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November 22, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 8, 2016
'I Absolutely Love You'; 'How Do You Do, I Love You'; Toyota
Love vs. career is the theme of the new drama series "Seisei Suru Hodo Aishite Iru" ("I Absolutely Love You"; TBS, Tues., 10 p.m.), which is based on a popular manga.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 2, 2016
Japan dances with the death penalty
Last week, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his plans to reinstate the death penalty, which was abolished in his country in 2006. Duterte says he believes in retribution: If you kill someone, you deserve to die.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 2, 2016
A rise in vacancies won't mean drops in rent
According to the June 11 issue of Nikkan Gendai, the vacancy rate for rental properties in the 23 wards of Tokyo is currently 33.7 percent, while in surrounding prefectures, it's even higher: 35.5 percent in Kanagawa and 34.1 percent in Chiba.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 1, 2016
'Doctor X'; 'The Man With the Divine Tongue" Kagome
Ryoko Yonekura returns as the genius freelance surgeon Dr. Michiko Daimon in a special two-hour installment of "Doctor X" (TV Asahi, Sun., 9 p.m.).
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 25, 2016
Can foreign media pressure force changes in Japan?
Former Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara's first-person "biography" of late Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka, "Tensai" ("Genius"), remains atop best-seller lists. It is interesting to note that when Tanaka was alive Ishihara berated him as a crude opportunist. The years have obviously tempered his view, or perhaps...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 24, 2016
'Tunnels' I Am the King of Sports'; 'Normal Is the Best'; Asahi Beer
You may wonder what former New York Yankee slugger Hideki Matsui has been up to since he retired several years ago. Well, one thing he's been doing is appearing on the sports variety show "Tunnels no Sports O wa Ore da" ("Tunnels' I Am the King of Sports"; TV Asahi, Sun., 8:58 p.m.), hosted by the comedy...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 18, 2016
Japan sleeps while cybercriminals get smarter
During a recent trip to the United States, I was in a car with a friend when she received a phone call from her bank, which asked if she had used her debit card that day to make purchases at a certain store. She said she hadn't, indicating someone had hacked into her account. By the time we reached our...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 17, 2016
'Medekin'; 'Pleased to Meet You, I'm an Office Worker, but also a Cabaret Hostess'; Glico
Some people think entrepreneurship is dead in Japan. They may change their tune if they watched the variety show "Medekin" (Fuji TV, Sun., 4:05 p.m.). The title is a play on the Japanese word "demekin," which refers to a bug-eyed goldfish, but the operative morpheme is "kin," meaning "money." The show...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 11, 2016
No guarantees: the struggle of being old and alone in Japan
Foreign media have been diligently covering Japan's rocky economic road to an uncertain future, but they seem to have missed the recent bankruptcy of Nihon Life Kyokai, a company that provides guarantor services. Though it's only one failure, the Japanese press has paid particularly close attention,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 11, 2016
Fuel-efficiency scandal could end up hitting car buyers in the pocket
The entire auto industry has had its image damaged in the mileage scandal, which means the transport ministry will likely require all carmakers to carry out stricter testing that will cost much more money.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 10, 2016
'Aiba Learns'; 'Good Fortune! Appraisal Team for Anything High Quality Treasure Salon'; Lotte — So
In addition to singing and dancing, the popular male idols managed by Johnny & Associates do a lot of educational TV, including "Aiba Manabu" ("Aiba Learns"; TV Asahi, Sun., 6 p.m.), in which Masaki Aiba, a member of boy band Arashi, learns about some common process. In the past, Aiba and his guests...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 4, 2016
Japan baffled by the intricacies of LGBT issues
A middle-aged woman I know never wears makeup or skirts and keeps her hair short. Sometimes she receives concerned glances when she enters the women's locker room at the gym she patronizes and, while no one has ever questioned her gender (for the record, she is straight and married), she often feels...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 4, 2016
There's no hiding in Japan's toilets
When it comes to toilets, Japan presents several paradoxes. On the one hand, public toilets are ubiquitous, easy to access and, for the most part, quite clean. On the other hand, they can also be primitive, or at least to a Western sensibility.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 3, 2016
'Legal Advice Office With a Line Outside the Door';
Before he became a firebrand politician, Toru Hashimoto was a lawyer and TV personality, and one of the variety shows he often appeared on was Nippon TV's "Gyoretsu no Dekiru Horitsu Sodanjo" ("Legal Advice Office With a Line Outside the Door"; Sun., 9 p.m.). This week, another retired political firebrand...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 28, 2016
The vagina on trial: more absurd than obscene
Though the obscenity trial of the artist known as Rokudenashiko — real name Megumi Igarashi — ended earlier this month with a conviction on one of her charges, we haven't heard the last of her. She plans to appeal the verdict, which is good news for the press and the public, since few court trials...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 27, 2016
'Historical Unknowns: Historia'; 'Morning Comes'; DHC
Kumamoto Castle, which was seriously damaged in last month's earthquake, is one of Japan's most beloved and iconic landmarks. Originally built in the 15th century, the structure is one of the largest fortifications in Japan and covers a big piece of land. It is famous for its stone foundation — the...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 21, 2016
Wrath awaits Japanese women who shun their childbearing 'destiny'
Back in the 1990s, actor Tomoko Yamaguchi often appeared in trendy dramas — TV shows that portrayed the lives of middle-class people who, whether married or not, only worried about what to buy and who to love. Once she turned 35, Yamaguchi was no longer considered suitable for such roles, but trendy...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 21, 2016
Whither the taxi in a withering Japan?
Taxi revenues have been dropping steadily in recent years mainly due to demographic changes, but their main problem is handling moment-to-moment supply and demand.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
May 20, 2016
'Evening Smoke Bus Tour'; 'Gold Woman'; Suntory
It seems any kind of professional can be a detective in Japan. The latest vocation is tour bus guide, as exemplified by Sayaka Sakuraniwa (Hisako Manda) in the two-hour mystery "Yukemuri Bus Tour" ("Evening Smoke Bus Tour"; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.).
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 14, 2016
Cracks appear in media's view of disasters
The Great East Japan Earthquake was Japan's first major natural disaster since the rise of social media, and emergency planning outfits have been studying the data from March 11, 2011, in order better use SNS to save lives and help survivors. Online activities related to the current seismic activity...
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.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
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.
The slow-burn success of ‘A Samurai in Time’
A 19th-century warrior gets struck by lightning and wakes to find himself in 21st-century Kyoto in Junichi Yasuda’s surprise hit “A Samurai in Time.”
Around a quarter of Japan married couples in their 20s met through dating apps
A survey released by an organization promoting “Good Couples Day” shows that 24% of couples in their 20s met their marriage partner through a dating app.
'Tokyo Swindlers': Get deep into the minds of real estate con artists
In Ko Shinjo's "Tokyo Swindlers," a group of con artists manipulates real estate giants into falsified deals within the highly competitive, quick market.
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.

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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