author

 
Menu
Search
 
July 17, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Twitter

@philipbrasor

Philip Brasor
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 26, 2012
Candidate deposit requirement guarantees same faces on the ballot
It costs a lot to run for office in Japan, and a lot to lose.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 21, 2012
Enka scandal keeps star in the news
The conflict between Japan and South Korea over Takeshima/Dokdo has spilled over into the entertainment realm. Some Korean actors and K-pop stars have stated publicly that the group of islets belongs to Korea, causing Masayuki Matsumoto, the president of NHK, to express concern. Last month he hinted...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 17, 2012
Clarifying the economic damage of the Senkakus row
Japan's overseas tourist industry can just write off all of 2012 thanks to the two territorial disputes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 14, 2012
Korean film on school bullying rings true in Japan
Last month, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development released statistics for 2009 in which Japan ranked 31 out of 31 developed countries in terms of the portion of GDP spent by the public sector on education. It was the third straight year that Japan placed last.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 12, 2012
Tax auditors running out of cheaters, ponder purpose in life
The economy is so bad, even tax investigators have nothing to do.
CULTURE / Film
Oct 12, 2012
Territorial disputes don't rain on Asia's largest parade of cinema
There was very little talk at the 17th Busan International Film Festival, Asia's biggest movie event of the year, of the ongoing conflict between Japan and South Korea over ownership of those rocks in the Japan Sea. It so happens that the festival's Asian Filmmaker of the Year Award was being given to...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 7, 2012
Animal Welfare Law left neutered
The friction between competing political parties no longer fortifies the effectiveness of lawmaking. If anything it confounds the process. The opposition Liberal Democratic Party has openly vowed to be legislatively uncooperative until the ruling Democratic Party of Japan calls an election, so in order...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 4, 2012
Money for education ends up in the toilet
Officials finally realize that public school lavatories have been neglected too long.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Oct 2, 2012
Second homes may be cheap, but they are often in disrepair
Atami The ad said the property was 2 km from Ajiro Station on the Ito Line, but it was difficult to tell how far we were traveling in the agent's car. Most of the trip was up a steep, winding road into the hills above Atami on the Izu Peninsula, an area developed in the 1970s by the Tokyu Corporation...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 30, 2012
Senkaku issue falls hard from the shelf
Tanaage, which means to put something on the shelf, is a term that pops up often in the coverage of the current imbroglio over the islands that Japan calls the Senkakus. There is disagreement over when China, which calls the islands Diaoyu, started insisting they were its territory, but in any case the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 27, 2012
NHK uses carrot and stick approach to get your money
NHK finds new way to get paid, but there's also a new way to avoid paying.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 25, 2012
Backsliding Japan Post broadens its horizons on all fronts
Is Japan Post proceeding with privatization or backtracking to its old model?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 23, 2012
Scrutiny of Tohoku reconstruction funds needed
Last December there was a mild eruption of indignation when it was reported that some of the money earmarked for reconstruction of areas affected by the earthquake and tsunami of March 2011 would go to protect research whaling from interventionists like Sea Shepherd. Greenpeace and a few other organizations...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 19, 2012
New stats about old folks
Some new numbers about elderly household income and spending.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 16, 2012
Japan's depressing increase in psychoactive drug use
In July, the British pharmaceutical behemoth GlaxoSmithKline reached a $3 billion settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice over the company's illegal marketing of several drugs in the United States. One of these, the antidepressant Paxil, was pushed by GSK salespersons for treating children,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 15, 2012
Fast-food joints hail relaxed rules for U.S. beef, signal end of the world
U.S. beef will be back in a big way come the new year.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 10, 2012
Home centers forcing JA to improve its game for farmers
Home center Komeri has become a potent challenge to JA's farm-sector retail dominance.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 9, 2012
It will take more than a pop group to save Fukushima's reputation
Last March, Tatsuya Yamaguchi of the idol group Tokio told the media that he was determined to someday reopen Dash Village, the farm that he and his bandmates built from scratch as an ongoing project on their long-running Nippon TV series "The Tetsuwan Dash." The farm is in Namie, Fukushima Prefecture,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 5, 2012
Buy now to beat the consumption tax increase ... or don't
The pros and cons of making big-ticket purchases before the consumption tax increase.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 2, 2012
Unwanted pregnancies need to be discussed
Two weeks ago a 17-year-old girl collapsed in a shopping mall in Hiroshima and was rushed to the hospital. At the same time a dead fetus was found on the floor in the corner of the mall's food court. The girl eventually admitted that she had just given birth to the child. On Aug. 9, a cleaning person...
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
China’s economic growth comes in worse than expected
Pedestrians in the Wangfujing shopping area in Beijing on July 11, 2024. China's economic growth in the second quarter was lower than forecast, adding pressure on Chinese leaders to lift confidence at the Chinese Communist Party's third plenum this week.
Kansai airports to increase takeoff and landing slots ahead of Osaka Expo
Kansai International Airport in Izumisano, Osaka Prefecture. The upper limit on the number of takeoff and landing slots at the airport as well as Kobe Airport in Hyogo Prefecture will be raised in spring next year ahead of the 2025 World Exposition in Osaka.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER