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November 21, 2024
 

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Masako Tsubuku
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 9, 2018
Japanese consumers increasingly face stealth price hikes via 'shrinkflation'
In Japan, a phenomenon known as "shrinkflation" — an important economic countermeasure against inflation for businesses — has been catching the attention of consumers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 12, 2018
Electric vehicles are here, but are they practical and economical?
The future seems to belong to electric vehicles (EVs).
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 31, 2017
Lessons about Japan's school catchment areas
A neighbor recently asked us to sign a petition requesting that the local education committee keep a certain elementary school open. Due to falling enrollment, students who attended the school would be transferred to a different one in the near future.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 8, 2017
Abe's free day care pledge may be an appealing solution for the wrong problem
Just before the recent Lower House election in October, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged to make public day care services and kindergartens free for children between the ages of 3 and 5 and free for children below the age of 3 if they were from lower income households.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 3, 2017
Can a death kill property value?
The apartment in Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, where police found the remains of nine bodies in late October is one of 12 units in a two-story wooden apartment building located 10 minutes from Sobudai Station on the Odakyu Odawara line. Each unit consists of one room and a kitchen and, according to various...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 10, 2017
Are libraries to blame for Japan's slump in bunko paperback book sales?
Kiyondo Matsui, the president of the publishing house Bungei Shunju, spoke at this year's All-Japan Library Conference, which took place in Tokyo on Oct. 12 and 13. During his talk, Matsui asked the assembled professionals to no longer acquire bunko editions of books for lending in their libraries.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Nov 5, 2017
A gut feeling that you need an extra toilet
Everybody knows that Japan produces the most technologically advanced toilets in the world. They pretty much do everything except pull up your pants when you're finished. And one of the more pleasant surprises greeting foreign visitors to Japan is the ubiquity and accessibility of public toilets.
Japan Times
JAPAN / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 13, 2017
Japan's student grant system could leave university grads in deep black hole of debt
Everyone knows that a university education leads to a higher salary, but how much higher?
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 1, 2017
Re-registering property: The lie of the land
According to an article that appeared in the Asahi Shimbun last June, authorities are unsure of the title holders to 4.1 million hectares of land in Japan — in total, an area equivalent in size to the island of Kyushu. Though this problem has been evident at least since the 1980s, the government didn't...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 8, 2017
Japan's lottery rakes in declining revenues as younger generation gives jackpot chances a pass
Several weeks ago Mavis Wanczyk, a 53-year-old woman from Massachusetts, won $758 million in the Powerball lottery — the largest single winner jackpot in North American history. Wanczyk said at a news conference that she had already quit her job and plans to "hide in bed."
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Sep 3, 2017
The hot topic of high-rise fire prevention
The fire that killed at least 80 people in London's Grenfell Tower in June, as well as similar apartment building blazes that recently occured in Dubai and Hawaii, has brought the world's attention to the issue of safety in high-rise residences.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 11, 2017
Japan's health care is far from free, and ballooning costs could mean higher premiums
Japan's health insurance system is considered "universal," since it covers everyone in the country, but it is hardly "free" in the sense of having the government pay for everything with tax revenue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 6, 2017
Reviving Japan's old shopping arcades
As everyone knows, Japan has an unmanageable surplus of vacant housing. According to the latest government surveys there are more than 8 million unoccupied houses and apartment units in Japan and that number will increase to the point where one in four or five residences will be empty by 2030.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 7, 2017
Lower tariffs on EU cheese imports may not translate to reduced prices for 'fromage' lovers
Japan and the European Union just announced a deal on free trade and will seek to reach a final agreement by the end of this year. The EU has already promised to phase out its 10 percent levy on Japanese automobiles, while Japan says it will eliminate taxes on a raft of food items.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 2, 2017
New law to guarantee the guarantor pays
Until the postwar growth period, the majority of Japanese rented rather than owned the places where they lived, but renters in Japan have never had much in the way of rights. Still, it is difficult to evict someone from a home they rent, even when they've been delinquent with payments. The Leased Land...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 9, 2017
With stagnant minimum wage, a 'decent life' is out of reach
One of the bedrock principles of market economics is that as demand for labor goes up, so do wages. Lately, there has been evidence that this idea may no longer be true.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 4, 2017
Parking the car can drive you crazy
In the 1990s when we rented an old house in Saitama Prefecture, we needed a parking space since we had a car at the time. There was none on the property and so we talked the landlord into tearing down a decrepit prefabricated storage shed that stood next to the house. He did, and then, at our own expense,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 12, 2017
Japan waking up to the problems of sleeping cash
In recent weeks there have been two well-reported robberies of people carrying large amounts of cash on the street. Thieves got away with ¥384 million after attacking a merchant in a Fukuoka parking lot. In Tokyo's Ginza district, a mugger managed to take ¥40 million from a man walking along a popular...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Apr 30, 2017
Safety Net Law to offer new lease on life for abandoned buildings
On April 19, the Lower House of the Diet unanimously passed a revision to the Safety Net Law. The revision creates a new system that will register vacant properties with local governments and, ideally, these properties will be renovated and then rented out to low-income individuals and families who are...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 22, 2017
Tellmeclub's bankruptcy grounds discount travel services
On March 27, discount travel company Tellmeclub filed for bankruptcy while a number of its Japanese customers were still overseas on package tours.
Ishiba delays meeting with Trump, citing legal restrictions
Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba waves upon arrival for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum, in Callao, Peru, on Friday.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Rising sex tourism exposes loopholes in Japan's anti-prostitution law
While financial misfortunes during the COVID-19 pandemic may have driven some women to work the streets, others simply want more money to spend — or want to pay off their debts — at host clubs.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
Ruling coalition and DPP strike last-minute deal over economic policy
DPP policy chief Makoto Mahaguchi speaks at the party's policy gathering in Tokyo on Wednesday.
Japan, U.K. and Italy discuss inviting more countries to joint fighter project
A new concept model of a next-generation fighter jet to be jointly developed by Japan, Britain and Italy is on display in Farnborough, Hampshire, in July.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.
Japanese expats in Asia find community through rugby
The Taiwan Fivewoods celebrate their victory at the 2023 Asian Japanese Rugby Cup in December of last year.
In Fukushima, a weekend of prose, poetry and translation
Aomori-based writer JJ Carter presented on tabletop gaming as creative inspiration for building characters and narratives.
For Dr. Nakamats, aging is just experience in action
Though he didn't win the recent gubernatorial election in Tokyo, the 96-year-old Dr. Nakamats' run was seen as inspirational in Japan's aging society.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?
By Kathryn Wortley

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