Latest news with #Murakami
Business of Fashion
3 days ago
- Business
- Business of Fashion
This Week: What's Ailing Louis Vuitton?
What's Happening: The luxury downturn is deepening, with sector bellwether LVMH expected to report a double-digit decline in its fashion and leather goods division when the group reports quarterly sales and first-half profits July 24. Is Bigger Still Better? In previous slowdowns like the 2008 financial crisis or Covid-19 pandemic, LVMH's staggering scale and exposure across competing categories helped it hold up better and bounce back more quickly than rivals. This time, jewellery-focused Richemont, standalone giant Hermès and smaller groups like Prada, Moncler, Zegna and Brunello Cucinelli have proved more resilient while LVMH's woes deepened. Unjustified price hikes — or 'greedflation' — in the group's key handbag category is largely to blame. The group is also navigating a generational shift in its top ranks. LVMH's marketing budgets and clout with landlords remain unparalleled. But in today's fast-changing luxury market, more focused companies appear to have the advantage when it comes to nimble decision-making and execution. The coming quarters will show whether the conglomerate's current down cycle represents a blip or a paradigm shift. Vuitton Under the Microscope: LVMH is facing challenges across key units — from layoffs at Moët Hennessey to falling sales at Dior to lacklustre performance at duty-free retailer DFS. But with a designer transition underway at Dior and new management in place at Moët, those works-in-progress are increasingly seen by investors as yesterday's story. Reviving momentum at Louis Vuitton, the group's biggest and most profitable brand, is now top of mind. 'The biggest luxury brand on the planet and more than half of the group's EBIT seems to be at a crossroads,' HSBC analyst Erwan Rambourg wrote last month in a note to clients. 'The aspirational skew of the brand is unhelpful currently. A schizophrenic pull between low-end (chocolate, beauty) and high-end (exclusive leather ranges), fashion content (Murakami) and more subtle travel-related luxury items begs the question: What does LV really stand for? Who is it targeting? What is its USP?' The creation of a new deputy CEO position (bringing over former Loro Piana chief Damien Bertrand in March to support chief executive Pietro Beccari) was a 'red flag' signalling challenges at the brand, Rambourg said. Balancing a variety of messages including hyper-visibility and sophistication, top-end and aspirational price points, core products and brand extensions has long been a part of the mega-brand formula. But another quarter of losing market share to the likes of Hermès and Prada — as analysts are currently forecasting — will lead investors to wonder: What's the plan? The Week Ahead wants to hear from you! Send tips, suggestions, complaints and compliments to Disclosure: LVMH is part of a group of investors who, together, hold a minority interest in The Business of Fashion. All investors have signed shareholders' documentation guaranteeing BoF's complete editorial independence.
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First Post
7 days ago
- Politics
- First Post
Why Hamas, Hezbollah must face the same moral scrutiny as Israel
Days after Hamas's October 7, 2023, attacks on Israel, I reread Japanese author Haruki Murakami's 2009 acceptance speech for the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society. In it he said, 'Between a high, solid wall and an egg that breaks against it, I will always stand on the side of the egg […] [y]es, no matter how right that wall may be and how wrong the egg, I will stand with the egg.' While this was widely interpreted to be a pro-Palestinian message, I believed that Murakami was making a subtler point about 'the wall' in his metaphor, which he also calls 'The System'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'The System,' Murakami tells us, 'is supposed to protect us, but sometimes it takes on a life of its own, and then it begins to kill us and cause us to kill others—coldly, efficiently, systematically.' This description, I believed, tacitly extended the blame to forces like Hezbollah and Hamas. So I read it as a call to re-examine blind, angry loyalty to one's own side. Subsequent reporting suggested Murakami had been more stridently critical of Israel elsewhere and that Murakami inadvertently held anti-Israel notions due to 'the cultural milieu in which he dwells'. This question in itself doesn't interest me, but another re-reading has convinced me that the speech's inclusiveness was less intended than superimposed by a wishful reader. This realisation was disappointing at several levels. The primary one being that Murakami's greatest appeal was his alienation, an estrangement from society that seemed to place him beyond familiar political divides. His distaste for Japanese nationalist writers like Yukio Mishima is well-known, and his novels like The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle were deeply political, but they seemed to emerge from the depths of the individual 'psyche' where mundane political ideas gave way to universal emotions and images. So this binary, uninsightful nature of his political stances felt like a betrayal of promise. It is my impression—an unverified one—that his 'anti-nationalist' pronouncements grew shriller after the annual Nobel Prize speculation began. Murakami, the master storyteller, surely needn't be warned of the perils of creating paper-thin antagonists. The playwright Aaron Sorkin insists, 'You can't think of your villain as a villain'. Instead, he suggests writing them like 'they're making their case to God about why they should be allowed into heaven'. To be fair, Murakami didn't make Israel out to be an outright villain, and he did defy calls from Palestinian groups to decline the prize. Still, his metaphor of a state having convinced its people to 'kill others—coldly, efficiently, systematically' comes dangerously close. And it's telling that such calls to conscience fall only upon Israel: is Murakami unaware that forces like Hamas and Hezbollah, with the sponsorship of the likes of Iran and Qatar, strive to 'coldly, efficiently, systematically' kill Israelis? Is he also unaware that terrorist acts are designed to invite state clampdowns and cause alienation? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD His framing of the issue is of interest because it is indicative of a wider moral incoherence that surrounds this and other conflicts and only accentuates their tragedy. Observe how Murakami's wall-and-an-egg symbolism perpetuates the symbolism of an armed state at war with unarmed people. Gaza's tragedy (and that of Palestinians as a whole) would have been better approximated with the image of an egg being crushed between two steel blocks: one gripping the egg in place and the other closing in and smashing it against the first. The second steel block consists of Palestinian extremist groups and their sponsor states. And it is precisely because serious moral pressure isn't mounted upon this second block that Israeli suffering is perpetuated and Palestinian tragedy compounded. To illustrate, let's take Israel's accusation of Hamas 'unlawfully' embedding military assets in densely populated areas and using them as human shields. New York Times paraphrases Oxford Professor Janina Dill countering the charge with '[e]ven if Hamas uses civilians as human shields, those civilians are entitled to full protection under international law unless they directly participate in the fighting'. Israel can neither be expected to ask its soldiers to get shot rather than fire at terrorists attacking from behind civilians nor will it give up its military objectives. Then why not call for an international ban on Hamas and for the sanctioning of its supporters? Such pressure may well force Hamas to return the hostages and thereby compel Israel to cease fire. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Such calls don't arise because global realpolitik and ideological pressures suppress them. Also, the fact that these pressures weigh disproportionately upon individual states suggests that keeping states off balance is desirable to multiple players. But let us stay with the moral discourse here. Counterintuitive though it might seem, international law allows 'certain , including uses directed toward 'self-determination''. Using this outdated anti-colonial provision, ideologues project terrorism as a struggle for self-determination (therefore a ) to justify violent means. [Incidentally, it isn't clear that Hamas's military wing is legitimate in international law.] But even with 'just cause', , and so a more roundabout intellectual exercise begins. For example, Neve Gordon points to Israel's celebration of the roles of Zionist paramilitaries—some murderous—in Israel's creation, seemingly to equate future Hamas's legitimacy with Israel's today. He bemoans the tendency of states to describe civilians they've killed as human shields while describing civilians killed by 'non-state actors'—Gordon won't call them terrorists—as 'civilians.' He also suggests that states locating military offices in densely populated areas should invite similar condemnation. Citing anti-colonial struggles, Gordon then justifies 'the ability to blend into the civilian population' as being 'necessary for military survival' of paramilitaries, given the 'asymmetry of power.' He further holds state militaries' 'new surveillance technologies and enhanced weapon systems' responsible for forcing paramilitary groups to hide in 'densely populated urban settings' and concludes, 'Hamas, in this sense, is no outlier.' This is a 'hardboiled egghead' version of Murakami's egg-and-wall stuff. A question worth posing here is why Gordon doesn't worry that making a military case for human shields is self-defeating, as it would lead us to the concept of STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Legal scholar Louis René Beres writes, 'When Israel's enemies declare an IDF attack on a Gaza high-rise building to be 'disproportionate,' they wittingly ignore ipso facto that the rule of proportionality does not demand any tangibly equivalent infliction of military harms, but only an amount of force that is militarily necessary.' He also introduces a legal concept Gordon assiduously avoids: 'perfidy'. 'To the extent that Hamas and its insurgent allies routinely practice a form of 'human shields', the Palestinian side is guilty of 'perfidy' .Any such practice is illegal prima facie and qualifies as a conspicuously 'grave breach' of the relevant Geneva Convention. The most critical legal effect of perfidy committed by Palestinian insurgent leaders is to immunise Israel from any responsibility for inadvertent counterterrorist harms done to Arab civilians.' Ideologues don't worry about military cases because their arguments aren't really about principle but about perception: about weaponising Israel's status as a state and a democracy against it. And despite weak disclaimers to the contrary—like Gordon's—Hamas's violence is sought to be semi-legitimised in the name of the Palestinian people. Once again, using wall-and-egg oversimplifications. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Consider the harm caused in one of the most heartbreaking aspects of the war: humanitarian aid. Israel claims Hamas diverts aid supplies for its use and to fund its war. Accusations of Israeli blockades weaponising hunger have even yielded International Court of Justice warrants against Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu and then Defence Minister Gallant. Israel and pro-Israel voices deny there is starvation and accuse critics of lying. But where's Hamas, the governing party in Gaza prior to the war, in all this? A top Hamas official stated that 75 per cent of Gazans were refugees, so it was 'the UN's responsibility to protect them' and that Israel was obliged to provide for Gaza's citizens under the Geneva Convention. The hostage-taking, civilian-massacring Hamas demanding that Israel take care of its civilians is a stunning double standard, but one that aid agencies and the UN appear to go along with. Meanwhile, most aid agencies object to the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, a private entity backed by the US and Israel, on relief supply citing principle. As aid agencies themselves warn of a humanitarian crisis, why not engage with it for the sake of Palestinian civilians, even if under protest? And why shouldn't governments diplomatically extract concessions from Hamas to facilitate transparent aid delivery? Surely some brakes on the second steel block are also warranted. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD I sincerely believe Israel must be held to very high standards to demonstrate that it is not targeting civilians militarily or through aid. But I also believe Hamas must be compelled to cooperate to stop the suffering of Palestinians, release hostages, and be held accountable for October 7. It's a foregone conclusion that most intellectuals will emphatically agree with the former and weasel out of the latter. Sacrificing the egg for the second steel block: that is moral incoherence. The world's intellectuals, media, and institutions must do better. Can Israel seriously be expected to validate people like UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur Francesca Albanese—the news of whose sanctioning by the US is just breaking—who reportedly justified Palestinian violence? Or journalist Mariam Barghout, who writes in Al-Jazeera of the 'exhilaration' she felt on October 7: '[T]he Palestinians have struck Israel where it has struck Palestinians for more than 75 years: lives and land.' Or Professor John Mearsheimer, who was questioned about his moralistic tone against Israel when he displayed none against alleged Russian 'atrocities' in Ukraine: 'I don't have to provide a consistency of approach. I'm focusing on what the Israelis are doing in Gaza. I'm not comparing what happened in Gaza with what happened on October 7 and what's happened in Ukraine. Those are different issues. You could write a piece like that, but I'm sorry, there's nothing wrong with me analysing what the Israelis are doing in Gaza, period.' Are there no errors or sins of omission? STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Conclusion The universal images and emotions of Murakami's fiction can actually help us understand the soul-crushing situation of the Palestinians and Israelis' existential fears. Instead we're served up tendentious agenda-driven narratives, which in truth drive the steel blocks that smash the egg. If aggressive Zionism crushes the Palestinian people, so do ideologies that undermine legitimate states, provide cover to terrorists, and give terror-sponsor countries a free pass. I don't have a personal axe to grind in the Israel-Palestine conflict, and I believe India's official position on the Gaza War—condemning terrorism, justifying responsibly striking back, but seeking peaceful resolution of the issue—is the moral one. But, for decades now, I have listened to smug voices shield Pakistan and its terrorist proxy-soldiers and undermine India in exactly the same way. That's enough time to develop an aversion for vacuous moralising and intellectual contortionism. It is better to call terrorism 'terrorism', to know that justifying it in any context is perilous, and that creating ideological space for it is reprehensible. And to those very people who might loosely hurl about terms like 'Islamophobia' or 'genocide justification', I would say Hamas ruled Gaza brutally, with a fundamentalist ideology, killed Israelis including children, took hostages, raped women, and now negotiates to return dead bodies—so just take a look at what it is you are justifying. This isn't 'resistance', it's depravity. And I would question whether such critics genuinely weep for Palestinian suffering and death or find in it a vent for their anger and a useful weapon against an enemy. Incidentally, Murakami's own relations with the political Left suffered a blow when he was semi-cancelled for misogyny in his writings. I won't go into its merits here, but I can't help but sympathise with an author who shared what was within his 'fragile shell' only to find himself up against a 'high, solid wall' made up of 'bricks in the wall' he thought were his allies. The writer is the published author of two novels (Penguin, India and Westland, India) based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. Views expressed in the above piece are personal and solely those of the writer. They do not necessarily reflect Firstpost's views.
Korea Herald
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Korea Herald
Casetify launches second Takashi Murakami collection
Tech accessory brand Casetify has unveiled its second collection in collaboration with Japanese contemporary artist Takashi Murakami. Part of Casetify's premium iCONS line, the latest release features Murakami's iconic flower motifs and vibrant aesthetic, expanding on the partnership's earlier success. This new collection highlights Kaikai and Kiki, Murakami's beloved character duo, across a variety of tech accessories and collectibles items. Products include limited-edition phone cases, 3D Kaikai and Kiki earbud cases and a blind box of danglers, among others. For the first time, Casetify is also introducing customizable luggage as part of the lineup. Available in three colors — primrose pink, cherry red and matte black — the luggage can be personalized with initials or a custom message. "Kaikai and Kiki are the only duo characters in my artistic universe, embodying cuteness, playfulness and a sense of artistic tension. I am excited to see how their unique charm will be brought to life through Casetify as a new creative canvas," the Japanese artist was quoted as saying in a press release. The two first partnered in April to bring Murakami's iconic character, "Mr. Dob," to the iCONS series, which includes a variety of tech accessories, such as phone cases, AirPods cases and headphone covers.
10-07-2025
- Business
Fuji Media Adopts Policies to Counter Massive Share Purchases
News from Japan Jul 10, 2025 17:48 (JST) Tokyo, July 10 (Jiji Press)--Japan's Fuji Media Holdings Inc. said Thursday that it has adopted policies to respond to unsolicited large-scale purchases of its shares. The policies, effectively for defense against takeover attempts, were decided at a meeting of the board of directors, following an increase in Fuji Media shares held by Aya Nomura, the first daughter of activist investor Yoshiaki Murakami, and investment funds related to them. The group including Nomura has raised their stakes in the media business to 16.32 pct, according to a report filed with the government's Kanto Local Finance Bureau on Thursday. Fuji Media held talks with Nomura and Murakami repeatedly since February, the company said, adding that the two suggested that they may increase their shareholdings to 33.3 pct and that Murakami is working to take control of a subsidiary after it is separated from the parent company. Fuji Media said a "real and imminent risk" has emerged that its corporate value and shareholders' interests will be impaired. [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.] Jiji Press
Yomiuri Shimbun
09-07-2025
- General
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Library with Ukrainian-Language Books for Evacuees Established by Ukrainian Woman
A private library in Shibuya Ward, Tokyo, started by a Ukrainian woman and featuring Ukrainian-language books, has become a place of respite for Ukrainians who have fled the war and are now taking shelter in Japan. The books have been collected through various channels. The library was established by Dariia Murakami, 41, of Kasukabe, Saitama Prefecture. In 2014, she fled the military conflict occurring in her home country of Ukraine and moved to Japan. Murakami hopes that Ukrainian evacuees in Japan will feel a sense of belonging to their homeland by reading books in their native language, even while living abroad. The library is located in a room of an office building that is about a 10-minute walk from Shibuya Station. It has about 600 books in various genres, including fiction, history, manga and picture books, all written in Ukrainian, which are lined up in the small space and can be borrowed free of charge. One evening in mid-May, Daniel Zahorodnii, a 17-year-old high school student who evacuated from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv to Ibaraki Prefecture, was reading a book at a desk in the library. Zahorodnii, a frequent visitor to the library, said: 'I like paper books. It is an important place for me as I can read books written in my native language.' Murakami is from Donetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine. In the spring of 2014, pro-Russian armed forces occupied the city. She moved to Japan that summer at the suggestion of a friend from Donetsk who was already living in Japan. At first, Murakami did not understand Japanese, so she had a hard time with everyday life, such as finding a job and shopping. She gathered necessary information from communities of foreigners on social media and other sources to organize her life, and eventually found a job as a restaurant cook. In Japan, she gave birth to her daughter, Eva, who is now 7. She currently works as a kindergarten teacher. When Russia began its aggression against Ukraine in February 2022, Murakami started helping evacuees from Ukraine, such as by distributing daily necessities. 'No one helped me [when arriving in Japan], so I wanted to help people from my country who were facing difficulties,' she said. Upon hearing that many evacuees wanted to read books in Ukrainian, Murakami asked for advice from Mariko Ukiyo, who heads the Japanese Organization of Mental Health and Educational Agencies, based in Shibuya Ward. The organization established a mental care and exchange center for Ukrainian evacuees in May 2022. The center is called 'Himawari.' Since then, the center has organized exchange events for evacuees, given counseling and provided mental health care. Murakami met Ukiyo at an event supporting Ukrainian evacuees. Thinking that reading books helps calm people's mind, Ukiyo decided to cooperate in Murakami's library project, allowing her to use a room in the organization's office. The library opened in the autumn of that year. Murakami asked a friend who works at a bookstore in Ukraine to put a donation box in the store for people to donate money for book purchases. To increase the number of books, she has also called for book donations on social media and purchased books at her own expense. The library has gradually become known among evacuees. Now, even people living outside Tokyo contact the library to borrow books. The library also hosts book clubs as well as events featuring Ukrainian writers that it invites. Three years have passed since Russia's aggression against Ukraine started. U.S. President Donald Trump has stepped in to mediate. Regarding the situation, Murakami said she wants victory and children must never be killed or kidnapped again. Murakami also maintains that Ukrainian literature should not be overshadowed by Russian literature. 'I'll make efforts to make it better known by Japanese people through events and other measures,' she said. The library is located on the seventh floor of the Sanwa Aoyama Building at 2-9-9, Shibuya, Shibuya Ward. It is open daily from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For inquiries, call Himawari at (050) 3612-7559.
