Gearoid Reidy - The Japan Times

January 21, 2025

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Gearoid Reidy

Some people are questioning the U.S. decision to block Nippon Steel’s takeover of U.S. Steel, citing the lack of clear evidence of any national security risk from Japan — a country that hosts over 50,000 U.S. troops and relies on America for defense.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Jan 7, 2025

Biden's Nippon Steel move: A troubling snub of a key ally

Preventing the takeover of U.S. Steel is bad enough. Declaring Japan a national security risk is worse.

After a dramatic 2024, where Japan saw political upheaval, a record stock market, a major quake and a plane crash and dramatic escape, 2025, with events like major anime sequels, the Osaka World Expo, rising foreign acquisitions, we should expect a transformative year.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Jan 2, 2025

Anime, M&A and the expo: What to watch for in Japan’s 2025

No doubt 2025 has more surprises in store for Japan after an unusually intense 12 months.

Japan's 2024 Word of the Year, "futehodo," is a phrase tied to a Netflix show and highlights the broader decline in the cultural significance of such awards, with recent selections often seen as superficial or promotional.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Dec 31, 2024

Japan’s 2024 word of the year has no rizz

Some critics wondered why the word of the year award was, essentially, functioning as advertising for a TV show that is still available on streaming.

Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co.'s factory (left) in Kikuyo, Kumamoto Prefecture, on Feb. 23, the day before it was officially opened

COMMENTARY / Japan

Dec 22, 2024

Chip cities rise in Japan’s fields of dreams

Injections of cash are transforming once-sleepy areas, lifting stagnant house prices and triggering construction booms.

Nissan and Honda may be nearing a merger to address Nissan's struggles, forming a second major hub in Japan's auto industry to rival Toyota.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Dec 19, 2024

A Honda-Nissan merger is a slow-moving savior

Nissan is struggling — burning through cash and with billions of dollars of debt due in a little over a year.

Just over a year ago, South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and U.S. President Joe Biden celebrated their historic summit at Camp David, but Yoon's controversial policies and martial law attempt have undermined that progress.

COMMENTARY / World

Dec 17, 2024

Yoon's impeachment widens East Asia fault lines

leadership changes in Seoul, Tokyo and Washington add to the instability, raising concerns about the future of this critical alliance.

Japan's success isn't rooted in mystical Eastern wisdom; it's driven by practical public policies, social standards and education, not secret life hacks.

COMMENTARY

Dec 10, 2024

Two words for current ‘ancient Japanese wisdom’: think again

Japan's success isn't rooted in mystical Eastern wisdom; it's driven by practical public policies, social standards, and education, not secret life hacks.

Alarmo and other recent products reflect Nintendo's strategy of using its iconic intellectual properties to engage users while preparing for the inevitable transition to a successor console after the Nintendo Switch.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Nov 24, 2024

Nintendo’s latest device, the Alarmo, is a $100 wake-up call

Alarmo and other recent products reflect Nintendo's strategy of leveraging its iconic IPs to engage users as it prepares for the successor to the Nintendo Switch.

Sony's potential acquisition of Kadokawa, the publisher behind Elden Ring, represents an opportunity to expand its intellectual property across gaming, anime and other media provided it learns from past failures.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Nov 22, 2024

Like in Elden Ring, Sony must learn from its mistakes

The Japanese firm’s proposed deal for Kadokawa has great potential — if it can avoid getting stuck in the same mazes as before.

Originally debuting on a coin purse, Hello Kitty became a national phenomenon in Japan and is now the second highest-grossing media franchise worldwide.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Nov 20, 2024

Hello Kitty looks pretty at 50 (and is worth more than ever)

Kitty’s broad appeal, especially to adults, helped popularize the Japanese concept of kawaii (cuteness), which has since become a global trend.

There is a broad shift in Japan’s business environment, where long-standing relationships are being challenged by foreign and activist investors looking for merger and acquisition deals.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Nov 15, 2024

Japan's newfound love of M&A makes for strange bedfellows

There is a broad shift in Japan’s business environment, where long-standing relationships are being challenged by foreign and activist investors.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and other Cabinet members and lawmakers attend a session of the Lower House of parliament in Tokyo on Monday.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Nov 13, 2024

Trump return leaves Japan’s leader with no time to snooze

The prime minister drew headlines for a moment after he was caught napping in parliament during proceedings for his own nomination as Japanese leader.

Matt Groening (right), creator of the show "The Simpsons," attends the premiere of the "The Simpsons Movie" along with characters from the series in Springfield, Vermont, in July 2007.

COMMENTARY / World

Nov 11, 2024

‘The Simpsons’ has become a parody of itself. That’s a good thing.

With the "The Simpsons" viewership down to just 10% of its peak, the show is often in the news for controversies rather than content.

Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba bows to Liberal Democratic Party lawmakers during a news conference at the party's headquarters in Tokyo on Monday, a day after the party recorded disappointing results in the Lower House election.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Oct 29, 2024

A disastrous poll puts Japan politics on shaky path

The Japanese public was crying out for change, but Ishiba entirely failed to offer it, instead using warmed-over catchphrases from Kishida.

The ruling Liberal Democratic Party looks set for a bruising election night. The question for its leader, Shigeru Ishiba, is how bad the damage will be.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Oct 23, 2024

Ishiba and the LDP race to stem the electoral bleeding

Weeks into Shigeru Ishiba's premiership and mere days out from a general election, red alert signals are sounding in Tokyo’s corridors of power.

Shohei Ohtani's success symbolizes a broader resurgence in Japanese sports, with contributing factors including increased investment in sports, modern coaching techniques and a generational shift in mindset.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Oct 11, 2024

What baseball star Shohei Ohtani’s success says about Japan

The phenom has had what many are calling the greatest season ever. But his success is also a story of change in his home country.

As streaming services like Netflix invest in Japanese content, the hope is to revitalize the nation’s cultural exports and elevate its television landscape.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Oct 9, 2024

Netflix’s ‘Tokyo Swindlers’ reveals some surprising truths

"Tokyo Swindlers" can reveal some home truths — even when they’re presented by a group of fraudsters.

Shigeru Ishiba's nascent administration is attracting something of a reputation for flip-flopping — and it hasn’t even been a week.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Oct 4, 2024

Don’t take Japan's new leader literally. But should you take him seriously?

Ishiba will discover that his supply of capital with the public will run out quickly if he offers no break from his predecessor.

A woman holds up sign reading "defeat Ishiba," Japan's new prime minister, as a small group of protesters gather outside the parliament building in Tokyo on Tuesday.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Oct 1, 2024

Japan’s new leader has barely the concept of a plan

If Ishiba follows through on some of his stated policies, that might be where the endearment ends.

Then-Prime Minister Shinzo Abe celebrates in Tokyo with party rival Shigeru Ishiba after Abe won the Liberal Democratic Party’s leadership vote in September 2018.

COMMENTARY / Japan

Sep 29, 2024

Shigeru Ishiba made his career as an anti-Abe

Over the years, Ishiba's opposition earned him few friends; indeed, he has a reputation for being a "traitor” due to his public criticism of party orthodoxy.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.

Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go

By Kazuaki Nagata and Richard Meyer

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