Monthly Archives: May 2022

Media watch: LDP heavyweights scramble to kill own redistricting plan

Posted on May 28, 2022 by philipbrasor

For years, concerned citizens have asked Japanese courts to address the vote disparities that have plagued national elections since the electoral system was revamped nearly 30 years ago. In almost all the cases, judges have found that such disparities are … Continue reading →

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Review: Mothering Sunday

Posted on May 26, 2022 by philipbrasor

Adapted from a Graham Swift novel published in 2016, Eva Husson’s debut feature feels like an attempt to inject oxygen into the stuffy atmosphere that usually surrounds the so-called British prestige picture. Comprising three different time periods but centered on … Continue reading →

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Review: One Second

Posted on May 20, 2022 by philipbrasor

At one point the most celebrated and revered member of the so-called Fifth Generation of Chinese filmmakers, Zhang Yimou has since turned into an equally notorious example of submitting to a repressive system for the sake of survival as an … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Trial of Utoro arson suspect receives scant coverage

Posted on May 19, 2022 by philipbrasor

May 16 was the first day of the criminal trial of Shogo Arimoto, the 22-year-old man arrested for starting a fire in the Utoro district of Uji, Kyoto Prefecture, last August. Arimoto admitted to all the charges, though he denies … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Nothing new in Kishida’s new capitalism

Posted on May 17, 2022 by philipbrasor

The amount of cash that Japanese people keep as savings is legendary. At present, it roughly totals ¥1 quadrillion, an enormous sum and one that many people interpret as being a sign of frugality. Japanese people are averse to risk, … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Japan’s promotion of IR/casinos looking increasingly unrealistic

Posted on May 10, 2022 by philipbrasor

On April 20, the Wakayama Prefectural Assembly rejected an integrated casino resort project being promoted by the prefecture’s governor and other prominent politicians. That leaves just Osaka city and prefecture, and Nagasaki as localities that have said they will submit … Continue reading →

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Review: Laurel Canyon: A Place in Time

Posted on May 6, 2022 by philipbrasor

There will be two documentaries released in Tokyo theaters this month about Laurel Canyon, the leafy residential adjunct to Los Angeles that acted as an incubator for the storied Southern California Sound of the late 60s and early 70s. This … Continue reading →

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Media watch: What is behind mass killer Satoshi Uematsu’s change of heart to pursue a retrial?

Posted on May 4, 2022 by philipbrasor

On April 28, Mainichi Shimbun reported that Satoshi Uematsu, the 32-year-old man convicted in 2020 of killing 19 people at a facility for the disabled in Sagamihara, Kanagawa Prefecture, had applied to the Yokohama District Court for a retrial. Mainichi’s … Continue reading →

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Media column May 2022

Posted on May 1, 2022 by philipbrasor

Here is our media column for the May issue of the Number 1 Shimbun, which is about a veteran reporter for the Asahi Shimbun who was punished for supposedly putting pressure on another publication on behalf of former prime minister … Continue reading →

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