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September 15, 2025
 

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Philip Brasor
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 24, 2013
In Tokyo, all garbage is not created equal
Charging for garbage collection forces the issue of environmental awareness.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 23, 2013
NHK discusses gender with a fresh openness
Two weeks ago, the nightly series "Heart Net TV," which is broadcast on NHK's educational channel, repeated a program about a 35-year-old Japanese man who married a 70-year-old Dutch man in the Netherlands. The series dedicates several programs a month to sexual minorities, and there was a sidelight...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 19, 2013
With refrigerators, bigger is better in more ways than you think
Smaller is not cheaper when it comes to refrigerators.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 16, 2013
Miura oldest to climb Everest but some facts overlooked
The government has just established a new public award named after alpinist-skier Yuichiro Miura for "adventurers who challenge themselves to the limit of human potential." Originally the recipients of the prize, whom Miura will select himself, were going to be seniors, but at its namesake's insistence...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 13, 2013
Insurance companies main beneficiaries of scheme to protect obstetricians from malpractice suits
Some mothers claim they are overpaying for insurance to protect obstetricians from malpractice suits.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 9, 2013
'Nutritious' claims need to be taken with a pinch of salt
During a recent visit to the United States, I was impressed by several advertising campaigns. The American Beverage Association (ABA) is running a series of spots that alternatingly complain of what it deems the over-regulation of soft drinks and promote the efforts of member manufacturers to make their...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 4, 2013
The widening income gap is affecting higher education
Students from higher income families are squeezing out lower income students in public university enrollments
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 4, 2013
Sometimes it pays to look on the bright side
The flyers were provocative: New houses priced at more than ¥35 million, but the builder promised that the mortgage would amount to ¥0 a month. A free house is obviously too good to be true, but we decided to check out the merchandise to see what the story was.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 2, 2013
Media polls on constitutional change reveal bias
In a democracy, the people's will is conveyed through representative government. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to rewrite the Constitution, but Article 96 requires the approval of at least two-thirds of the national assembly to do that, so in order to hasten the process he first wants to change Article...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 30, 2013
Lottery operators still looking for last year's winners
Seven 2012 grand prize Takarakuji winners still haven't picked up their money.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 26, 2013
The dark side of Japanese fashion made in Bangladesh
While it's not clear if any Japanese firm had interests in factories operating in the building that collapsed in Dhaka last month, it is natural to infer that there are Japanese companies in Bangladesh taking advantage of lower wages and less stringent safety regulations.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 22, 2013
City dumps dog tax for yellow cards to deal with lazy owners
A city in Osaka Prefecture cracks down on negligent dog owners in a novel way.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 19, 2013
Family drama is reimagined for today's Japan
"Kazoku Game (The Family Game)," directed by the late Yoshimitsu Morita and released in 1983, remains a movie milestone. A cynical black comedy, it presented to the world a distillation of the less edifying social outcomes of Japan's postwar economic miracle. The Numata family are invaded by a private...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 18, 2013
You can't get there from here (at the same price with an IC card)
The new IC card system integrates lines but not necessarily fares.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
May 14, 2013
On uneven ground: landfill property pitfalls
After the real estate agent unlocked the front door, the musty smell told us that the house had not been aired for some time. He laid out slippers for us and proceeded to raise the shutters and open the windows. Then, upon entering the kitchen he exclaimed, "Katamuite iru" ("It's uneven").
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 13, 2013
As land lines go the way of the dodo, what is a subscription right worth?
Use your telephone land line subscription right or lose it.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 12, 2013
Inose's lack of media savvy may have ruined Tokyo's Olympic bid
Two weeks ago, Tokyo Governor Naoki Inose gave an interview to the New York Times in which he violated International Olympic Committee rules by publicly bad-mouthing Istanbul and Madrid, the Japanese capital's two rivals to host the 2020 games.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 7, 2013
Anticipation: How high will mortgage interest go?
After 20 years housing loan interest rates are ready to rise.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 5, 2013
Media weighs in on LDP's English education plan
The Liberal Democratic Party has a thing for archery. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's financial policies comprise "three arrows." The symbolism is based on the old Japanese saying, "Three arrows are harder to break." Since "Abenomics" has proven to be a PR success, at least with the electorate, he's using...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 1, 2013
Bargain sales aren't always what they appear to be
'Sale prices' are all in the mind of the consumer.
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.
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.
‘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.
Why more hotels in Japan are offering room-only service
Nipponia Hotel Ise Kawasaki Merchant Town in Ise, Mie Prefecture
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

We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the 6th annual Sustainable Japan Award.

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