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November 23, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 23, 2012
Public works funds best spent fixing aging infrastructure
Last week's Lower House election was all about what people didn't want — the Democratic Party of Japan — but the issue foremost in voters' minds was the state of the economy, and new prime minister Shinzo Abe has made that his first priority by pledging to boost inflation through monetary easing...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Dec 23, 2012
"Family History"; Top athletes in unimaginable contests; CM of the week: Sato Shokuhi
The portion of resident Korean nationals in the sports and show business worlds is higher than it is in the general population. Athletics and entertainment were and still are two traditional ways for non-Japanese to escape poverty.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 20, 2012
Old technology a threat to publishers' bottom lines
People who like reading books are increasingly getting over the need to own them.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming
Dec 16, 2012
Arashi looks at Japan's future; Christmas and the single woman; CM of the week: Nissan
Boy band Arashi has been getting a lot of work recently from NHK. In addition to their second consecutive hosting gig for the year-end song contest, they've been tapped to navigate "Asu ni Kakeru Tabi" ("Travels Building a Bridge to Tomorrow") a series of five programs, three of which air this week (Mon.-Wed.,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 16, 2012
An aging country learning to adapt
Occasionally in this space I refer to a financial writer called "Gucci-san" who contributes a weekly column to Aera. Apparently, he works for an investment consulting firm that does a lot of work in mergers and acquisitions. In a recent piece he said that some of his clients are involved in importing...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 14, 2012
Working the system: Beware of doctors with private rooms
Doctors have ways of making money outside the insurance system.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 9, 2012
Liberals left behind in turn to the right
The Latin morpheme liber (free) has a lot to answer for. Take the word "liberal," which represented a fairly clear political position until American "conservatives" demonized it. But liberals are not "libertarians." The former are seen to favor government schemes that guarantee the welfare of the populace...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 5, 2012
You can't take it with you: Horse gambler's system stymied by tax law
Bad bet: Osaka man busted by tax authorities over gambling winnings.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 4, 2012
Japan's part-time landlords are overestimating single-tenant needs
In an effort to cut costs, electronics maker Sharp has announced that it is transferring its struggling liquid crystal display business from factories in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, to factories in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. In 2004, the Kameyama facility started making large LCD screens for TVs and more...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Dec 4, 2012
Japan's part-time landowners are overestimating single-tenant needs
In an effort to cut costs, electronics maker Sharp has announced that it is transferring its struggling liquid crystal display business from factories in Kameyama, Mie Prefecture, to factories in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture. In 2004, the Kameyama facility started making large LCD screens for TVs and more...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Dec 2, 2012
Koreeda's daring TV drama stands alone
Once upon a time television was considered much less prestigious than the movies, and then cable and other forms of pay TV showed up. Producers no longer had to think mainly about sponsors and family sensitivities because they could target programs at specific demographics. Delivery delineated content,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 30, 2012
For teachers, the business of education has become even more of a business
Private high schools are relying more and more on part-time teachers.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 25, 2012
Attitude change needed to shake up the workforce
Several weeks ago the head of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde, hung around briefly after the IMF finished up its annual meeting — which happened to be in Tokyo this year — and appeared on a special hourlong edition of NHK's in-depth news show "Closeup Gendai." The topic was working...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 22, 2012
Ishihara's resignation doesn't come cheap
Tokyo taxpayers are going to have to pay a lot for their former governor's capriciousness.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 18, 2012
New universities are big business, needed or not
People who use the Tokyu Toyoko Line, which connects Tokyo and Yokohama, may wonder why there are stations called Toritsu-Daigaku and Gakugei-Daigaku when there are no daigaku (universities) near them. There used to be a Gakugei Daigaku (Tokyo Gakugei University) but it moved to Koganei in 1964. There...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 14, 2012
Theme parks make a comeback thanks to grandma and grandpa
Theme parks and amusement parks are suddenly benefiting from a demographic perfect storm.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 11, 2012
Local media are too vague on Fukushima radiation risk
Earlier this year, NHK rebroadcast a documentary it made in the late 1980s about the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear reactor accident. It showed how the Soviet Union and European countries tested people for effects of radiation throughout the region. Appended to the doc was a discussion with experts who compared...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 8, 2012
Annals of cheap: bananas
Bananas haven't been this cheap in Japan since 1979.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Nov 6, 2012
Danchi housing lets you think outside the usual box
Japanese housing experts have a list of casual terms to describe the layouts of apartments and condominiums: kamaboko (fish paste), yokan-giri (sliced bean jelly), ta no ji (rice paddy ideograph) and chocolate bars. What these terms have in common is geometrical utility. All are rectangles that can be...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 4, 2012
Ishihara resignation a gift for the media
When Shintaro Ishihara announced on Oct. 25 that he was resigning as governor of Tokyo so that he could form a new political party before the next general election, some of the dailies printed gōgai (extra editions) to report it, thus indicating it was really big news that everybody needed to know about...
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.
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.
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.
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.”
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.

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