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Why isn't Tokyo Asia's financial capital?
In Asia, Tokyo as a city is often in the big four with NY, London, and Paris as the most world class cities. However, as a financial center, I think it's pretty accepted that Hong Kong and Singapore are the financial centers of Asia. So why didn't Tokyo become the big guy in Asia from the finance perspective?
It could be speculation that less acceptance of multiculturalism and expats or less use of English language are contributing factors.
It's worth remembering that Tokyo's financial sector was built to serve Japan Inc. first and the rest of the world second. The big Japanese banks and brokerages were designed to funnel capital into domestic keiretsu networks, not to be neutral intermediaries for global clients. Hong Kong and Singapore built their entire legal and tax frameworks from the ground up to be asset management and trading hubs with no domestic industrial base to protect. Walk into a Mitsubishi UFJ office in Marunouchi and compare it to a Standard Chartered desk in Raffles Place, the cultural DNA is just different. The Bank of Japan and the FSA have also been notoriously slow on fintech and crypto regulation, letting Singapore eat their lunch on digital asset banking over the last decade.
yeah you're touching on something real. tokyo's problem isn't really talent or infrastructure - it's got both in spades. the issue is that japan's financial regulators have historically been super protective of the domestic market. like, to open a brokerage here you need to jump through hoops that singapore got rid of 20 years ago. also the tax system is punishing for foreign funds - capital gains on derivatives are taxed differently depending on some arcane rules that change every few years. hong kong and singapore just made it easy to move money in and out, tokyo never really did that
ngl the language thing is a huge part of it. even now a lot of finance stuff in tokyo runs on japanese only, so expat traders just go to hk or sg where you can get by with english. plus the work culture here is kinda brutal for foreigners, long hours and strict hierarchy, not as chill as singapore
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Where can I find crispy, pan-fried bacon similar to a certain international style?
if u have a costco membership the kirkland thick cut is the move, 4 packs of 500g for around 2500 yen and it crisps up proper in a cold pan. for smaller runs, precce in azabudai hills & the basement at isetan shinjuku both carry imported US & danish brands in the chilled case, just read the label for "thick cut" or "smoked" and not "loin". also worth knowing japanese bacon is often wet-cured so pat it dry before frying or it steams instead of crisping
kaldi coffee farm is hit or miss but their smoked bacon from denmark shows up pretty regular, the 200g pack runs about 600 yen. what actually works better for me is asking the butcher counter at peacock or life to slice the block bacon thick, like 5mm, they do it for free and it crisps way better than the pre-packed stuff. also fwiw cheap bacon crisps faster, the fatty supermarket kind at 300 yen a pack works fine if u cook it from cold in a dry pan and pour off the fat as it renders.
tbh the gyomu super store brand bacon is surprisingly decent for crisping up, its not thick cut but if you cook it low and slow it gets pretty crunchy. the key is the dry cure vs wet cure thing, wet cure steams. also check hanamasa if you have one nearby, they sell big packs of american style bacon thats actually smoked and firm.