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November 22, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 8, 2014
Cosmetics market shifts up in age
The cosmetics industry is looking at potentially booming business.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 6, 2014
Cultural differences shade reactions to robots
It was only right that Disney's new animated feature, "Big Hero 6," opened this year's Tokyo International Film Festival, and that Disney animation head John Lasseter was on hand to introduce it. Lasseter has often said that his career has been greatly influenced by Japanese anime — in particular the...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 5, 2014
What's really behind the drop in home sales?
Thanks to the upcoming snap election, which is being called a referendum for the government's economic policies, everyone is aware that Japan's GDP has worsened since the consumption tax was raised last April. A large portion of this drop is being attributed to declining sales of new houses and condominiums....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 1, 2014
Attitudes about money continue to affect marriage prospects
Unmarried men still don't expect their future spouses to contribute much financially to a household.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 29, 2014
Newspapers take sides on 'Abenomics'
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's dissolution of the Diet has become another point of contention between right- and left-leaning entities in Japan. One of the more revealing responses involved a website set up by a member of a nonprofit organization called Bokura no Ippo ga Nihon wo Kaeru (Our One Step Will...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 24, 2014
Local governments finally getting around to public toilets
There will soon be many more Western-style toilets in Chiba Prefecture's public rest rooms
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 22, 2014
NTV's ideal announcer proves problematic
The current government wants women to demonstrate their full potential in the workplace, which means transcending gender roles and achieving occupational parity with their male counterparts.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 17, 2014
Are Japan's public school teachers paid too much?
Japanese teachers make more money than the world average, but they also work many more hours.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 15, 2014
Tokyo continues to pull people in, which pulls the rest of Japan down
Earlier this month, the government pledged for the zillionth time to "revive" Japan's "regions." Local governments are in danger of vanishing in coming decades due to depopulation, and former Liberal Democratic Party No. 2 Shigeru Ishiba was put in charge of the regional revitalization ministry, which,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 11, 2014
Megabanks start to feel the heat from upstarts
Retailers and IT companies give new meaning to 'full service banking'
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 8, 2014
Media culture is the driving force behind a lack of critical car-safety stories
Last month, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism released the results of tests to evaluate automatic braking functions that some automobile manufacturers now offer. The purpose of the tests, according to a report in the Asahi Shimbun, was to "provide consumers with a set of references...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 4, 2014
The case for a higher consumption tax
If there has to be a tax, the consumption tax may be the fairest.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 1, 2014
Debating the merits of lifetime employment
Some years ago I worked for a language-teaching service that offered in-house classes for companies. One client was a major electronics manufacturer, and many of the students were trained engineers assigned to the sales division.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 31, 2014
Homeowners resume debate on renewables
In September, Kyushu Electric Power announced it would stop buying energy from solar-power suppliers due to over-supply and a lack of transmission capacity, setting off a debate about Japan's dedication to renewable energy. While the decision to halt purchases of solar energy from any supplier whose...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 25, 2014
Blondes have more fun in NHK's morning drama
Two weeks ago I received a message from a reader who asked me to ask NHK why the public broadcaster had changed the name and the hair color of the female protagonist of its new daily 15-minute asa-dora (morning drama series) "Massan," which is based on the life of Masataka Taketsuru, the first person...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 18, 2014
A dark force targets youth at their jobs
In the ongoing discussion about workplace abuse, the media has advanced yet another new term. "Black baito" modifies the already popular phrase "black kigyō," which are companies that manipulate or ignore labor standards in order to get employees to work overtime without pay. "Baito" is an abbreviation...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media
Oct 17, 2014
BIFF 2014 plays down unavoidable controversies
The biggest event of the year for South Korea's film industry is the opening night of the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), which marked its 19th year Oct. 2 to 11. Whether or not they have films screening at the festival, almost all the major Korean movie stars show up and strut the red carpet...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 14, 2014
How employer transportation allowances helped create commuter hell
Why don't more people live closer to their jobs?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 11, 2014
In-debt idols send wrong message to girls
Two weeks ago a female pop group called The Margarines debuted via a Tokyo news conference. Since Japanese show business has no shortage of young women who want to sing and dance in order to "fulfill their dreams," the new ensemble needed a gimmick.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 6, 2014
Foreign tourists expected to take up (some of) the slack in consumption
Food and beverages have been added to the duty-free list.
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.
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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