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May 15, 2024
 

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Masako Tsubuku
For Masako Tsubuku's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 2, 2014
Generation gaps filled by brick and mortar
Though their numbers have dwindled in the developed world over the past century, multi-generation households are still common, and in fact may become even more common in countries where income gaps are increasing. In Japan, multi-generation households have social relevance owing to cultural norms, the Justice Ministry's Civil Code and relative high cost of land, but there are fewer than there used to be.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 31, 2014
Diamonds are suddenly everybody's best friend
Dealers are flocking to Japan to buy up all those gems 'sleeping' in people's dresser drawers.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 25, 2014
Japanese low-cost carriers hit hard by pilot shortage
Japan is going to have to compete with other countries for airline pilots.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 18, 2014
Japan home electronics makers play dumb on smart TVs
One company dominates Japan's smart TV market, and it isn't Japanese.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 9, 2014
Labor shortage cutting across all industries
Reliance on part-timers has left many companies struggling to fill positions.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
May 5, 2014
Money that must go down the pan
In almost all of Japan's major cities, close to 100 percent of the population are connected to public sewerage systems, but the farther away from cities you get the more the number drops. Tokushima Prefecture is the lowest, at 16.3 percent.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 3, 2014
Golden Week activity influenced more by logistics than by economics
This year's Golden Week holiday isn't as golden as it normally is owing to the way the national holidays that make it possible fall in relation to the days of the week.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 27, 2014
The price is right, but sometimes difficult to read
Since the tax hike went into effect, price tags aren't what they used to be.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 24, 2014
College students' savings habits indicate anxiety about the future
In the last 10 years student savings has increased by 80 percent.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 14, 2014
Australian EPA: Let them eat beef (but not cheese)
How did Japanese consumers fare with the new Australian EPA?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 5, 2014
Some local governments think health checkups save money, and some don't
Conventional wisdom says when it comes to health care you have to spend money to save it.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 31, 2014
Japan's 30-year building shelf-life is not quite true
In the past decade or so, certain claims about Japan's housing market have come to be accepted as facts. One is that Japanese houses are only meant to last 30 years.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 31, 2014
Call the sitter: Parents resort to online services out of economic necessity
Most Japanese parents who use babysitters do so because of work obligations.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 24, 2014
Consumption tax hike projected to increase appeal of electronic money
Your stash of u00a51 coins is about to get much bigger.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 18, 2014
Believe it or not, pay phones are here to stay
Since 2002, the number of pay phones nationwide has dwindled by two-thirds.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 10, 2014
Government's new scheme to bolster social security is still hopeless
The welfare ministry plans to spend u00a55.3 billion to 'increase' collections of national pension premiums.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Mar 3, 2014
In Japan, you can leave it all up to the moving company
It's often described as one of the most stressful events of human life — but in Japan moving house is virtually a breeze.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 3, 2014
Tax structure encourages getting wasted
Alcohol manufacturers have figured out ways to use the tax system to their advantage.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 26, 2014
For young women sex industry offers safety net the government doesn't
Young women with little education and no prospects for marriage face a dire job situation, except for one area.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 18, 2014
Consumption tax rush approaching peak time
Many who want to avoid the higher consumption tax by buying now may not save as much money as they think.
Japanese stripper bids to have her porn movies taken off internet
Plaintiff Miyuki Ariga (left) speaks at a news conference along with her lawyer, Yoshitomo Morohashi, after filing a lawsuit at the Tokyo District Court on Monday.
Yen’s fragility raises specter of a new currency war in Asia
Suspected intervention to drag the yen off a 34-year low against the dollar is already seen as unlikely to have a lasting effect if Japan continues alone.
Online booking for Mount Fuji climb to open on May 20
Visitors climb the slopes of Mount Fuji, Japan's highest peak at 3,776 meters. From May 20, climbers will have access to a new online booking system for Mount Fuji's most popular Yoshida trail in Yamanashi Prefecture.
In Japan, 68,000 people over 65 projected to die alone at home this year
As Japan grapples with its population's rapid aging, supporting people who live and age alone is looming larger on the policy agenda.
Ex-METI bureaucrat given 10-year sentence for drugging and raping women
The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a former industry ministry bureaucrat to 10 years in prison for drugging six women with sleeping pills and then raping or groping them in 2022.
Ishin struggles to set itself apart from other parties
Nippon Ishin no Kai Secretary-General Fumitake Fujita (right) speaks beside Yui Kanazawa, the party's candidate in the Tokyo 15th district by-election on April 28. Nippon Ishin lost in this by-election as well as another in Nagasaki held on the same day.
In a rare event, the Northern Lights show up in Hokkaido
The Northern Lights in Nayoro, Hokkaido, on Saturday
Is black the new green for Japan’s flagging tea farmers?
George Guttridge-Smith brews tea at Kyoto Obubu Tea Farm in Wazuka, Kyoto Prefecture, where he serves as head of international development.
Japan's logistics firms seek partnerships to cope with driver shortage
Japan Post CEO Tetsuya Senda (right) and his Seino Transportation counterpart Satoshi Takahashi announce their companies' agreement on joint long-haul truck operations, in Tokyo on Thursday.
How the discovery of a giant sword in Nara offers clues into ancient Japan
Archaeologists say a 1,600-year-old wooden coffin at the Tomio Maruyama tumulus in the city of Nara was kept in good condition probably because it was protected by a layer of clay and copper ions that had seeped out of the mirrors that were buried together.

Podcast

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