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November 22, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 4, 2015
Temblors in the home insurance business
When we were looking around for a financial institution for a housing loan, we found that the major ones didn't really want to talk to us, but there were plenty of other places that would.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 3, 2015
God of risk; strangers caring for strangers; CM of the Week: JA Bank
In a new drama, Shinichi Tsutsumi plays Satoshi Saigyoji, aka "Risuku no Kami-sama" ("The God of Risk"; Fuji TV, Wed., 10 p.m.), a legendary crisis management expert who learned his trade in the United States, where he was often hired by large corporations and government agencies. Now, Saigyoji has returned...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 27, 2015
Okinawa's lobbyist-in-chief scores a subtle win in Washington
Chie Mikami's new documentary, "Ikusabanu Todomi" (which loosely translates as "Bring the War to an End"), is about the protests against the new U.S. Marine Corps base in Henoko, Okinawa. Her previous film, "Hyoteki no Mura" ("The Targeted Village"), was about protests against the deployment of the controversial...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 27, 2015
Home electronics market loses its spark
On May 25, Yamada Denki Co., the largest home electronics retailer in Japan, announced that it would be closing 46 outlets. Given that the stores had been losing money for at least a year and Yamada operates more than 1,000, the announcement wasn't surprising, though the swiftness of its actions was....
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 26, 2015
Countries with a pro-Japanese slant; the detective who loved criminals; CM of the Week: Asahi Beer
The theme of "Mirai Seiki Zipangu" ("Future Century Japan"; TV Tokyo, Mon., 10 p.m.) is Japan's role in the world, and the series has a subseries covering countries with a "pro-Japanese" slant that most Japanese "don't know about."
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 20, 2015
A final indignity for those who built Japan
The first time I visited the Sanya district in Tokyo's Taito Ward, I saw a lot of men drunk and passed out in the street and assumed they were all homeless, but as it turned out most worked and rented rooms in the area.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 19, 2015
Actresses enter a parallel universe; three species of romance; CM of the Week: Big
The comedian-turned-scriptwriter Bakarhythm specializes in surreal "what if" situations. In the new drama "Kamoshirenai Joyutachi" ("Maybe Actresses"; Fuji TV, Tues., 10 p.m.) he focuses on three famous Japanese actresses and places them in a parallel universe where they didn't become famous.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 13, 2015
Japan's masochistic approach to immigration
The Asahi Shimbun's online newsmagazine, Webronza, recently featured a conversation between former Asahi reporter Mieko Takenobu and sex-goods purveyor Minori Kitahara. They discussed the latter's brief imprisonment after being busted for displaying "salacious material" at her store associated with the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 13, 2015
Suntory gains ground in battle of the machines
Suntory Beverage is buying a bigger piece of a shrinking but lucrative pie with its purchase of the Japan Tobacco's vending machine subsidiary.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 12, 2015
Women in jungles and deserts; George Clooney and super-fabulous people; CM of the Week: Daiwa Securities
This week's special two-hour "life with ups-and-downs" edition of the travel show "Sekai Naze Soko ni Nihonjin" ("Why Are Japanese People in That Part of the World?"; TV Tokyo, Mon., 9 p.m.) focuses on two women, one working in a tropical jungle, the other living in the desert.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 6, 2015
Blame batted about for stadium blunder
The media is still very positive about the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but its ardor has cooled significantly with regard to the way the central government is holding up its end of the bargain.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 6, 2015
Watch out for hidden hazards of buying land
When we were looking for property we consulted topographical maps prior to checking a particular piece of land in person. Understanding the elevation of a plot is important if you're buying land near the coast or along a river. In the event of flooding or a tsunami, it's obviously better to be located...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jun 5, 2015
Analysis of a Japanese princess; the eternal struggle of the left-handed; CM of the Week: Uniqlo
Knowing about Japan's Imperial Family is considered very important, which is why the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization is recommending young people watch the two-hour special, "Nippon no Princess Monogatari" ("The Story of Japanese Princesses"; Fuji TV, Tues., 7 p.m.).
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 30, 2015
A media circus surrounds Japan's animal acts
The Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums has voted to stop buying dolphins captured during drive hunts conducted by fishermen in Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture. For the past decade, the town has received a great deal of negative publicity because of its dolphin slaughter, and the World Association...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 23, 2015
Lowball nuclear pitch is fooling no one
Earlier this month, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) announced the results of a review of energy production costs, which concluded that nuclear will remain the cheapest alternative for Japan over the next 15 years while pointing out that the calculations took into consideration the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
May 23, 2015
Phone users in Japan still paying for plenty of stuff they don't need
Despite efforts to shake up competition in the cellphone market, consumers are paying more than ever for mobile services.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
May 22, 2015
Queen of Japanese media; king of singer-songwriters; CM of the Week: P&G
Queen of all Japanese media, Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, will celebrate the 10,000th installment of her long-running daily talk show, "Tetsuko no Heya" ("Tetsuko's Room"; TV Asahi, Wed., 12 noon), with two very special guests, Masahiko Kondo and Noriyuki Higashiyama, considered, respectively, the No. 1 and No....
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 16, 2015
JCP gains ground, but not column inches
Years ago a Japanese acquaintance applied for a green card when her American husband decided to move back to the United States. Someone told her she should not say she once voted for the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) during her interview, otherwise U.S. Immigration would reject it. As far as I know,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 9, 2015
It's all fun and games until war breaks out
Not far from where I live is a kind of amusement park where you can play soldier. It has a lot of chain-link fences and gray structures that look like bombed-out buildings. On weekends, men, and sometimes women, dressed in camouflage and armed with replica air rifles, re-enact the kind of military operations...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
May 9, 2015
Stores struggle to adjust in a shrinking Japan
From McDonald's to izakayas and konbinis, food outlets are learning the hard way that as Japan's population drops, so will consumption.
Two of America’s biggest debt holders are dumping Treasurys
The U.S. Treasury building in Washington. Investors in Japan and China sold a pile of U.S. debt in the last quarter, just before the U.S. presidential election.
Russia fired experimental ballistic missile at Ukraine, Putin says
Ukrainian firefighters work on a spot following an airstrike in Dnipro on Thursday.
Ishiba aggravates his own political failures with diplomatic faux pas
Prime Minster Shigeru Ishiba is greeted at the APEC summit in Lima by Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau on Friday. The Japanese leader was criticized for remaining seated while meeting several world leaders at the event.
Japan's 3.31 million visitors in October set monthly record
Kiyomizu Temple in Kyoto in December 2023. Famous autumn leaf colors contributed to increased tourism demand last month from many markets across Asia, Europe and North America, the Japan National Tourism Organization has said.
Japan ranks last in romance satisfaction for second straight year
In a survey of 31 countries, Japan ranked last in terms of those who felt loved, with just 51% of respondents saying so.
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.
Haruki Murakami's 'The City and Its Uncertain Walls' gives deep deja vu
For “The City and Its Uncertain Walls,” translated into English by Philip Gabriel, Haruki Murakami confronts the ghosts who won't leave him alone.

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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