Everyone films the neon.

This site is about the concrete underneath: the systems, money, history and people that make Japan work.

Neon & Concrete explains things like the flood tunnels under Tokyo, the companies that own the skyline, the economy behind the weak yen, and the towns emptying out while the trains stay packed. You’ll find two kinds of articles here: News, on what just changed in Japan and why it matters to you, and Stories, the deep dives on society, the economy, companies and engineering.

How a piece gets made

We check numbers against official Japanese sources wherever they exist and list our sources. When something is our opinion, we say so. Our full position is in the editorial policy and disclosure.

Where we can be wrong

Rules change, figures get revised, and sometimes we simply get it wrong. We correct openly and note what changed. If you have evidence that something here is off, the contact page is open.