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July 17, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
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.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 8, 2012
What nobody is saying about Noda's new consumption tax bill
Two weeks ago, the Lower House passed a law to increase the consumption tax to 10 percent by 2015, something Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has been pushing with blinkered, self-sacrificial dedication. Eventual final passage seems inevitable at this point, and so the only aspect deemed worthy of discussion...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 4, 2012
Breaker, breaker: How to conserve energy without thinking too much
There's an easy way to save energy this summer that the utilities don't talk about.
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

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