🚨🇺🇸🇯🇵🇵🇭 US-Japan-Philippines Joint Military Drills in South China Sea — Major Show of Force!

Three allies concluded massive 5-day maritime exercise (July 21-25) in disputed waters, sending clear message to Beijing 🌊⚔️

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🔹 Scale: Naval warships, coast guard vessels, aircraft & fighter jets deployed 🚁✈️
🔹 Location: Philippine exclusive economic zone in South China Sea 🗺️
🔹 Purpose: Improve allied force interoperability amid rising tensions 🤝
🔹 Context: Follows vessel encounters between Philippines and China 📊

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💡 Japan expanding combat role. Alliance strengthening while China watches closely 🇨🇳👀

#Japan #SouthChinaSea

@japan

🏎️🇯🇵✨ Nissan Dominates Home Tokyo E-Prix — Historic Night Racing Success!

Nissan Formula E Team secured double points at inaugural night races in Tokyo (July 25-26), showcasing Japanese engineering prowess 🌃⚡

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🔹 Results: Oliver Rowland P4, Norman Nato P6 — solid home performance 🏁
🔹 Innovation: First-ever Formula E night races at Tokyo Bay Circuit 🌙
🔹 Special: Night-mode livery for home event debut ⚫✨
🔹 Fan Zone: NISMO Pit with designer Kenichi Minami 🎌

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💡 Japanese automaker proving electric dominance on home soil. Future is here 🔋🚗

#Japan #FormulaE

@japan

⚛️🇯🇵⚡ Japan's Nuclear Dilemma Intensifies — Restart Push Sparks Protests!

Tokyo pushes nuclear power expansion to 20% by 2040 amid public backlash and technical glitches at world's largest plant 🔥⚠️

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🔹 Target: Restart 30-33 reactors to meet climate goals and AI energy demand ⚡
🔹 Opposition: Massive protests in Tokyo against Kashiwazaki-Kariwa restart 🚨
🔹 Challenges: Control-rod malfunction halted restart within hours 🔧
🔹 Public: Strong opposition due to Fukushima memories 📊

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💡 Crisis or necessity? Japan balances energy security with atomic-bomb legacy 🌏💭

#Japan #Nuclear

@japan

🤖📚💬 AI READING REVOLUTION — Talk to Your Books Like Never Before!

Japan leads breakthrough technology turning reading into interactive conversations with AI companions 🔥

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🔹 Amazon Kindle: "Ask this Book" expert reading assistant answers plot questions 📖✨
🔹 Audible Feature: Tap button during audiobook, get AI answers, resume listening 🎧🤖
🔹 ElevenLabs: Voice chat turns any book into two-way conversation 🗣️📚
🔹 Innovation: AI stays within book's content only — no internet distractions 🎯📖

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💡 Reading shifts from passive consumption to active dialogue. Japan embraces conversational books! 🇯🇵🚀

#Japan #Reading

@japan

🇯🇵⛩️🕌 FUJISAWA TORN BY FIRST MOSQUE DEBATE — Identity Crisis Unfolds!

Coastal town faces thousands of protesters as proposed Islamic center sparks cultural identity battle 🔥

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🔹 Location: Fujisawa, Kanagawa — town's first major mosque planned 🕌📍
🔹 Controversy: Building taller than nearby Shinto shrine sparks outrage ⛩️📏
🔹 Protests: "We don't want a single mosque here" chants fill streets 📢😡
🔹 Concerns: Call to prayer, traffic, cultural identity preservation fears 🔊🚗

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💡 National debate: Can Japan embrace diversity while preserving cultural cohesion? Legal framework protects religious freedom 🇯🇵⚖️

#Japan #Culture

@japan

⚡🥊🇹🇷 VIRAL STREET BRAWL SHOCKS JAPAN — Turkish Families Battle with Sticks & Cones!

Nighttime violence in Aichi Prefecture filmed by shocked Japanese onlookers goes viral online 📱🔥

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🔹 Participants: 15-20 people from two Turkish families (Kars & Ordu regions) 👥🥊
🔹 Weapons: Sticks, traffic cones, bicycles used in violent clash ⚡🚲
🔹 Location: Busy street near ramen shop, Shin-E district, Aichi Prefecture 🍜📍
🔹 Reaction: Japanese residents filmed and laughed at bizarre scene 📱😮

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💡 Police response unclear. Cause of family dispute unknown. Concerns raised about foreign resident misconduct 🇯🇵⚠️

#Japan #Violence

@japan

⚡💰📉 ENERGY CRISIS DEVASTATES JAPANESE BUSINESS — 89.4% of Firms Report Major Impact!

Teikoku Databank survey reveals nationwide business emergency as energy costs crush profits 🔥📊

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🔹 Survey Results: 89.4% of companies hurt by higher energy prices — July 27 data 📈⚡
🔹 Impact Level: 36.8% report major damage, 52.6% slight negative effects 💸📉
🔹 Worst Hit: Agriculture (96.4%), Manufacturing (94.8%), Transport (93.5%) 🚜🏭🚛
🔹 Cost Pressure: Raw materials (76.5%), logistics (58.5%), utilities (55.0%) 📦⚡

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💡 Part of broader wholesale inflation surge. Food prices jumping as businesses struggle to survive 🇯🇵⚠️

#Japan #Energy

@japan

👩‍💼🇯🇵🇧🇩 JAPAN-BANGLADESH UNVEIL "GIVE TO GAIN" WOMEN'S LEADERSHIP MODEL!

Dhaka conference launches revolutionary approach to boost women from entrepreneurship to corporate boards 🚀✨

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🔹 Event: Japan-Bangladesh Business Women Conference 2026, Sheraton Dhaka July 26 🏨📅
🔹 Model: "Give opportunities, gain innovation" — transformative leadership approach 💡🎯
🔹 Goals: 20-30% female representation on corporate boards by 2030 👩‍💼📊

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💡 Japan Ambassador, JETRO officials attend. Creates Bangladesh-Japan Women Entrepreneurs Accelerator program! 🇯🇵🚀

#Japan #Bangladesh

@japan

⚾ JUST IN: "Godzilla" is back: Hideki Matsui named manager of the Yomiuri Giants

🔹 The 52-year-old slugger returns to the club 24 years after leaving for the Yankees, promising "a new golden age"
🔹 His name is the No. 1 trend on X in Japan today

🇯🇵 @japan

🍱 Where to eat in Nagoya: hitsumabushi at Atsuta Horaiken

Open since 1873, this eel house trademarked "hitsumabushi": chopped, charcoal-grilled eel over rice in a wooden tub, eaten in stages.

🔹 Order: Hitsumabushi ¥4,950 (tax incl.), or the 1.5x "ichiban" size ¥6,600
🔹 Hours: 11:30–14:00 and 16:30–20:30 (last orders)
🔹 Closed: Wednesdays, plus the 2nd and 4th Thursdays
🔹 Getting there: 7 min walk from Jingu-Temmacho Station (Meijo Line)

💡 Tip: Eat the first quarter plain, the second with wasabi and green onion, the third with dashi poured over, and the last your favourite way. Only course menus can be booked, and orders can close early on busy days, so arrive at opening.

📍 Google Maps: Atsuta Horaiken Honten

🇯🇵 @japan

🍁 Where to go in Hiroshima: Shukkeien Garden

A feudal lord's garden from 1620, built around a large pond. The 1945 atomic bomb devastated it; restoration took about 30 years.

🔹 Entry: ¥350 adults, ¥150 university students, free for high school and younger and 65+
🔹 Hours: 9:00–17:00 until Mar 15 (last entry 16:30). Closed Dec 29–31
🔹 Getting there: Shukkeien-mae tram stop (Hakushima Line), right outside

💡 Tip: Entry is free on Nov 3 (Culture Day). For autumn colours, the maple light-up runs Nov 20–29 with the garden open until 21:00 (last entry 20:30).

📍 Google Maps: Shukkeien Garden

🇯🇵 @japan

🗣 Learn Japanese: AT A RESTAURANT 🍜

🔤 How to read: Romaji vowels are short and clean: a (ah), i (ee), u (oo), e (eh), o (oh). ō is a long "oh". The u in -masu and desu is almost silent. Keep every syllable even, with no strong stress.

🙋 Sumimasen! = soo-mee-mah-sen (excuse me, to call staff)
👉 Kore o kudasai = koh-reh oh koo-dah-sigh (this one, please; point at the menu)
😋 Oishii desu! = oy-shee dess (it's delicious, polite) · casual: Oishii!
🧾 Okaikei onegaishimasu = oh-kai-kay oh-neh-gai-shee-mass (the bill, please)
🙏 Gochisōsama deshita = go-chee-soh-sah-mah desh-tah (thank you for the meal, as you leave)

💡 Tip: Say Itadakimasu (ee-tah-dah-kee-mass) before you start eating. There's no tipping in Japan, and at many places you pay at the register by the door, not at the table.

🔊 Listen to the voice clip below 👇

Japanese: すみません · これをください · おいしいです · お会計お願いします · ごちそうさまでした · いただきます

🇯🇵 @japan

🔊 Sumimasen · Kore o kudasai · Oishii! · Oishii desu · Itadakimasu · Okaikei onegaishimasu · Gochisōsama deshita (male, then female)

🇯🇵 @japan

🌀 Typhoon No. 30 lashes Okinawa's Sakishima Islands: Ishigaki, Miyako, Tarama and Yonaguni airports shut all day

🔹 ANA cancelled 35 flights and JAL 31, including 7 Tokyo–Taipei flights
🔹 Island ferries halted; about 1,980 homes lost power in Ishigaki

🇯🇵 @japan

🍤 Japan's newest tempura is... potato salad

🔹 Chain Tenya now deep-fries mayo-rich potato salad in batter, the winning idea from its annual staff contest
🔹 It comes in a new ¥790 veggie tempura bowl, limited to 8,000 servings until Nov 4

🇯🇵 @japan

🌀 UPDATE: Typhoon No. 30 (Champi) has left Okinawa's Yaeyama islands behind and is now heading for Kyushu, expected near western Japan on Monday

🔹 Up to 250 mm of rain forecast for northern Kyushu by Sunday evening, and up to 300 mm for Shikoku in the 24 hours to Monday evening
🔹 A rain front is already soaking western and eastern Japan; JMA warns of landslides and flooding

🇯🇵 @japan

🍜 Where to eat in Nagasaki: Shikairo

This is where champon was born. In 1899, founder Chen Pingshun created a cheap, filling noodle soup for Chinese students in Nagasaki: pork-and-chicken broth, thick noodles and a pile of seafood and vegetables. The 5th-floor dining room looks right over Nagasaki harbour.

🔹 Order: champon or sara udon, ¥1,430 each (tax incl.)
🔹 Hours: 11:30–15:00 and 17:00–20:00 (last entry 14:00 / 19:00)
🔹 Closed: some Wednesdays (Oct 28, Nov 11, Nov 25)
🔹 Access: Oura Tenshudo tram stop, about 1 min walk

💡 Tip: No table reservations, so come at 11:30 or after 17:00 to skip the queue. The free Champon Museum on the 2nd floor tells the dish's story, and Oura Church and Glover Garden are a short walk away.

📍 Google Maps: Shikairo

🇯🇵 @japan

🍂 Where to go in Sapporo: Hokkaido University Ginkgo Avenue

About 70 ginkgo trees line a 380 m road on Hokkaido University's campus, turning it into a golden tunnel every autumn. It was about 60% yellow on Oct 23, with peak colour expected from around Oct 26 and leaves starting to fall around Nov 6.

🔹 Entry: free
🔹 Open: outdoor campus avenue, best in daylight
🔹 Closed: no closing day
🔹 Access: Kita-Juni-Jo Station (Namboku Line), about 5 min walk; JR Sapporo Station about 20 min walk

💡 Tip: The Hokudai Konyosai ginkgo festival runs Oct 31 (10:00–21:00) and Nov 1 (10:00–20:00), with evening light-ups. Stay on the sidewalk, as the road carries traffic, and remember it's a working university.

📍 Google Maps: Hokkaido University Ginkgo Avenue

🇯🇵 @japan

🍰 Pokémon turns 30, so Tokyo is getting a Pikachu-shaped shortcake sandwich

🔹 Two Pikachu sponge slices with cream and strawberries, ¥1,200, sold Nov 5 – Dec 31 at Pikachu Sweets in Sunshine City, Ikebukuro
🔹 No takeout and no cool packs: you have to eat it right there

🇯🇵 @japan

🗣 Learn Japanese: AUTUMN TALK 🍁

🔤 How to read: Vowels are short and clean: a (ah), i (ee), u (oo), e (eh), o (oh). ō is a long "oh". The u in desu is almost silent, so it sounds like "dess". Ne at the end means "isn't it?" and invites the other person to agree.

🍁 Aki desu ne = ah-kee dess neh (it's autumn, isn't it? polite)
🍂 Kōyō = koh-yoh (autumn leaves)
😍 Kirei desu ne! = kee-ray dess neh (they're beautiful, aren't they? polite) · casual: Kirei!
🌬 Suzushii desu ne = soo-zoo-shee dess neh (it's nice and cool, polite) · casual: Suzushii!
🥶 Samui desu = sah-moo-ee dess (it's cold, polite) · casual: Samui!

💡 Tip: Momijigari (moh-mee-jee-gah-ree) means "autumn-leaf viewing", autumn's answer to spring cherry-blossom viewing. Weather small talk with "... desu ne" is the easiest way to start a friendly chat in Japan.

🔊 Listen to the voice clip below 👇

Japanese: 秋ですね · 紅葉（こうよう） · きれいですね · 涼しいですね · 寒いです · 紅葉狩り（もみじがり）

🇯🇵 @japan