •Takaichi is leading in 17 prefectures •Koizumi is leading in 15 prefectures •6 prefectures are a toss up: Takaichi or Koizumi •Hayashi is leading in 4 prefectures •Hayashi might come in 2nd place due to lawmakers' votes news.yahoo.co.jp/articles/a73...

CNN interviewed me for this piece about the LDP leadership election: "Japan’s ruling party is in crisis as voters swing to right-wing rivals. Can a new leader save it?" edition.cnn.com/2025/10/02/a...

Today I spoke to Australia's ABC News about Saturday's LDP leadership race. Three candidates currently seem to have a chance at becoming Japan's next Prime Minister: www.youtube.com/watch?v=R_rg...

Video - Emperor Naruhito of Japan and President Donald Trump on Climate Change: Many Japanese netizens have noted that the Emperor strongly advocates action to address climate change, and has often spoken about it at UN conferences. Quite a contrast from Trump's climate change denialism.

Video: a Japanese scientist was attacked by flies while giving the acceptance speech for his Ig Nobel Prize-winning research paper that proved painting Zebra-like stripes on cows led to a decrease in biting fly attacks.

I spoke with Monocle Radio today about the LDP leadership race (my segment starts around the 33 minute mark) monocle.com/player/?uuid...

Japanese YouTuber Nagata Yuri is spreading conspiracy theories about the death of Charlie Kirk. She became a famous as "the first Japanese woman to become an Los Angeles police officer" (she was an airport cop at LAX) & makes videos introducing the "truth" about world politics. [1/3]

A new poll asked Japanese their preference for the next leader of the LDP. Takaichi Sanae came in first with 29%. However, it should be noted that when you isolate for LDP supporters, Koizumi Shinjiro beats her 33% to 28%. Non-party members do not vote in the election. news.line.me/detail/oa-yo...

Charlie Kirk, who was almost unknown in Japan over a week ago, is being incorporated into Abe Shinzo assassination conspiracy theories.

A wrinkle to the social media in polisci debate is that unlike previous iterations, this current slate of platforms have explicit political agendas they are promoting

"Japan needs its version of the AfD to rapidly save the nation." - Elon Musk, reacting to a Japanese user who very wrongly described Takaichi Sanae a "center-left figure." She's so conservative that a former Prime Minister Kishida allegedly referred to her as the "Taliban."

Yamamoto Taro, leader of Japan's left-wing populist Reiwa party, reimagined as character in Hearts of Iron IV (hoi4). [translated from @makahannya7676 on Twitter]:

The Daily Mail is using a random image they found on Reddit to explain the "Notices bulge, OwO" meme that Tyler Robinson Robison allegedly carved into one of his bullets. It's Astolfo, a feminine-looking male character who appears in the Japanese game Fate/Grand Order. [1/2]

An account of one of Charlie Kirk's last speaking events, which took place in Japan on September 7th: •He spoke with the leader of the far-right party Sanseito •1,200 people paid for $68-$200 tickets •"Nearly half" of the audience was "dozing off" kurodoraneko15.theletter.jp/posts/208b5f...

Japan Times Editorial: "The fact that only the U.S. suffers this level of firearm-related violence renders specious the claim that this problem cannot be addressed through gun control." www.japantimes.co.jp/editorials/2...

I was interviewed for the latest episode of BBC's The Inquiry: www.bbc.com/audio/play/w...

An example of Japanese news analysis of the Trump-Putin meeting: YTV noted that US Presidents usually speak first when hosting foreign leaders, but in this case Putin spoke first, speaking for over 8 minutes, compared to Trump's 3 minutes and 20 seconds. youtu.be/kDjOZEE14FY?...

New Open Access academic e-book about Japan! Japan’s Imperial Mythology: The Dynamics of Sacred Narratives in History and Politics lit-verlag.de/isbn/978-3-6...

LDP politician Koizumi Shinjiro represents Kanagawa's 11th district in Japan's House of Representatives. If you zoom into that district on Wplace, someone has written "GO SHINJIRO!!" in an area near the National Defense Academy.

A Sanseito supporter made a music video full of low quality AI-generated footage of the political party's leader. One scene has him the cockpit of an airplane, with his arms coming out of the side of the plane's body. www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmIe...

On Japanese right-wing Twitter today: a left-wing protester who gave the middle finger to a Sanseito politician was described as making some kind of violent death threat...because apparently giving someone the middle finger means "I'll kill you." 🤡

The Japanese government presented US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent with a manga-style portrait drawn by Akamatsu Ken, creator of Love Hina. Akamatsu was elected to Japan's Upper House in 2022 as an LDP candidate advocating freedom of expression in manga & anime.

A viral Japanese tweet imagines a future in which the BBC airs a documentary about "The Dark Side of Japanese High School Baseball," causing the Japanese media to pay more attention to scandals that are allegedly ignored. (similar to the Johnny Kitagawa sex abuse scandal)

Japan’s chief trade negotiator, Akazawa Ryosei, referred to United States Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick as "Lut-chan" (or Rato-chan #ラトちゃん) in a tweet about ongoing tariff talks.

"Obama said '71 years ago, on a bright cloudless morning, death fell from the sky'. This was a totally unacceptable use of words. Death did not 'fall from the sky'. The Americans dropped the bombs. They created the world we live in." My intervu with Terumi Tanaka: www.irishtimes.com/world/asia-p...

I spoke to Monocle Radio today about the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. My segment is about 39 minutes into today's broadcast. monocle.com/player/?uuid...

Prime Minister Ishiba closed his Hiroshima memorial speech by quoting a poem by Shoda Shinoe. It was published in 1947, in defiance of US Occupation authorities, who banned such poems. At the time Shoda believed her act could have resulted in imprisonment or the death penalty.