The Monday Read

Obon Edition

I had a very pleasant and restful break over obon this year. Had been hoping to go to jiu-jitsu class every day, but ended up hurting my hand so hung out with my wife instead 😉

Ate a lot, read a few books, thought about life.

I hope everyone had some restful time off!

YouTube

Thank you for your support of the RetireJapan YouTube channel. I made a teaser for our new upcoming video. Otanoshimi.

The Forum

The Forum is doing well (22,815 posts so far). Here are the latest active threads:

This week’s books

Went on a bit of a fiction binge this week.

Reread The Chaos Kind, by Barry Eisler. Really like his books, especially the first Rain ones. If you’re new to his work, start at the beginning. You’ll enjoy it more.

Also read The Kings of Cool, which is a prequel to Savages, by Don Winslow. A fun little read. Definitely read Savages first though, or The Power of the Dog.

And The Girl Beneath the Sea, by Andrew Mayne. I enjoyed his Naturalist thrillers more. This was okay but a bit over the top.

This week’s links

I use this website (12ft ladder) that lets you see paywalled articles. So far it seems to work really well, although it doesn’t work on all websites. If you have trouble reading any of the links give it a try!

  1. I prefer Tokyo Interior myself (as a shop, not an investment): NITORI (9843): The IKEA of Japan on its way to World Domination
  2. Amazon cleans up (heh): Amazon to acquire Roomba robot vacuum maker iRobot for $1.7 billion
  3. I recommend a digital detox: New Study Confirms the Value of Solitude
  4. This actually sounds pretty good: Why You Should Never Retire
  5. Craig Mod has a new temporary email list -I really enjoy these: Tokio Tokyo Tokyo
  6. I like the second one (but don’t do it): Rare Skills
  7. I gave up and just buy index funds now, but this is an interesting viewpoint: Thoughtful Arrogance
  8. Monk mode: How to Change Your Momentum in a Week or Two
  9. Something I am wrestling with: The Perfect Work Routine
  10. I’m not brave enough to do this: The Price of Security
  11. Really enjoyed this (video/podcast): Centenarian Secrets on Longevity, Breaking World Records & Thriving Past 100 | Rich Roll Podcast
  12. This makes sense. I often share dishes with family: The Economic Principle That Helps Me Order at Restaurants
  13. Japan did it first? Japan’s Ancient Ohmi Merchants

What do you think? Anything interesting in there?

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2 Responses

  2. Nitori had no ideas until IKEA entered Japan. Now it is copying much of the IKEA catalog. IKEA brought lots of new interior goods ideas to Japan, along with items that were colorful. Before, Nitori was bland and dull (very little variety, every other small interior goods store had the same inventory). Even now that Nitori is nation-wide and doing well, it is still lacking in new ideas (and color for the most part). And it is very much addicted to the “replace items every season” mentality. Replace in Japan means throw away and buy new. So even though it is doing well, I think its business model is not sustainable.