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November 22, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 4, 2017
Abe: Will he be a man of his many words?
Since his big win in the lower house election on Oct. 22, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has been talking about proceeding with measures to revise the Constitution, a project that has been close to his heart for most of his political career. However, during the official campaign period he almost never mentioned...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 3, 2017
Tokyo International Film Festival closes with social issues in the spotlight
The Tokyo International Film Festival has always struggled to distinguish itself from other big film events. It doesn't have the cultural cachet of Venice, Cannes or Toronto, and even within Asia it falls behind Busan and Hong Kong in terms of the caliber of works it sometimes attracts. But it always...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 28, 2017
Organ donations and transplants still face obstacles in Japan
It has been 20 years since the government legalized organ transplants from brain-dead donors, and seven years since the law was revised to allow children to donate organs and families to approve organ donations of loved ones unilaterally.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 25, 2017
Tokyo International Film Festival opens with a rainy red carpet
After walking the red carpet on the opening night of the 30th Tokyo International Film Festival, Yu Aoi pointed out to the emcee that she and the other three "muses" of the festival — fellow actresses Sakura Ando, Hikari Mitsushima and Aoi Miyazaki — were all born in the same year, 1985, thus lending...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 21, 2017
Identifying the 'liberal' in Japanese politics
The current group of conservative public figures in the United States wants to return to an age when certain middle-class values were ascendant, without acknowledging that many of those values were realized because President Franklin Roosevelt implemented progressive social policies and trade unions...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 18, 2017
Busan International Film Festival spotlights female directors and plenty of Japanese content
The 22nd Busan International Film Festival, which opened Oct. 12 and ends Saturday, seemed to be in better shape this year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 14, 2017
The bottom line in publicly shaming celebrities
Anyone interested in Japanese television is familiar with the term "yarase," which refers to on-air situations staged to look natural and spontaneous.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 7, 2017
Hate speech thrives on social media platforms
On Sept. 8, the anti-hate speech group Tokyo No Hate demonstrated in front of the Tokyo offices of Twitter. The group wants the social networking service to police its users more diligently with regard to racist and other discriminatory tweets.
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
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 30, 2017
Japan's pensioners are literally getting older
Because of the election announced by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Monday, the new Cabinet he formed last summer to boost his falling support rate will do no work, since it was launched during the summer vacation and Abe dissolved the Diet as soon as it opened on Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 23, 2017
Political protest or textbook harassment?
In 1979, The New Yorker ran a very long article by Frances FitzGerald about American history textbooks and how they had changed over the years. She said that the framing of history depends on who is writing it and, more importantly, who is supporting that writing. Publishers present history in such a...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 16, 2017
There's no business like a star's personal business
If you've got a Twitter account in Japan, you've probably seen the promoted tweets for Netflix featuring comedian Sanma Akashiya. In these video spots, Sanma compares working for a streaming service to working for a commercial broadcaster, but doesn't mention the context for his remarks.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 9, 2017
Severe school anxiety puts teens at risk
For the past two weeks there have been projections about a spike in juvenile suicides as the new school term approached. Suicides among junior high and high school students rise around Sept. 1, and teachers and parents were urged to pay close attention to young people.
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
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 2, 2017
No one else wants Okinawa's U.S. bases
On Aug. 15, the 72nd anniversary of the Japanese surrender, there was a symposium in Tokyo about changing the Constitution. One of the panelists, documentarian Tatsuya Mori, pointed out that earlier that day Prime Minister Shinzo Abe had given remarks at an annual memorial event, and at no point did...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 26, 2017
Japan's female politicians showing the way forward on maternity harassment
Since July 12, when Lower House lawmaker Takako Suzuki announced she was pregnant with her first child, the news media has been full of stories about "maternity harassment."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 19, 2017
Facing up to the cold hard truth of war
Although Japan and South Korea reached a final settlement several years ago involving payments to Korean women who were forced to sexually service Japanese troops in the 1930s and '40s, the issue won't go away, and not just because the new South Korean president is questioning the settlement, which was...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 12, 2017
METI seeks to pass nuclear buck with release of waste disposal map
Taro Kono's appointment as the new foreign minister is raising eyebrows. Though he hasn't shown any indication that he will buck Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's agenda, Kono is considered a leftish maverick within the Liberal Democratic Party, especially with regard to its nuclear energy policy, which he...
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.
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.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
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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