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April 08, 2025
 

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Philip Brasor
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 26, 2010
Home truths: To buy or not to buy?
During a recent sojourn in the United States, I talked with friends and relatives about the housing situation, specifically the value of their homes in the wake of the subprime fiasco of 2007-08. Those who bought high just before the bubble burst are feeling queasy now that property values have descended...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 24, 2010
No need to feel sorry for the Incubator babies
Will the fail of the Incubator Bank have a chilling effect on 'high risk-high return' investments? Care to make a wager?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 19, 2010
Domestic media hangs on Chiba's every comment
In July, Justice Minister Keiko Chiba signed execution orders for two death row inmates and then attended their hangings. Many people were puzzled because Chiba, an attorney, had been opposed to the death penalty. She said that she was under no pressure to sign the orders and that there weren't any political...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 18, 2010
Is one subway system better than two?
Would merging the Tokyo Metro and Toei produce a profit, or more importantly, lower fares for commuters?
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 16, 2010
Government organ sets sights on student-loan scofflaws
The knock-on effect of the recession has led to less job openings for college graduates and more delinquent student loans.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 15, 2010
Wedding planners make killing despite recession, population drop
The recession doesn't appear to be deterring couples who want to spend yen on the Big Day.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 12, 2010
Could public polls sway DPJ vote?
According to major media opinion polls, if the choice of who will lead the country was up to the populace, Prime Minister Naoto Kan would retain his position against fellow Democratic Party of Japan member Ichiro Ozawa's challenge to the party presidency and the premiership.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2010
Roberts finally makes it to Japan — but was it worth the wait?
Does Julia Roberts hate Japan? The local media were obsessed with this question prior to the Hollywood star's first-ever trip here last month to promote her new film, "Eat Pray Love," based on Elizabeth Gilbert's best-selling memoir about her journeys to Italy, India and Indonesia.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 9, 2010
Car makers try to stave off the inevitable
The offer of tax rebates on eco-friendly cars ends Sept. 30, but car makers, happy with high sales, are sweetening the deal.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 6, 2010
Tower of Power: Record stores aren't dead yet
Another record chain bites the dust, but as Tower Records is proving, that doesn't mean there isn't money to be made in the music retail biz.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 5, 2010
Fertility issue pregnant with discord
In 2004, Diet lawmaker Seiko Noda wrote a book titled "Watashi wa Umitai" ("I Want to Give Birth"), which chronicled her years of infertility treatments and the subsequent pregnancy that ended in miscarriage. Two years later she ended her six-year relationship with fellow politician Yosuke Tsuruho, who...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Sep 2, 2010
The upside and downside of the heat wave, fruit-wise
When global warming gives you a heat wave, grow more tropical fruit.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 30, 2010
Do you know Yucho?
Japan's post office launches a campaign to promote the convenience of opening postal savings accounts. City folk, too, might want to look into it.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 29, 2010
Racy pop distracts from lip service
In April, China's Culture Ministry fined two young women 50,000 yuan (¥625,000) each for lip-syncing during performances in the city of Chengdu last year. The authorities characterize this edict against "fake singing" as a kind of truth-in-advertising rule, but most people think it was an overreaction...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 24, 2010
Last resorts: Vacation condos dirt cheap
If you're looking to buy a little hideaway in the mountains, the time is right. 'Resort mansion' can currently be had for bargain basement prices.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 22, 2010
Families dictate Japan's economic fate
Though everybody saw it coming, the announcement last week that China's economy supplanted Japan's as the second largest in the world shocked many people. It matters little that China's sheer size makes its dominance inevitable. What matters is that Japan's 42-year run as the world's No. 2 is over, and...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 20, 2010
McDonald's sticks its Big Mac where it's not wanted
Taking a tip from the gyudon wars earlier this year, McDonald's drops its Big Mac price to a low u00a5200.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 18, 2010
Redefining the minimum wage in an age of no expectations
The DPJ wants to raise minimum wage to u00a5800 but is that high enough to decrease the number of 'working poor'?
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 16, 2010
Annals of cheap: High yen supermarket discounts
The strong yen hasn't exactly translated to lower prices on imported goods but supermakets are passing along the profits nonetheless.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 15, 2010
Missing seniors unravel family ties
The Japanese media are currently obsessed with the notion of old people disappearing from the face of the Earth without anyone knowing about it, including loved ones.
Nissan says it will not take new U.S. orders for Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs
A Nissan manufacturing complex in Aguascalientes, Mexico. Nissan says it will not take new orders from the United States for two Mexican-built Infiniti SUVs following new auto tariffs levied by the U.S.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Nikkei plunges in third-biggest daily loss ever amid Trump tariff concerns
Pedestrians stand in front of an electronic board showing the numbers of the Nikkei Stock Average on the Tokyo Stock Exchange along a street in the Japanese capital on Monday.
Ride-hailing services spreading in Japan
Vehicles used for ride-hailing services in the city of Kiryu, in Gunma Prefecture
Taiwan eyes zero tariffs with U.S., pledges more investment
Kids view the area from a lookout point over cranes and containers at the Port of Keelung, Taiwan, on Thursday.
‘Let’s make it practical’: NATO chief eyes greater defense-industrial ties with Japan
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte plans to visit Japan on Tuesday and Wednesday — his first to the Indo-Pacific region since taking office in October, as he seeks to implement lessons from the ongoing war in Ukraine.
Tottori takes a bold leap forward in the arts
The city of Kurayoshi in Tottori Prefecture celebrated the opening of its public art museum with festivities such as a parade that drew 1,000 revelers.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.

Podcast

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

Longform

An ongoing shortage of rice has resulted in rising prices for Japan's main food staple.
Why Japan is running out of rice — and farmers to grow it
By Alex K.T. Martin

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