Anime, M&A and Expo: What to Watch in Japan’s 2025
Foreign investors will be examining all kinds of assets in Asia’s second-largest economy, while it’s expected to be another bumper year for animated hits.
Expect another Demon Slayer hit in cinemas this year.
Photographer: Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images
On Jan. 1, 2024, typically the quietest day of the year in Japan, a powerful earthquake struck off Ishikawa, triggering a tsunami and ultimately leading to some 500 deaths. The following day, 379 people on board miraculously escaped from the flames of Japan Airlines Flight JL516, which struck a smaller craft at Tokyo’s Haneda airport, just minutes after I myself had landed there.
The tragedy and triumph set the tone for what was an unusually intense 12 months. It was a time of political upheaval, a most unexpected new prime minister — and some of the country’s most iconic brands becoming acquisition targets. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average set both its first record high in more than 30 years, and its biggest one-day drop since 1987, while the central bank raised rates for the first time in 17 years.