Monthly Archives: December 2022

Best albums 2022

Posted on December 31, 2022 by philipbrasor

As so many music writers have already said, 2022 was a great year for pop, especially pop in album form. Though the theory is not publicly widespread, I would venture that the reason may have been a post-pandemic reaction on … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Even celebrities die alone

Posted on December 28, 2022 by philipbrasor

On July 25, the Japanese actor Yoko Shimada died in a Tokyo hospital. She was 69 years old. Some older people may remember Shimada as the female lead in the 1980 American TV miniseries Shogun, which was based on James … Continue reading →

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Best movies 2022

Posted on December 26, 2022 by philipbrasor

Though the pandemic has in no way subsided in Japan—Christmas Eve marked a new one-day record for deaths from COVID—this year I managed to regain the movie-watching pace I enjoyed before 2019, and therefore am resuming the compilation of a … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Kishida’s kid not cut out for Nagatacho

Posted on December 26, 2022 by philipbrasor

If you have access to Japanese Twitter you may have noticed some Tweets about a certain female reporter who works for Fuji TV. The posts invariably link to tabloid news articles that describe the woman as being involved in some … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Is Japan’s new defense posture vis-a-vis the U.S. a case of the tail wagging the dog?

Posted on December 24, 2022 by philipbrasor

Though the Japanese government’s intentions to double the defense budget over the next five years has caused some controversy here, in the U.S. it has mostly met with unequivocal support. President Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, and other … Continue reading →

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Review: Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance With Somebody

Posted on December 23, 2022 by philipbrasor

British actor Naomi Ackie plays the powerhouse pop singer in this latest bid to cash in on her legacy, and does a formidable job in creating a distinctive on screen character, lip-syncing to beat the band, a talent that may … Continue reading →

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Review: Flag Day

Posted on December 22, 2022 by philipbrasor

Knowing that Sean Penn directs and stars in this drama, based on a true story, and that he plays a truth-challenged, mostly absent father, the alert viewer will already be forewarned about the emotional drudgery in store. Taken from a … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Welfare payments decrease despite inflation

Posted on December 21, 2022 by philipbrasor

The welfare ministry’s main task with regards to public assistance is to make sure individuals who receive government funds due to financial difficulties are not taking undue advantage of the system. Consequently, the rationale behind public welfare in Japan isn’t … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Bad conditions for technical interns persist

Posted on December 18, 2022 by philipbrasor

Despite the negative press that Japan’s overseas technical interm program has received in recent years, nothing about it has changed in any way. According to NHK, in fiscal 2021 there were more than 23,000 formal complaints made to the Organization … Continue reading →

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Review: Tomorrow Morning

Posted on December 17, 2022 by philipbrasor

It’s impossible to underestimate the aspirational power of movies. The popularity of Hollywood cinema during the Depression was due to its ability to remove people from the anxiousness of their everyday lives for a few hours, usually by presenting characters … Continue reading →

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