The Monday Read

Elementary School Sports Day Edition

My granddaughter had her school Sports Day this weekend, and although I wasn’t able to attend, I was really pleased to see her school continue with the ‘new style’ of sports day. In the past, sports days ran from morning to mid-afternoon, but recently due to Covid and climate change schools in Sendai have been doing 9-12 events instead.

These are much better! No need to pack a lunch, or try to find a space for your blue sheet. No kids getting heatstroke, and families and teachers can enjoy at least some of their Saturday.

Truly a win-win-win. Long may this more pragmatic style continue 🙂

YouTube

We’re still working on the RetireJapan YouTube channel, so please check out our latest video and like/subscribe as long as you don’t hate it. Every little bit helps!

This is the second video. I think it is technically better than the first 🙂

If you have any suggestions for things you’d like to hear me ramble on about, feel free to post them in the comments on this post or on YouTube.

RetireJapan Supporters

Haven’t plugged our supporter memberships for a while, but our stalwart patrons are very much appreciated. For the cost of a combini coffee, you can help keep the lights on here at RetireJapan.

More details here.

The Forum

The Forum is doing well (21,091 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

This week I’ve been reading The Premonition, by Michael Lewis, about the lead up to and execution of the US Covid response. It is sooooo good. Very much recommended!

  1. I like Weird Al Yankovic (especially White and Nerdy -only just noticed Key and Peele are in it) and now I really want to see this film
  2. Unless wages start going up things are going to get ugly here: How ‘transitory’ is Japanese inflation?
  3. More electric cars like this, please: Volkswagen’s Electric ID Buzz Has Landed and Looks Well Worth the Wait
  4. This looks interesting (new Derek Thompson project): Progress
  5. I actually disagree with this. IMO Japan has made huge progress in the last few years: Japan once led global tech innovation. How did it fall so behind?
  6. Ouch! Philip Brasor smacks down PM Kishida’s economic speeches: Nothing new in Kishida’s new capitalism
  7. Not surprised: Japan’s GDP shrank 0.2% in Q1 on inflation and omicron wave
  8. Ooof. This article changed my worldview: We need a definitive exit from our Covid-19 pandemic. Here’s the roadmap
  9. This short video in Japanese explaining the benefits of long-term diversified investing and tsumitate NISA is pretty good! One to share with family/friends/colleagues? 「つみたてNISA」を3分の動画でシンプルに解説
  10. Some interesting stats in here: Oh to be average! Household savings in Japan hit highest average in years
  11. I could probably work on this a bit: Having Good Interactions With Store Employees
  12. This is… not the outcome I was seeking here. Right now the weak yen is cancelling out the falling stock market! Japan’s ‘Mr. Yen’ says currency may weaken to ¥150 level last seen in 1990
  13. I have taught my granddaughter both chess and poker: Teach Your Kids Poker, Not Chess
  14. Just do this: The Best Investment Strategy For This Market
  15. This is really good: The Top Idea in Your Mind
  16. Do you need to slow down too? Addicted to speed
  17. This makes sense: Stop believing Japan is reopening. Read this before planning a trip
  18. Some incredible statistics in here: The Japanese Need to Learn to Invest Before It’s Too Late
  19. Short but sweet from Sean Breslin: The Tower Up the Way – Bredon Hill

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

The Monday Read, going out to more than 2,598 subscribers each week. Please share this post/email with friends/colleagues who may be interested in it.

If you were forwarded the email you can sign up to the list here.

5 Responses

  1. My wife and I had plans to visit Japan this fall, but we’ve postponed our trip to spring 2023 for the time being because we expect the government bureaucracy to be hypercautious and slow in reopening the country. The article you link to explains the reasons nicely. At least Okayama is supposed to have some nice hanami spots. Now I’m just praying for no further problematic Coronavirus variants…

  2. #16 — As someone who has truthfully never signed up for facebook or twitter, I think I can still understand the point being made. But…
    …while it’s a nice illustration for the point being made, bamboo is a rhizome. So what you see as bamboo (all those stalks) are not individual plants, but many parts of the same plant–which is not at all transient, and which is actually quite hard to control (or kill), once it gets started.
    I’m not sure if these will appear as links here:
    https://imgur.com/CURzKXV
    https://imgur.com/THHl6ez

  3. #5 – he is right. His thinking mirrors my own experience of living here in the mid 90’s and returning this year.

    I just bought a house and the number of trees consumed in paperwork must equal the amount used to build it. And the trip to the bank to pay for it was utterly perplexing. To amuse the builder I demonstrated online banking UK style on my phone, accessed by finger print.

    1. As for #5, one angle is that some things are kind of ‘behind the curtain’. Tho Sony does market some really nice mirrorless cameras these days, their market share there, and that overall market, is small compared to phones. They own about half the global market for camera sensors in phones. E.g., Sony supplies Apple, and tho they just switched for the 6, Google was using Sony sensors in Pixels–both lines are known for taking good pictures.

      Some of Japan’s other tech/innovation is like that, not as a name on retail shelves, but still there. Tho not world dominant, Japan is no slouch in robotics, and is still very much in the game there. Toyota (and others) maybe focused too long on hybrids, given the shift to full EV. But I wouldn’t bet against them or consider that they are a has-been.