Opinion editor at Nikkei Asia. Brit in Japan (Islamic Republic). Sabew award-winning journalist. Formerly @sharp_writing until X locked me out...
Tokyo
Joined March 2026
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Andy Sharp retweeted
My latest opinion piece for Nikkei Asia.
Russia took a Japanese journalist. Tokyo should speak up asia.nikkei.com/opinion/russ… via @NikkeiAsia
Andy Sharp retweeted
Japan has demanded that Russia reverse its move placing local units of Japan Tobacco under Russian corporate control, following a decree signed by President Vladimir Putin.
s.nikkei.com/4zxkvc7
Andy Sharp retweeted
TOKYO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Japan's real wages rose 2.2% in September from a year earlier, marking the ninth consecutive month of gains, government data showed on Friday, supporting the case for the Bank of Japan to keep raising interest rates.
Andy Sharp retweeted
North Korea's patient cyber operations pay off in crypto s.nikkei.com/4iviDsY
Andy Sharp retweeted
🇺🇸🇹🇼🇵🇭 Beijing illegally claims jurisdiction east of Taiwan and north of the Philippines as its ships survey key cable routes
For @NikkeiAsia, I explain how the U.S. and our allies can protect these digital lifelines from China’s gray-zone warfare
Andy Sharp retweeted
Japan and Taiwan are working on a broad trade pact, according to sources with direct knowledge of the talks, that could provide a strategic anchor between the Asian tech powers and break a logjam in Taiwanese trade diplomacy.
s.nikkei.com/3WkifGk
Andy Sharp retweeted
Report that on 30 Oct FM Motegi asked Rubio for the US’s help in securing the release of the Hokkaido Shimbun journalist from detention in Russia. hokkaido-np.co.jp/article/14…
Andy Sharp retweeted
I had the pleasure of joining the coversation with Nikkei Asia's Andy Sharp, discussing how to understand the recent changes to the Japanese immigration policy and what lies ahead.
高市政権の移民政策について短いインタビューに答えました。リハ一切無し・3時間睡眠でグダグダですが...
Why is Japan tightening its immigration rules? s.nikkei.com/4yKNJ5U
Andy Sharp retweeted
My article (in Japanese) for Nikkei Business about whether Japan too will become a target of Russian sabotage attacks.
business.nikkei.com/atcl/sem…
Andy Sharp retweeted
Could old books in Japan become AI's next major source of training data?
Read more here:
s.nikkei.com/48rRDFX
Andy Sharp retweeted
KMT party headquarters has responded to @NikkeiAsia’s story: the party leadership “is firmly committed to strengthening Taiwan’s national defence and maintaining peace and stability across the Taiwan Strait.” 1/2
Tensions inside the Kuomintang are brewing weeks ahead of local elections that will set the stage for next year’s presidential campaign in Taiwan, with both China and the US watching.
@NikkeiAsia spoke to a dozen sources inside the KMT and in DC + TW. 1/5
asia.nikkei.com/politics/tai…
Andy Sharp retweeted
Japan hikes foreign residency fees, tightens rules: 5 things to know
Permanent stay costs jump 20-fold as new income and language benchmarks loom
s.nikkei.com/4hBwLjQ
Andy Sharp retweeted
I wrote an article for the Number 1 Shimbun about Colonel Otaku Gatekeeper, a British man who pretends to be a Japanese nationalist online. @Arin_Yumi spoke to me about exposing the Colonel's false claim about living in Yokohama.
fccj.or.jp/index.php/number-…
Andy Sharp retweeted
I was featured in the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan’s Number 1 Shimbun October 2026 issue, covering LARP accounts on Twitter and my whole saga with Colonel Otaku Gatekeeper.
Thank you @mrjeffu for the opportunity!
fccj.or.jp/index.php/number-…
Andy Sharp retweeted
As diplomatic tensions between Tokyo and Beijing drag on, I examine what Southeast Asia can learn from Japan’s long-drawn efforts to derisk from China in my latest op-ed for @NikkeiAsia . Japan's experience offers a lesson, a warning and some guidance for SEA in my view.
Japan's China derisking has lessons for Southeast Asia s.nikkei.com/4z4sbSj
Andy Sharp retweeted
Bombshell 2.0 from @JeKavanagh: strategic clarity in the opposite direction.
The argument is that the United States needs a Taiwan policy that explicitly rules out military intervention should the island come under attack, given how far the military balance has shifted in China’s favor.
I disagree with much of the prescription, but it raises one important question that I am hearing more often in Japan:
“Leaders in Japan and South Korea may worry that Chinese control of Taiwan would bring risks even if unification occurred peacefully by making it easier for China to interdict trade in nearby waters.”
For Japan and South Korea, the concern is not only war over Taiwan. It is what the regional balance looks like afterward.
That concern is real.
asia.nikkei.com/opinion/the-…
Andy Sharp retweeted
Big political shift in Okinawa. I’m quoted: “Koja’s victory gives Tokyo greater freedom to prepare Okinawa for a Taiwan contingency, but it should not be mistaken for an Okinawan mandate to fight one.”
asia.nikkei.com/politics/oki…
Andy Sharp retweeted
Japan lags behind major countries in creating safe bike lanes s.nikkei.com/3UJOFcB
Andy Sharp retweeted
Translation: "Taiwan's vice-president to visit Italy"
Taiwan’s No. 2 official is making a rare visit to Europe for a conference, a move that defies China’s push to diplomatically isolate the democratic island. bloomberg.com/news/articles/…
