As parents, we'd all loved to have done this - bit of vodka on the cocopops, a bit of coaching on what to say. Very easy costume. So wishful thinking all round I guess.
This is wonderful but, sorry to ruin it, it does come from a "Swansea satire site", so, probably not true. But the photo is great as well.
Japan and UK close together in high trust levels I note.
Toyota staying quiet on this, as usual. Also, unlike Nissan, they have other car manufacturing plants in EU (although they currently make different models to Burnaston) France + Czech Republic. Also Land Cruisers made in Portugal. Corollas also made in Turkey but presumably Turkey also excluded
Production levels may have improved since the launch of the new Leaf, manufactured in Sunderland, last month. Too early to say whether that's going well I guess.
Nissan Sunderland production only running at 30% capacity + Nissan has been shutting down plants even in Japan, so this is not an empty threat. Nissan warns of Sunderland closure if UK excluded from โMade in Europeโ rules - giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/... via @FT
This slow burning scandal is starting to erupt. I've long had my doubts about the style + tactics of the founder/CEO Nagamori who has aggressively acquired + restructured many companies worldwide. There are 13,691 Nidec employees in Europe, Middle East + Africa.
asia.nikkei.com/business/ele...
Japan will not reappoint businessman Joichi Ito to a government committee when his term ends this month, over ties to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, the Sankei newspaper said Monday.
How Japan made local museums local, but also fun.
open.substack.com/pub/pernille...
2013-2017 Joi Ito visited Epstein's island, arranged Epstein's girlfriend's trip to Japan, sent an email with a YouTube link to Epstein that read "This isn't 2D, but you can see how Japanese school girls are used as a special unit of something" www.nytimes.com/2026/02/26/b...
Ah the Tokyo Bilingual Atlas. That's how I survived without Google maps back in the day. Then moved on to the standard kanji pocket map once I became more confident of reading place names. Wasn't there also a train guide cheekily called where to get off in Tokyo or something?
I've still got my Tokyo City Guide. It was an excellent reference even in the 1990s.
Japan's Suntory cuts Scotch production in UK as tariffs hit US sales asia.nikkei.com/business/foo...
In the Tohoku region, colorful seasonal flowers bloom to symbolize the resilience of communities hit hard by the March 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and tsunami.
oops. White nationalism is a helluva drug.
Surprised Toki haven't taken that testimonial from Karyna Shuliak down yet. I guess if you act as a high end concierge you can't be too picky about your clients' ethics.
Apparently there is no extradition treaty between the USA and Morocco although there is one between Morocco and UK.
More on Epstein's last girlfriend Karyna Shuliak in 2019 in today's FT she "was trying to buy a $23mn Marrakech โpalaceโ through one of Epsteinโs trusts, but its accounts at Deutsche were empty and the sellerโs banker wanted proof of funds."
Reform is refusing to suspend one of its councillors for calling for a Labour MP to be shot, saying it's a "mistake that we can all make from time to time.โ
โThereโs a special place in hell for women who donโt help each other" as Madeleine Albright said.
She then moved on to HSBC in 2020 as Global Head of Ultra High Net Worth in private banking. Left last month after a restructure which eliminated her role to give regions more accountability.
Caroline Kitidis at Deutsche Bank said Epstein โhas many important relationships...a very good opportunity โ we think this is hopefully a Tier 1 relationship" in 2014. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
I've noticed before and noticed again today that nobody bothers to clean the glass of the lights between the escalator rails on the Elizabeth Line. Judging by the finger trails on the dust it would be a really easy wipe. Considering otherwise the Elizabeth line is a bit of a jewel it seems a shame.
London never ceases to disappoint after a trip to Japan. Within minutes of landing at Heathrow we have a broken moving walkway. The walk to the trains has dirty walls. Then a platform change for the Elizabeth line confusingly communicated.
Leaving tomorrow first thing for blighty I'm afraid! Next time. Would be fun to revisit the itameshi.
You can get 700g of dried persimmons in Japan from Rakuten for Y2880 which is around ยฃ14 or for Y4550 (ยฃ22.50) as below www.tadashichi.com/SHOP/TA1707....
Not at the moment - both to buy in shops and eating out in Japan is amazingly good value - thanks to the ยฃ/Y exchange rate.
Japanese shops really went for it with cat day yesterday
You cross Japanese obaasans aka Obatarians (old ladies) at your peril regardless of your age, gender or ethnicity.
