Breakfast in Phuket: Five must-visit early morning eateries
ZINARA RATHNAYAKE
PHUKET, Thailand -- The town of Phuket is the small commercial center of Thailand's Phuket Island, an internationally famous beach and party destination that welcomed more than 8.65 million visitors in 2024. But I came for something different: the food.
The town is home to a vibrant historic district, lined with Sino-Portuguese residences and shophouses, many of which have been transformed into boutique hotels, cafes and fine dining venues, and it was here that I met Narumon Kwanmuni, a native of Thailand's far south who has called Phuket home for the past 25 years.
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Nikkei Asia
20-07-2025
- Nikkei Asia
Breakfast in Phuket: Five must-visit early morning eateries
A mural marks the alley-side entrance to Rong Kopi, a favorite morning hangout for locals. (All photos by Zinara Rathnayake) ZINARA RATHNAYAKE PHUKET, Thailand -- The town of Phuket is the small commercial center of Thailand's Phuket Island, an internationally famous beach and party destination that welcomed more than 8.65 million visitors in 2024. But I came for something different: the food. The town is home to a vibrant historic district, lined with Sino-Portuguese residences and shophouses, many of which have been transformed into boutique hotels, cafes and fine dining venues, and it was here that I met Narumon Kwanmuni, a native of Thailand's far south who has called Phuket home for the past 25 years.
Japan Today
23-06-2025
- Japan Today
China's 'panda diplomacy' in focus at key time in relations with Japan
Giant panda Yuihin eats bamboo at Adventure World zoo and amusement park in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture, on May 24. By Keita Nakamura China's "panda diplomacy" is drawing renewed attention with Japan's first zero giant panda moment in over half a century approaching, amid an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry that could provide an incentive for Beijing to stabilize its oft-strained ties with Tokyo. China's decisions on leasing the bear species abroad are usually revealed in high-level bilateral talks. Foreign affairs experts say a new loan may be announced late fall this year during a possible visit by a Chinese political leader to Japan, though they doubt the gesture will carry the same diplomatic weight as it once did. Since the first black-and-white animal arrived in Japan in 1972 to commemorate the normalization of diplomatic ties, Chinese pandas have become beloved by the Japanese public, bringing major economic benefits as tourist attractions. The two governments have embraced the bamboo-munching iconic animal's role as a symbol of friendship. China last sent pandas to Japan in February 2011, based on a deal struck at a meeting between then Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao in Tokyo in May 2008. Currently, Japan is home to six pandas, all of which were born domestically but owned by China. Four at the Adventure World leisure complex in the western Japanese town of Shirahama will be handed over to China next Saturday, ahead of the expiration of their loan period in August. The other two at Tokyo's Ueno Zoological Gardens are also due to return to China next February. Emi Mifune, a Komazawa University professor well-versed in Chinese diplomacy, believes China will rent out new pandas instead to Japan as Beijing is "in the middle of an escalating confrontation with the United States and needs to mend relations" with Tokyo. China's relationship with the United States has been cooling in recent years, as Washington maintains a hard-line stance toward China, renewed by tariff-fueled trade salvos by President Donald Trump who returned to the White House in January. She also said Beijing's agreement with Tokyo in late May to begin procedures to resume importing Japanese marine products indicates that China is making visible efforts to improve the relationship, something that a new panda allocation would support. China imposed a ban on Japanese seafood imports in August 2023 in opposition to the release of treated radioactive wastewater from the crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant into the sea. The Asian neighbors have long been at loggerheads over historical and territorial issues, including a dispute over the Tokyo-controlled, Beijing-claimed Senkaku Islands in the East China Sea. China's increasing military activities in the Indo-Pacific region have only stoked tensions. China has long used the panda as a tool of diplomatic outreach and goodwill toward various nations, including the United States, Russia, Australia and South Korea among others. With an eye on fostering "an atmosphere of improving bilateral ties," China may announce a new panda loan, perhaps during the next meeting between Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Chinese Premier Li Qiang, Mifune speculated. Japan hopes to host a summit with China and South Korea later this year in Tokyo, and Ishiba-Li talks are expected to take place on the sidelines. During a China trip as leader of a business delegation in early June, Yohei Kono, the former Japanese House of Representatives speaker, met with Li and floated the idea of the high-ranking Chinese official bringing pandas with him to Japan. While calling on Japan to promote cooperation to address "challenges posed to the world," such as "U.S. tariff measures," Li told Kono he attaches "great importance" to the panda request as "an important proposal," according to a delegation member. However, on Sept. 3 China will mark 80 years since it declared victory in its 1937-1945 War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, making diplomatic outreach in the approaching period challenging, Mifune said. Mifune also pointed out that China may be unwilling to send pandas to Adventure World in Shirahama during the tenure of the town's pro-Taiwan Mayor Yasuhiro Oe, who took office in May last year in a move that might have led to the four panda's repatriation ahead of schedule. Oe, a former House of Councillors member, has deep ties with Taiwan, with which the Japanese government only maintains unofficial relations. China sees the self-ruled democratic island as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland, by force if necessary. Adventure World has engaged in a collaborative project to breed the animal, now classified as "vulnerable" on the global list of at-risk species, with China since 1994. Masaki Ienaga, a professor at Tokyo Woman's Christian University, said that China has used pandas not as a tool to demand other nations "give ground" on bilateral issues, but as a signal that the attitude toward Beijing in the recipient nation is "right and friendly." "Even if China were to give Japan some pandas, it would not mean that Japan has to do a lot of things for it," but how the Japanese public reacts to the arrival of new pandas will matter to Beijing, he said. Ienaga is also skeptical that a new panda loan will have any tangible impact on the Japanese government's diplomatic posture toward China or Japanese public opinion about its neighbor. "Japanese society no longer really looks at pandas through a political lens," as opposed to in 1972 when the animals were accepted "genuinely as a symbol of friendship," Ienaga added. © KYODO
Kyodo News
12-06-2025
- Kyodo News
Princess Kako wishes for lasting ties with Brazil on 130th anniv.
KYODO NEWS - 8 hours ago - 17:37 | All, World, Japan Japanese Princess Kako expressed hope that Japan's friendly ties with Brazil will "continue for many years to come" during a speech before its congress Wednesday, as the two countries mark the 130th anniversary of diplomatic relations. "It is truly delightful to celebrate together and reflect on the relationship between our two countries, which is rooted in a long history," said the niece of Emperor Naruhito at the ceremony in Brasilia, which also commemorated the arrival of Japanese immigrants in Brazil more than a century ago. "I feel appreciation for the friendly relationship built by many people, including those who moved from Japan to Brazil and their descendants," said the princess in kimono, thanking Brazilian society for accepting Japanese immigrants. Brazil is home to the largest community of Japanese immigrants, with about 2.7 million people living there. The first group of Japanese immigrants arrived in Brazil in June 1908 under a government policy at the time to encourage emigration in the wake of an economic downturn and a growing population. But many died due to the harsh living conditions and exposure to malaria. The 30-year-old younger daughter of Crown Prince Fumihito and Crown Princess Kiko attended a luncheon hosted by the Brazilian government after the ceremony and offered a toast in Portuguese. In the afternoon, she paid a courtesy call on President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva and conveyed a message from the emperor and Empress Masako that said they wished for the continuous development of the friendly relationship between the two countries. Princess Kako is scheduled to visit eight cities during her trip to Brazil, which began June 5, before returning to Japan on Tuesday. ==Kyodo
