Japan’s defense strategy assumes stable energy access—but what if that assumption fails? Helen Cecile argues that upcoming NSS revisions under PM Takaichi must integrate energy security to ensure Japan’s defense plans are operational, not aspirational.

Omission of special-needs graduates from official Japanese government data about the country's "18-year-old population" does not appear to reflect deliberate exclusion, but it nevertheless carries negative symbolic and practical consequences.

"Reiwa Shinsengumi [is] down to just one seat in the House of Representatives after Sunday’s election, falling from the eight it held before the official campaign period."

They fixed it! My article is now open access. academic.oup.com/ahr/article/...

Except the turnout among 18- and 19-year-olds was merely 43.11%...? That's only marginally higher than in 2024, when it was 43.06%.

Despite the LDP's overwhelming victory yesterday, Mio Sugita, an LDP politician known for her hateful remarks towards LGBTQ+ people, Ainu, Korean people, and other groups, has failed to win a seat.

Just ate a kebab wrap. Will head to bed soon. Goodnight bluesky people.

怖い。マジで怖い。

Seat predictions by TBS

"The Liberal Democratic Party is set to win over 233 seats to gain a majority on its own in Sunday’s House of Representatives election, according to exit polls by The Yomiuri Shimbun and others."

Expletives.

There is a wholescale concerted effort to rebrand trans children as gender questioning children. If the whole group are re-labelled, then they cannot claim rights as a minority group. If they are all re-labelled, then conversion efforts can just about helping them 'explore their gender'.

"Scared" might be an understatement.

Yum!

I wish I could go outside and take pictures of the snow...!!

Hormones are wack because I'm nearing the end of my t-blocker injection's cycle, so now I'm crying in bed at Celebrity Substitute clips lol

My mistake for ordering pizza in Japan I guess

Literally why are these the only options lol

Wat ik niet snap is waarom dit figuur niet al lang compleet van de universiteit is verbannen. Een neonazi die mensen mishandelt, intimideert en seksueel lastigvalt--dat wil je toch gewoon niet op je universiteit? Een schorsing of campusverbod is bij lange na niet genoeg, mijns inziens.

banger

It's the last day of election campaigning and I'm sick in bed...

Ear felt weird and my tired, sick brain instantly did a flashback to that time, over two decades ago, when the older neighborhood kids tricked me into thinking they had put a bug in my ear, as if that could be a possible explanation for the feeling in my ear 😭

I dreamt there was a Star Wars character who looks like Owl from Simon Hanselmann's "Meg, Mogg, and Owl" series. Honestly, I haven't watched much Star Wars yet, but I think it would work design-wise, no?

that was a sudden earthquake

me every time the cold medicines kick in and I no longer feel like I'm literally dying:

Mensen die op D66 stemmen en verbaasd zijn dat ze VVD beleid krijgen... hoe dan? Het is niet alsof dit de eerste keer is.

Sharing for a friend: "Spot was a beloved puppy who brought so much joy to everyone around him. Sadly, he passed away after a brave fight against cancer. Let’s honor his memory by supporting the Humane Society of Southern Arizona, where he found love."

When we had to do presentations for the very first time in primary school, around age 7, we found out a certain Dutch word for cats also has a different meaning (just like in English) because a cat-obsessed friend put the word into his search bar followed by ".nl" and hit enter.

If I don't survive this cold, tell my loved ones I loved them.

My body is waging war against me after I spent too much time having too much fun being too much back in Japan.

This drink hits like ambrosia straight from the gods' dinner table when you're sick.

If what I'm having is a common cold, I don't even want to know what a legendary cold is like.

Doctor spoke really good English but whenever I spoke in Japanese, he'd smile or laugh, so we ended up talking in a mix of English and Japanese throughout my appointment lol

At the pharmacy they let me choose from two different designs for my 「お薬手帳」so, obviously, I told them 「このかわいいやつをお願いします!」 in my shaky, sick, yet enthusiastic voice.

At the doctor's office, texting with my friend

Regardless of what gender you were assigned at birth, virtually everyone has internalised misogyny and sexism to unpack. It came free with your being born and raised in a patriarchy.

Peter Chai and Charles Crabtree write about how Japan can face the unfolding child safety crisis as the sources of harm diversify and spill out of the classrooms

slept like three hours already and asked my roommate to make me some rice for when I wake up hungry in a bit. obviously she said yes. she's an angel.

Sometimes I do wonder how different my life would be now if I had faced my desire to transition head on much earlier, rather than repressing it for so many years.

Thank you Saitama Prefecture Election Committee for telling me to go vote through an insta ad. I would, if I could.

I was supposed to work on an article today, but I fear I came down with a flu or cold that has turned my brain to mush.

Do you ever have a dream where a big dragon eats a whole bunch of people, and then in your next dream, you and the dream NPCs spend a while dissecting what this "film" meant, coming to the conclusion that its message is "memento mori" bc a big dragon can eat us all any moment?

they're frying my ass in the discord

lunch time. finally my first proper meal of the day. I didn't have time for breakfast, so I just had a bunch of peanuts with a coffee and a redbull earlier today.

Following Karen Yoda around all day long today. We're currently somewhere deep in Tokyo 25th District. Only a couple of houses around the place where she stopped her car, but the local obachan were already waiting. One brought her own chair to sit on during the speech.

Eating after speech at a small izakaya and we tell the guy next to us there was an SDPJ speech and that LaSalle was speaking. "I hate that guy." We ask him why. "I'm blocked by him on X. Leftwingers are all idiots."

Yuko Otsubaki (@ohtsubakijimsho.bsky.social) of the Social Democratic Party of Japan delivering a speech at Machida Station right now. Criticizes Takaichi for letting politicians implicated in the slush fund scandal run as official LDP candidates, this election.

Last weekend, I almost declined a cigarette from someone, but just as I was explaining to him I had already hit my monthly limit of 2 cigarettes for January, it dawned on me I was 35 minutes into February already.

Something tells me you're not supposed to park your bike here...

lil shinjuku rat