Review: Ryoma!
A rebel, a pragmatist, a patriot, a red-blooded hombre who gulps down saké like tea, yet also embraces his feminine side; within him “radiates a being like the goddess Kannon”
Isle of Dodgy Stereotypes: Hollywood’s Japan Problem
We have met these dogs before and we like them. They are funny, brave and trustworthy. They are, effectively, Americans.
Betting the Pharma: Japan’s Misdirected M&A Boom
According to Japanese comedian and cinéaste Beat Takeshi, “crossing on a red light is not scary when everyone does it together.”
Stranger in a Strange Land: Ian Buruma’s Japan
The “Cool Japan” of Michelin-starred sushi shops and Pokemon Go lay far in the future. This Japan was warm, wet and chaotic.
Abexit – How Much Would It Matter?
Japanese scandals are never about what they appear to be about. To quote a proverb, “the hidden side has a hidden side of its own.”
Trump’s Path to the Nobel Prize
Beijing ordered dramatic cuts in fuel, food and maintenance supplies to North Korea earlier this year
Trade Wars: The Prequel
The best we can hope for might be the economic equivalent of the Cold War doctrine of “Mutually Assured Destruction”
Inflation on Mars: the Global Implications of Corbynomics
The assumption that low inflation and interest rates are here to stay would be discredited – not just in the UK, but globally
Back to the future for the Yen
Currencies are inherently political and the history of the yen-dollar rate reflects the twists and turns of the US-Japan relationship…
Not Dead Yet: TPP.2 Could Be Bigger and Better
Autocrats everywhere will have been inspired by Xi Jinping’s recent move to tear up the rulebook and set up a dictatorship.