Masaru Takei
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mtake1.bsky.social
Masaru Takei
@mtake1.bsky.social
Writer in Tokyo ✍️
Essays on culture, business, and everyday life.
HR leader turned essayist — exploring how stories shape work and society.
Author of Letter from Tokyo on Substack.
https://substack.com/@letterfromtokyo
My son’s LEGO creation
“Arc Deluxe Dragon”
Nov 22, 2025 #lego
November 24, 2025 at 3:10 AM
What would your life look like if moving — even a little — became harder?

Weekend Tokyo #013 is now live.

Japan is slowing down:
young people priced out of travel, seniors losing their daily routes,
and a society quietly forgetting how to move.
open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
The Country That Stopped Moving【Weekend Tokyo#013】
Aging, shrinking, and standing still — how Japan’s mobility gap is reshaping opportunity.
open.substack.com
November 21, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Weekend Tokyo #013 drops tomorrow (7PM JST).
Here’s the trailer for “The Country That Stopped Moving.”
Japan is slowing down — young people priced out of travel, seniors losing their daily routes.
What happens when a whole nation stops moving?
substack.com/@letterfromt...
November 20, 2025 at 9:48 AM
What if a gym made more money from subscriptions than from workouts?

Workday Tokyo #012 looks at Curves — a fitness chain where over 60% of revenue now comes from recurring protein sales.
A new model for aging well in Japan.
open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Workday Tokyo#012】More Than Exercise — How Curves Built Japan’s Subscription Model for Aging Women
The Outlier in Japan’s Fitness Industry
open.substack.com
November 19, 2025 at 12:17 AM
What happens when a car-making nation stops training mechanics?

Japan’s talent pipeline is thinning just as EVs demand new skills.
My new piece explains why it matters.

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Wisdom Tokyo#004】Can Japan Still Be a Country That Trains Mechanics?
The “Maintenance Failure” of Japan’s Labor and Economy
open.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 10:07 AM
What happens to a country when it stops producing mechanics?

Tonight’s Wisdom Tokyo #004 looks at Japan’s shrinking pipeline of skilled auto technicians — and why it matters more than most people realize.

10-second teaser below.
Full story at 7PM JST.
👉 letterfromtokyo.substack.com
November 15, 2025 at 5:27 AM
When was the last time a piece of paper meant something to you?
Tokyo is quietly returning to print — GOAT, POPEYE/BRUTUS, ZINEs, indie shops.
Just published a new Weekend Tokyo on this “return to paper.”
If it speaks to you, I’d be glad if you read it.
letterfromtokyo.substack.com/p/weekend-to...
【Weekend Tokyo #012】The Return of Paper
How Tokyo Is Reclaiming Its Tangible Culture
letterfromtokyo.substack.com
November 14, 2025 at 10:12 AM
Weekend Tokyo #012 drops tomorrow at 7PM JST.
Here’s a short Sora trailer on Tokyo’s “return to paper” — from GOAT to ZINE culture.
If you don’t want to miss it, subscribe to Letter from Tokyo.
substack.com/@letterfromt...
November 13, 2025 at 1:40 PM
🎞️ Workday Tokyo #011 — The Tech of Leisure
From keirin to pachinko, Japan’s public gambling is being rewritten through tech and time.

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Workday Tokyo #011】 The Tech of Leisure
How Japan’s Public Gambling Is Being Rewritten
open.substack.com
November 11, 2025 at 2:05 PM
From rails to bearlands,
Japan moves at two speeds —
the rhythm of the city,
and the silence of the wild.

🎞️ A new Letter from Tokyo out now.
🔗 letterfromtokyo.substack.com
November 8, 2025 at 5:34 AM
Japan is entering a new phase: police rifles, government hunters, and a shrinking line between humans and bears.
From coexistence to control—this is Bearland Japan.

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Weekend Tokyo#011】Bearland Japan
Between Mascots and Menace
open.substack.com
November 7, 2025 at 12:39 PM
Nintendo boosts Switch 2 forecast to 19M units for FY2026 — revenue to hit a record ¥2.25T (~$15B).
Exactly the hardware-first, software-later strategy we covered in Wisdom Tokyo.

🎮 Read the full piece

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Wisdom Tokyo #001】Gaming’s Next Stage — Lessons from Tokyo Game Show 2025
Nintendo, Sega, and the East Asian surge shaping the future
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:46 PM
Workday Tokyo #011 is out.
🚇 Japan, the Country of Rails — and Cars.
From subways that profit in 40 years
to trucks that pay off in one —
how Japan’s cities move at two speeds.
open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Workday Tokyo#010】Japan, the Country of Rails — and Cars
How Tokyo’s Subways, Shinkansen, and Highways Shape a City’s Time
open.substack.com
November 4, 2025 at 1:42 PM
“Kokuhō (National Treasure)” goes global.
The U.S. trailer just dropped — taking kabuki and keiko (practice) to the world stage.
Read more: youtu.be/p6k9Y-irvOE?...
🎥 Watch: youtu.be/p6k9Y-irvOE?...
#kokuho #kabuki #japan
KOKUHO | Trailer 2 - In Select Theatres November
YouTube video by GKIDS Films
youtu.be
November 1, 2025 at 10:31 AM
Wisdom Tokyo #003 — now live.
🎰 The Pachinko Industry: A Shrinking Giant and Its Hidden Core

How Japan’s postwar “gray-zone capitalism” still survives in neon light.
Available now for paid subscribers.
open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Wisdom Tokyo#003】The Pachinko Industry: A Shrinking Giant and Its Hidden Core
From Japan’s Postwar Margins to the Smartphone Age
open.substack.com
November 1, 2025 at 10:26 AM
Weekend Tokyo #010 is out:
“From Castles to Roofs — The Quiet Continuity of Clay and Synthetic Tiles.”

From Tokugawa’s city castles to Aichi’s AI kilns —
a story of soil, craft, and quiet endurance.

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Weekend Tokyo】From Castles to Roofs
The Quiet Continuity of Clay and Synthetic Tiles
open.substack.com
October 31, 2025 at 10:06 AM
Now live on Workday Tokyo:
“The Power of Uselessness — What Japan’s Makers and Robots Teach Us.”

From Tokyo’s Maker Faire to Nobel discoveries —
how Japan’s creativity thrives beyond “usefulness.”

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Workday Tokyo#009】The Power of Uselessness
What Japan’s Makers and Robots Teach Us
open.substack.com
October 28, 2025 at 10:06 AM
New on Workday Tokyo:
“The Power of Uselessness — What Japan’s Makers and Robots Teach Us.”
From family tinkering at Maker Faire to Nobel discoveries —
where Japan’s creativity begins as “uselessness.”
🕖 Out tomorrow at 7PM JST
🎞️ Trailer below ↓
👉 Subscribe at letterfromtokyo.substack.com
October 27, 2025 at 10:17 AM
This week on Letter from Tokyo:
from the quiet glow of fire,
to the chill of haunted places,
to the strange beauty where culture, capital — and Koei — intertwine.

🎞️ A 10-second cinematic reflection — watch it here:
👉 letterfromtokyo.substack.com
October 25, 2025 at 5:43 AM
【Weekend Tokyo#009】Haunted Japan: Ghost Houses, Guts Tests, and the Culture of Fear

Why do haunted houses and “guts tests” still thrive in Japan?

From department stores to ghost trains, fear isn’t just for fun — it’s culture.
New article just dropped:
open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Weekend Tokyo#009】Haunted Japan: Ghost Houses, Guts Tests, and the Culture of Fear
If you walk through Shibuya on Halloween night, you’ll likely find the streets packed with costumed revelers.
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 10:15 AM
New on Wisdom Tokyo — Free Supplement
After my latest story on Keiko Erikawa and Koei Tecmo’s two-tiered model of culture and capital,
the company released its Integrated Report 2025 — and a day later, raised its forecast.
open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Wisdom Tokyo#002.5】When Culture Meets Capital
Koei Tecmo’s Upward Revision and Its Integrated Report
open.substack.com
October 24, 2025 at 12:32 AM
🔥 New on Workday Tokyo
“Designing the Flame — How Iwatani Is Redefining Fire”
From propane kitchens to hydrogen dreams — and now, the rediscovery of fire itself.
Read it here

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Workday Tokyo#008】Designing the Flame
How Iwatani Is Redefining Fire
open.substack.com
October 21, 2025 at 12:42 PM
Wisdom Tokyo #002 — Out now.
She turned history into play and investments into history.
Meet Keiko Erikawa, the “Empress” behind Koei Tecmo’s empire.

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Wisdom Tokyo#002】“Is This a Game Company or an Investment Firm?”
How the “Empress” Keiko Erikawa Built Koei Tecmo’s Two-Tiered Profits
open.substack.com
October 18, 2025 at 10:39 AM
🆕 Weekend Tokyo #008 is out now:
Living to 100 in Tokyo — A Blessing, or a Silent Limit?

As Japan enters the age of 100-year lives, what does it mean to grow old in a hyper-urban city like Tokyo?

open.substack.com/pub/letterfr...
【Weekend Tokyo#008】Living to 100 in Tokyo
A Blessing, or a Silent Limit?
open.substack.com
October 17, 2025 at 10:29 AM
🎥 New essay goes live tonight at 7PM Japan Time (JST) — that’s early morning in the U.S., depending on your timezone.

It’s about what it means to live to 100 — in Tokyo.

I made this short teaser video using Sora.

Subscribe now to get it delivered straight to your inbox once it’s up
October 17, 2025 at 9:20 AM