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July 16, 2024
 

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MEDIA MIX

JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 16, 2007
They're fey, maybe not gay, but anyway, the 'talent' are coming out to play
It's been more than 9 months since this column last looked at Johnny's Jimusho, Japan's most powerful talent agency, and in the meantime a lot has happened to the young male charges of reclusive company president Johnny Kitagawa. For one thing, these charges, or at least some of them, are no longer young,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 9, 2007
Cardboard-bun incident serves up more distaste for China
Though it wasn't the most significant news story of the summer, the video that circulated worldwide in early July about the Dalian street vendor who sold pork buns stuffed with cardboard was certainly the most fun for local news outlets since it involved two subjects Japanese media can't get enough of:...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 2, 2007
You have to appear to be a complete loser in Japan to get benefits
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's vision for a "beautiful country" stresses self-reliance. The media usually translates this aim in national defense terms: a stronger military that doesn't have to duck behind the United States. To the average person it simply means you're on your own. That buzz word of several...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 26, 2007
Paranoid android Abe blind to reality when it comes to eye contact
Image and issues always compete for voters' attention on the campaign trail, with the former usually winning. A successful candidate is the one who uses the media most effectively in shaping an image that's acceptable to more people than the next candidate's. Issues, on the other hand, have become more...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 19, 2007
When the way of the 'samurai' was pointless self-annihilation
Before the war there was a famous woman commonly referred to as Mrs. Inoue, though after the war people stopped talking about her.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 12, 2007
Failing to learn lessons from a nuclear past
What do disgraced yokozuna (sumo grand champion) Asashoryu Akinori and Tokyo Electric Power Co. have in common? Answer: Both are under the delusion that they can get away with lying in plain sight.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 5, 2007
Celeb candidates stung by real election hero
TV Tokyo began its summary coverage of last Sunday's Upper House election later than the other stations, and included some genuine theater: A short dramatization of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's "crushing defeat."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 29, 2007
Keeping abreast of developments on the small screen
Arts and entertainment criticism of the sort practiced in the West is still relatively sublimated in Japan, where pop-culture hyoronka (critics) tend to be either pundits or PR flacks who rarely say anything overtly negative about the things they review.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 22, 2007
Mobilizing the populace 'World War II-style' to judge their fellow citizens
Yoshikazu Ebisu seems an unlikely advocate for judicial reform. The 59-year-old illustrator first gained notoriety in the 1970s for his crude caricatures and moved on to variety shows in the late '80s, where his bumbling slob persona was the perfect target for insult comics. After he was arrested for...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 15, 2007
No care in the world for caregivers as profit is all that matters
Scandals are coming so fast and furious now it seems eons ago when nursing care provider Comsn Inc. was busted by the government for inflating the number of employees on its payroll. Actually, it was only last month, and at the time the media could only concentrate on the particulars, namely Comsn's...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 8, 2007
Take a slab of meat, beef up the label on it and Hope for the best
There's a stereotype that says the Japanese possess a refined palate. The French are said to possess it, too, but have you seen a French movie lately? All they eat is spaghetti.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 1, 2007
Immigrant workers in Japan caught in a real racket
The debate over whether Japan should allow foreign workers in to make up for current and future labor shortages is dominated by the so-called foreign trainee program, which is overseen by the Japan International Training Cooperation Organization (JITCO). The program is itself the subject of a debate,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 24, 2007
Big breasts, funny hair, anything dumb — the way to go on TV
Last spring, TV tarento Rei Kikukawa made news when she appeared in a bra commercial. TV commercials are the bread-and-butter of most tarento (media stars), and Kikukawa has done her fair share, but since gaining stardom she's managed to avoid overt exploitation of her sex appeal. That's because she...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 17, 2007
Bureaucrats discovered to be pathetically human
Few fixtures of civilization invite more derision than bureaucracy. We understand that government agencies are necessary for the smooth operation of civic life but bristle at the prospect of having to interact with them. Public offices are cold, monolithic things, operating on principles that have little...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 10, 2007
Knock, knock, knockin' on heaven's door — but no answer
Two deaths made headlines on May 28. Izumi Sakai, the lead singer of the pop group ZARD, was found at the bottom of an outdoor staircase at Keio University Hospital, where she was undergoing treatment for cancer. Her management quickly released a statement to pre-empt media speculation that the death...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 3, 2007
Another countryside 'renaissance' mired in foggy politics
A few weeks ago I traveled around the Noto Peninsula to see how the area was recovering from the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that struck March 25. Some buildings had already been razed in the small, picturesque town of Monzen, though the coastal city of Wajima, which on the day I arrived was receiving a...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 27, 2007
Baby hatch gives rise to empty moralizing
Every year the national Parent-Teacher Association conducts a survey to find out which television shows people either want or don't want their children to watch. Two programs always make it to the top of the disapproval list: "London Hearts," a variety show hosted by the coarse comedy duo London Boots,...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 20, 2007
Buy a car and drive up your grocery bill
Toyota Motor Corp. made headlines when it announced that its profit for 2006 was a record-breaking 2.24 trillion yen. In the United States, the news was greeted with some bitterness, since the Japan automaker had recently surpassed General Motors in terms of worldwide sales for the first time ever.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 13, 2007
One culture's dirty old man is another's dandy
Despite the close proximity of the world afforded by the Internet and global media conglomerates, intercultural ignorance is still pretty common. Richard Gere almost got himself arrested in India when, during an AIDS-awareness event last month, he grabbed Bollywood star Shilpa Shetty and kissed her....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 6, 2007
Baseball federation and schools cause student players to suffer
Some scandals shock the public and others don't. The latter type usually involves organizational malfeasance that people suspect is a normal fact of life. However, in some rare cases a scandal of this type will actually strike people in a contradictory way: The purported malfeasance is not a surprise,...
Who needs AI when you have Hatsune Miku?
Over the first six months of 2024, a handful of songs using Vocaloid singer Hatsune Miku’s voice have enjoyed widespread attention, underlining a global interest in the character and the technology she represents.
Bloodied Trump survives assassination attempt at political rally
Former U.S. President Donald Trump is surrounded and evacuated by Secret Service agents at a campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Saturday. Trump was rushed off stage at the rally after shots rang out.
Shooter came within inches of killing Trump, but left few clues as to why
An aerial view shows the stage where Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump had been standing during an assassination attempt the day before, and the roof of a nearby building where a gunman was shot dead by law enforcement, in Butler, Pennsylvania, on Sunday.
Yen’s woes seem too big for even a BOJ hike this month to solve
The Bank of Japan headquarters in Tokyo
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.
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.

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
Exploring Japanese culturevia Tohoku’s festivals

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