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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 2, 2014
Inflation Watch: Food manufacturers offering less
Food companies know that consumers are now sensitive to price increases and use an old solution
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 1, 2014
Ticking the right tax boxes
In most places in the world, property taxes, which are levied on buildings and land, are administered and collected by local governments for the benefit of local governments. This is also true in Japan, but it's useful to keep in mind that property tax rules and regulations are determined by the central government.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 27, 2014
A modest proposal for alleviating the endangerment of Japanese eels
In Japan, most eel is consumed on one day of the year.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 26, 2014
Art vs. morals debate plays out in the press
In her semiautobiographical feature film "Who's Afraid of Vagina Wolf?," Anna Margarita Albelo plays a struggling film director who makes ends meet by screening her movies in art galleries where she shows up dressed as a vagina. Though the story is mainly about relationships, the prominence of the female...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 20, 2014
Japanese franchises cut loose by overseas brands after serving their purpose
Japanese companies are good at promoting overseas brands for the Japanese market.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 19, 2014
The murky call on a hardball interview with Chief Cabinet Secretary Suga
The tabloid press plays fast and loose with the truth, so anyone who gobbled up last week's NHK story in the weekly Friday should have added a dash of salt. An unnamed employee told Friday that the prime minister's office demanded the public broadcaster apologize for questions asked in its interview...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 14, 2014
Will rice cookers save the Japanese home electronics industry?
The Chinese have discovered Japanese rice, and it could be a big deal.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 12, 2014
Health care system needs a new diagnosis
In March 2007, the city of Yubari in Hokkaido became the first Japanese municipality to declare bankruptcy, letting loose a flood of media coverage characterized by expressions of sympathy for residents. Yubari's debt had reached ¥63 billion, the result, according to national press reports, of an inept,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 7, 2014
What the government doesn't pay in pensions it will have to make up for with welfare
People are facing a widening gap between retirement age and the age they are eligible for pensions.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 5, 2014
Fiery Shinjuku protest goes global without NHK
Until the Great East Japan Earthquake, social media didn't have much purchase on Japanese social life. But disasters are transformative, and in a country where the mass media is cautious about its role vis-a-vis the authorities, social media came into its own after the tsunami and meltdown.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 4, 2014
When should we make noise about loud neighbors?
In August 1974, a 46-year-old man living on the fourth floor of a public apartment building in Hiratsuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, forced his way into the unit below him and killed two little girls and their mother. After attempting suicide he was arrested, and he told police he had been driven to murder...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 30, 2014
Japan tourism still suffers from a credit card gap
Tourists want two things: to be able to use their smart phones and their credit cards in Japan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 28, 2014
Sexist remarks seen through a clouded lens
It's assumed that the heckling of Tokyo assembly member Ayaka Shiomura by some of her male colleagues on June 18 became a major news story in Japan only after the foreign press picked it up as an example of intractable Japanese sexism. The situation is more nuanced than how Western media described it,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 21, 2014
Any publicity is good news for beer firms
At a Tokyo news conference on June 4, Sapporo Beer President Masaki Oga announced his company would halt sales of its Goku Zero alcoholic beverage after current inventory was shipped. The parent company, Sapporo Holdings, had been contacted by the National Tax Agency in January regarding the manufacturing...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 21, 2014
Does an increase in summer bonuses mean a healthier economy?
Average bonus amounts are going up this summer, but the number of bonuses are going down.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 14, 2014
The thrill of the job won't pay the rent
"If your work isn't what you love, then something isn't right." — Talking Heads
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 13, 2014
Won't get fooled again? Fans and their money are soon parted
Some pop fans are more devoted, and more naive, than others
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 8, 2014
The new National Stadium will have to rock you
The burgeoning concert business could make the new Olympic Stadium feasible.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 7, 2014
Media minds manners in royal reportage
As much as we all love them, the Imperial family doesn't make for exciting reading. Last week, the European press was beside itself with news of the abdication of Spain's King Juan Carlos, who has been hit by several public support-sapping scandals in recent years. The only thing comparable here was...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 2, 2014
Generation gaps filled by brick and mortar
Though their numbers have dwindled in the developed world over the past century, multi-generation households are still common, and in fact may become even more common in countries where income gaps are increasing. In Japan, multi-generation households have social relevance owing to cultural norms, the...

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