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COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Mar 26, 2001

Russians living 'la vida loca'

This semester I am teaching a Dostoevsky course. Implausible plots, stumbling dialogues, everybody in love with everybody, romantic triangles overlap like mating frogs, passions mount, money changes hands and is thrown into the fire -- the normal Dostoevsky stuff.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 15, 2001

Soccer lottery: A tax to fund bureaucrats' whims

The worst thing about the new soccer lottery system may be its name. "Toto" is taken from the Italian word totocalcio, which is the name of a similar lottery that has been in place in Italy for more than 50 years.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 18, 2001

Meet your future friend, Mr. Roboto

One of the formative experiences of my childhood was the New York World's Fair of 1962-63, where America's great and beneficent corporations introduced consumers to the future. The memory that sticks with me most is of Bell Telephone's "picture phone," which we were told would be widely in use by the...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 1, 2001

Progress alone won't be enough

IT, shorthand for information technology, was a buzzword in Japan in 2000. Never before had computers and the Internet caused such a furor in the media. To be sure, IT had created a boom several times in the past, but its impact had been confined to the corporate sector. In contrast, the latest boom...
BUSINESS
Dec 7, 2000

DDI joins hands with Hakuhodo

The nation's second-largest telecommunications carrier DDI Corp., known as KDDI, said Wednesday it has formed a joint venture with advertising agency Hakuhodo Inc. and three other firms to run ads on its mobile-phone Internet services.
COMMENTARY
Aug 29, 2000

Japan sits out antismoking campaign

While attending the 11th World Conference on Tobacco or Health from Aug. 7 in Chicago, I was very impressed by the enthusiasm of participants seeking tighter controls on smoking. The first conference, hosted by the American Cancer Society, was held in New York in 1967. The latest conference was hosted...
ENVIRONMENT
Aug 3, 2000

Eco-conscious but comfortable: making environmentalism hip

Last year when advertising agencies asked Kazumi Oguro what his rival magazine was, he replied: "I wouldn't have to put out a new magazine if there was a rival."
COMMUNITY / How-tos / GETTING THINGS DONE
May 24, 2000

Contrasts everywhere

We all know generalizations are dangerous, we shouldn't make them, but we do, especially when there is considerable evidence to support them. Japanese conformity is an example, though we must acknowledge that there is much to suggest a contrasting, imaginative individuality. For example, five perfectly...
JAPAN
Dec 30, 1999

Gay magazine Fabulous targets lifestyles of 'matured' community

Staff writer Five years working as supervisor of a mainly pornographic gay magazine convinced Toh Ogura, 38, that gays in Japan need a lifestyle magazine. Although a handful of pornographic magazines have been available, no lifestyle magazine targeted gays before Ogura started Fabulous in November....
JAPAN / Media
Dec 30, 1999

A recap of 1999's top media: mavens, meddlers, madmen

By Philip Brasor
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 30, 1999

Russia's Jewish homeland: a Stalinist experiment in social engineering lingers on

BIROBIDZHAN, RUSSIA -- Mikhail Kul was a soldier in the Soviet Army that helped defeat Germany in 1945, but he returned home to find that the Holocaust had emptied his Ukrainian village of most of its inhabitants.
JAPAN
Nov 3, 1999

26-year-old aims to be online ad king

Staff writer
JAPAN
Jun 2, 1999

Dentsu revenues fall first time in five years

Advertising king Dentsu Inc. said Wednesday that its pretax profit and operating revenues for the business year ended March 31 dropped for the first time in five years.
LIFE / Digital / CYBERIA
May 5, 1999

Looking for something?

Run a Web search and what do you get? Often it's a lot more than you bargained for. I'm not talking about the reams of irrelevant, redundant and irretrievable data that often gets tangled in your throw net. (You should know by now that you're bound to get a certain amount of this stuff no matter how...
JAPAN
Feb 23, 1998

Overseas calls made free, after word from our sponsor

Staff writer
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Jun 13, 2023

Tesla's shrewdest product is proving to be its charging network

Selling a car is one thing; selling consumers an EV fueling experience is another, and one that provides an ongoing revenue stream.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
May 17, 2023

Online search giants take rivalry to new arena with integrated AI

The classic search-and-click is getting a major makeover as bots ChatGPT, Bard and Bing see hundreds of millions of web surfers seek answers to life's questions in a new way.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics / FOCUS
Apr 22, 2023

As Ron DeSantis stumbles, anti-Trump Republicans fear a rerun in 2024 campaign

While the party's nomination race is still in its early days, the angst among 'Never Trumpers' is a sign the former president could be gaining momentum over Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Mar 19, 2023

What happens when your AI chatbot stops loving you back?

Some companies that found an audience seeking romantic and sexual relationships with chatbots are now pulling back.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / FOCUS
Jul 16, 2023

How the deteriorating Twitter experience affects its prized Japan market

Concerns are growing over the fate of the site following a series of revisions since Elon Musk acquired it that have prompted a chorus of complaints by users and companies.
Japan Times
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jun 26, 2023

Japan's new ban on stealth marketing won't hold influencers to account

Only advertisers such as companies will be held liable for violations, leaving questions about the effectiveness of the regulation set to come into effect in October.
More than 30 samples of drugs made by Synokem, including generic abortion pills, have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators and public health researchers since 2018.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2023

Global abortion pill provider buys from maker with poor quality record

More than 30 samples of drugs made by Delhi-based Synokem Pharmaceuticals have failed quality tests conducted by Indian regulators.
Imma, a virtual influencer, is the face of Nomura’s new campaign for tax-free investment accounts.
BUSINESS
Aug 4, 2023

Nomura hires virtual influencer to coax Japan’s young investors

Boosting individual investments is particularly crucial as the country's baby-boomer generation passes on their assets to a younger generation.
The Internal Revenue Service headquarters in Washington. A conservative group's charge that a liberal network is abusing its tax-exempt status mirrors similar allegations made against a right-wing activist.
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2023

U.S. ‘dark money’ donor groups trade accusations of tax evasion

Though the allegations by both sides are partisan, legal experts say the concerns they raise have been taken seriously by the IRS in the past.
An air raid shelter converted into luxury apartments at Ungererstrasse 158 in Munich, Germany
BUSINESS / Economy / ANALYSIS
Sep 4, 2023

Market flop: How Germany's property boom ended

The country's property sector in Europe's largest economy is suffering its worst slump in decades.
Major Japanese food and beverage maker Asahi Group Holdings made the decision not to feature Johnny's talents in its future sales promotion activities "to prevent itself from promoting human rights violations by a business partner."
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 9, 2023

Asahi to end use of Johnny's personalities in ads

The major Japanese food and beverage maker made the decision "to prevent itself from promoting human rights violations by a business partner."
Japan's HII-A rocket carrying a lunar lander is prepared for launch at Tanegashima Space Centre on Tanegashima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture on Aug. 27.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 6, 2023

Yes, we do need another moonshot — or five

This renewed interest in moon landings is stoking fears of increased rivalry and another arms race.
An increasing number of companies are saying they won't use Johnny & Associates performers in new commercials.
BUSINESS / Companies
Sep 12, 2023

More companies move away from Johnny’s over sex abuse scandal

Many firms say they won't work with the agency again until it hears how Johnny's will help the victims and prevent further incidents.

Longform

Construction takes place on the Takanawa Gateway Convention Center in Tokyo, slated to open in 2025.
A boom for business tourism in Japan?