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July 17, 2024
 

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MEDIA MIX

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 29, 2008
Akihabara killer followed plot mapped by the media
After serial killer Tsutomu Miyazaki was hanged on June 17, some death-penalty opponents wondered out loud if Justice Minister Kunio Hatoyama had signed the execution order as a response to the indiscriminate murders of seven people on the streets of Akihabara nine days earlier. Of course, Hatoyama didn't...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 22, 2008
How can the press be free if it's used as a public-relations tool?
The Supreme Court's decision on June 12 to reverse a lower-court ruling that had found in favor of a women's group received a fair share of concerned media coverage. The suit involved a program NHK had produced about a 2001 citizens' tribunal, which prosecuted Japan's wartime leaders on behalf of sex...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 15, 2008
Nationality ruling could affect Japanese who don't 'exist'
After the Supreme Court ruled on June 4 that 10 children born to Filipino women had the right to be granted Japanese nationality, every media outlet in the country called the verdict "epoch-making" because the court declared a provision of the Nationality Law unconstitutional.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 8, 2008
It might be lousy, but political TV drama 'Change' lives up to its title
Pre-premiere hype is important for Japanese TV drama series since their broadcast runs tend to be limited to 13 weeks. They don't have time to build an audience the way more open-ended series do in the West. As many people as possible have to tune in right from the start.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 1, 2008
Generic drugs? Brand-name drugs? Any old drugs will do
On April 1, the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare notified local governments that from now on welfare recipients entitled to free medical care must only use generic pharmaceuticals rather than more expensive brand-name drugs. Almost immediately the plan was attacked in the media, which implied that...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 25, 2008
The art of 'not being funny' drums up big laughs on TV
It was a year ago that comedian Yoshio Kojima got his big break, and Japanese TV hasn't been the same since. Kojima is the young man who wears the colorful bikini briefs and nothing else while happily dancing and declaiming in meter: "Sonna no kankei nai (I couldn't care less)." His only punch line is...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 18, 2008
Pandas: pawns in a game of international diplomacy
As he often does, Shintaro Ishihara recently offered his views on a subject that didn't concern him and kicked up a controversy. During a press conference, the Tokyo governor sardonically questioned the "divinity" of pandas and wondered out loud, "Do we really need them?" — thus adding fuel to...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 11, 2008
The authorities gain complete control of the stories
Prior to the recent retrial of a man who was eventually sentenced to death by the Hiroshima High Court for killing a woman and her 1-year-old child in 1999, the Broadcasting Ethics and Program Improvement Organization complained about the coverage of the case. The BPO said that media outlets concentrated...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 4, 2008
The role of the media in tulip massacres and suicide
Since late March there has been a rash of vandalism directed against flowers. Tulips, in particular, have been cut, uprooted or trampled in public places. The news trail seems to originate during the most recent cherry blossom season, when eight young trees were found destroyed in West Tokyo's Koganei...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 27, 2008
Weighing up a media culture that sees 58-cm waistlines as the norm
Earlier this month, the French Parliament began contemplating a bill that would make it illegal to promote extreme thinness. Following the death in 2006 of a Brazilian supermodel from complications associated with anorexia, the issue of young women purposely starving themselves for the sake of self-image...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 20, 2008
Notes on 'Later Term Elderly People Medical Treatment' joke
Stop me if you've heard this one. A bunch of elderly people are sitting in the waiting room of a doctor's office, catching up on neighborhood gossip and their own health woes. As Mrs. Sato goes on about her lumbago, Mr. Kobayashi interrupts. "Where's Suzuki-san?" he says. "He's usually here by now."...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 13, 2008
Confusion reigns after 'Yasukuni' doesn't tell us how to feel
The big media-related news story on April 1 was the ongoing controversy over the documentary feature "Yasukuni," screenings of which had been canceled by a number of movie theaters in Tokyo and Osaka out of fear of rightwing protests. That night, NHK's regular 7 p.m. news bulletin did not mention the...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 6, 2008
Matsui's got a nice wife, but can she cook a mean hamburger?
As indicated by the content of newspapers like Nikkan Sports and Sports Nippon ("Suponichi"), reporters who cover athletes and reporters who cover show-business personalities are almost interchangeable. Though tabloid sportswriters are expected to have specialized knowledge of the sports they cover and...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 30, 2008
Flying in the face of common sense in building new airports
Several weeks ago while walking through Tokyo's Ueno Station a friend and I passed a poster advertising the new Ibaraki airport. After we boarded our train, we started talking about the poster. Neither of us were aware that Ibaraki had an airport and we wondered why the prefecture needed one.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 23, 2008
You'd have to be drunk to be fooled by Japan's booze commercials
A few weeks ago the Asahi Shimbun printed a letter from a 59-year-old man who complained about a TV commercial for Kirin's Tanrei, one of those beerlike beverages known as happoshu. In the spot, world-famous alpinist Ken Noguchi is seen climbing a mountain, the Gipsy Kings howling away on the soundtrack....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 16, 2008
Car industry hitting the bumps as wheels lose their cachet of cool
Anew TV commercial for insurance company Tokyo Kaijo Nichido features two newborns lying next to each other in a hospital maternity ward, telepathically discussing the "pleasures" that await them in life.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 9, 2008
Crown Prince could lead the way in effort for mutt emancipation
Next month, the environment ministry and the health ministry will jointly implement a new law that provides subsidies to local government health centers for the feeding of abandoned or captured dogs and cats. The money is designed to make it possible for these centers to take care of the animals an extra...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 2, 2008
Compartmentalizing Japanese using prefectural stereotypes
At the heart of the current argument over whether or not to continue the special gasoline tax is a question that gets overlooked: Does the central government have too much control over prefectural governments?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 24, 2008
Rightwingers who scream the loudest allowed to win in Japan
Major media coverage of the legal standoff between the Japan Teachers Union (Nikkyoso) and the Grand Prince Hotel New Takanawa in Tokyo had little effect on the standoff itself, mainly because coverage didn't really take off until everything was over.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 17, 2008
Vultures circle as idol Koda licks her wounds
If the furor over comments that J-pop superidol Kumi Koda made on the radio a few weeks ago teaches us anything, it's to "be careful what you joke about." There are two problems with using humor in public: Either the joke falls flat and nobody laughs, or the topic is beyond the pale and people are offended...
South Korea couple beat same-sex barriers to parenthood
South Korean lesbian couple Kim Kyu-jin (left) and her wife, Kim Sae-yeon, pose with a "pregnant woman" badge during an interview in Seoul last month.
Japan unveils new overtourism countermeasures
The majority of tourists in Japan tend to stay in Tokyo, Osaka or Kyoto, resulting in overcrowding in popular tourist spots and a strain on transportation systems.
Opportunities await the bold in the Year of the Wood Dragon
2024 marks the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac, with the year predicted to be a good time for fresh starts.
Japan pharma startup developing world-first drug to grow new teeth
A new tooth is seen in a ferret's mouth after it was administered a drug to stimulate the growth of tooth buds.
Don’t worry about global population collapse
Most projections show the world will hit peak humanity in the 21st century as people choose to have smaller families and women gain power over their own reproduction.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
How to beat Japan’s summer heat in ways better for the planet
Tenugui towels hang up to dry at a dyeing company in Sakai, Osaka Prefecture, on May 8. The durable and versatile tenugui, which many people have in their homes, can be used in many ways to cool one’s body.
After Trump shooting, U.S. presidential race might take a violent turn
United States Secret Service Counter Snipers stand guard on a rooftop during a campaign rally for U.S. President Donald Trump in Avoca, Pennsylvania, in 2020.
No AC this summer? No problem (for me).
Think air conditioning is a requirement for a Tokyo summer? Think again.
She’s paying ¥1 million to help behind the scenes at the Paris Olympics
Mai Tarumi, who previously volunteered at the postponed Tokyo Olympics in 2021, has a travel budget of ¥1 million for her trip to volunteer at the Paris Games.

Podcast

You can often see generations of families enjoying performances together at Fuji Rock Festival.
Japan’s summer music festivals are feeling the heat in more ways than one

Longform

Akiko Trush says her experience with the neurological disorder dystonia left her feeling like she wanted to chop her own hand off.
The neurological disorder that 'kills culture'
By Tomoko Otake

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Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals
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