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November 23, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
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.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jul 3, 2012
Dip into the history of the Japanese 'system bath'
Japanese people love their evening bath, but tubs in private residences are a relatively recent development. By 1963, only 60 percent of Japanese homes had them. The small amount of living space necessitated by economic reality, not to mention the paucity of indoor plumbing, couldn't accommodate bathrooms,...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 1, 2012
Often-ignored immigration issue raised in new film
Several weeks ago, U.S. President Barack Obama said that he wants to allow younger undocumented immigrants who came to America as children to stay, and last week the Supreme Court struck down some provisions of Arizona's controversial law requiring police to check individuals they suspect of being in...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 28, 2012
Tattoos are forever, which is why they cost so much to remove
It costs 10 times more to remove a tattoo than it cost to apply it.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 24, 2012
Escaped-animal antics are good for ratings
One of the interesting factoids accompanying the escaped-penguin story that delighted the media for the last three months is that Japan has more penguins in captivity than any other country. Tokyo Sea Life Park, the facility from which the male Humboldt penguin in question made his break, has 135. The...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 22, 2012
Police rewards result in arrests, and some frustration
The system of rewards leading to the arrest of fugitives still has some kinks in it.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 18, 2012
Budget airline determined to give passengers their money's worth
Skymark Airlines wants customers to understand what it means to be a 'budget' airline.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 17, 2012
Watami under scrutiny after karōshi
Osaka mayor Toru Hashimoto has been compared to Adolf Hitler in the media for his authoritarian governing style, but on a realistic level he seems more like an overbearing boss. The famous tattoo controversy comes down to the notion that, as mayor, he employs city workers, and since the city's residents...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 15, 2012
Is nursing care insurance making nursing care recipients worse?
As nursing care costs continue to rise, some care items need to be reviewed.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 10, 2012
The public shame of crying poor
Public acts of contrition don't get any more dramatic than comedian Junichi Komoto's May 25 press conference, where he apologized for allowing his mother to collect government welfare payments even though he's made good money himself as a TV personality. Josei Seven, the women's weekly that broke the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink
Jun 8, 2012
Why Japan is so down on British food
Ask any Japanese person what they think of British food, and the common reply will be, "I've heard it's terrible." This universal disdain for British cooking is a result of the usual media prejudice, exacerbated by a confidence among Japanese in their native ability to discern epicurean excellence.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 5, 2012
At times, there's no getting away from the neighbors
The house we were inspecting in Shiroi, Chiba Prefecture, looked better and larger in the photos that the realtor had posted on its website. Those pictures had been taken with a wide angle lens at the eastern side of the house, which bordered a leafy promenade. To the north and south of the house, however,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 4, 2012
Play money: Forgotten fate of foreign currency
Where is all that foreign currency Japanese tourists neglect to spend?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 3, 2012
Homophobic joke goes awry for Beat
On the May 12 edition of the TBS current affairs variety show "Newscaster" comedian "Beat" Takeshi Kitano made a joke about homosexual unions during a discussion of U.S. President Barack Obama's recent comment in support of same-sex marriage. Kitano's mission as the program's resident chief commentator...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 31, 2012
How high is up: Tokyo Skytree boosts economy for some
Tokyo Skytree is a bonanza for some, a headache for others.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 27, 2012
Anniversary of Okinawa's reversion highlights opposing press views
In February, Foreign Minister Koichiro Genba assured the mayor of Iwakuni City and the governor of Yamaguchi Prefecture that Japan would not ask the people they serve to take on "any additional burden" from U.S. forces. Iwakuni already has a Marine Corps air station, and it is thought that the United...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 24, 2012
Banks get tax cut and finally decide to pay up
After six years of profits, banks decide they can afford to pay taxes.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 20, 2012
TV: no longer the drug of the people
Last week, Japan's fifth largest discount electronics retailer, Bic Camera, announced it would soon obtain a 50 percent share of Japan's sixth-largest discount electronics retailer, Kojima, thus making the combined companies Japan's second-largest electronics retailer. Bic operates 34 stores in large...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 18, 2012
Japan Post would prefer to let sleeping dogs, and accounts, lie
With a trillion yen sitting dormant, government is eyeing so-called sleeping savings accounts and banks are getting nervous.
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.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

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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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