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Gearoid Reidy
For Gearoid Reidy's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 28, 2022
Haruhiko Kuroda spent 2022 showing the courage to be disliked
Bank of Japan Gov. Haruhiko Kuroda ticked nearly everyone off in a chaotic year. He won't care.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 21, 2022
Master of surprise Kuroda does it one more time
An unexpected BOJ policy tweak stunned markets. Expect central banking's biggest outlier to keep confounding investors.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 15, 2022
The fight to build up Japan’s military is just beginning
The famously pacifist nation's plans to double defense spending are both welcome and overdue. Now Japan needs to find a way to pay for them.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 14, 2022
A SoftBank buyout would look more like Musk than Dell
Rumors persist that SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son wants his company to go private. It's a good idea, if he can afford it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 8, 2022
These are not the most expensive cities — unless you are an expat
Lists of the world's priciest urban centers assume you're a tennis-playing, vermouth-drinking expat paid in dollars with a maid and a car.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Dec 7, 2022
Japan needs billionaires like Jack Ma, not just more tourists
Japan has much to offer the ultrarich — it now needs to figure how to attract more of them given how much more money they spend than the average tourist.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 30, 2022
China’s video game ambitions threaten to one-up Japan
Along with the EU, the world's second-largest economy, China, wants to use gaming to promote soft power. Japan should take that as a warning.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 24, 2022
Musk must preserve Twitter’s most vital function
The platform's experience in Japan shows how it can play a crucial role in providing a public service during times of disaster — if Elon Musk doesn't break it.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 17, 2022
Property markets work better when the line doesn’t always go up
Japan's housing sector has been flat for years. But if dwellings are plentiful and attainable, why should that be a bad thing?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 16, 2022
Markets’ magical thinking on China has extended to the BOJ
After tying themselves in knots over Xi Jinping's 'COVID zero' policy, it looks like investors are doing the same with Japan's central bank.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 9, 2022
Breaking Japan’s cash habit by nudging wage earners
The Japanese government plans to pay workers directly into digital wallets to move them off cash and into virtual payments.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 4, 2022
North Korea missile salvo hits the law of diminishing returns
These days, markets are more concerned with U.S. Fed Chief Jerome Powell than North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and his missiles. So what's Pyongyang's game plan?
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Nov 2, 2022
Japan asks if it’s better to flip burgers than work at a megabank
The weak yen makes the wages of Japan's long-suffering workers seem absurdly low.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 1, 2022
Halloween tragedy is a test for a deeply unpopular leader
President Yoon Suk-yeol's political future greatly depends on how he deals with the Halloween tragedy that left over 150 people dead after a crowd surge over the weekend.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 26, 2022
The West has failed: North Korea is a nuclear state
From Afghanistan to China, Biden has been willing to abandon ill-fated policies. The goal of removing nuclear weapons from North Korea should be the next to go.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 19, 2022
Maskless tourists in Japan trigger a debate over ‘face underwear’
Should Japan look to the world for advice on COVID-19 protocols, or the other way around? Both visitors and residents have something to learn from one another.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 13, 2022
Struggling Rakuten may need to phone a friend for help with mobile bet
Hiroshi Mikitani isn't as rich as he used to be — and is losing money rapidly on his bet on mobile. The smart play may be to find a partner with deeper pockets.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 27, 2022
Shinzo Abe’s funeral furor is Japan’s most unedifying debate
Partisan bickering over Shinzo Abe's state memorial was an embarrassment for the nation on the world stage.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 14, 2022
Tourists will love the yen. Will Japan love them back?
With the yen near the cheapest level in decades, Japan is set to reopen its borders — but it should think about what type of tourist nation it wants to be.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 13, 2022
A Japanese philosophy for the 'quiet-quitting' generation
Here's what disillusioned workers and overstretched managers can learn from one of Japan's greatest businessmen.

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree