The Katsu Curry Index Looks Quite Tasty!
You can tell quite a lot about a person by the way they eat their curry rice...
Peter Tasker
As an author of novels and nonfiction books, a writer, a speaker, and most notably, a finance guru, Peter Tasker is a man of many talents.
Latest posts
How Japan Can Bring the Money Back Home
Thanks to a ruthless and increasingly powerful China, David Ricardo’s theory of comparative advantage is off the menu for the foreseeable future...
The Geopolitics of Football: Japan 7 China 0
What China badly needs is love, love of the game as exemplified by one remarkable Japanese player.
‘Straight to Hell’: The Extraordinary Life of Kazuko Hosoki
As to the value of her predictions, she got the big one right...
Edo Erotica: Shunga in Shinjuku
Even now official Japan is dubious about the worth of Shunga
In the Steps of the Samurai
In an era of rigid hierarchies, Odano is said to have made the comment “all humans are equal when their bodies are dissected”.
Confusion, Wokery and Disney-fication: the British Museum’s flawed Samurai exhibition
There was a point during my tour of the exhibits that I began to think I was in Madame Tussaud’s
How Japan Got Its Mojo Back
Japan’s role is to be the antithesis of China...
Five Fitting Scenarios for the Year of the (Fire) Horse
Japan is unusual in that younger people tend to be more right-wing than senior citizens...
Soviet and Russian Espionage against Japan
Izumi did more damage to Japan than Richard Sorge and continued to serve his Soviet masters into the 1950s
MODERN JAPANESE GARDENS: By Stephen Mansfield
Perhaps it was there that the late musician was best able to experience “the deceleration of time and expansion of space"
Warren Buffett’s Japanese Love Call
Published in Japan Forward May 24 2025 It really is the end of an era. Warren Buffett, the greatest investor of modern times, is to retire at the age of 94. While maintaining his optimism about America, he has not made any significant new investments in his home market for some years. Even the sharp ... Warren Buffett s Japanese Love Call
In Memoriam: Gwen Robinson
It was a typical Gwen evening at one of her favourite restaurants. There is no signage visible from the street. You walk towards a brightly-lit middle-class dwelling, but instead of ringing the bell you take three steps to the left and find a dark and dank wooden structure left over from the Showa Era. The ... In Memoriam: Gwen Robinson
A Cinematic Ode to Japan’s Avant Garde Pioneers
A portal into a phantasmagorical world that is grotesque, full-on erotic, dangerous and as absurd as “Alice Through The Looking Glass” - yet comical, exciting and unforgettable.
100 Years of Mishima: Still Surprising, Still Disturbing
"he actually loathed the militarism represented by the Japanese Army of pre-World War II years"
Five Scintilating Scenarios for the Year of the Snake
Snakes symbolise regeneration and transformation
The Rise and Fall and Rise Again of Masa Son
Indian telecom billionaire Sunal Mittal declared that “the man has balls of steel"
Three Devil Man in the Kobe Hotel
As for “three devils,” he did not deny the suggestion that it stood for womanizing, drinking and gambling.
Kaleidoscope Japan: A Nation Through the Lens of its Literature by Richard Nathan
he completed the race with a time of 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours and 32 minutes, during which he had six children and ten grandchildren
Lesley Downer’s “The Shortest History of Japan”
Independence from China has been a national priority since at least the sixth century.
The Coming of Shibusawa: the Politics of Japan’s New Banknotes
So the switch from Fukuzawa to Shibusawa is intriguing and potentially significant. What kind of Japan will be ushered in by Eiichi Shibusawa?
“Nabe-Sada”: Living Legend of Japanese Jazz
In a gangland dispute, the promoter was shot dead at the climax of the drummer’s solo
The Geopolitics of “Shōgun”
The show is an American product, but it feels half Japanese. Geopolitically, this makes sense since the U.S. is much more dependent on Japan than ever before.
Mr. Jimmy Climbs the Stairway to Perfection
What matters is the purity of Sakurai’s quest and his refusal to compromise.
How the Bank of Japan Can Turn Disaster into Triumph
The BoJ has taken on the appearance of an enormous and dangerous Moby Dick.
Five and a Half Super Scenarios for the Year of the Dragon
Japan is now a more strategically important player than ever before in the post-war era
Why China Needs A Dose of Abenomics
The Showa depression of the early 1930s led to the era of “government by assassination”
The Geopolitics of Godzilla
China, Russia and North Korea could be considered three Godzillas, a large one, a medium-sized one and a small but vicious one.
New Perspectives on Kurosawa
His widow was shot as a Japanese spy after a trial that lasted 10 minutes and his daughter was sent to the gulag for 10 years
Think Again, Al Jolson: Japan’s Silent Movie Culture Is Still Going Strong
There was a cultural divide in benshi preferences, rather like the difference in taste between those who enjoy the latest Tom Cruise movie and those who favor “Drive My Car”
“Allez, Les Brave Blossoms”: Japan’s Special Sporting Footprint
Planet Rugby is very different from the world of geopolitics. The United States is not a superpower but a minnow that failed to qualify for the World Cup
The Intelligent Ambiguity of Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”
When a friend mentions an underground route for getting atomic secrets to Moscow, he responds “that would be treason”.
Ian Buruma’s “Collaborators”
And sometimes, there really are conspiracies -- or at least crucial decisions taken far from the public eye
Chris Miller’s “Chip War”: the Geopolitics of High-tech
“Washington’s foreign policy strategists embraced complex semiconductor supply chains as a tool to bind Asia to an American-led world”
Learning to Love Inflation: the Japanese Experiment
Higher immigration is a certainty, given that opinion surveys show a large majority of the public accepting the case.
Hans Sautter’s “Japan”: A Photographer’s Lifework
The Sacred is there to balance the profane. We need them both.
Buffett-san Validates the Abe Reforms
Could it be that Buffett sees a more cosmopolitan Japan filling a crucial new role?
An Excremental Film Review
We are a long way from the anality taboo that underpins much Freudian psychoanalysis.
Flowing into the Future: Tokyo by Water
“It is all but forgotten today that Tokyo’s low city was once a city equal to Venice in its charms,”
Hiroshige Does Dylan
Bob Dylan and girlfriend walk off the Freewheelin' album cover and into a Hiroshige snow scene
The Real Musical Magic of Ryuichi Sakamoto
Listening to the jazz-funk of Herbie Hancock’s Head Hunters band revolutionized his thinking about music
The Kuroda era – and what comes next
One thing is for sure – unlike most of his predecessors, he will be remembered.
Funny Money: Edward Chancellor’s “The Price of Time”
“We have come to live in a controlled environment, with its fake money, fake interest rates, fake economy, fake jobs, and fake politicians..."
Big Time Gambling Boss: Yukio Mishima’s Favourite Yakuza Movie
When Tsuruta heard what had happened, he unsheathed his ceremonial sword and wept.
Guilty Pleasures: Tokyo Vice
Having an ex- Mormon missionary as the most formidable of the nightclub hostesses is excellent.
Five + 1 Surprising Scenarios for the Year of the Rabbit
2022 was definitely a “Roubini year”, but 2023 could well be a “Pinker year”
Rockin’ in Rhythm: Japan’s Battling Big Bands
Jazz was not merely a music to be accepted or reviled, but rather a metaphor for Japan’s participation in global cultural trends.
Journey to Disaster: Toshiro Mifune in “Band of Assassins”
He asked to be shaved because he knew exactly what was going to happen to his head
A Kurosawa Christmas: When the Turkey is Really Chicken
A glittering star appears amongst the reeking slime
Salute to Toshiro Mifune: Japan’s Greatest Movie Star
When Hideyoshi orders his soldiers to cut off the man’s nose and ears, he fights back