author

 
Menu
Search
 
September 14, 2025
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Twitter

@philipbrasor

Philip Brasor
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Sep 4, 2015
Female news announcers; evaluating trash and treasure; CM of the Week: Coca-Cola Japan
TV stations rely on announcers for more than just news reading. Female announcers, in particular, represent their stations and are often as well known as the celebrity talent they present. So once in a while the stations treat them like the celebrities they are.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 29, 2015
The revolution will be streamed online
Local media have been cautious in their coverage of the protest demonstrations that have materialized in recent years, but they appear to be intrigued by the college-age activists known as SEALDs (Students Emergency Action for Liberal Democracy).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 28, 2015
Bodyguard; Charlotte Kate Fox; CM of the Week: Universal Studios Japan
Hiroshi Tate plays "SP Yatsurugi Takashi" ("Secret Police Takashi Yatsurugi"; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.), a member of the Metropolitan Police Department who is assigned to the security detail for the governor of Tokyo, Sawako Yoshimine (Hisako Manda), as she hosts a ceremony for guests from Singapore. During...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 23, 2015
Chinese shoppers keep Japan's tills ringing
The lower yen, fewer visa restrictions, cheap flights and trust in Japanese products are all helping fuel the boom in Chinese tourism to Japan.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 22, 2015
The same old story on rural depopulation
A story that is constantly upbeat quickly becomes tiring. Conflict and resolution are necessary to maintain interest, and while happy endings are still more popular than depressing ones, characters should go through some sort of emotional turmoil before arriving at them.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 21, 2015
History of a health-obsessed shogun; soccer star beauty challenge; CM of the Week: Asahi Beer
Every Japanese schoolkid knows that Tokugawa Ieyasu was the first shogun of Japan and initiated the long, war-free Edo Period (1603-1868), but few know that he didn't rule from Edo (present-day Tokyo). He ostensibly handed rule of the country over to his son, Hidetada, only two years after establishing...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 15, 2015
Post-3/11 power-conservation goals change the energy game
The heat wave rolling over Tokyo is a godsend for Olympics bashers like former newscaster Hiroshi Kume. On his TBS radio show last week, he said that five years from now when the games are held here, they will "violate the Olympic charter," which requires an environment where all athletes can demonstrate...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 14, 2015
The shock of the old; boy band melodrama; CM of the Week: Kirin Beverage Co.
The shock of the old and abandoned is the theme of the late night "road movie" documentary series "Haikyo no Kyujitsu" ("Holiday in the Ruins"; TV Tokyo, Fri., 12:52 a.m.). Two teams of TV personalities — one in the United States and the other in Japan — explore man-made facilities that are no longer...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 8, 2015
Uniqlo can't survive on bargains alone
Tadashi Yanai, one of the richest men in Japan, told the Wall Street Journal last week that he was "disgusted" by the video of a couple having sex in a Beijing outlet of the clothing chain Uniqlo. The video quickly went viral in China, and Internet commenters wondered if it wasn't part of some weird...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Economy / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 8, 2015
Japan's elderly boomers squeezed to pay more as care facilities struggle
The elderly nursing care industry is facing a perfect storm of problems as the ranks of elderly swell and subsidies from local authorities and central government shrink.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 7, 2015
Detective mystery in Tokyo; child soldiers of World War II; CM of the Week: Toyota
Actor Sho Aikawa used to be the king of straight-to-video movies. He's now all over the place, and stars as officer Ken Kobayashi in the occasional mystery series, "Setagaya Chuzai Keiji" ("Setagaya Police Substation Detective"; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.).
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 3, 2015
World Heritage site tourism; visualizing Hiroshima's bombing; CM of the Week: Mitsui Real Estate
Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Hakubun Shimomura takes time away from dealing with the new national stadium to make a guest appearance on the travel program "So da, Dokka ni Ikko?" ("Well, Where Shall We Go?"; TV Tokyo, Tues., 6:57 p.m.). Shimomura is there to introduce...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Aug 1, 2015
Going for gold in the stadium blame game
Yoshiro Mori, former rugby player and prime minister, and current head of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics' organizing committee, is not a man of few words. When the current prime minister, Shinzo Abe, took it upon himself to discard the design for the new National Stadium because cost estimates had gotten out...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Aug 1, 2015
Your home may be your castle, but not all of it is yours
When we were thinking about buying a condominium some years ago, we looked at older units and brand new ones, and one of our least favorite features was pebbled or fogged window glass, which was ubiquitous. Early on, when we didn't know any better, we asked a real estate agent how much it would cost...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 25, 2015
Housecleaner of the dead; ridiculous quizzes; CM of the Week: Family Mart
The housekeeper who cleans the homes of dead people, Aiko Tanizaki (Atsuko Takahata), returns in the special two-hour drama "Ihin Seirinin: Tanizaki Aiko 5" ("The Cleaning Lady of Things Left Behind: Aiko Tanizaki 5"; TBS, Mon., 9 p.m.).
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 25, 2015
Shizuka Kamei and Shintaro Ishihara have the security debate the Diet should have had
When Shintaro Ishihara retired from politics after failing to get re-elected last December, it seemed we wouldn't have the right-wing firebrand to kick around any more, but last week there he was in Shukan Asahi talking to former Liberal Democratic Party comrade Shizuka Kamei about various topics, including...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 25, 2015
America still rules the world of Japan's theme parks
The success of Tokyo Disney Resort and Universal Studios Japan has a lot to do with their business models and the way they've exploited their appeal to certain demographics in Japan.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jul 22, 2015
Real-life cave man; pretending to live in old Japan; CM of the Week: Line Music
Based on a true story, "Dokutsu Ojisan" ("Cave Man"; BS Premium, Mon., 9 p.m.) dramatizes the life of Kazuma Kamura, who ran away from home when he was 13 to escape abusive parents and lived alone in a cave on a remote mountain for 43 years.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 18, 2015
Despite what the media says about juvenile crime, the kids are alright
In an essay he wrote for Asahi Shimbun's Internet magazine Webronza in June, professor Mikio Kawai, a specialist in "serious crime," revealed the results of a survey he conducted last March among 1,456 "older" people. He asked the respondents if they thought juvenile crime was on the increase. Sixty-two...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 11, 2015
Japan should re-examine the idea of marriage to help spur a baby boom
After decades of a national conversation about the need for more babies, there is still disagreement as to what sort of measures Japan should take in order to increase its birthrate. The obstacles are financial, social and physiological, and before they can be addressed properly they must be identified...
Japan's cutting-edge railgun successfully strikes target vessel
The Defense Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency (ATLA) conducted a ship-board railgun shooting test from June to early July this year with the support of the Maritime Self-Defense Force.
Is America ready for Japanese-style 7-Elevens?
Convenience stores are a fixture of Japanese life and 7-Eleven, a chain that began in the U.S. in 1927, opened its first store in Japan in 1974 — and then became wholly Japanese-owned in 2005 through parent company Seven & I Holdings.
‘Fairytale’ Shirakawago ranked one of the world’s most beautiful villages
Forbes and Unforgettable Travel Company have ranked Shirakawago in Gifu Prefecture as Asia's most beautiful village.
People rush to make furusato nozei donations ahead of tighter rules
A booth from the town of Betsukai in Hokkaido at an Amazon Japan furusato nо̄zei promotion event, on Sept. 5 in Tokyo's Minato Ward.
Aging Japan’s centenarian population nears 100,000
Shigeko Kagawa, Japan's oldest person at 114, in Yamatokoriyama, Nara Prefecture, on July 30
Japan's major art events converge this fall
Shinji Ohmaki’s “Tokinokage” exhibited at Fuji Textile Week 2021 shows the use of fabric as art.
An aesthetic escape to Hakone’s art-drenched hills
Between traditional examples of fine art and sleek, modern exhibitions that blend with nature, Hakone offers a unique escape from Tokyo's urban sprawl.
Niinami’s ouster quick but not unusual as corporations protect reputation
Takeshi Niinami resigns as chairman and CEO of Suntory Holdings.
As Manila modernizes its military, new opportunities emerge for Tokyo
A Brahmos missile system is displayed during a rehearsal for a military parade in New Delhi in January. The Philippines will soon receive its second batch of the supersonic cruise missiles from India.
Shizuoka farmers fight to preserve sustainable tea method that’s steeped in tradition
As of August 2024, the number of confirmed chagusaba farmers had fallen to 302, just over half the 582 reported in 2015, according to the Shizuoka Chagusaba Farming Method Promotion Council.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight
By Mai Yoshikawa

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons
Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER