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Japan’s capsule toy market — the coin-operated machines that dispense a small plastic-encased toy for a few hundred yen — grew to…
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Japan’s oshi-katsu economy — the sprawling ecosystem of spending built around supporting a favorite idol, anime character, VTuber, or athlete — grew…
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It was late January, the kind of Tokyo evening where the cold gets into your coat collar, and I ducked into a…
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I first ran into goguma bread on a Tuesday afternoon in a department store basement, which is exactly where a trend like…
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There is a specific kind of kitchen ritual that every household in Japan seems to inherit, whether they asked for it or…
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I noticed it first on the Chiyoda Line, somewhere between Otemachi and Nijubashimae, in the seven-minute window when the morning train fills…
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I have lived in Japan long enough to stop being surprised by most things. Twenty years will do that to you. But…
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Chinese desktop robots, American survivors, and Singaporean AI pets are converging on the world‘s most demanding companion-robot market. Some will be embraced.…
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The world‘s most demanding consumer market has quietly built an entire economy around machines whose only job is to be loved. Here…
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