Percentage of foreigners in Japan per municipality, amid a growing political backlash led by populist and anti-immigration parties. Shimukappu (しむかっぷむら) in Hokkaido tops the list (36.6%). Average for all localities is 3%. H/t Eric Johnston and Akira Yanagimoto.

RIP Tomiichi Murayama. I interviewed him in 2015 and found him to be a decent, principled man, still sharp as a tack in his nineties. “Japanese schools didn’t teach much history (of World War 2) because the government couldn’t decide if it was a good war or a bad war,” he said.

The Sanseito party has registered as a lobbying organization in the United States, seeking to "influence government, parliament, or administrative agencies to enact or amend policies and laws for specific interests or objectives". Why? H/t Matsudaira-san.

H/t Eric Johnston: Three Billboards in Sapporo: (1) Trump ("Worst U.S. President in History"); (2) Mio Sugita ("Which Political Party Will Endorse You, Someone Who Discriminates Against the Ainu?" ); (3) LDP`s Shoji Nishida ("You're a Child Who Doesn't Know War. Please Face History Squarely").

Rightwingers in Japan are ganging up to stop PM Shigeru Ishiba was making a statement on the 80th anniversary of Japan's surrender. They fear a rewrite of Shinzo Abe's 2015 statement, which famously said future generations should not be “predestined” to apologize for the war.

Peak summer in Tokyo.

Who is this man? I showed a pic to my 12 seminar students yesterday and not a single one could identify him. Japanese political leaders, even consequential ones, seem to return to anonymity after office in a way unthinkable for US leaders.

World Press Photo of the Year for 2025: Nine-year-old Mahmoud Ajjour, who lost both arms in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza City in March 2024. He's the same age at my daughter.

New research paper argues that the onslaught in Gaza has killed more reporters than the US Civil War, World Wars 1 and 2, the Korean War, the Vietnam war, the Yugoslav Wars, the Afghanistan War and the Ukraine War COMBINED. (h/t Jonathan Cook). watson.brown.edu/costsofwar/p...

@davidamcneill.bs

Morning Tokyo! The view from my office, with gorgeous blue skies. You gotta love Tokyo winters

A video explaining South Korea’s claims to Dokdo plays on a continuous loop on the main rail link from Incheon Airport to Seoul, presumably for tourists from Japan, where the islands are called ‘Takeshima’.

‘Get out Yoon’.

Young student protesters outside the National Assembly in Seoul. “I don’t usually take much notice of politics but when I saw on the news that President Yoon had declared martial law, I thought I had to do something. If we don’t act, nothing will change.”

My daughter (8) wrote a haiku. She's bicultural so spoke English at home and could barely speak or read Japanese when she started at the local elementary school two-and-a-half years ago. Kids are amazing.

Our FCCJ statement calling for the release of journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, who is potentially facing 40 years in a Filipino jail on trumped-up terrorist charges.