Author Archives: philipbrasor

Media Mix, Jan. 1, 2017

Posted on January 1, 2017 by philipbrasor

Happy new year. Here’s this week’s Media Mix, the usual year-end roundup. Due to space issues I didn’t mention one major player this year that deserves all the notoriety it received: Dentsu. I have nothing really to add to the … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Dec. 25, 2016

Posted on December 25, 2016 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the recent summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Russian President Vladimir Putin. As mentioned in the column, the Japanese media mostly approached the meeting as a show without explaining the reality behind the … Continue reading →

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Best movies 2016

Posted on December 24, 2016 by philipbrasor

As everyone has already noted many times, it was a pretty terrible year all around. As far as movies go, it’s difficult to tell if it was any worse or any better than average. Since I didn’t see as many … Continue reading →

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December 2016 albums

Posted on December 12, 2016 by philipbrasor

Here are the album reviews I wrote for the December issue of EL Magazine, which was distributed in Tokyo last month. Warm on a Cold Night -Honne (Atlantic/Warner) Eric Benet (Victor) Blood Orange deserves all the accolades he’s received for … Continue reading →

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December 2016 movies

Posted on December 3, 2016 by philipbrasor

Here are the movie reviews I wrote for the December issue of EL Magazine, which was ditributed in Tokyo last week. A Bigger Splash The emotional frenzy wrought by Italian director Luca Guadagnino in his first English-language film helps to … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Nov. 27, 2016

Posted on November 27, 2016 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the quixotic movement to cancel the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The downside of the Games that is mainly discussed in the column has to do with the cost and, to a lesser extent, the virulent … Continue reading →

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Cheap Trick, Oct. 1999

Posted on November 25, 2016 by philipbrasor

I recently realized that almost all of the music reviews I wrote for the Japan Times in the 90s and the movie reviews I wrote for the Asahi Shimbun during the same decade are not available on the Internet, so … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Nov. 20, 2016

Posted on November 20, 2016 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the scandal surrounding the Japan Record Awards. As is clear by the column, all the various players in the media work together to promote one another’s show business interests, so the idea of fostering … Continue reading →

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“On connait la chanson” July 1998

Posted on November 19, 2016 by philipbrasor

I recently realized that almost all of the music reviews I wrote for the Japan Times in the 90s and the movie reviews I wrote for the Asahi Shimbun in the 90s and early 00s are not available on the … Continue reading →

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Media Mix, Nov. 6, 2016

Posted on November 6, 2016 by philipbrasor

Here’s this week’s Media Mix about the Japanese media’s demonization of marijuana as its profile improves throughout the world due to medical applications. Though the column mostly addresses the legal problems that marijuana faces in Japan, the economic angle is … Continue reading →

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