Elon Musk arrives in ‘amazing’ Japan for first visit in 9 years, no official invite prompts speculation
- In 2014, he attended a ceremony for Tesla’s entry into the Japanese market, and earlier this year he visited China for the first time in three years
- A spokesperson for Japan’s transport ministry said they weren’t aware of any events planned with the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX
.png?itok=arIb17P0)
Elon Musk was in Japan on Friday, prompting social media speculation on the purpose of his first known trip to the country in nine years.
“Just arrived in amazing Japan,” the billionaire said late Thursday on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter that he bought last year.
In 2014, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX visited Japan for a ceremony marking his electric car-making company’s full-scale entry to the country’s market.
On Friday, Musk also posted videos of an interactive art exhibition by prominent Japanese art collective TeamLab, which is known for combining projections, sound and carefully designed spaces.
It’s his second trip to Asia this year after he visited China for the first time in three years. While there, he met with top government officials and paid a late night visit to Tesla’s Shanghai factory. He declared he would expand his business in the world’s largest market for electric vehicles.
Japan’s biggest carmakers have fallen behind dedicated EV makers like Tesla and China’s BYD in the push to electrify. Toyota, the world’s largest car manufacturer, has pledged to sell 1.5 battery EVs annually by 2026. Tesla delivered almost 890,000 cars in the first half of this year.
However, that growth has come at a cost, with Tesla slashing prices in its key markets. Musk last month said the carmaker would have to keep cutting prices if interest rates continue to rise. Tesla lowered prices twice this week in China, fuelling concerns of a reignited price war in the world’s biggest auto market.
02:18
Musk announces plans to turn Twitter into ‘X’ super-app similar to China’s WeChat
A spokesperson for Japan’s transport ministry said they weren’t aware of any events planned with Musk.
Users on X posted comments asking why Musk was in Japan, with some speculating he had come to see musician Grimes, with whom he has two children, perform at a music festival near Tokyo this weekend.
Grimes, who dated Musk before they split in 2022, is scheduled to play a DJ set at Sonic Mania in Chiba, near Tokyo, on Friday night. Musk and Grimes were spotted in Portofino, Italy last month, and were reported to be staying at the same hotel, though they weren’t seen together, according to reports.
Since buying Twitter last year for US$44 billion, Musk has fired thousands of employees and has erected a paywall on the site, charging users US$8 a month to access certain features and get a blue checkmark “verified” account.
