Day 4. Submitted to Apple review today after a full checklist — UI cleanup, copy, privacy questionnaire. Then installed it on my iPhone via TestFlight. Crashed on launch — worked fine on simulator, not on real device. Found the cause. Fixing tomorrow. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic @revenuecat.com

Day 3. Certificates, provisioning profiles — stuff I had zero familiarity with. Working through it with Claude, local builds kept failing on signing errors. Talked through other options and switched to cloud builds. Worked on the first try, which was a relief. #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic

Day 2. No coding today — rewrote the privacy policy and terms of service instead. Not glamorous, but it counts. Day 2 #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic @revenuecat.com

This year I've been building things on my own with AI — including a niche B2B SaaS, now with a paying client. For Shipaton 2026 I'm doing something more playful: MyFes, an app to create your dream music festival lineup. 🎪 Day 1 #Shipaton2026 #BuildInPublic @revenuecat.com #shipaton

Across Japan, dying local shops are being saved by outsiders. The first thing each one does is raise a price the founder never could. A rescue — or a confession about who's allowed to raise prices in Japan? substack.com/@letterfromt...

What They Inherit Is the Freedom to Raise Prices【Wisdom Tokyo#019】

Why only outsiders can rescue Japan's dying local shops

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Japan keeps a price index for curry rice. ¥364 a plate. It tracks the cheapest, most standardized version — the one curry nobody travels to eat. MUJI lines up 45 kinds. Kanda has 400 shops. What the number measures, and what we actually eat… substack.com/@letterfromt...

One Number, a Thousand Curries 【Weekend Tokyo #044】

Japan keeps a price index for curry rice. It tracks the cheapest, most standardized plate — and the smallest part of what curry has become here.

substack.com

Japanese companies finally raised wages. So why are half their full-time workers quietly quitting anyway — and why are the companies starting to approve? The Workers Who Quietly Quit, and the Companies That Quietly Agree【Workday Tokyo #043】 open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

The Workers Who Quietly Quit, and the Companies That Quietly Agree【Workday Tokyo #043】

Half of Japan's full-time employees are quietly quitting — and a growing share of their employers say that's fine

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A Tokyo izakaya put up a sign: "The phone won't connect." An AI keeps calling to book a table — until the owner turns the ringer to zero. The same AI is what a ¥590bn bid is chasing. Everyone's fighting to own the relationship. Nobody asked the cook. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

The Phone That Won’t Connect 【Workday Tokyo #044】

How an AI booking agent and the fight over Tabelog reveal who owns “the relationship”

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Japan's content royalties just hit a record. The state fund built to export that culture is up for shutdown. Which one is "Cool Japan"? A Black-Ink Wind-Down【Workday Tokyo#042】 open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

A Black-Ink Wind-Down【Workday Tokyo#042】

Two kinds of "Cool Japan" profit, and the gap between culture and policy

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An AI sang the full chorus before the artist who wrote it could. Two days later, Japan’s copyright body drew a line: AI-generated music has no rights worth protecting. The first line. And it’s not enough. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

The Full Chorus Nobody Sang【Weekend Tokyo #42】

Japan’s most hated copyright organization just drew the first line between human and AI music

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Tokyo's streets have less shade than Phoenix, Arizona. So people started bringing their own. Why Japan's cities are moving in the opposite direction from the rest of the world — and what a parasol has to do with it. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

When the Shade Disappears, You Carry Your Own【Workday Tokyo #041】

After the Rain

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100 issues in. Looking back, I wasn't writing about different things each week — I was circling the same three questions: inheritance, work, and belonging. No final answers yet. Full piece here → open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

One Hundred Issues, Three Questions【Weekend Tokyo #41 】

Last August, I opened a Substack.

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Japan is building 30 new arenas in five years. But concerts are getting harder to route west of Osaka. And a 5,000-seat arena is, apparently, the hardest size for live music. So what exactly fills these boxes? When the Box Isn't Enough【Workday Tokyo #040】 open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

When the Box Isn't Enough【Workday Tokyo #040】

What I Felt in Nagasaki

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Can anime pilgrimage be measured? Tourism tries to reduce friction. Pilgrimage can turn friction into meaning. That may be why some of Japan’s strongest anime “sacred places” are not the easiest ones to reach. Can “Sacred Place Power” Be Measured?【Wisdom Tokyo#14.5】 open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Can “Sacred Place Power” Be Measured?【Wisdom Tokyo#14.5】

A Follow-Up on Anime Tourism

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Can a shrinking city still be rich? This week’s Weekend Tokyo looks at Busan’s 15-minute city and Japan’s search for “smart shrinkage.” Maybe the future of cities is not only about growth, but about keeping daily life close. substack.com/@letterfromt...

Can a Shrinking City Still Be Rich?【Weekend Tokyo#040】

This year, I had several business trips to Nagasaki and Shimane.

substack.com

Baseball in Japan may be closer to the NFL in the U.S. than many realize. After Netflix’s exclusive WBC streaming deal, Japan is now debating “universal access rights” for sports broadcasts. Who owns a national sport? open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Who Owns Baseball? 【Workday Tokyo#039】

The Aftermath of WBC Streaming Exclusivity

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Amazon gives you choices. Japanet gives you certainty. Why a Japanese “TV shopping” company is becoming something much bigger. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Japanet: Why a “TV Shopping Company” Is No Longer About Shopping【Workday Tokyo#033】

In January, I traveled to Nagasaki on a business trip.

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Why is Japan making money from forests by not cutting trees? open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Can Forests Become Psychological Infrastructure?【Weekend Tokyo#037】

Japan’s Quiet Shift From Timber to “Escape Spaces”

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What if Japan’s next tourism challenge is not attracting more visitors, but helping them understand why a place matters? I wrote about Nikko, regional tourism, and the quiet competition of local stories. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Nikko Is Learning to Tell Its Own Story【Weekend Tokyo#039】

Nikko is one of Japan’s most important historic destinations, located about two to three hours from Tokyo by train.

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Why is a toy company growing in a country with fewer children? Maybe because play no longer ends with childhood. Why Is a Toy Company Growing in a Country With Fewer Children?【Workday Tokyo#038】 open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Why Is a Toy Company Growing in a Country With Fewer Children?【Workday Tokyo#038】

Last weekend, Asakusa was filled with the energy of Sanja Matsuri, one of Tokyo’s most famous festivals.

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Why is Japan talking about “Showa 100” when Showa ended in 1989? Because the phrase does not only contain Showa. It also contains Heisei — the 30 years when Japan’s postwar growth model quietly stopped working. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Showa 100 Is Really a Question About How Japan Understands Heisei【WisdomTokyo#017】

In 2026, Japan has begun using the phrase “Showa 100.”

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Japan’s April reset isn’t just about new laws. It’s changing how people move—and how cities define safety, identity, and trust. Bikes, scooters, mopeds… The lines are getting blurry. Here’s what that means👇 open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Japan’s April Reset: When Movement Becomes a Matter of Identity【Workday Tokyo#031】

In Japan, April is the month of beginnings.

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In Japan, spring is not only cherry blossoms. It is when society resets faster than people do. That gap may explain why so many “new employee” social media mistakes happen in April. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

It Must Be Spring【Weekend Tokyo#038】

New Employees, Social Media Mistakes, and the Boundaries of Working Life in Japan

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Why is Japan making money from forests by not cutting trees? open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Can Forests Become Psychological Infrastructure?【Weekend Tokyo#037】

Japan’s Quiet Shift From Timber to “Escape Spaces”

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Why does Japanese entertainment keep romanticizing outlaws? From yakuza films to BreakingDown, Japan has repeatedly turned anti-establishment figures into emotionally sympathetic heroes. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Why Does Japanese Culture Romanticize Outlaws?【Weekend Tokyo#037】

BreakingDown, Reality TV, and the Long Story Behind Japan’s Combat Sports Controversy

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Why does Japanese entertainment keep romanticizing outlaws? From yakuza films to BreakingDown, Japan has repeatedly turned anti-establishment figures into emotionally sympathetic heroes. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

Why Does Japanese Culture Romanticize Outlaws?【Weekend Tokyo#037】

BreakingDown, Reality TV, and the Long Story Behind Japan’s Combat Sports Controversy

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Why did a Japanese distillery survive an earthquake because it didn’t sell its products for 10 years? open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

The Alcohol That Survived the Earthquake【Workday Tokyo#036】

How Shochu Reveals Japan’s “Economy of Time”

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Japan hit a record ¥2.7T box office in 2025. But the more interesting shift may be in Jakarta. Indonesia’s local animation is moving from import culture to real industry. A new curve in Asian animation is forming. #jumbo open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

The Next Curve Begins in Jakarta【Workday Tokyo#025】

Reading the Structural Rise of Indonesia’s Animation Market

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Sailor Moon is now infrastructure. Ninjas are now export. Japan’s 2.5D culture is becoming a global industry. open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

From Sailor Moon to Ninja: Japan’s 2.5D Economy Is Going Global【Wisdom Tokyo#016】

How permanent theaters, ninja agencies, and embodied performers are turning Japan’s 2.5D culture into a global export industry

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Why do so many people in Japan start thinking about quitting their jobs right after Golden Week? open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...

The Light and Shadow of Golden Week【Weekend Tokyo#036】

Why “Time Off” Becomes a Moment of Self-Reevaluation in Japan

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