Economy | ANALYSIS
Households to take hit from tax hike
by Tomoko Otake
The consumption tax increase will hit every household in Japan hard, with many people’s financial future hanging on whether their wages rise enough to offset the hike's impact.
Paul Farhi
For Paul Farhi's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Media Aug 17, 2013
Gillette advertising campaign touts hairlessness as the new macho
Pouty supermodel No. 1 says she likes a man with a little hair on his chest, “but definitely not on his back.” Pouty supermodel No. 2 likes a man with a smooth stomach “to show off his six-pack,” according to the unidentified narrator who ...
Corporate Jul 15, 2013
Kochs use Web to slam critical reports
When environmental journalist David Sassoon began reporting about the billionaire Koch brothers’ interests in the Canadian oil industry last year, he sought information from their privately held conglomerate, Koch Industries. The brothers, who have gained prominence in recent years as supporters of and donors ...
World | Focus Jul 14, 2013
Media outlets rethink news embargo ethics
It’s said that the news never stops. But often, its timing is stage-managed. Much of the news, particularly in Washington, is produced under an important, if obscure, agreement known as an embargo. This arrangement between newsmakers and news reporters is meant to be mutually ...
World | Focus Jul 3, 2013
U.K. paper punches way above its weight
For a newspaper that’s small and underweight even by British standards, The Guardian has a knack for making some big noises, both in its home market and across the pond. The paper (founded in 1821) was one of five news organizations to publish stories ...
Entertainment Jun 2, 2013
British wave washes over U.S. media market
The British are coming — actually, they’re already here. And they’re running some of America’s top media and entertainment companies and successfully peddling their shows, newspapers and magazines to the former colonies. There are so many Brits at the highest echelons of the American ...
Business Mar 28, 2013
To build brand, firms produce own media
The Red Bulletin is a handsome Web and print magazine that practically oozes testosterone. Recent issues have featured stories on the world’s deepest free diver, human-pyramid building in Spain and a guy who rappels into volcanoes. All of it is embellished with photography worthy ...
History Mar 1, 2013
Iconic Iwojima photo: a survival story
The battle had raged for four days, and would continue for 31 more, a marathon of sand and heat and unrelenting death. But at that moment there was an order from the brass: Get a bigger flag up there. The small American flag fluttering ...