Interview with journalist Iida Moeka of The Economist. Some key takeaways from our discussion:
- Despite her excessive flattery of Trump, Japanese public approves of Prime Minister Takaichi’s performance at high-stakes summit
- America’s image in Japan is “deteriorating”
- Support for “cool” prime minister is both strong and superficial, oddly
- Takaichi’s big victory in Lower House owed more to poor opposition than large-scale support for her party
- LDP dominates other parties in Japanese social media, which skews right
(Click here for the interview conducted in Japanese.)
Iida Moeka
As a child Iida Moeka lived with her family in the UK, but then returned to Japan where she experienced culture shock. These experiences prompted her to major in cultural anthropology at Sophia University. She also studied abroad at the Univ. of British Columbia in Vancouver.
Moeka, who is fluent in both Japanese and English, has experience in both translation and interpretation. Prior to joining The Economist in 2021 as East Asia correspondent, she worked for APCO Consulting, a company specializing in PR and strategic communications, where she leveraged her valuable language and intercultural skills.
Today she writes for The Economist on a wide range of Japan-related topics and trends, including politics, society, and culture. Her long-form piece on the world’s longest-serving death row inmate, Hakamada Iwao, was shortlisted for the 2026 True Story Award.
Some of her recent pieces include “Why is Japan souring on foreign workers and tourists?” and “How East Asian pop culture is inspiring Gen Z protests.”
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Iida Moeka is based in Tokyo where she writes for The Economist. The Japan Lens wholeheartedly thanks her for her valuable time and insights.
Photo 1: Journalist Iida Moeka.
No artificial intelligence or machine translation programs were used in the creation of this post.
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