Japan’s election gamble

Insight: This Sunday, Japan will vote in a general election to decide members of the lower House of Representatives. And while Japanese voters will once again have a breathtaking choice, with over 1,000 candidates from a plethora of parties to consider, mostly they play it safe: the ruling Liberal Democratic Party has been in power for more than half a century, with barely an interruption. 

Impact: Could Sunday be any different? Japanese voters feel a broad sense of dissatisfaction with the way democracy is going in their country, notes the Pew Research Center. Opinion polls and media commentary suggest the LDP may lose its outright majority in the lower house and could even be forced into a minority coalition government. If so, this would likely stymie attempts by the Bank of Japan to raise interest rates as planned, since the opposition parties want to keep them low for as long as possible. And it would cost newly minted Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba his job. After all, he called the snap election hoping to catch his political opponents off-guard. That may backfire. 

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Samsung is the most valuable brand in eight Asian markets, according to the first Global Brand Survey conducted by Nikkei’s research arm.  The South Korean electronics giant topped Adidas, Apple, Sony and Nike in that order, with three car makers, Microsoft and Panasonic rounding out the top 10.

Insight: Singapore has blocked 10 foreign-linked websites suspected to be spreading disinformation. These websites disguised themselves as legitimate Singaporean news sites to deceive readers. The government took action under the Broadcasting Act to prevent access to these sites within Singapore. While investigations haven't linked any Singaporeans to them, the government emphasizes the importance of media literacy to combat the spread of fake news.  

Impact: The blocking of these websites, however dubious, could negatively impact Singapore's reputation as a global media hub. While the government's actions were taken to protect national security and combat disinformation, it raises concerns about censorship and the potential for restrictions on free speech. Some international observers might view these measures as inconsistent with the principles of a liberal democracy and this could deter foreign media outlets from establishing operations in Singapore. However, the government's tough stance is likely to be viewed favorably by many domestically and by parts of the international community. 

Insight: Strinova, a competitive shooter game from Chinese developer iDreamSky, has emerged as the latest sensation in games following its debut at the Tokyo Game Show this month. It brings anime-inspired visuals and a gameplay gimmick that allows players to swap between modern 3D and Mario-esque 2D controls. Strinova is set for a global launch, offering versions in Japanese and English on both consoles and mobile devices. The international rollout is part of iDreamSky’s strategy to boost its overseas sales. 

Impact: The recent trend of Chinese video game developers targeting international markets reveals both opportunities and challenges within the Asian gaming landscape. This shift, driven by restrictive regulations and high app store fees in China, brings into focus the complexities of localizing games for global audiences. It’s to be seen whether Strinova’s anime visuals will click with western gamers and, despite the success of Chinese-made titles like Genshin Impact and Black Myth: Wukong overseas, plenty of others can be found languishing at the bottom of PC and console sales charts. With increased ambitions for overseas success, Chinese game makers will need to incorporate multicultural values into both their game design and marketing and PR efforts going forward.   

Chinese tech groups are producing increasingly competitive large language models (LLMs)

Insight: LLMs, the first practical product to emerge from the Artificial Intelligence boom, are rapidly becoming smarter and more useful. And, according to a crowdsourced ranking compiled by the University of Berkeley and industry group LMSYS, Chinese LLMs are already among the most popular.   

Impact: The latest survey from the so-called ‘Chatbot Arena’ still has OpenAI and Google from the US in positions one and two. But right behind is the Yi-Lightning model from Chinese startup 01.ai, and LLMs from ByteDance, Alibaba and DeepSeek are also climbing up the rankings. And since the Chinese train their models on less data, which requires less computing power, they are already a lot cheaper. 

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