author

 
Menu
Search
 
November 23, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Twitter

@philipbrasor

Philip Brasor
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 18, 2012
Putting the 'fortune' back in fortune telling
It pays to shop around when looking for a fortune teller.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 18, 2012
Quake insurance is but a token offering
As the government continues to push for an increase in the consumption tax, a question related to last year's disaster is still being debated: How much of the burden for rebuilding should be shouldered by taxpayers? We live in a resolutely capitalist country that stresses personal responsibility, and...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 13, 2012
Electric cars aren't just for driving any more
Electric vehicles now being touted as batteries on wheels.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 11, 2012
Public wary of official optimism
Ambition can sometimes be measured by the amount of deference paid to the established order, so the recently published book "Genpatsu Kiki to Todai Waho," which irreverently analyzes the "parlance of the University of Tokyo" as it was utilized during the early days of the nuclear crisis in Fukushima,...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 10, 2012
The eel deal: Sky's the limit for unagi prices
The shortage of baby eels is suddenly being felt at the restaurant level.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Mar 9, 2012
Japan prepares to commemorate Tohoku tragedy
This Sunday is the first anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the coastline of northeastern Japan and killed more than 15,000 people.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 7, 2012
Money isn't everything for renters…or is it?
When you rent in Tokyo, it's best to start with lower expectations.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 6, 2012
Don't judge a house by its exterior
The house stood out among its neighbors: not because of its box shape or the tall ham-radio tower planted in the parking space, but because of its bold two-tone exterior of wine red interrupted by sections of gray. The company that built it keeps costs down by not erecting model homes, so the salesman...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 4, 2012
Japan's lonely people: Where do they all belong?
In recent weeks, three cases of kodokushi, or "lonely deaths," have been covered extensively in the news. One involved a Saitama Prefecture family of three whose bodies were found in their apartment several months after the electricity and gas were turned off for nonpayment. Police assumed they had starved....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 2, 2012
Civil servants are different, especially when it comes to social security
Two proposals for improving pension schemes seem dead in the water.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 26, 2012
Job-seeking comedy avoids real issues
In 2004, novelist Ryu Murakami published "13-sai no Hello Work," a job guide for 13-year-olds, though most of the copies were bought by adults. The book did not offer practical advice, but rather job descriptions in all lines of work, from engineer to prostitute, in order to give readers an idea of what...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 24, 2012
Yearly statistics put recession into slightly better focus
If it's February, it's time for the government to release its yearly economic statistics.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 20, 2012
Beware of bureaucrats bearing student loans
The government is giving more and more loans to students who can't afford them.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 19, 2012
Feeding tube politics an awkward subject
On Feb. 6, Nobuteru Ishihara, secretary general of the Liberal Democratic Party, recounted on a BS Asahi talk show a visit he recently made to a medical facility where patients were hooked up to gastric feeding tubes, or irō. He said it reminded him of the 1979 science fiction-horror movie "Alien,"...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 17, 2012
So how much do politicians' secretaries make?
Lawmakers' publicly paid secretaries can make a lot of money.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 14, 2012
Economists think about soaking the rich, a little
The government could solve its deficit problems if it taxed savings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 12, 2012
Swindlers continue to scam the elderly out of their savings
Recently, my partner renewed her drivers license and was waiting in line to pay her fee. The clerk asked the elderly man waiting in front of her if he wanted to join the Japan Traffic Safety Association for an additional fee. She rattled off a memorized spiel, and after the intimidated old man assented...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 10, 2012
Automatic dishwashers: the square peg in the round hole of Japanese kitchens
Dishwashers remain a difficult sell in Japan, even to people who already own one.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 7, 2012
Hospitals redefine the meaning of 'weekend getaway'
Government wants patients to wait until Monday to start hospital stays.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 5, 2012
Todai calls for change, but will others follow?
Spring approaches, and the thoughts of the media, which like nothing better than the warm comfort of a predictable news cycle, turn to education. Students are wrapping up the scholastic year and some are taking tests that will determine their lives. Last year, reporters got a bonus; That story 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.
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

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

Longform

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

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’
SWCC keeps changing with keyword ‘new challenges’

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER