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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Sep 30, 2013
The build-up to get that housing loan
Several years ago, we went to a bank in Tokyo that was advertising housing loans with easy terms. Though we weren't shopping for a loan at the time we wanted to see what was needed in order to apply for one. The bank's approval criteria seemed simple enough: If you made at least ¥3 million a year, you...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 28, 2013
Casinos bet on success in Tokyo
Most of the Olympics-related news reported since Tokyo won the right to host the 2020 Games is about projected economic benefits and drawbacks. A lot of construction will take place over the next seven years, but not all of it will be directly related to the sporting event.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 27, 2013
Young women's life preferences acknowledge workplace reality
It's not that young women prefer home over work, it's that they don't think they can have both.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 21, 2013
After the bid, critics sound off on Olympics
During the week following the announcement in Buenos Aires that Tokyo would host the 2020 Olympic Games, the Japanese media was saturated with news of the capital's celebratory reaction. NHK, which will broadcast the Games, was particularly enthusiastic, leading every news report with a long Olympic-related...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 19, 2013
You are where you eat: McDonald's Japan sets prices by region
McDonald's has found that it won't lose customers if it raises prices.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 17, 2013
Aging boomers may prove to be just as tight with savings
Don't expect a spending windfall once boomers turn into seniors.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 14, 2013
Travel shows warp true globalization
Now that Tokyo has been given the honor of hosting the 2020 Olympic Games, the city, as well as all of Japan, will spend the next seven years "internationalizing" (kokusai-ka), a term that becomes fashionable again every few years when something like this happens. Theoretically a circumscribed society...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 12, 2013
Roomba rules with working moms
Don't diss working mothers. They boost the economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 7, 2013
The message in recent food-garbage films doesn't go to waste
For those who still take in movies at theaters it's a great season for garbage, and I'm not talking about the usual summer blockbuster fare. Last month, Fatih Akin's documentary "Garbage in the Garden of Eden" (aka "Polluting Paradise"), about a landfill project in the beautiful Cambrunu region of Turkey,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 6, 2013
Men start taking advantage of nursing shortage
If nursing looks more like a real career, then more men will apply.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Sep 2, 2013
Housing loans: Nothing is 100 percent easy
The government has yet to confirm the timing of the approved consumption tax increase from 5 to 8 percent. It's slated to take place next April but there is still fear that the economy is too frail to withstand the effect the added tax might have on actual consumption. Consequently, the government is...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 2, 2013
How economically effective are the Olympics?
The so-called economic boost of the Olympics is mostly speculative.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 31, 2013
Media must take a stand against trolls
We live in an age of contention, when any comment can spark righteous indignation. Nominally conservative or progressive viewpoints become meaningless when every response is reactionary. This situation supposedly arose along with the Internet, which provides an unmediated outlet for every voice. Traditional...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 24, 2013
It only takes one 'Barefoot' step to cross the line into censorship
If you want people to pay attention to a point you're making, try to bring the subject of children into the debate. Right now, the media is discussing a decision made by the board of education of Matsue, Shimane Prefecture, to limit student access to the manga "Hadashi no Gen (Barefoot Gen)," first published...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 23, 2013
The sky becomes less of a limit for cabin attendants (unless you're a man)
All Nippon Airways just announced a new hiring policy for cabin attendants (CA). Starting next year, new CAs will be full-time regular employees of the company. Since 1995, CAs at the company were hired as contract workers who could opt to become regular employees after three years. The reason for the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 20, 2013
Hot biz: stocks that climb with the temperature
The heat may be bad for your peace of mind, but it's great for the economy.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 17, 2013
Stone weighs in on Japanese defense
It's August, when the Japanese media's attention turns to peace, or, at least, the absence of war. The anniversaries of the atomic bombings and subsequent surrender occasion print and broadcast discussions of what Japan learned from its bloody mid-century military campaign. For most people the fact that...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 14, 2013
Build a multifunction restroom and they will come
Statistics show seniors will patronize your establishment because of your toilet
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 10, 2013
Koda's baby gaffe may find different reception now
Five years ago, singer Kumi Koda caused an uproar when she joked on a late-night radio show about how a woman's amniotic fluid (yōsui) becomes "spoiled" as she gets older. The subtext of the comment was the advantage of having babies at a younger age, but those quick to ridicule Koda's lack of gynecological...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 8, 2013
New tax-free investment scheme not likely to increase investment
New individual saving system creates a battleground for competing bureaucratic organs.

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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?