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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 2d

Japanese media are great at doing prep copy. Here's an Asahi Q&A on Susumu Kitagawa's research, published within minutes of the Nobel announcement. digital.asahi.com/articles/AST...

【そもそも解説】ノーベル賞の北川さんの研究「多孔性金属錯体」とは：朝日新聞

今年のノーベル化学賞に、京都大の北川進特別教授が選ばれた。北川さんの業績に、「多孔性金属錯体の開発への貢献」がある。一体どんな研究なのか。　Q　多孔性金属錯体って何？　A　内部に無数の小さな穴が規則…

digital.asahi.com

Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 4d

Further: www.wsj.com/articles/BL-...

What Nobel Prizes Say About Japan

The awarding of the Nobel Prize for chemistry to Akira Suzuki and Ei-ichi Negishi, alongside co-winner Richard Heck of the U.S., brings to 10 the number of Japanese scientists to win Nobels since 2000...

www.wsj.com

Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 4d

The former imperial universities have always punched way above their weight relative to their virtually nonexistent international name recognition (except Todai) and terrible pay for the professors. I’m referring to Hokkaido, Tohoku, Nagoya, Osaka, Kyoto and Kyushu universities.

The Wall Street Journal @wsj.com · 4d

Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance.

Trio Wins Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discoveries on Immune System

Mary Brunkow, Fred Ramsdell and Shimon Sakaguchi share this year’s award.

on.wsj.com

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 6d

Takaichi: “I will throw out work-life balance. Work, work, work, work.”

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 6d

Sanae Takaichi wins LDP vote. Likely next prime minister

Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 12d

Is it a policy “win” if the government rather than the private sector captures the paper gains from surging equity values? Ever since the BOJ’s ETF decision I’ve been going in circles trying to figure that out.

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 19d

Clear writing with a clear point is unfortunately not always the rule at Nikkei so props to the veteran Ōishi.

Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 19d

Itaru Ōishi defends the Japanese practice of trying to avoid shikori (bad feelings) after an election. www.nikkei.com/article/DGKK...

競争と協調のさじ加減 - 日本経済新聞

政治記者になって初めての自民党総裁選は1987年にあった。本社にいて現場の記者の電話を受け「何時何分　誰と誰が会う」という図をつくった。いまでいうタイムラインを作成しただけなので経験したというのもおこがましいが、総裁選の話題になると、このときのことを思い出す。厳密には中曽根康弘首相の総裁任期は前年に満了していたのだが、このときは総裁選がなかった。衆参同日選を勝利に導いた功績を考慮し、当時の党則

www.nikkei.com

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · 23d

How one editor did it:
www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Opinion | These editor’s notes are poison. I learned from every drop.

Working with Starling Lawrence, who died last month, was a bracing course in a vanishing art.

www.washingtonpost.com

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Sep 7

Not qualified to say much about the Beijing parade, but if you ask clarinets that have been out in the heat for hours to do a high C to D trill with RH key, you’re asking for intonation problems. And that’s what they got. Also noteworthy that they didn’t standardize the ligatures.

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Sep 6

Taipei metro goes 100 times farther than NY subway before a breakdown, on average.
(Source: Singapore Land Transit Authority cited in Straits Times)

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Sep 4

No surprise if you’re Chinese, perhaps. I found the film dreadful—like watching someone play a maddening videogame—and walked out halfway through. But folks told me that if you know Chinese language, culture and folklore, it’s a lot more entertaining.

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Aug 29

Today’s Connections puzzle (spoiler) hinges on people knowing that 7-Eleven is a place to fill up the gas tank. It is, but largely because of a relatively recent deal. Another reason to read a quality business publication www.wsj.com/articles/mar...

Marathon Petroleum to Sell Gas-Station Chain to 7-Eleven Owners for $21 Billion

Fuel maker Marathon Petroleum agreed to sell its gas stations to the owners of the 7-Eleven convenience-store chain for $21 billion in the largest U.S. energy-related deal of the year.

www.wsj.com

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Aug 27

I wrote about a $4 cup of gelato in Beijing, and what it says about doing business in China's deflationary era. (Also served as hand model for the pic, in the absence of a professional).

www.wsj.com/business/ret...

A Local Ice-Cream Chain Shows What American Brands Are Doing Wrong in China

During economic doldrums, products don’t necessarily have to be cheap, but they need to show value.

www.wsj.com

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Aug 20

Higuchi Ichiyo’s 1895-96 novella Takekurabe, translated by Robert Lyons Danly as “Child’s Play,” is set in Yoshiwara and captures some of those contradictions.

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Aug 20

It seems the district’s original promoters themselves stressed the culture angle to soften criticism, and the gov’t then was happy to play along.

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Aug 20

It’s become fashionable to celebrate the Edo- and prewar-era brothel district Yoshiwara as a hub of cultural expression—a kind of TikTok before its time—but don’t forget the human trafficking and sexual violence that made Yoshiwara possible, says a scholar.
digital.asahi.com/articles/AST...

吉原遊廓、増す「文化発信地」の側面　「性の尊厳見失わせないか」：朝日新聞

近年、江戸時代の「吉原」に代表される遊廓（ゆうかく）（遊郭）文化への関心が高い。テレビドラマやアニメ、漫画、展覧会などを通して「先進的な文化の発信地」という印象が流布している。だが、日本近世史の専門…

digital.asahi.com

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Aug 10

“[I]n this island of gleaming modernity, foreign workers are still transported on the backs of lorries like cargo,” writes Bhavan Jaipragas of the Straits Times. “This is one practice I simply cannot bring myself to defend.” (page A22 today)

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Aug 6

About one in every 30 babies born in Japan is not a Japanese citizen. www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZ...

日本人90万人減、前年比で最大　外国人は35万人増で過去最多367万人【人口動態調査】 - 日本経済新聞

総務省は6日、住民基本台帳に基づく人口を発表した。1月1日時点の日本人は1億2065万3227人で前年から90万8574人減った。16年連続のマイナスで、前年比の減少幅は調査を始めた1968年以来、最大となった。日本人人口はピークだった2009年から642万2956人減った。少子高齢化の進展により、死亡数が出生数を上回る「自然減」が拡大した。死亡者数は159万9850人と過去最多で、出生者数の

www.nikkei.com

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Jul 16

Visiting Beijing, I had a chance to see Jensen Huang in person at a lengthy press conference. My report:

www.wsj.com/world/asia/n...

Nvidia CEO Lavishes Praise on China in Beijing, Drawing Rock-Star Reception

Jensen Huang extolled China’s technological advances and said President Trump wouldn’t mind his meetings in Beijing.

www.wsj.com

Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Jul 15

Social-media posts about foreigners in Japan are full of bogus claims, says Nikkei — crime and illegal overstays have fallen sharply (despite greater numbers), and foreigners pay a lot more into the health system than they use.
www.nikkei.com/article/DGXZ...

【参議院選挙2025】外国人の滞在増加で治安悪化？　刑法犯は20年で大幅減 - 日本経済新聞

20日投開票の参院選で、国内に滞在する外国人への規制のあり方が争点として急浮上している。背景には外国人の増加が治安の悪化につながったり、日本の制度を不正に利用したりしているとの主張がある。データをみると必ずしも実態に沿った認識といえず、イメージが先行している可能性がある。法務省は2024年3月公表の調査で外国人の増加が「地域の環境（治安、風紀等）に悪い影響があると思うか」を尋ねた。「そう思う」

www.nikkei.com

Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Jun 30

Burger King Japan collaborating with the Sumo Association on this burger. (1,876 calories, per Nikkei)

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · Jun 16

I bought the magazine Ikkojin 一個人for the first time last month for its feature on Japan’s ancient history and they did a fine job. Sad to see that its final issue has come out today.

Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · May 27

Think IBM is still legally known as International Business Machines Corp., but it no longer sells many machines that a business would buy.

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Peter Landers @peterjlanders.bsky.social · May 15

Distinguished ex-WSJer Bob Davis and American-Japanese author Ian Hideo Levy are second cousins.
momentmag.com/searching-fo...

Searching for Levy Hideo

Levy Hideo, born Ian Hideo Levy, left the United States and gave birth to a genre in Japan known as “border-crossing” literature.

momentmag.com

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