New Week, New Challenges Late again. I wonder if it’d be easier to do this daily! The brief phase of political excitement seems to have passed, as Takaichi’s government is mostly doing normal things like policy making and debates. Some of which is good news for most folks: we could see some subsidies for essentials, vouchers for rice, and changes to the costs of high school education. Prices of goods remain high, though, so the positives are more of a dampening effect on the pressure on our...
11 months ago • 3 min read
I'm Very Sleepy and I Blame The Cold This week has a lot of news on Takaichi’s planned and upcoming policy, an escalation in response to the bear attacks, and some year-end accolades and reflections. It’s a bit weird to think about the year almost being over, but indeed, we have less than 2 months left! “The days are long, but the years are short.” Truly, they get shorter every year, it feels. Some things to watch for: - we are entering flu season, so get your shots and stay hydrated and...
12 months ago • 4 min read
November Begins Happy Halloween, and welcome to November! This year we tried to put our toddler in a pumpkin suit, but he wasn’t a fan. I don’t know if anyone else had already submitted to the idea of winter, but Friday morning I woke up sweating under the blanket, and the temperature is supposed to go back to the 20C area in the next week. And somehow I caught a cold in that brief taste of the chill. The biggest news of the week was around President Trump’s visit to Japan to meet Prime...
12 months ago • 3 min read
The More Things Change... Finally, in the penultimate week of October, we are out of summer. And, well, we skipped half of fall, apparently. The big news of the week was of course the least surprising: Takaichi is the new Prime Minister, and the first woman to hold the post in Japan. Her promised policies center on the economy, social issues, and national defense. As for the rough edges of the day to day, well, it’s at least not getting worse, and there are indicators that point to some...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
Rough Times These past couple weeks have been awfully eventful for this humble island nation. The positives were few, and only important as matters of national pride - Japan adds 2 Nobel prizes to their trophy cabinet, and Tokyo topped a poll of worldwide "best large city" again. But everything else...is rough. Household economics continue their decline on the triple threat of: the yen's purchasing power suffering; consumable items getting more expensive; and wages not going as far as they...
about 1 year ago • 3 min read
Ups and Downs While Japan's major corporations celebrated record-breaking summer bonuses this month, a stark reality check emerged from government data: almost 90% of low-income families are struggling to put food on the table. It's hard out there these days and it's unclear what the future looks like to help those in need. The Ups Corporate Japan is thriving: Private-sector average salaries found a new top of the mountain last year, riding a 3.9% increase to about 4.7 million JPY. Summer...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Heat, Heat, and Budgets for Meat Welcome to the third edition of Rough Edges Japan! In this edition, we've got a few big recent events and some advice for a couple of the bigger concerns at the moment: avoiding heat stroke, and avoiding broken budgets. A Record Broken, A Seat Vacated On top of the news, the Japanese head of state, Prime Minister Ishiba, has decided to resign after the recent election performances of the LDP. Party leadership will now decide how to elect the next LDP leader,...
about 1 year ago • 2 min read
Weather and Money, Again Welcome to the second edition of Rough Edges Japan! The main trends of the past weeks remain unchanged - weather and money. Of course, we can't ignore the Osaka Expo! Summer Continues to Punish The weather continues its unrelenting assault as temperatures maintain danger zones, especially in Fukuoka and Kumamoto, and the rain in Kyushu has claimed several casualties and swept away others who are missing. A river dining platform in Kyoto was likely taken by the...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
Rising Temperatures, Rising Costs Welcome to the first edition of Rough Edges Japan! It's been an eventful past few days, and we'll take a look at some recent events, consumer economics and demographic shifts. In a recent election that might mark a strategic turn for the ruling LDP and also included the emerging far-right populist party who have some controversial ideas borrowed from another recent far-right populist movement. July was the hottest recorded in Japan, taking the crown...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read