Philip Brasor - The Japan Times

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Oct 12, 2008

Ryu Murakami mistakes consumption for labor

A friend used to call TV Tokyo the "ramen and golf channel." He was referring to the station's penchant for programming centered on food shows and sponsored sports events, which don't cost as much to produce as drama series or celebrity- laden variety shows. However, the station's tightwad image was...

CULTURE / Music

Oct 10, 2008

"British Anthems"

The semiannual rock show "British Anthems" is a bargain: For the price of a major headliner you get to see four or five up-and-coming U.K. bands. Given the fickle nature of the British rock press, which declares some new band the greatest thing since The Smiths at least once a month, there's no reason...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Oct 5, 2008

Diet 'juniors' and Japan's politics of descent

One of the busiest people on TV right now is Daigo Naito, a 30-year-old who dresses and gesticulates like a rock star while speaking in the tones of a narcotized 16-year-old. Daigo isn't a comedian, though his droning delivery elicits laughs, and he's not really a rock star, though he did start his show...

CULTURE / Music

Oct 3, 2008

Jon Cleary and the Absolute Monster Gentlemen

You would assume that anyone who grew up in New Orleans would appreciate that city's unique musical culture better than the transplant would — but sometimes it takes an enthusiastic outsider to show the native just what he's got . . . or lost.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Sep 28, 2008

When is an 'election' not an election?

The personality contest foisted on the public as a campaign for the presidency of the Liberal Democratic Party insulted the intelligence of anyone with a nervous system, and not just because Taro Aso was known to be a shoo-in from the beginning. By presenting five candidates who were supposedly vying...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Sep 21, 2008

Koizumi branded the bad boy in latest food scandal

Most of the recent food-related scandals were motivated by pure greed, so they were easy to understand. The current scandal involving inedible imported rice bought from the government and sold as edible rice is more complicated and raises some questions. How do the governments of the countries that produced...

CULTURE / Music

Sep 19, 2008

The Cool Kids "The Bake Sale"

The story goes that Chicagoans Mikey Rocks and Chuck Inglish got into hip-hop with the idea of producing simple jams to sell to MCs. But as often happens, the two couldn't help but add their own raps over the tracks they made, and then they posted some of them on the Internet. People liked what they...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Sep 14, 2008

Feed, don't fight, Afghanistan

The circumstances surrounding the kidnapping and killing of Japanese aid worker Kazuya Ito in Afghanistan last month remain unclear. In the web journal Japan Focus, Michael Penn conjectures that Ito's death resulted from a "botched effort to abduct him, not . . . premeditated murder." The gunshot wounds...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Sep 7, 2008

Hoshino still getting skewered over Olympic failure

The Beijing Olympics is history, but the debate continues over Japan's showing. Last week, Fuji TV's Sunday night newsmagazine, "Sakiyomi," held a discussion on whether or not the government should increase its budget for Olympic athletes. Three of the four celebrity guests in the studio thought that...

CULTURE / Music

Sep 5, 2008

Cardiff band get Los in translation

Los Campesinos!, a pop septet from Cardiff, Wales, were an inspired choice to open the Marine Stadium stage at Summer Sonic Tokyo last month. Each tune kicks off with a catchy riff and proceeds to burn rocket fuel as lead vocalist Gareth twitches and yelps — nothing the band plays is slow, or even...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 31, 2008

Surrogate path for dads not always as easy as for Ricky

When Puerto Rican pop star Ricky Martin announced on Aug. 21 that he was the father of twin boys born to a surrogate mother, the media reacted cautiously. Martin is single, and for years rumors have circulated that he is gay. Celebrity interviewer Barbara Walters once asked him about this, and he dodged...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 24, 2008

It's time for perfectly cute 50-year-old Japanese women

Madonna turned 50 on Aug. 16. The milestone was marked by a predictable barrage of commentary about "50 being the new 40" and how women no longer dread the half-century mark. Everybody is trying to eat better and exercise more, and cosmetic surgery isn't the big taboo it once was. But since the subject...

CULTURE / Music

Aug 22, 2008

Stereolab "Chemical Chords"

As their name indicates, what Stereolab do is closer to science than art, and one of the hallmarks of science is that through trial and error you improve on yesterday's work. At this point, Tim Gane and Laetitia Sadler, the couple at the creative center of the group, have almost completely abandoned...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 17, 2008

Indonesians put to the test on the job in Japan

When the first group of potential nurses and caregivers arrived from Indonesia on Aug. 7 as part of a new economic partnership agreement (EPA) with Japan, the numbers were confusing. According to the agreement, Japan would accept 500 workers in the first year and facilities throughout Japan said they...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 10, 2008

Celebrity rules as the Olympics strays far from its ideal

The big story this year in competitive swimming is the LZR Racer swimsuit, which was developed by the British sportswear manufacturer Speedo. At least six world records have been set by swimmers wearing the suit. Studies have shown that its drag-diminishing properties lower racing times by 1.9 to 2.2...

CULTURE / Music

Aug 7, 2008

Mad about deke-deke-deke

The Ventures' 1962 trip to Japan sparked the "eleki boom." Thousands of young men bought electric guitars and taught themselves how to play. As a movement it worried their elders, who believed such distractions were an obstacle to schoolwork, or worse.

CULTURE / Music

Aug 7, 2008

The Ventures: Still rocking after 50 years

The Ventures have just finished playing 33 songs in the space of two hours in front of some enthusiastic, though seated, middle-aged fans at the Hokutopia concert hall in Tokyo. Kazushi Kojima, who calls himself a "philosopher," is there with his son. He's been attending Ventures shows for 30 years.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Aug 3, 2008

The obsession over those dumbed down cute mascots

Japan is overrun with cute mascots. They represent everything from chain stores to police departments, and for the past decade or so there has been a marked increase in the popularity of one species of mascot called "yuru-kyara." The second half of this word stands for "character," while "yuru" is from...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jul 27, 2008

Cancerlike corruption thrives in heads of bureaucrats

The ongoing investigation into charges of bribery and employment-rigging in the Oita prefectural school system has occasioned more than the usual amount of harsh commentary you hear when public servants do bad things. That's probably because in this case it is believed that the minds of innocent youths...

CULTURE / Music

Jul 25, 2008

Cassandra Wilson

We're getting around to the realization that the 1990s saw the most innovation in popular music since the '60s — and that realization encompasses even staid subgenres such as vocal jazz, which most aficionados believe is just fine as long as it sticks to the pre-'60s canon. Cassandra Wilson probably...

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