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Philip Brasor
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 15, 2009
Movie JAL doesn't want you to see snubbed by media
Big-budget movies need all the help they can get recovering their production and promotional costs at the box office, so advertisements stating that the 3 1/2-hour epic "Shizumanu Taiyo" ("The Sun That Doesn't Set") is a "big hit" should be taken with a grain of salt. First of all, every movie released...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 12, 2009
Pet cremation goes mobile
When your pooch or kitty expires in Tokyo, you can't just bury it out back. Which explains why mobile pet crematoriums are such a growth business.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 9, 2009
Can aliens buy music more cheaply?
While many industry types are convinced the Web is bad for the music business, they're actually are people who want to PAY for their songs.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 8, 2009
Japan's roundabout road issue
One of the most contentious components of the Democratic Party of Japan's manifesto is the pledge to make all expressways free. In media survey after media survey, the portion of respondents who don't support the proposal has been consistently between 60 and 65 percent. The Liberal Democratic Party has...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 5, 2009
Annals of cheap: Daigoro
For a bargain-basement drink, One Cup Ozaki will do the trick, but for the big cheap buzz, Daigoro shochu is the king.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Nov 2, 2009
Chiyoda Ward wants you to ride your bicycle
A lack of bicycle parking spaces doesn't make cycling so attractive in the city but at least Chiyoda Ward seems to be moving in the right direction.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 1, 2009
Japanese food-safety label protects business foremost, and not people
It's wise to take any advertisement claim with a grain of salt, and some products invite not just skepticism but downright disbelief. Commercials for hair restoration aids may not actually state they will return your bald pate to a state of hirsute lushness, but they nevertheless get your hopes up toward...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 30, 2009
Prospective homeowners logging in to customization
Once considered 'second homes,' custom-made log houses are becoming more popular as first homes.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 27, 2009
Mystery train
How do you increase commuters when train fares are too high? Ask the land/transportation ministry for a break.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 25, 2009
Ishihara was ignorant of fact Olympics bid never had a hope — and we must pay price
Ever since Tokyo lost out on hosting the 2016 Summer Olympics the local media has been discussing what the Japan Olympic Committee (JOC) did wrong. In particular, they analyzed the presentations given by Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara and a group of former and future Olympians before the International...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 24, 2009
Seven-burger army
In time for the Windows 7 launch, Burger King offers a 7-patty whopper for u00a5777. That's a mouthful ... if you eat them all at once.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 23, 2009
Pusan fest revels in all films Asian
South Korea's biggest box-office hit of the year is the disaster movie "Haeundae," which has been seen by 11.3 million Koreans. The title refers to the beach-resort area of Pusan, where from Oct. 8-16 the 14th annual Pusan International Film Festival took place. In fact, most of the festival is held...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 22, 2009
Comparative payoffs
Considering housing as an investment in Japan? You might want to compare the PER (price earnings ratio) in different areas.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 18, 2009
Jeans on the cheap
Discount chain Don Quijote underbids everyone in the 'three-digit jeans price war.' How low will they go?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 18, 2009
Professor, schoolgirl share victim status in grope case
Last April, the Supreme Court reversed a Tokyo High Court decision that found Masahiro Nakura, a professor of medicine at the Self-Defense Forces University, guilty of being a chikan (groper) after he was charged with sexually assaulting a 17-year-old high school girl on the Odakyu train line in 2006....
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 16, 2009
This tax's for you
A new political regime threatens to flatten the frothy head of profits that brewers have been enjoying with their tax-proof 'daisan' beers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 12, 2009
Won on the wane
Never better time to spend that yen in South Korea, where despite an inflation, the duck and movie tickets are a bargain.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 11, 2009
Japan's No. 1 playboy hardly a lady- killer
Talk-show host David Letterman obviously did the right thing when during a recent monologue he confessed to having had sex with some of his female staff. He made the admission to pre-empt news that he had been blackmailed for his indiscretions, but whatever the revelation said about Letterman's lack...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 8, 2009
Annals of cheap: Takeya
The discount behemoth Takeya, located near Okachimachi Station, gets by on volume and an almost neurotic obsession with using space effectively.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 6, 2009
Got JAL miles?
The final fate of JAL aside, frequent flyer customers need to think about what to do with all those miles today.

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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?