Romeo Marcantuoni

YouTube video by Lemonade Stand THE JAPAN EPISODE ft. @JapanMatters | Lemonade Stand 🍋

If you haven't checked out @mrjeffu.bsky.social's interview on Lemonade Stand you should! A very good, really informative overview of Japanese politics and current social issues.

youtu.be/Dc0z0ulibtk?...

David Leheny 🤝 John Cena
Midlife heel turn

Majora's Mask is too based for centrists who prefer Ocarina of Time, send second tweet.

YouTube video by Lemonade Stand THE JAPAN EPISODE ft. Prof Jeffrey Hall | Lemonade Stand 🍋

The Lemonade Stand podcast interviewed me for their Japan episode!
We spoke about Prime Minister Takaichi, immigration, Sanseito, historical revisionism, territorial disputes, conspiracy theories, and a whole lot of other stuff!
www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc0z...

A decade of LGBT partnership systems in Japan Ten years ago, two municipalities in Tokyo wrote history by commencing Japan’s first so-called “partnership systems” (パートナーシップ制度) to recognize LGBTQ+ couples’ relationships. In the years that followed...

As a birthday gift, please consider reading my latest writing for Tokyo Review.

Foreigner fatigue and Japan’s new populism Japan’s new government under Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and its partnership with the populist Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai), raises significant...

"A sustainable immigration strategy would require not only admission but equal rights, inclusive institutions, language and cultural support, and effective regional adaptation of policy."

It’s a broad brush but it’s recognizable by the pretty widespread disruption that they are experiencing by challenger parties and the far right

I think we should be able to agree there is a homogenous-enough political position that we can broadly refer to as the center/the establishment/whatever. We all know what it refers to.

“Bring Him Down to a Portable Size” review The question of ego might be best answered in the portrayal of one’s (imaginary) nemesis. During their stage greeting at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, director Nakano Ryōta lauded actor ...

Part of what I'm planning for Tokyo Review is to increase coverage of media. This comparative review by @heidilee95.bsky.social of the film "Bring Him Down to a Portable Size" is a great example in that it treats a Japanese film not as some window into "Japan," but as a film

The center’s self-defeating politics As Japan’s far-right gains political and ideological force, can the center hold? It is a familiar question, one that is now rapidly gaining salience after Takaichi Sanae was elected leader of the Libe...

I wrote this piece about Tamaki Yuichiro's recent rise to populist fame and how centrists are paving the way for a more anti-establishment politics (against their better judgments)

Foreigner fatigue and Japan’s new populism Japan’s new government under Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and its partnership with the populist Japan Innovation Party (Nippon Ishin no Kai), raises significant...

Japan’s labor market and social welfare challenges demand foreign labor, yet the current political framing from Takaichi's new government treats foreigners as a social problem, writes Stefan Aichholzer in his analysis:

Wait.... isn't this what Palpatine did

“Bring Him Down to a Portable Size” review The question of ego might be best answered in the portrayal of one’s (imaginary) nemesis. During their stage greeting at the 38th Tokyo International Film Festival, director Nakano Ryōta lauded actor ...

Part of what I'm planning for Tokyo Review is to increase coverage of media. This comparative review by @heidilee95.bsky.social of the film "Bring Him Down to a Portable Size" is a great example in that it treats a Japanese film not as some window into "Japan," but as a film

A TSUTAYA politics shelve almost entirely filled by conspiracists and grifters.

Taipei is watching Takaichi’s standoff with Beijing Taiwan is back at the center of Sino-Japanese relations after Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae told the Diet last week that a Chinese attack on Taiwan could pose a “survival-threatening situation” for Ja...

Taiwan is back at the center of Sino-Japanese tensions. PM Takaichi’s remarks on a “survival-threatening” Taiwan scenario sparked fury in Beijing—but the audience that matters most is in Taipei.

Zero chance

The center’s self-defeating politics As Japan’s far-right gains political and ideological force, can the center hold? It is a familiar question, one that is now rapidly gaining salience after Takaichi Sanae was elected leader of the Libe...

I wrote this piece about Tamaki Yuichiro's recent rise to populist fame and how centrists are paving the way for a more anti-establishment politics (against their better judgments)

The center’s self-defeating politics As Japan’s far-right gains political and ideological force, can the center hold? It is a familiar question, one that is now rapidly gaining salience after Takaichi Sanae was elected leader of the Libe...

Tamaki Yūichirō is dealing with forces that cannot be controlled. Can he—and those learning from his recent success—avoid being changed by the worst impulses of contemporary politics?

“Black Box Diaries” review Itō Shiori, the Japanese #MeToo trailblazer who regrettably never was A conspiracy-thriller-adjacent documentary of her 8-year journey as a sexual assault survivor, Itō Shiori’s Black Box Diaries (202...

Important piece by Heidi Ka-Sin Lee about Itō Shiori’s recent documentary Black Box Diaries. I have more to add to this story myself at some point because Itō’s assaulter, Yamaguchi Noriyuki, is frequently invited on Sanseitō and Kamiya Sōhei’s YouTube channel. www.tokyoreview.net/2025/11/movi...

Japan’s suicide rates decline, but risks persist for youth and women For much of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Japan faced persistently high suicide rates. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, annual suicides exceeded 30,000 for 14 consecu...

New piece from Tokyo Review: Writing about Japan's declining suicides, Peter Chai from Waseda University argues that the numbers obscure the unequal distribution of risk www.tokyoreview.net/2025/11/japa...

Sanseitō and its far-right conspiracy ideology In July 2025, Sanseitō (a.k.a. The Party of DIY !!) became the first far-right political party in postwar history to establish a stable presence in both Houses of the National Diet. With the party’s f...

I wrote a shorter, slightly punchier version of my recent research article about Sanseitō as my first contribution to the new Tokyo Review. It should be vastly more accessible, and hopefully sets the tone of what else I plan to do in the future of TR www.tokyoreview.net/2025/11/what...

Japan’s suicide rates decline, but risks persist for youth and women For much of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Japan faced persistently high suicide rates. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, annual suicides exceeded 30,000 for 14 consecu...

Writing about Japan's declining suicides, Peter Chai from Waseda University argues that the numbers obscure the unequal distribution of risk www.tokyoreview.net/2025/11/japa...

Japan’s suicide rates decline, but risks persist for youth and women For much of the late 20th and early 21st centuries, Japan faced persistently high suicide rates. According to the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare, annual suicides exceeded 30,000 for 14 consecu...

New piece from Tokyo Review: Writing about Japan's declining suicides, Peter Chai from Waseda University argues that the numbers obscure the unequal distribution of risk www.tokyoreview.net/2025/11/japa...

Documentary ethics, informed consent, and journalism vs documentary: The Black Box Diaries “case” This is an open space – open because it’s a work in progress – where I will attempt to collect and index articles, essays and discussions generated in Japan by the non-release (as…

November updates:
- the documentary will be screened at T-Joy Prince Shinagawa in December.
- added a link to the piece by Heidi Ka-Sin Lee published on @tokyoreview.net

asian-docs.com/2025/03/10/d...

Qanon probably had somewhat more of a long-lasting influence, particularly through Sanseitō’s extended network of influencers that it platforms.

Besides, YamatoQ was so extremely conspiratorial, to the point of violent action, that the whole thing was forced to peter out. You might still find QArmyFlynn on telegram but I doubt they have much sway.

Sanseito made a pretty quick calculation that aligning in any way with J/Q anon was political suicide, so you’re not likely to find much directly linking them to the party. That said, that’s something that have happened in telegram rooms or Line open chats in a more organic way

I'm pleased to announce that I've joined the new editorial board for Tokyo Review. I will be reaching out to promising new writers soon, as well as contribute my own research and opinions on a regular basis.

Worth translating: interview w/ @valentimvicente.bsky.social on a very plausible explanation for the rise of the radical right in Europe:

Norms that made voting far-right parties socially undesirable have eroded - and the availability of far-right parties met a certain "demand" that already existed

And until I can get the production anomalies sorted in the Japan Focus article this may in fact be what I prefer people read