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September 15, 2025
 

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Philip Brasor
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 4, 2010
Playing spot the political difference
The central dynamic in politics is the tug-of-war between conservatism and liberalism, and while it's always been that way, the conflict is particularly contentious these days owing to a global media culture that sees nothing wrong with taking sides. Differences are starker and less rational. In America,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / A SCORCHING SUMMER SCHEDULE
Jul 2, 2010
JAY-Z: Summer Sonic
Japan's urban rock festival gets more urban every year, at least musically. Headliner Jay-Z, husband of last year's headliner, Beyonce, and the richest rapper in the world, hasn't visited Japan often, especially since he came out of retirement in 2006. He and Stevie Wonder are the perfect cappers to...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jul 1, 2010
Small fry try to make a splash at the fishmonger
Japan may be glutton when it comes to tuna, but if it learns to broaden its palate, there might be a few more fish left in the sea.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 28, 2010
How cheap is your love? Diamond appraiser hit
Does love take a hit when diamond appraisers start shifting standards?
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 27, 2010
The guy just needs a home
It's difficult to decide which spelling to use. In Japan, the name of North Korea's striker at the World Cup in South Africa is usually rendered as Chong Tese. North Korea spells it Jong Tae Se, but in those instances where South Korea reports on the 26-year-old soccer player, it's Jeong Dae Se or Jung...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 25, 2010
New government bonds attempt to play it safe
Will new 'easy to buy' bonds help stabilize Japan's debt?
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 20, 2010
Who pays for sumo?
Sumo wrestlers don't make huge salaries but they can get a lot of yen in other ways.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 20, 2010
Government policy of cash gifts to journalists rolls on
In late April, about a month before Naoto Kan took over as prime minister from Yukio Hatoyama, a hand-written note was taped to the intercom outside Kan's home in the Kichijoji district of Tokyo. It read, "No press meetings," and was signed "Kan," but it wasn't written by the current Democratic Party...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 18, 2010
Matsuzakaya finds a reason to have a sale
Do department stores need a reason to sell discounted goods across the board? They do now, and it's called wakeari.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 14, 2010
Tap water gains for economic not environmental reasons
Tokyo has gone to great lengths to make its tap water more drinkable ... so why do most people still buy bottled water?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 13, 2010
Few TV surfers ride 'Korean wave' series 'Iris'
Two weeks ago, cast members of the South Korean TV drama series "Iris" appeared in concerts at Osaka Castle Hall and Saitama Super Arena. Some 60,000 fans of the star Lee Byung Hun bought tickets, but 1,400 at one of the Saitama events found themselves shut out after the organizers decided that the stage...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 10, 2010
Annals of cheap: UR apartments to die for
With UR rentals, you can land an apartment for half the price ... as long as you're not easily spooked.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 6, 2010
Beyond belief: Graveyard business expands
Thinking ahead to reserving a cemetery plot in Tokyo? It's a gravely serious business.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 6, 2010
Grappling with the gangsters
Some years ago, a Japanese friend suggested we have dinner together at a chanko-nabe restaurant because neither of us had ever been to one. Chanko-nabe is the fortifying stew that sumo wrestlers grow fat on, and they all learn how to make it. Many rikishi (sumo wrestler) who don't become stable masters...
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 3, 2010
Car sharing becomes more practical
In a pinch and need to borrow a BMW for 15 minutes? Your car is waiting, sir, via Times Plus, which takes car-sharing to a whole new level.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 30, 2010
Summer gift season tests Miyazaki meat rep
Dept. stores worry that Miyasaki's foot and mouth disease outbreak could put a chill on chugen sales.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 30, 2010
Does Miyazaki Pref. flap have silver lining?
The foot-and-mouth disease crisis that has ruined much of the livestock industry in Miyazaki Prefecture is akin to an apocalypse; or, at least, that's the feeling you get from the media coverage.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 26, 2010
Lottery administrators get their comeuppance (so what?)
A government reform unit says money gathered from the lottery might be have been misused but should the Takurakuji itself take the blame?
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 23, 2010
The Japan-Swiss EPA means nothing to cheese lovers
The euro has dropped and an agreement with Switzerland has been signed, so why does the price of cheese in Japan still do high?
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 23, 2010
Can celebs cut mustard in rough-and-tumble politics?
TAs the July 11 Upper House election draws near, the parties add more candidates to their slates and, predictably, many turn out to be athletes and showbiz personalities with no political experience. Celebrity candidates have been a fixture of Japanese elections as long as there have been Japanese elections,...
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

Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo
Foreign wrestlers have a long history in sumo

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