Hello from Tokyo. While the yen's recent rally attracted global attention, the Bank of Japan launched a new series of banknotes this month. Each of the new designs features a historical Japanese figure. My favorite is Eiichi Shibusawa, the face of the 10,000 yen bill, though I haven't actually used the new notes yet.
As most students of Japanese history know, Shibusawa lived through one of the country's most turbulent periods, marked by the end of the Edo shogunate and the subsequent restoration of the imperial throne in the late 1860s. The founder of numerous companies and schools, Shibusawa is sometimes called the father of Japanese capitalism.
Much has already been written about him, but one perhaps lesser-known bit of trivia is that Shibusawa's great-grandson is the famous horse racing analyst Keijiro Okawa. Shibusawa was said to be a big fan of gambling, especially when it came to a card game called hanafuda. But Okawa took things to a different level, earning the sobriquet "the god of horse racing" because his predictions were so accurate.
I've never bet on a horse race, but this week's Big Story made me think I should give it a try. The story focuses on the Hong Kong Jockey Club, operator of one of the world's most famous horse racing venues, which reported an all-time high turnover of $304.8 billion Hong Kong dollars ($38.9 billion) for the 2022-23 financial year despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Based on an exclusive interview with the club's CEO, Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges, who has led the organization since 2007, the story explains how the Hong Kong Jockey Club is striving to grow its revenues through diversification and other efforts at a time when its peers in Macao and Singapore are closing their tracks or are about to do so.
Engelbrecht-Bresges called Japan "the best example" when it comes to horse racing's potential. He has good reason to say this: Japan is the world's largest market for the sport, with revenue growing for more than 10 consecutive years, including during the pandemic period. The early adoption of online betting and the introduction of various innovative betting methods -- some of the highest multiplier bets can be made by buying a 100 yen ticket to win a 600 million yen prize -- have attracted gamblers from across the world.
In mainland China, where the government has an iron grip on the internet, many popular foreign online services -- including gambling -- are unavailable. But many domestic services continue to thrive, including Xiaohongshu, sometimes described as the Chinese Instagram. It is attracting a growing following of young people -- especially women -- who are using the app to find answers to everyday questions such as where to find a good restaurant, get travel advice, and keep up with the latest events. Our Business Spotlight in this week's magazine explains how Xiaohongshu is trying to raise its profit game.
Meanwhile, as the war in Ukraine drags on, is it possible that North Korean troops will be sent over in an attempt to change the situation? The upgraded military cooperation between Moscow and Pyongyang has been widely reported, but what do the elevated ties mean for the Korean Peninsula? Our Asia Insight explains.
As Tokyo goes from hot to hotter, some of my colleagues here are starting their summer vacations. I haven't made any concrete plans yet, but it would be nice to go somewhere cooler. As one of our Life & Arts stories discusses, tiger spotting among the mangroves seems like a very attractive vacation idea. It may not be that cool, but at least it would help to be near the water.
Wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Shin Nakayama
Editor-in-chief, Nikkei Asia
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