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November 22, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 9, 2015
Retiring boomers make their last stand on the real estate market
An increasing number of retirees are opting for high-rise living in their twilight years.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 7, 2015
A changing Japan needs to rethink how to safeguard children
On Christmas Day last year, a 17-year-old boy was sent to prison by the Saitama District Court for the murder of his maternal grandparents. Prosecutors demanded an indefinite sentence, but the court gave him 15 years after taking the boy's "environment" into consideration.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Feb 6, 2015
Renting comes with guarantors, not guarantees
According to the most recent census, as of 2010 the population of Japan stood at a little less than 128 million, and if demographic trends continue at the current rate it will be 107 million in 2030 and 97 million in 2050. Despite this projected decline, 369,993 new rental units were built in Japan last...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 2, 2015
Hair-care industry has anxious consumers coming and going
An underground health movement says over-shampooing leads to hair loss.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 31, 2015
Goverment's pension manga displays some pretty old values
On Jan. 12, people who will turn 20 this year attended ceremonies marking Coming-of-Age Day at auditoriums run by local governments. Some wore outrageous getups as final statements of youthful folly before "entering society" and some exercised their entitlement by getting drunk and acting out, but most...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 26, 2015
Where's the milk? School lunches no longer sacred cows
The cost of a school lunch is now higher than the average salaryman's lunch.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 24, 2015
Mika Mifune gets ready for some serious 'me' time
Historian Daniel J. Boorstin once defined a celebrity as someone who is "known for his well-knownness" — a person famous for being famous. Though many celebrities have talent and other attributes that draw attention, it is easier to gain notoriety passively by being related to someone who already has...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 19, 2015
More convenience stores adopting restaurant functions, and vice versa
Consumers are adopting a more casual attitude toward eating out.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 17, 2015
Snark levels were on full blast for 'Kohaku'
The 2014 edition of NHK's venerated song contest, "Kohaku Uta Gassen," broadcast on Dec. 31, was remarkable for several reasons, though the performance that generated the most remarks was the one by the equally venerated pop-rock group Southern All Stars, their first on the show in 31 years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 13, 2015
Cheap smokes finally going up in price
Until the tobacco prices went up in 2010, third-class cigarette sales were very low.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 10, 2015
Dull and authentic beats out polished TV
Another New Year's break, another two-week onslaught of inconsequential television programs based on the variety show model of comedians talking about themselves, watching videos of other people doing supposedly interesting things and playing games whose main entertainment function is humiliation. The...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 5, 2015
Show me the money: Who paid for what in the Lower House election
The government spent u00a563 billion on the recent Lower House election
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 3, 2015
The highlights of Japanese media in 2014
My choices for the most significant public phenomena of last year are associated with traditional media rather than the social kind, which isn't to say these phenomena didn't impact social media and vice versa, only that TV, newspapers and magazines still affect our perception of the world.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jan 2, 2015
Property borders: Where to draw the line
Some years ago we lived in western Kawasaki, Kanagawa Prefecture, in a neighborhood that clung to the contours of a hilly terrain. Many of the streets were just dirt and gravel, even though the area was fully developed. Neighbors told us that they had been trying to get the local government to pave these...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 29, 2014
Consumer stimulus is not the same as welfare, though the purpose is the same
There may still be time to apply for the government's one-time welfare handout.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 27, 2014
Abe isn't impressed with media criticism
The most talked-about media moment from the Lower House election on Dec. 14 was the victory interview Prime Minister Shinzo Abe gave to Nippon TV.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 22, 2014
Annals of cheap: Narita express buses
Narita Airport is still inconvenient for Tokyoites, but now getting there is less expensive.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 20, 2014
Weeklies walk a fine line in scandal reporting
In her regular column in the Dec. 11 issue of Shukan Bunshun, novelist Mariko Hayashi blasted the weekly magazines, including Bunshun, for failing to follow up on a scandal that, under normal circumstances, should have been right up their alley. The daughter of the late Osaka-based singer and TV host,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 15, 2014
Deflation Watch: bean sprouts
Bean sprout producers are demanding retailers pay higher prices than the retailers are willing to pay.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 13, 2014
Fight or flight: Narita's history of conflict
The recent increase in international flights in and out of Haneda Airport has clearly pleased Tokyo residents, who, since the late 1970s, have had to trek out to Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture when they wanted to go overseas.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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