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July 17, 2024
 

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Philip Brasor
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 17, 2011
Post-disaster business opportunities attracting wrong kind of enterprises
Yakuza groups are allegedly giving out money to evacuees in order to secure favors for future business.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 15, 2011
Cheap BBQ meat boss pays a high price for being variety show favorite
Since the earthquake of March 11, there's been a lot of bowing and kneeling on TV. Everywhere the executives of Tokyo Electric Power Co. go in the Tohoku region, they are compelled to not only bend over for residents of the area, but in some cases get down on the ground and perform dogeza, the act of...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 14, 2011
Only chumps recharge their cell phones at home
All mobile phone service providers offer free recharging services at sales outlets, though some offer more than others.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 9, 2011
The economics of scapegoating vending machines
Vending machines have become the symbol of energy-wasting this summer in Tokyo.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 8, 2011
New drama addresses the politics of surrogate pregnancy in Japan
Keiko Matsuzaka started out as a glamorous ingenue who sang and acted. Her career didn't differ greatly from those of other late Showa Era (1926-89) idols, except that she gave in to the unflattering changes her body underwent after entering middle age. Most other actresses who are still working in their...
CULTURE / Music
May 5, 2011
New record label Pachinko starts up despite uncertain times
In 2010, legal downloads of music in Japan increased marginally over 2009, but CD sales were down by 12 percent, and sales by foreign artists, both imports and nihonban (domestically manufactured discs), by 15 percent. It doesn't sound like the best time to start a new record label featuring overseas...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 3, 2011
Reality check: Condo repair funds not enough
Condominium owners may be discouraged to learn that the repair fund they pay into once a month won't be enough to fix their broken buildings.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 1, 2011
Tohoku charity a minefield for Japanese celebrities
One of the worst-kept secrets on television is the location of Dash Village, a remote farm that was built by the boy band Tokio in the late 1990s. It has since been maintained by the quintet as part of a running feature on their Sunday night Nihon TV variety show "Tetsuwan Dash," and in order to discourage...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 29, 2011
Let them rent mansions: Compensation for disaster victims will barely make a difference
Compensation in the form of donations and government grants are finally starting to reach disaster victims. Will it be enough?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 24, 2011
Decentralizing Tokyo may save the nation
The concentration of money and power in Tokyo is to a degree unthinkable in the United States. — Edward Seidensticker
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 23, 2011
Disasters kill appetite for travel during Japan's high season
The aftershocks of the March 11 quake will be strongly felt in the tourism industry come this Golden Week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 19, 2011
Summer electricity shortage countermeasure: Make your own
Nuclear power? Who needs it, when you've got this free and safe sun and the wind? Right? Right?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 15, 2011
Hiromi Uehara
Among young jazz pianists, Hiromi Uehara has an undeserved reputation for being noncerebral. Because of her bubbly personality and antic stage demeanor, some people see in her a musician who gets by exclusively on instinct and spur-of-the-moment inspiration. For sure, she loves to show off, and her live...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 15, 2011
Chara "Dark Candy"
Twenty years after her debut Chara still sounds like an 8-year-old with an irrepressible urge to act out. Even as she enters middle age, it's a role she manages to pull off without sounding precious or contrived, and despite the somewhat stern expression she wears on the cover of her new album, she now...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 14, 2011
Consumers suddenly rushing back to pariah produce
Two weeks ago shoppers were shunning produce from the Tohoku area; now they can't get enough of it.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 10, 2011
Ishihara may just benefit from 'divine retribution'
There are 11 men vying today for the office of Tokyo governor. Four are taken seriously by the media, the eccentric inventor Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu is humored as a perennial also-ran, and the remaining six are dismissed as margin-dwellers who are in the game to draw attention to themselves or advocate...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 8, 2011
Disaster area quickly becomes huge automobile market
Automakers will find the silver lining in the tsunami disaster: All those destroyed cars will have to be replaced.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 5, 2011
Earthquake insurance put to the test
How will Japanese insurance companies deal with the Great Eastern Japan Earthquake, the biggest natural disaster in almost a century?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 3, 2011
Japanese antinuclear voices are still struggling to be heard
On March 26, NHK covered an antinuclear power demonstration in Germany that attracted thousands of protesters. The report pointed out that the demonstration was sparked by the crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear reactor. The next day, there was a march by Japanese antinuke protesters in Tokyo. Though...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 2, 2011
Small businesses ask for restraint with the self-restraint
People are being asked to restrain themselves for the sake of the victims of the earthquake/tsunami, but some are questioning if it's a good idea.
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
Japan finds a 'stealth' cure for zombie businesses: Let them fail
A worker at Sakai Seisakusyo prepares to transport metal rods at its factory in Kakamigahara, Gifu Prefecture, on July 8.
Trump makes his grand RNC entrance with a bandaged ear and a VP pick
Former U.S. President Donald Trump during the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Monday
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.
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

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