Farewell to the Ark
The book has lent its name to a fine, cask-aged barley shochu, apparently much appreciated by Japan’s Crown Prince.
The Year of the Historian
It would be a sign of a more peaceful and stable world if the anniversaries of old conflicts came and went with hardly anyone noticing
What the Nikkei-FT Deal Says about the World (and Japan)
What do Vice, the FT and the WSJ have that the Washington Post, Business Week and many other once iconic titles do not?
Maggie Abe and the Eggheads of Doom
When Thatcher passed away, a Facebook campaign propelled “Ding Dong the Witch is Dead” high into the charts
Memories of Silk and Straw
Infanticide and the sale of daughters into prostitution were necessary evils
Eurogeddon – the Japanese Perspective
Yet successful conservative politicians are always empiricists, not idealists…
Joey in Japan
Joey “Pepe” Smith is a great raconteur with a boatload of fascinating stories, some of which may even be true.
Twilight of the Technocrats
Even Iceland, this century’s poster-child for financial excess, is almost back to peak economic activity
This Year’s Model
“In theory there is no gap between practice and theory; in practice there is.”
Japan’s Immigration Dilemma
The role model is Yuichiro Miura, who reached the summit of Mount Everest at the age of 80