Philip Brasor - The Japan Times

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

May 2, 2015

Progress is slow when it comes to societal views on adoption

The Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction went into effect here on April 1, 2014, but there is another Hague treaty that Japan has yet to sign.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS

May 2, 2015

Garden states: looking good on the outside

One problem with designing your own house is that you don't necessarily know what it's going to be like until it's finished. The company we hired to build ours doesn't make model homes the way some housing companies do. It's one of the reasons we chose them, since models add to the price of the product....

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 25, 2015

Fighting to recover from the ocean's wrath

On April 11, Wataru Takeshita, the minister for reconstruction of the areas most seriously affected by the Great East Japan Earthquake, met in Kamaishi with local government representatives to discuss the budget for Iwate Prefecture. After the meeting, the mayor of Kamaishi spoke to the press and said...

BUSINESS / Economy

Apr 25, 2015

Cash shortfall among the elderly could push Japan over the edge

Last summer the welfare ministry reported that a record number of households were receiving government assistance, and 47.1 percent of these households were made up of either elderly people only or the elderly and unmarried family members under 18. The media has been reporting for years that an increasing...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 18, 2015

The Asahi cries foul on school sports

Baseball fans were disheartened to learn that Texas Rangers pitcher Yu Darvish would be out for the entire 2015 season because of elbow surgery. The right-hander could still have a promising Major League career, but like other Japanese pitchers who have crossed the Pacific, he seems cursed by infirmities...

BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING

Apr 12, 2015

Yen for Living is moving!

Yen for Living has lived in this virtual space since August 2009. From today, new Yen for Living reports will appear in The Japan Times on Sunday on the second and fourth Sundays of the month. It will also be archived on the JT website.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 11, 2015

Olympics provide golden opportunity for change

While there are many reasons why a city would want to host the Olympic Games, most have to do with money and prestige: The Olympics bring international attention to the host city for two weeks.

BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING

Apr 11, 2015

Outdated Otsuka Kagu business model is at the root of family feud

Retailers know that image maintenance is important for their bottom lines, as proven by Otsuka Kagu Ltd.'s 37.8 percent drop in sales last month compared to March 2014.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 4, 2015

Koga's parting shot may not hit its target

In February, Reporters Without Borders published its annual list of countries ranked in terms of press freedom. Japan came in at No. 61, down two places from the previous year and lower than Taiwan (51) and South Korea (60). The reason for the decline was the state secrets act, which came into force...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS

Apr 4, 2015

Japan's public housing system has a shelf life

One of the most desirable properties in Tokyo is Chateau Mita, located in Minato Ward within walking distance of several embassies and Tokyo Tower and less than 10 minutes from four subway stations. The apartment building was constructed in 1964 and by 2000 there were persistent problems with plumbing...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 28, 2015

Political obstacles stymie energy autonomy

When German Chancellor Angela Merkel was in Japan earlier this month, local coverage focused on a joint German-Japanese statement about the Ukraine crisis and her comment that Japan should forthrightly address its actions during World War II. She said nothing about how Japan and Germany have diverged...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 21, 2015

Media caught up in festive PR atmosphere of new Hokuriku bullet train

A friend who often goes to Ishikawa Prefecture for family reasons mentioned on Facebook last week that he took the overnight bus from Tokyo and arrived at Kanazawa Station at about the same time of the Hokuriku Shinkansen's inaugural run. When I asked why he hadn't taken the new train, he said it was...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 14, 2015

Failing to rebuild communities in Tohoku

The NHK travel program "Tsurube no Kazoku ni Kampai" ("Tsurube Toasts Families") recently aired a two-parter about the town of Watari in Miyagi Prefecture, which was devastated in the March 11, 2011, tsunami. In the series, rakugo storyteller Shofukutei Tsurube and a celebrity guest visit small towns...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 7, 2015

Okinawa's story told differently in Tokyo

Last week, at the end of a report on the TBS newsmagazine show "Hodo Tokushu" about protests against the proposed U.S. Marine Corps base at Henoko in Okinawa, the show's host mentioned that in response to charges from local press that it had violently repelled sea-borne demonstrators, the Japan Coast...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS

Mar 6, 2015

Cheap rural homes come at a price

Though the hollowing-out of population in regional areas in Japan has become a major issue for the central government, it's been a problem for regional governments for more than three decades. Twenty years ago there was a popular promotional method called "I-turn," devised as a supplement to the "U-turn"...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Feb 28, 2015

Shibuya's same-sex move kicks off debate

On Feb. 13, Asahi Shimbun's daily Vox Populi, Vox Dei column mentioned Morizo and Kiccoro, the official mascots of the 2005 World Expo held in Aichi Prefecture. These two "woodland fairies" supposedly hailed from Seto, which issued them the same resident cards (jūminhyō) held by everyone who lives...

BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING

Feb 23, 2015

Pusses galore: Cats dominate the pet industry

Though cats are cheaper than dogs to acquire, you may end up spending more money on them.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Feb 21, 2015

Cowed news media has forgotten its role

In his Tokyo Shimbun column about weekly magazines, Hiroyuki Shinoda recently lauded Shukan Asahi for accusing Prime Minister Shinzo Abe of exploiting the murder of journalist Kenji Goto by the Islamic State group for political purposes. Shinoda points out that the magazine had been intimidated by the...

BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING

Feb 16, 2015

Who benefits from the new overtime pay system?

On Feb. 13, a Labor Policy Council sub-committee submitted to the labor ministry a report with suggestions for a bill to revise the labor standards law. The revision, which the ministry plans to submit to the next regular Diet session, applies to the work of skilled white collar professionals and will allow them to 'work in a manner that demonstrates their achievements' more effectively, which is another way of saying that employers will no longer be required to pay these workers overtime for extra hours on the job, which in turn means that employers cannot be accused of pressuring them to work overtime for no pay, a system popularly known as saabisu zangyo, or 'free overtime.'

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Feb 14, 2015

The economics book everyone is talking about, but has anyone read it?

French economist Thomas Piketty's "Capital in the Twenty-First Century" was the surprise bestseller of 2014 in the United States, and it has also become a hit in Japan.

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