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April 08, 2025
 

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Philip Brasor
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 28, 2010
Japanese women can't get no satisfaction
Several weeks ago, star economist and self-help guru Kazuyo Katsuma was the special guest on the TBS variety show "Kinyobi no Sumatachi e." The program's title conflates "kinyobi no tsumatachi" (Friday Wives), which once referred to Friday night "trendy drama" series centered on well-to-do housewives,...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 27, 2010
Before Obamacare: Japan's national healthcare system saves some for private insurers
Even though Japan enjoys the benefits of national health care, private insurers are doing a booming business.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2010
Other routes taken
Pavement was not totally idle during the '00s. Matador rereleased the band's five albums, each in double-CD formats with dozens of previously unreleased tracks. However, each member was also involved in more personal endeavors, some more musical than others.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 26, 2010
Back to those gold soundz
Last fall, when the American rock band Pavement announced it would reunite for a series of concerts in New York's Central Park one year hence, nobody seemed surprised. Though the group stopped touring and recording 10 years ago, it never officially called it quits. The feeling was that Stephen Malkmus,...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 22, 2010
Old eco points vs. new eco points: Where's the savings?
A new eco-points standard for TVs means buying before March 31 could be the ticket to a bargain.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 21, 2010
Japan's press play the food card in bluefin tuna row
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species is in Qatar discussing proposed regulations covering certain plant and animal species. The main media focus is on bluefin tuna from the Atlantic.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 18, 2010
Driving schools cope with an auto-immune generation
Driving schools used to be on easy street but they're struggling these days and trying to get control of the wheel.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 14, 2010
Risk separates stars from actors
People in the same business slapping one another on the back should hardly be of interest to anyone outside that business, but to paraphrase "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" the business called "show" is an entirely different animal. That's why we display a disproportionate fascination with the Academy Awards,...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 12, 2010
The road to nowhere leads to Ibaraki Airport
Rumors of a third airport in Tokyo have been greatly exaggerated. It's two hours away, in Ibaraki.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 8, 2010
Tax deductions and the myth of the "no-donation culture"
With few incentives to give to charities and few that qualify as NPOs, it no surprise that Japan has a bum rap as a 'no-donation' culture.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 7, 2010
DPJ needs schooling on equality
When the Democratic Party of Japan swept to power last year, many people expected Japanese politics to become more rational. The Liberal Democratic Party had maintained a status quo that stifled meaningful change, and the DPJ supposedly won by promising to move forward.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 4, 2010
Annals of cheap: Tokyo Metro kaisuken
Smart cards such as PASMO and Suica are convenient for traveling in Tokyo but there's hidden value in the Metro's kaisuken (multiple tickets).
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 1, 2010
Do your part and take a vacation
Japan tends to vacation en masse at the same times annually, which isn't great for an ailing tourism industry.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 28, 2010
Gold against the soul: The media and the Olympics
When Japan Newsweek editor Keigo Takeda said that it was all over during the live broadcast of Fuji TV's Sunday night newsmagazine "Journal" on the second day of the Vancouver Winter Olympics, he was talking about Japanese news coverage of the games.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 25, 2010
Soccer lottery BIG in Japan
The payout of the BIG soccer lottery promises to be a biggie: u00a5600 million to the lucky ticket owner.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 22, 2010
Government housing allowance ignores market realities
To aid laid-off workers, the government has been offering rent subsidies, but clearly the money isn't reaching the right people.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 21, 2010
Consumer safety should come before pride
It's difficult to get a balanced perspective on the public-relations crisis surrounding Toyota Motor Corporation's current global recall, which mostly involves its popular Prius hybrid.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 18, 2010
Tracking the recession with the Moyashi Index
The Moyashi Index: When bean sprout consumption goes up, it means grocery spending is down. And yes, families are eating more moyashi these days.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 15, 2010
Getting paid for doing the right thing
Spurred by the death of a child-abuse victim, police have begun offering incentives for anonymous tip-offs.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 14, 2010
Foreign trainees easily exploited as bosses take advantage of system
Several weeks ago, TV Asahi's nightly news show "Hodo Station" ran a special report on the uncertain future of Japanese agriculture.
Nissan says it will not take new U.S. orders for Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs
A Nissan manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Nissan says it will not take new orders from the United States for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs following new auto tariffs levied by the U.S.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Nikkei plunges in third-biggest daily loss ever amid Trump tariff concerns
Pedestrians stand in front of an electronic board showing the numbers of the Nikkei Stock Average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in the Japanese capital on Monday.
Ride-hailing services spreading in Japan
Vehicles used for ride-hailing services in the city of Kiryu, in Gunma Prefecture
Taiwan eyes zero tariffs with U.S., pledges more investment
Kids view the area from a lookout point over cranes and containers at the Port of Keelung, Taiwan, on Thursday.
‘Let’s make it practical’: NATO chief eyes greater defense-industrial ties with Japan
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte plans to visit Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday — his first to the Indo-Pacific region since taking office in October, as he seeks to implement lessons from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
By Alex K.T. Martin

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