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Masako Tsubuku
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 22, 2013
Golf courses adjust to harsher economics and changing demographics
Golfers in Japan are getting older, with no one to replace them when they're gone.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 16, 2013
Retailers and restaurants get slippery with unagi prices
Eel is becoming scarce in the wild, but supermarkets are still trying to keep unagi prices down.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 12, 2013
Summer travel biz shows signs of recovery
Thanks to UNESCO, the domestic travel industry is on the mend.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 8, 2013
Kanebo recall illustrates built-in resilience of cosmetics industry
Compared to what it made on whitening skin-care products, Kanebo's recall will cost very little.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 2, 2013
Moved by the benefits of mobile-home housing
The model house sat on an empty patch of brown land along a commercial stretch of road in southern Ibaraki Prefecture. Few people would have identified it as a model house. It had a forlorn, out-of-place look to it. Technically, it was a mobile home — "trailer house," in Japanese parlance — propped...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 1, 2013
Deflation watch: Kabocha
Domestically grown Japanese pumpkin is now almost as cheap as the imported kind.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 24, 2013
In Tokyo, all garbage is not created equal
Charging for garbage collection forces the issue of environmental awareness.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 19, 2013
With refrigerators, bigger is better in more ways than you think
Smaller is not cheaper when it comes to refrigerators.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 13, 2013
Insurance companies main beneficiaries of scheme to protect obstetricians from malpractice suits
Some mothers claim they are overpaying for insurance to protect obstetricians from malpractice suits.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 4, 2013
The widening income gap is affecting higher education
Students from higher income families are squeezing out lower income students in public university enrollments
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 4, 2013
Sometimes it pays to look on the bright side
The flyers were provocative: New houses priced at more than ¥35 million, but the builder promised that the mortgage would amount to ¥0 a month. A free house is obviously too good to be true, but we decided to check out the merchandise to see what the story was.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 30, 2013
Lottery operators still looking for last year's winners
Seven 2012 grand prize Takarakuji winners still haven't picked up their money.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 22, 2013
City dumps dog tax for yellow cards to deal with lazy owners
A city in Osaka Prefecture cracks down on negligent dog owners in a novel way.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 18, 2013
You can't get there from here (at the same price with an IC card)
The new IC card system integrates lines but not necessarily fares.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
May 14, 2013
On uneven ground: landfill property pitfalls
After the real estate agent unlocked the front door, the musty smell told us that the house had not been aired for some time. He laid out slippers for us and proceeded to raise the shutters and open the windows. Then, upon entering the kitchen he exclaimed, "Katamuite iru" ("It's uneven").
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 13, 2013
As land lines go the way of the dodo, what is a subscription right worth?
Use your telephone land line subscription right or lose it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 7, 2013
Anticipation: How high will mortgage interest go?
After 20 years housing loan interest rates are ready to rise.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 1, 2013
Bargain sales aren't always what they appear to be
'Sale prices' are all in the mind of the consumer.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 27, 2013
Should healthy people pay less for health insurance?
Should healthy people pay less for national health insurance than unhealthy people?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 23, 2013
Service contracts and the 'mendokusai' factor
Do mobile service providers purposely make their terms impossible to understand?

Longform

Sociologist Gracia Liu-Farrer argues that even though immigration doesn't figure into Japan's autobiography, it is more of a self-perception than a reality.
In search of the ‘Japanese dream’