Category Archives: Media

Media watch: Asahi focuses on the reality of Okinawan women’s lives

Posted on August 29, 2022 by philipbrasor

Asahi Shimbun’s regular Koron feature typically asks three experts to contribute short essays on a designated theme. On Aug. 24, the column’s topic was the status of Okinawan women on the 50th anniversary of the prefecture’s reversion to Japanese control … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Media watch: Opinions about state funeral show the limitations of public surveys

Posted on August 28, 2022 by philipbrasor

Polling and public surveys suck up a lot of media oxygen, especially with regards to political issues. Earlier this year, the justice ministry questioned the public on the separate married names matter. Over the years the portion of respondents in … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

Media watch: Olympic legacy update

Posted on August 23, 2022 by philipbrasor

One of the supposed benefits of holding the Olympics is the “legacy” it provides for the future. As is almost always the case with the Games, these benefits tend to be understood in economic terms—use of specially built Olympic facilities … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Media watch: Olympic sponsorship deals an open secret

Posted on August 20, 2022 by philipbrasor

As we pointed out in this space a few weeks ago, the investigation into possible bribes paid to Tokyo Olympics official Haruyuki Takahashi, which led to his arrest last week, might not have happened if Shinzo Abe were still alive, … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Media watch: Fuel reprocessing scheme put off for the 26th time

Posted on August 5, 2022 by philipbrasor

The media tends to frame the controversy over restarting Japan’s nuclear power plants as one that pits nuclear power advocates in the government and the energy industry against organizations that are opposed to nuclear energy under any circumstances. However, the … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

Number 1 Shimbun column, August 2022

Posted on August 2, 2022 by philipbrasor

Here is our August column for the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Japan, about access to abortion in Japan in the wake of the Supreme Court decision in June.

Posted in Media | Tagged | Leave a comment

Media watch: Most famous witness to Okinawan mass suicide dies at 93

Posted on July 31, 2022 by philipbrasor

On July 19, Shigeaki Kinjo, a man who survived the Battle of Okinawa after killing his family in a mass suicide drive, died at the age of 93. Many media outets ran obituaries, with some going into more detail than … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Media watch: Akihabara rampage ground zero for a certain type of criminal motivation

Posted on July 27, 2022 by philipbrasor

On Tuesday it was reported that Tomohiro Kato, the man who in 2008 killed 7 people and injured 10 others on a crowded street in the Akihabara section of Tokyo, was executed at the Tokyo Detention Center. The hanging was … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Media watch: Prosecutors emboldened by death of Abe

Posted on July 24, 2022 by philipbrasor

The media is now closely watching a criminal investigation that involves one of the former executives of the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics organizing committee. According to the Yomiuri Shimbun, Haruyuki Takahashi is suspected of receiving ¥45 million from clothing maker/retailer … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Media watch: Politicians’ association with the Unification Church shouldn’t be surprising

Posted on July 20, 2022 by philipbrasor

A week or so before the recent Upper House election, my partner, M, received a call from a neighbor who asked her to vote for the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. M said she had already voted by pre-election ballot for … Continue reading →

Posted in Media | Leave a comment