COMMENTARY

Japanese X is now America’s favorite corner of the internet

Japanese Twitter has been insulated from the culture wars and manipulation by foreign bots, one reason political discourse remains reasonably sane.

By The Japan Times

• April 01, 2026 at 1:51 AM

Japanese X is now America’s favorite corner of the internet Photo: The Japan Times

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A platform that so often seems to promote division is bringing people together for a change — and Americans are learning the joy of one of the last great undiscovered parts of the internet.U.S.-based users of X, formerly known as Twitter, were this weekend bombarded with Japanese-language posts, thanks to AI-enabled auto-translation and what looks like a change to the feed-populating algorithm
soldiers excitedly grilling bacon at a yakiniku restaurant
The post aimed to show how residents "live alongside such cool and fun neighbors,” and was followed by another with a photo of actual Americans barbecuing
It quickly got global attention, racking up nearly 50 million views, and leading to a flood of wholesome posts from both sides of the Pacific.

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