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November 23, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 31, 2014
AKB48's business model is likely to survive media attacks
The universe shifted on the afternoon of Sunday, May 25, when a young, unemployed man attacked two members of the all-female idol collective AKB48 and a male security staffer with a folding saw during a fan event in the city of Takizawa, Iwate Prefecture. Or, at least, that's how the media reacted. Some...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 31, 2014
Diamonds are suddenly everybody's best friend
Dealers are flocking to Japan to buy up all those gems 'sleeping' in people's dresser drawers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 25, 2014
Japanese low-cost carriers hit hard by pilot shortage
Japan is going to have to compete with other countries for airline pilots.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 24, 2014
Getting past the stigma of dementia
Last April, the Nagoya High Court ordered a 91-year-old woman in Obu, Aichi Prefecture, to pay ¥3 million in compensation to JR Tokai for disruption of service after her husband was struck and killed by one of the company's trains. The man, who was 85 at the time of the accident in December 1997, suffered...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 18, 2014
Japan home electronics makers play dumb on smart TVs
One company dominates Japan's smart TV market, and it isn't Japanese.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 17, 2014
Fix population problem by helping families
For the past 18 months, media outlets in Japan and abroad have looked approvingly upon Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's efforts to improve the country's economic future through proactive measures dubbed "Abenomics." The goal is to spur inflation so that companies can make more money and increase pay, thus...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 10, 2014
Brush up on pop idol feuds before the exam
Last month, Meiji University's law department announced it would offer a social-psychology course on the boy band Arashi. The syllabus includes lectures about the group's individual members; its work in TV dramas and advertising; and the "culture of Johnny's Jimusho," Arashi's powerful production company....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 9, 2014
Labor shortage cutting across all industries
Reliance on part-timers has left many companies struggling to fill positions.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
May 5, 2014
Money that must go down the pan
In almost all of Japan's major cities, close to 100 percent of the population are connected to public sewerage systems, but the farther away from cities you get the more the number drops. Tokushima Prefecture is the lowest, at 16.3 percent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 3, 2014
Pop star gaffes no sweat to Cool Japan
Whatever you want to say about Justin Bieber's lack of common sense, as either a pop star or a mortal, you have to admit he has incredible timing. He managed to capture the attention of the world with his impromptu visit to Yasukuni Shrine by posting photos of it the day after more than 100 Japanese...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 3, 2014
Golden Week activity influenced more by logistics than by economics
This year's Golden Week holiday isn't as golden as it normally is owing to the way the national holidays that make it possible fall in relation to the days of the week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 27, 2014
The price is right, but sometimes difficult to read
Since the tax hike went into effect, price tags aren't what they used to be.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 26, 2014
'Patriot wives' put country before gender
In a 1989 essay, "Coming Down Again: After the Age of Excess," from a newly edited collection of her writings, the late American critic Ellen Willis discussed a dilemma the women's movement faced in the '70s. With the advent of the '60s counterculture came so-called free love, a throwing-off of social...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 24, 2014
College students' savings habits indicate anxiety about the future
In the last 10 years student savings has increased by 80 percent.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 19, 2014
Can a solo career help a mascot stand out?
Several weeks ago Fuji TV's morning news show sent a reporter to the Gunma Prefecture "antenna shop" located across the street from the Kabukiza theater in Tokyo's Ginza district. The store, which sells products made in Gunma, pays ¥64 million a year in rent for the small two-floor space, and an independent...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 14, 2014
Australian EPA: Let them eat beef (but not cheese)
How did Japanese consumers fare with the new Australian EPA?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 12, 2014
Loss of after-school program in Osaka will hurt poor kids
In February, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio was castigated by local media for keeping public schools open during a snowstorm. One of his reasons for not closing schools was that many parents relied on them not only to look after their kids during the day, but also to feed them. The U.S. Department of...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 5, 2014
Fallout from the tax rise may hit in surprising ways
Prior to the consumption tax increase last Tuesday, from 5 percent to 8 percent, Japanese consumers were spending to beat the band. The local business magazine Economist (not to be confused with the English language newsweekly) reports that ¥4 trillion was spent on goods and services in recent months...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 5, 2014
Some local governments think health checkups save money, and some don't
Conventional wisdom says when it comes to health care you have to spend money to save it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 31, 2014
Japan's 30-year building shelf-life is not quite true
In the past decade or so, certain claims about Japan's housing market have come to be accepted as facts. One is that Japanese houses are only meant to last 30 years.
Tokyo Metro’s overseas efforts begin in earnest with London deal
Tokyo Metro will soon have a role in the running of London's Elizabeth Line, a major train route serving the U.K.’s capital city and environs.
Man charged with murder allegedly made victim date other men for money
A car carrying suspect Ryotaro Masuda, who was indicted for allegedly beating his 25-year-old girlfriend to death, leaves the Shibuya Police Station in Tokyo on Thursday.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ex-yokozuna Kitanofuji dies at 82
Yokozuna Kitanofuji enters the ring during the May 1970 grand sumo tournament in Tokyo.
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.”
Shohei Ohtani wins National League MVP award
Shohei Ohtani celebrates after hitting a three-run home run against the Padres during the National League Division Series at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles last month.
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.

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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