Joined May 2022
- Tweets 440
- Following 1,191
- Followers 1,112
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50 Photos and videos
Chris Harding retweeted
Apr 30
For all its elevated sense of history and institutional self-worth, the modern British civil service owes its origins, in part, to China.
Britain’s modern civil service: an idea borrowed from China | @drchrisharding
engelsbergideas.com/notebook…
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Mar 25
How does the war in Iran look from Asia? My take:
Mar 25
In the face of the Iran war’s impact on global oil flows, Asian capitals are reassessing energy security and the broader geopolitical map.
The Iran war through Asia’s eyes | @drchrisharding
engelsbergideas.com/essays/t…
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This was fun to do!
Samurai didn't vanish overnight - they were dismantled, piece by piece.
Bianca Nobilo takes us on a journey through the hidden origin of the legendary warriors.
Just dropped!👇
📺 youtu.be/EpKHfSOFIBM
@bianca_nobilo | @drchrisharding | @CafeBrownie2 | @piersmorgan
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Jan 29
Taiko drumming at the opening reception for @britishmuseum’s fantastic new Samurai exhibition. Already picked up a five-star review in The Guardian. Congrats!
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Jan 23
The ‘fail fast’ approach to tech innovation didn’t start with Silicon Valley.
After WWII, former Imperial Japanese Navy researchers hung around in a leaky Tokyo shack, building a 35-kg tape recorder that it turned out no-one wanted. Then along came the transistor...
Link in bio
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Jan 21
UK serving as a cautionary tale in Japan right now...
Jan 21
Amid pre-election talk from opposition parties and Prime Minister Takaichi about cutting taxes, one Japanese news program noted that cutting taxes without securing new sources of funding for the government could result in a "Japanese Truss Shock."
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Jan 20
Enjoyed this chat with @NewStatesman. Full conversation here: youtube.com/watch?v=HmRJlzR7….
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Jan 17
I wonder whether a spell in a Japanese prison might have yielded an interesting song or two...?
Jan 16
Today is the 46th anniversary of the Japanese arrest of Paul McCartney. He arrived at Narita Airport with about half a pound of marijuana in his suitcase.
He was deported without facing formal criminal charges that could've resulted in a prison sentence.
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Jan 13
Fun to speak to BBC History Extra about Emperor Hirohito... out now.
Jan 13
On the podcast | Christopher Harding explores the life story of Hirohito, the emperor who reigned over Japan during World War Two and the decades of postwar transition that followed
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If you're struggling with your new year's resolutions, take heart: philosophy and neuroscience agree that goals don't make sense
Try a version of Japanese 'kaizen' instead: continuous improvement
Swap your goal for a horizon and find incremental changes to match
Link in Bio
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Chris Harding retweeted
Japan’s leap from isolation to “miracle nation” is messier than nostalgia allows. Opening with Japan’s encounter with Western power, our podcast of the week surveys the long history of the nation’s modernization.
With @drchrisharding on @smartcookiespod
buff.ly/py4RL6g
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31 Dec 2025
Happy New Year, when it arrives! Here's a piece I wrote about how Japan sees in the new year...
31 Dec 2025
How Japan marks the turning of the year | @drchrisharding
engelsbergideas.com/notebook…
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29 Dec 2025
Looking forward to this - come along if you’re nearby!
29 Dec 2025
Our first lecture of 2026 will take place on 8 Jan (Thu), featuring cultural historian Dr Christopher Harding @drchrisharding as he revisits the first century of encounters between Japan and Europe.
Details: tinyurl.com/ras-260108
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21 Dec 2025
Really enjoyed this conversation!
21 Dec 2025
From Samurai to Shinkansen - how did JAPAN become a global superpower in just a short few decades? And why is it stagnating today?
Check the thrilling conversation with the eminent historian of Japan @drchrisharding HERE 👇🏻🎌
youtu.be/prqPJ4_jdaU
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19 Dec 2025
Against a backdrop of North Korean nuclearisation, China's rise & Trump’s transactionalism, PM Takaichi will review Japan's three non-nuclear principles.
An anonymous source inside her Office suggested Japan may need its own deterrent.
Is the nuclear taboo fading? Link in bio
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12 Dec 2025
How do you train an AI on a language where this sentence is perfectly normal:
Because already finished, gave book.
(Mō owatta kara, hon o ageta)
Humans resolve the meaning instantly using context.
AI doesn’t — and that turns out to matter a lot for Japan’s AI ambitions.
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5 Dec 2025
As America prepares to commemorate Pearl Harbor this weekend, Chinese strategists are no doubt studying it: could a gambit like that work, in East Asia?
Japan, China and Taiwan in 2026: this week’s Substack post.
chrishardingjapan.com/p/taiw…
@mhonna_kygo
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11 Oct 2025
Japan is losing more than 2,000 people every day to population decline.
Is automation the answer?
This week's Substack post:
chrishardingjapan.com/p/can-…
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7 Oct 2025
Japan's famous vending machines look like late 20th-century tech.
In fact, they're both decades and centuries older.
They may also hold the key to the country's future.
chrishardingjapan.com/p/can-…
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