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November 23, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
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...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 30, 2012
Package funeral services take the (financial) sting out of dying
Cut-rate funeral services have made dying that much easier.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 26, 2012
In the real world if it looks like violence it's violence
On Aug. 15 police in Otsu, Shiga Prefecture, arrested a 19-year-old man for trying to kill the head of the local board of education. The suspect was reportedly angry at the board's failure to properly investigate the suicide of a male junior high school student last October. After the parents of the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 24, 2012
Poorer people passing up cancer screenings
The lower your income, the less likely you'll take advantage of your local cancer screening program.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 19, 2012
Serious island negotiations long overdue
As the adage goes, possession is nine-tenths of the law, though to my knowledge there is no law anywhere that codifies such an equation. The point is, if you actually hold something then it's going to be that much harder for someone else to take it, regardless of that person's claim of ownership. Right...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 15, 2012
Vitamin drinks demonstrate their stamina in the market
Stamina drinks are more popular than ever in Japan.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 12, 2012
Osaka trial highlights Japan's deficient mental-illness facilities
On July 30, the Osaka District Court sentenced a 42-year-old man to 20 years in prison for killing his sister. That's the maximum term for the crime, but it's also four years more than what prosecutors demanded. The reasoning behind the decision of the court, which included lay judges, has provoked an...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 10, 2012
Summertime blues: no place to go or no money to spend?
Fewer people are getting away this summer, probably because they can't afford it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 7, 2012
Electronics makers lead the way in killing off lifetime employment system
If you want guaranteed employment for life, don't get a job with a home electronics maker.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 7, 2012
The size of your dog could depend on your landlord
A 53-year-old woman was recently arrested after she moved out of a 50-sq.-meter rental apartment in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, leaving behind 26 dogs. She hadn't paid her rent for some time and went missing in early June. By the time someone entered her apartment on July 3, one of the dogs was...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 5, 2012
Strong work ethic is no path to better standard of living
Last week I spoke to a non-Japanese economics researcher employed by a Japanese university. He said he was working on a study that compared Spain's current fiscal crisis to Japan's economic situation as a means of determining if the former would suffer the same long-term problems as the latter. I mentioned...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 3, 2012
Somebody has to pay for cheap beer
Alcohol wholesalers get called on the carpet for dumping beer.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 29, 2012
When being first class only gets you a seat in economy
Thanks to international media coverage, everybody in the world is now convinced that the Japan Olympic Committee is sexist. When two of Japan's national soccer teams recently flew to Europe prior to participating in the Olympics, the women's squad was placed in the premium economy section (¥470,000)...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 25, 2012
Wag the dog: Pooch tax more than just a source of revenue
A city in Kansai finds its citizens surprisingly receptive to a tax on dogs.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 22, 2012
Strength in numbers for protesters, but just how many are there?
Ever since last summer, when antinuclear demonstrations materialized in response to the Fukushima nuclear reactor meltdown, there's been an ongoing argument about just how many people show up for these protests. Conventional wisdom says the organizers exaggerate the numbers while the major media underestimate...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 20, 2012
Boomer boom: Businesses tapping consumption where they can find it
Retired people are already single-handedly propping up consumption.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 15, 2012
Better a ban on work drinks than a ban on workers drinking
On July 6, the president of Fuji TV, Ko Toyoda, held a press conference and apologized for a June 9 segment of the variety show "Mecha Mecha Iketeru!" in which a group of celebrities had a drinking contest. Three citizens organizations, including a group of parents of children killed in drunk-driving...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 14, 2012
How to keep your health insurance when you can't pay for it
There's help for people who can't pay their national health insurance premiums.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 10, 2012
Place your bets: Local governments pray for a jackpot
A lottery win can be a jackpot for the local government where the tickets were sold.
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.
U.S. aircraft carrier returns to Japan carrying navy’s ‘most capable fighter’
U.S. 7th Fleet Commander Vice Adm. Fred Kacher speaks to reporters shortly after the arrival of aircraft carrier USS George Washington at Yokosuka naval base in Kanagawa Prefecture on Friday.
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.
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

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