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September 15, 2025
 

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Philip Brasor
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 15, 2010
Getting paid for doing the right thing
Spurred by the death of a child-abuse victim, police have begun offering incentives for anonymous tip-offs.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 14, 2010
Foreign trainees easily exploited as bosses take advantage of system
Several weeks ago, TV Asahi's nightly news show "Hodo Station" ran a special report on the uncertain future of Japanese agriculture.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 10, 2010
The other New Year: Can Chinese prop up J-retail?
Inbound tourism has taken a hit recently, with the exception of Chinese tourists who collectively spend a lot of yen.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 8, 2010
Consumer finance regroups: Promise to be good?
Dinged with lawsuits and government scrutiny, the consumer loan business is having to play it a bit cautious.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 7, 2010
Film series reveals more than just foreign take on Japan
Many people still think Japan is inscrutable. It's a cliche reinforced on the Japanese side by another cliche that says Japan is "unique," and which is further reinforced by the tendency to explain cultural aspects as if they were museum exhibits. Much of NHK's English language content falls into this...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Feb 3, 2010
Kids are all right at Softbank
If Japan wants to reverse the declining birthrate then maybe more companies should start following the Softbank model of family benefits.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 31, 2010
Notes on the end of the department store (as we know it)
Seibu department store has called it quits in Yurakucho. Should we be surprised?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 31, 2010
Groping pregnant women shouldn't be what's it about
On Jan. 14, 36-year-old comedian Sayaka Aoki made her last TV appearance before taking some time off to have a baby. The appearance was on Fuji TV's noontime variety show "Waratte Ii to mo" ("It's OK to laugh"), where she was a semiregular. The show's host, Tamori, placed his hands on Aoki's belly as...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 27, 2010
The art of boro: rags to riches
A Tokyo museum takes a look at the time-honored tradition of boro, rag-like hand-me-downs that rise in value as time goes by.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 24, 2010
Egg prices: Nobody here but us chickens
Known for their stable prices, eggs used to be prize produce of supermarkets. Now, as prices plummet, they're loss leaders used to lure in customers.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 24, 2010
A 'stable' life for Ozawa, yakuza, sumo stars
In the Jan. 25 issue of Aera, show-business reporter Yoshiko Matsumoto, writing about the persistence of image, related an anecdote about Seiji Maehara. The land minister was traveling coach on a domestic JAL flight and after the airplane landed he helped other passengers remove their belongings from...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 20, 2010
New recruits quickly get reality checked
The reality of corporate work has a funny way of changing the views of fresh-faced college graduates.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 17, 2010
Stockholder coupons bite JAL in the butt
JAL is in dire straits but it's been reported that the resale value on discount coupons issued to stockholders has doubled.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 17, 2010
SMAP put on the spot
The most recent edition of NHK's New Year's eve song contest, "Kohaku Uta Gassen," received more attention than usual owing to a number of production coups.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 15, 2010
Annals of cheap: Kitchen Dive
If the bento are the barometer of the national economy, then the u00a5250 bento from Kitchen Dive will tell you that times are tight.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 11, 2010
Debit cards are the way to go
Credit cards are more widely accepted in Japan, but think about how easy things would be if you could use a debit card anywhere.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 10, 2010
Fast fashion is not what's ailing Japan's economy
Last fall outspoken economist Noriko Hama caused a fuss with an essay about deflation in the magazine Bungei Shunju. She said that the trend of yasuuri kyoso (low price competition) was "destroying society," and not just in Japan. However, in Japan she singled out the clothing retailer Uniqlo as the...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 8, 2010
Assisted living: You can't take it with you
There gold's in the silver sector and everyone wants a piece of the the kaigo hoken (nursing care insurance) system.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jan 8, 2010
Girls
Based in San Francisco but fronting a sunnier, fuzzier sound that has more to do with a Southern California contaminated by the melodic chutzpah of early 1960s East Coast vocal groups, this duo of self-described losers is the latest big deal in the American underground. At first, it isn't clear what...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jan 4, 2010
Checking out affordable resort condos in Chiba
If you're willing to look beyond the more well-known areas, a second home in Japan can come at quite a bargain.
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

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