Philip Brasor - The Japan Times

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jun 25, 2006

Who needs a trial when the media has hanged, drawn and quartered the accused?

Cynicism comes naturally to members of the tabloid press, who report sensational news in a sensational way and rarely think about what exactly it is they're doing. All they care about is the gory details. However, their coverage of the murder of a 7-year-old boy last month in Akita Prefecture and the...

CULTURE / Music

Jun 23, 2006

Sonic Youth "Rather Ripped"

Ever since Kim Gordon sang about her friend Goo, she has epitomized what's great about Sonic Youth as a rock band.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jun 18, 2006

NHK's public service is to take your money and run . . . bad TV

Fans of baseball star Ichiro Suzuki had reason to be mad at NHK two weeks ago. The Seattle Mariners outfielder was on the verge of his 2,500th career hit, one of the game's rare milestones, which was predicted to happen some time between June 6 and 9. However, the public broadcaster, whose BS-1 satellite...

CULTURE / Music

Jun 16, 2006

Dirty Three

Instrumental post-rock comes in two distinct forms: pseudo-jazz that flirts with odd time signatures and knotty arrangements (Tortoise and the Thrill Jockey crew), and guitar bands who play two chords over and over while messing with dynamics (Godspeed You! Black Emperor, Mogwai). Then there's Dirty...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jun 11, 2006

Stick-thin, gay, or preferably both -- a television career awaits

Truth in advertising has never been strictly enforced in Japan, especially with regard to health-related claims. Breweries can get away with promoting "low-calorie" beers as weight-loss aids, while pharmaceutical makers sell vitamin supplements that claim to do everything from clear up your skin to help...

CULTURE / Music

Jun 9, 2006

Pet Shop Boys "Fundamental"

Desperate times call for desperate measures, so as England and New Labour hurtle into the void, Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe retake the dance floor for all the not-so-young dudes who long for a more compassionate, morally relative world.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Jun 4, 2006

The boys in blue got better things to do than ticket you

Local authorities nationwide started implementing a new policy to crack down on illegal parking last Thursday. Most people welcome stricter enforcement, since it presumably means safer streets and a smoother traffic flow. But there are many who don't like the new system, in particular people who operate...

CULTURE / Music

Jun 2, 2006

The Can't See / moools

The key to making it as an indie band is networking, if for no other reason than to secure a couch to crash on when you arrive in an unknown town for a one-night stand. John Atkins is a respected Seattle-based singer-songwriter-guitarist who came to prominence as the leader of the emo duo 764-HERO and...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

May 28, 2006

'Patriotism' a useful tool for the government to meddle in education

"I Am a Patriot" was a song released by "Little Steven" Van Zandt in 1984. In it, he sang that he loved his country because "my country is all I know." It's worth mentioning as the controversy over the use of "patriotism" in the revision of the Fundamental Law of Education continues to make headlines....

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

May 21, 2006

Ishihara flies over the hurdles toward his own 2016 Olympic gold

Politicians often get elected because of promises they make. In his one term as governor of Tokyo, comedian Yukio Aoshima didn't accomplish anything noteworthy, but he did keep the one promise that got him elected: He canceled the World City Exposition that many constituents thought would be a waste...

CULTURE / Music

May 19, 2006

Pink "I'm Not Dead"

The title of Alecia "Pink" Moore's latest album is meant to be confrontational, but it's also confusing. Dead? Sure, she got married, and some of her 'tween fans might assume it amounts to the same thing. Or maybe it's because her last album only did platinum instead of multi-platinum? Not as self-consciously...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

May 14, 2006

Bewitching tales of when a foreign woman takes a Japanese man

Though it boasts one of the highest living standards in the world and a crime rate that is low compared to other developed countries, many of its citizens believe that Japan is a very difficult place to live for non-Japanese. The most commonly held reason for this belief is that the language and social...

CULTURE / Music

May 12, 2006

Raunchy blues-rock duo takes audiences on a trip

If music writers were more creative, the term "garage band" wouldn't be used in so cavalier a fashion.

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

May 7, 2006

So what did Yokota's trip to the United States really achieve?

National interest is in the eye of the beholder. For example, Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi traveled to Ethiopia and Ghana last week to offer aid, but also to reinvigorate the African Union's support for reform of the U.N. Security Council, of which Japan still hopes to become a permanent member....

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 30, 2006

Harking back to the past in order to secure the immediate future

Thanks to continuing malfeasance on the part of some of its employees, NHK remains in the dog house, so it's tempting to view recent programming decisions with an eye for how they might boost the public broadcaster's standing among subscribers. For example, why has NHK revived not one, not two, but four...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 23, 2006

Has pachinko got the balls to survive if casinos are legalized?

In February, the Liberal Democratic Party formed a team to study the possibility of lifting the ban on casino gambling in Japan. About half of Japan's prefectures, as well as Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara, have said they want to build casino resorts to attract foreign tourists.

CULTURE / Music

Apr 21, 2006

The Editors/We Are Scientists

Is the current postpunk revival the second or the third? Having lost count around the time Interpol hired a full-time stylist, I've become jaded about influences. So when The Editors' Tom Smith rejects suggestions that he must have listened to Echo and the Bunnymen as a kid and says he preferred R.E.M.,...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 16, 2006

Unlike with the French, a lack of fight spells future gloom for Japan's workers

While traveling through Europe recently I tried to get a handle on the controversy surrounding France's now abandoned First Job Contract (CPE) law, which was meant to make it easier for companies to hire young people. However, those same young people thought the law would make it easier for companies...

CULTURE / Music

Apr 14, 2006

The Rogers Sisters "The Invisible Deck" (Too Pure/Hostess)

Rock musicians manifest the confrontational mode in many different ways, and New York's The Rogers Sisters utilize most of them. A classic power trio that has absorbed every trick the configuration has yielded over the years, the group works up from the kind of precision noise that sisters Jennifer and...

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX

Apr 9, 2006

Bringing the lady-makes-tea debate to the boil

In the early 1990s I interviewed a representative of the vending machine industry who told me that one of the most revolutionary developments in his business was the installation of coffee and tea dispensers in new office buildings. "Think of it," he said excitedly, "women office workers will no longer...

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