Philip Brasor - The Japan Times

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

May 5, 2018

Japan is struggling to deal with the foreign tourism boom

With the population shrinking and the government leery of allowing more immigrants into the country, foreign tourism has become an effective economic stimulus. In fact, its success has exceeded anyone’s wildest dreams. More than 28 million tourists from abroad visited Japan last year, and it seems...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 28, 2018

Fukuda scandal highlights how Japan's news outlets take advantage of their female employees

For the past two weeks, media outlets in Japan have been interrogating themselves over the revelation that female reporters are exposed to sexual harassment due to the nature of their work. When weekly magazine Shukan Shincho published a story alleging that Administrative Vice Finance Minister Junichi...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 21, 2018

Could jealousy link the Financial Ministry scandals together?

Although not directly related, the allegation that former Administrative Vice Minister Junichi Fukuda was a sexual harasser was initially reported as a sideshow to the ongoing Moritomo Gakuen influence scandal that is dogging both Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the Finance Ministry. Fukuda was the top...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 14, 2018

Japan struggles to fashion casino guidelines that satisfy the public

On April 3, the ruling coalition adopted a plan for integrated resorts featuring casino gambling that it will submit for Diet approval during the current session, although some media organizations think that won't happen. The public still isn't comfortable with the idea of casinos and the coalition's...

JAPAN / YEN FOR LIVING

Apr 13, 2018

Tepco's compensation for 3/11 victims has made matters worse for many

As of the end of March, Tokyo Electric Power Company Holdings Inc. had paid more than ¥8 trillion in compensation (baishōkin) related to the Fukushima No. 1 reactor meltdowns of March 2011. About half of this money has gone to people living near the crippled reactors for "mental anguish" and the other...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 7, 2018

In Japan no one wants to talk about sex education

The English 'penis' — which rhymes with 'Venice' in katakana — is the preferred technical term when discussing male genitalia in Japan, but even that seems to be taboo in broadcast situations.

COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS

Apr 1, 2018

New minpaku law will alter Japan's rental and hospitality landscape

A new law will go into effect in June to regulate minpaku, private residences rented out by their owners as short-term lodgings. To most, the new law will address changes that have occurred in recent years due to the rise of Airbnb, the worldwide online service that allows travelers to book rooms in...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 31, 2018

Takeshi Kitano to abandon his 'army' of talent

There's a tired adage that goes, "Behind every great man is a great woman." In Japan, you could amend it to: "Behind every great older man is a great woman making sure he stays relevant, especially if he's in show business." The tabloid press have had a grand time exploring how the late beloved movie...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 24, 2018

Once falsely convicted in Japan, rarely exonerated

A lot of eating goes on in the new documentary "Gokutomo" ("Friends in Prison"), which is about five men, all convicted of murder, who spent many years in prison. Watching one of them casually buy a sweet bean bun at a convenience store, you realize that, as an indulgence, food can be the most obvious...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 17, 2018

Japan struggles to overcome its groping problem

A group of men boarded the women-only car of the Chiyoda Line subway in Tokyo during the morning commute on Feb. 16 as a form of protest, saying that excluding men was a form of discrimination. Such protests are not unusual, but the media almost never covers them. In this case, the women who were already...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 10, 2018

Japan's labor reform ignores elementary principles

Earlier this month, the Finance Ministry reported that the labor share in the final quarter of calendar year 2017 for companies with capital of more than ¥1 billion was 43.9 percent. That basically means 43.9 percent of these companies’ income went to employees. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun described...

JAPAN / YEN FOR LIVING

Mar 7, 2018

Shrine murder highlights huge amount of cash — most of it off-book — raked in by Japan's religious sites

In December, the former gūji (head priest) of Tokyo's famous Tomioka Hachimangu Shrine allegedly murdered his sister before committing suicide. Later, it was reported by various media that the suspect, Shigenaga Tomioka, had taken over the position from his father in 1995, but apparently the father...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS

Mar 4, 2018

Doling out some truths about Japan's 'share houses'

Many Japanese people are wary of investment as a means of growing their savings. There are a variety of reasons for this caution, so most keep their money in a bank, gaining almost no interest in the process, in the hope that they won't lose any in the long run. However, some salaried workers who understand...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Mar 3, 2018

Japan's media out of step with mental health issues

In January, a couple in Neyagawa, Osaka Prefecture, were arrested for allegedly confining their daughter for at least 15 years before she froze to death in December at the age of 33. The couple told police they had kept her in the tiny room where her body was found because she was mentally ill. They...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Feb 24, 2018

Japan bobsled makers miss out on Olympic games glory

On Feb. 17, the BBC reported that the Jamaican women's bobsled team would compete in its “preferred sled” at the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea “after a beer producer purchased the craft and donated it” to the team. The main concern had been the departure of the team’s German coach,...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Feb 17, 2018

Media reports de-romanticize the cleanup work on the Fukushima nuclear power plant

Most of the reliable reporting about the clean-up of the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant since it suffered three meltdowns in March 2011 has been from on-site workers. Even when articles appear in major media outlets about the situation at the crippled reactor, it's usually presented through the...

COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS

Feb 11, 2018

Condo management is in need of repairs

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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Feb 10, 2018

Did press reports of a lawsuit spur an amendment to the welfare ministry's policy on benefits?

On Jan. 16, the Fukushima District Court ruled in favor of a woman and her daughter who had sued the city of Fukushima for cutting their welfare benefits. When the woman’s daughter was in high school, the woman received a grant scholarship to help her child prepare for university by covering expenses...

BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING

Feb 9, 2018

Japanese consumers increasingly face stealth price hikes via 'shrinkflation'

In Japan, a phenomenon known as "shrinkflation" — an important economic countermeasure against inflation for businesses — has been catching the attention of consumers.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Feb 3, 2018

NHK tries to clear up LGBT misconceptions

Last month, publisher Iwanami Shoten was criticized for its definition of “LGBT” in the newest edition of Kojien, which is considered to be the most authoritative dictionary of the Japanese language. The complaint was specifically about the meaning of the acronym’s “T” portion, which stands...

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