Snuck away to dig through US Embassy Tokyo documents in College Park. Such a satisfying day.
Tobias Harris
@tobiasharris.bsky.social
Japanese politics analyst; author of The Iconoclast: Shinzō Abe and the New Japan; Chicago-born Cubs fan now living in DC; marathoner. Substack: Observingjapan.substack.com. Business: www.japanforesight.com
Poll: Future Japanese currency interventions alone are not likely to sustainably curb Yen weakness, said 55 of 58 FX strategists.
Barry Eichengreen: Bottom line is that Washington, fearing the consequences for US financial markets, is reluctant to see foreign central banks use their dollar reserves. This is telling us that the dollar is not the attractive reserve currency it once was. www.ft.com/content/86db...
The real message in the yen intervention
The dollar’s status as a reserve currency is not what it used to be
ft.com
More like Tarik Who-bal amirite? (Sorry sorry trying to delete it)
Chicago Cubs@cubsbot.bsky.social · 20h ago#CUBS WIN! FINAL: Cubs 5, Dodgers 1.
Disappointed that for all the mentions of "There will come soft rains" today I haven't seen anyone post the Soviet animation. youtu.be/OumNKTn6iek?...
Watch: There Will Come Soft Rains (1984) | The Rediscovered Soviet Animated Warning
YouTube video by Trailer HQ
youtu.be
Tokyo and Washington confirm they carried out a joint forex intervention, kicking off an extensive debate about the significance of the first bilateral intervention since 1998. Meanwhile, the LDP nears approval for consumption tax cut and Takaichi visits Kumamoto. open.substack.com/pub/observin...
Tokyo and Washington confirm unusual joint intervention | Japan Daily Briefing
More questions than answers about what comes next
open.substack.com
If this very short story is new to you, read it. Just read it.
Aaron Meyers@aaronmeyers.bsky.social · yesterday"Today is August 4, 2026" There Will Come Soft Rains By: Ray Bradbury
Tokyo and Washington confirm they carried out a joint forex intervention, kicking off an extensive debate about the significance of the first bilateral intervention since 1998. Meanwhile, the LDP nears approval for consumption tax cut and Takaichi visits Kumamoto. open.substack.com/pub/observin...
Tokyo and Washington confirm unusual joint intervention | Japan Daily Briefing
More questions than answers about what comes next
open.substack.com
more of this kind of sophistry for the sickos in my newsletter this morning: www.ft.com/content/f6d5...
Team America: Yen police
A puzzling intervention
ft.com
Trump: "Japan has been very good to us with the exception of Pearl Harbor"
"We are always there for Japan," Trump also said, describing the support for the yen as "good for the world economy." asia.nikkei.com/business/mar...
Japan wanted 'little bit of help' on yen from US, Trump says after intervention
Friday's move was first joint forex action by two countries since 2011
asia.nikkei.com
First they have to flee their homes, then they have to eat Skyline chili?
Harvey J. Miller@mobileharv.bsky.social · 3d agoCincinnati has developed a Climate Migration Readiness Plan to absorb as many as 525,000 newcomers by 2050. It calls for building much denser housing, expanding public transit and decreasing the city’s reliance on fossil fuels.
If you are interested in such things, always orientating to read Tobias on Japan. Don’t miss his free weekend post.
Tobias Harris@tobiasharris.bsky.social · 5d agoFREE FRIDAY: LDP lawmakers are openly opposing Takaichi's decision to cut the consumption tax. The BOJ may be open to hiking sooner, as Tokyo and Washington intervened to strengthen the yen. Japan launched its new intelligence coordinating apparatus. open.substack.com/pub/observin...
Perhaps relevant: The ebook of Embracing Defeat is on sale. www.bookbub.com/books/embrac...
Embracing Defeat by John W. Dower is only $2.99 - BookBub
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize: This magisterial volume (The New York Times Book Review) delves into the American occupation of Japan after World War II, a period that transformed nearly every facet of ...
bookbub.com
Arguably it hinges on more than alignment. The prime minister is set on a course of action fiscally that has eroded confidence in the currency. Absent changing that, hard to see how the yen doesn't resume its slide the moment this intervention ends.
Mohamed A. El-Erian@elerianm.bsky.social · 3d ago... in its own hands. Instead, as discussed in previous posts, it hinges on a comprehensive policy alignment in Tokyo among the Bank of Japan, the Ministry of Finance, and the Prime Minister’s Office. #economy #markets #japan #yen #currency #intervention #fx 4 of 4
This is a portrait, devastating in its understatedness, of the gradual pauperization inflation is bringing to Japan. jbpress.ismedia.jp/articles/-/9...
チョコも外食も三度の食事も諦める人々と物価高で静かに干上がる東京の暮らし、消費税減税の恩恵は誰に？ 【令和版しあわせのものさし】手取り17万円の派遣社員と年金生活者の食卓事情、この夏に広がる生活防衛の厳しい現実 | JBpress (ジェイビープレス)
物価高、インフレが止まらない。 今のインフレは、急に給料が半分になったり、明日食うに困る状況になったりするワケではないところがむしろブキミである。ゆっくりとモノが値上がりし、生活が(1/4)
jbpress.ismedia.jp
It's a very simple equation. The alternative requires that the GOP either implodes or reverses the trajectory that it's been on for like three decades. So the choice is basically "risky electoral reform" or the status quo, and the status quo is "continued collapse of the constitutional republic"
Mark Copelovitch@mcopelov.bsky.social · 4d agoThere is no crushing the right in a two-party system. That boils down to “Dems will win every election forever,” & we need a system in which Dems can lose & it’s not a crisis for democracy because there are other pro-democracy parties.
There is no crushing the right in a two-party system. That boils down to “Dems will win every election forever,” & we need a system in which Dems can lose & it’s not a crisis for democracy because there are other pro-democracy parties.
One thing I'll say about the electoral institution question is that having thought a lot about Japan's 1994 electoral reforms, I think some of the problem is that people want everything. They want effective, strong executives *and* fairness and representativeness in their parties and elections.
If only there were other multi-party democracies one could look to. Ah well
Noah Berlatsky@nberlat.bsky.social · 4d agodo you think the UK is better than ours? Israel's? I think there are a lot of things we need to do to fix our elections. I'm just really unconvinced that the number of parties has much to do with it.
FREE FRIDAY: LDP lawmakers are openly opposing Takaichi's decision to cut the consumption tax. The BOJ may be open to hiking sooner, as Tokyo and Washington intervened to strengthen the yen. Japan launched its new intelligence coordinating apparatus. open.substack.com/pub/observin...
Fiscal fractures on full display | Japan Daily Briefing
Thank you for reading Observing Japan. Japan Daily Briefing is a feature for paid subscribers.
open.substack.com
FREE FRIDAY: LDP lawmakers are openly opposing Takaichi's decision to cut the consumption tax. The BOJ may be open to hiking sooner, as Tokyo and Washington intervened to strengthen the yen. Japan launched its new intelligence coordinating apparatus. open.substack.com/pub/observin...
Fiscal fractures on full display | Japan Daily Briefing
Thank you for reading Observing Japan. Japan Daily Briefing is a feature for paid subscribers.
open.substack.com
Given that Bessent has been very clear that he thinks the BOJ needs to hike, I wonder what the quid pro quo is here. I don't think this is just charity for Takaichi.
Karl Schamotta@karl-schamotta.bsky.social · 5d agoSeriously folks. Bessent wrote himself a reminder to intervene in currency markets—complete with the amount to be purchased—as if he didn’t want to forget anything at the grocery store, and then left that note in plain sight so reporters could see it. Ludicrous! 🤯
Seriously folks. Bessent wrote himself a reminder to intervene in currency markets—complete with the amount to be purchased—as if he didn’t want to forget anything at the grocery store, and then left that note in plain sight so reporters could see it. Ludicrous! 🤯
Karl Schamotta@karl-schamotta.bsky.social · 5d agoThis has to be THE funniest thing I’ve ever seen in FX markets: