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tobiasharris.bsky.social
Japanese politics analyst; author of The Iconoclast: Shinzō Abe and the New Japan; Chicago-born Cubs fan now living in DC; marathoner; RHP + IF ⚾ Substack: Observingjapan.substack.com. Business: www.japanforesight.com
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This is a subject I have been brooding about for some time. I am grateful to the Washington Monthly for posting this piece. washingtonmonthly.com/2025/06/27/i...

submitted 20 hours ago • 29 comments

And if he doesn't stop in Japan will we hear about Japan passing again...

submitted 12 hours ago • 0 comments

Let's see, we have trade friction, defense spending tensions, why not add bilateral friction over North Korea to the US-Japan relationship too...

submitted 16 hours ago • 1 comment

It occurs to me Tamaki and the DPFP are trying something actually quite difficult. He inherits a party that's the political arm of organized labor but is trying to become a new party of urban youth. Cast off the former too soon and the whole thing falls apart; too late and it's an incoherent mess.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

"It is not at all implausible that a Trumpian Korea policy would want to end the 75 years of U.S. entanglement in the conflict there, bringing troops home (or deploying them elsewhere) and declaring peace on the peninsula." @victordcha.bsky.social @foreignaffairs.com

submitted 1 day ago • 0 comments

I'm not sure I've ever laughed so hard at a post, like Monty Python's the killer joke-level slumping over with laughter.

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

No small irony that Sanseitō -- which is supposedly making inroads with onetime Abe supporters -- has made attacks on "globalists" and immigration central to its identity when Abe governed as a "globalist" and did a lot to open Japan to foreign workers. observingjapan.substack.com/p/the-sansei...

submitted 1 day ago • 2 comments

Ooh, ooh, I know this one

submitted 1 day ago • 1 comment

The upper house campaign is heating up, the BOJ lays out its thinking on monetary policy adjustments, and Ishiba skips the NATO summit. All of this and more in a new This Week in Japanese Politics. open.substack.com/pub/observin...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

The upper house campaign is heating up, the BOJ lays out its thinking on monetary policy adjustments, and Ishiba skips the NATO summit. All of this and more in a new This Week in Japanese Politics. open.substack.com/pub/observin...

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

submitted 2 days ago • 0 comments

New at Observing Japan: who is Sanseitō and what should we make of its growth? open.substack.com/pub/observin...

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

New at Observing Japan: who is Sanseitō and what should we make of its growth? open.substack.com/pub/observin...

submitted 2 days ago • 1 comment

No doubt the GOJ will be have something to say about this soon. on.ft.com/40fq8fe via @FT

submitted 3 days ago • 3 comments

The first thing I thought of when I saw John Rocker's name

submitted 3 days ago • 1 comment

Vegetable garden has reached a tipping point. Turned the first eggplant into a dip seasoned with garden thyme and dill, pickled the first jalapenos, made pasta sauce seasoned with basil from the garden, and blanched garden green beans for a side.

submitted 3 days ago • 0 comments

Myakumyaku, the mascot for the Osaka 2025 Expo, in “Myakumyaku’s House” at the event:

submitted 3 days ago • 13 comments

submitted 4 days ago • 1 comment

Good morning, Asia. This was our most read story while you were sleeping. Ishiba's NATO snub reflects discord in US-Japan alliance s.nikkei.com/4k67Xj8

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Ishiba is scrapping plans to attend the NATO summit this week in light of the situation in the Middle East, which among other things he won't have a second face-to-face with Trump this month. That might be for the best. www3.nhk.or.jp/news/html/20...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Everyone may be focused on the other thing, Tokyo voted for its legislative assembly on Sunday, 22 June, which highlighted certain elements of Japanese politics now. open.substack.com/pub/observin...

submitted 5 days ago • 4 comments

When I talk to reporters, I try to be diplomatic about everything, but some other people take a more blunt approach.

submitted 5 days ago • 2 comments

Everyone may be focused on the other thing, Tokyo voted for its legislative assembly on Sunday, 22 June, which highlighted certain elements of Japanese politics now. open.substack.com/pub/observin...

submitted 5 days ago • 4 comments

submitted 5 days ago • 1 comment

Still early in the counting for the Tokyo metropolitan assembly election but at first glance looks like a better night for Koike and not particularly good for the DPFP or Ishimaru Shinji's new party. www.nhk.or.jp/senkyo/datab...

submitted 6 days ago • 4 comments