Netflix’s Tokyo Swindlers reveals some surprising truths

Netflix’s Tokyo Swindlers is a real-life story about high-stakes falsehoods that should be on your to-watch list. But its success also reveals some truths about Japan through the storytelling.

While Walt Disney’s Shogun was carrying the torch for shows about the country,

winning 18 Emmys in the process,

I first missed Tokyo Swindlers when it hit this summer. But as it increasingly appeared in memes on Japanese social media, I realised the show was becoming something of a phenomenon, topping ratings domestically and appearing for weeks among Netflix’s most-watched shows globally.