Category Archives: Media

Media watch: Government to punish UN office for having opinion similar to that of Japanese citizenry

Posted on January 31, 2025 by philipbrasor

On Wednesday, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) held a press conference to announce it would freeze funding for the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), which is managed by the United Nations’ Office of the High … Continue reading →

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Hiroshima in context

Posted on January 26, 2025 by philipbrasor

This coming August will mark the 80th anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, and at this point in time the ramifications of the act itself remain fairly circumscribed. People still argue as to whether it brought an end to the … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Former justice minister gets firsthand look at prison life—as an inmate

Posted on January 11, 2025 by philipbrasor

In June 2021, Katsuyuki Kawai was sentenced to three years in prison and fined ¥1.3 million for violating the Fair Elections Law after a judge determined he had bought votes for his wife, Anri, when she was running in the … Continue reading →

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Media watch: SAS response to flight attendant’s plea transcends “customer service”

Posted on December 23, 2024 by philipbrasor

‘Tis the season, as they say, and in that light we thought we’d offer something positive in this space for a change, and where better to look in the Japanese media than Asahi Shimbun’s Mado column, which usually covers heartwarming … Continue reading →

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Number 1 Shimbun, December 2024

Posted on December 2, 2024 by philipbrasor

Here’s a link to our media column in this month’s Number 1 Shimbun, put out by the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Japan. It’s about how Asahi Shimbun got credit for a scoop that was originally reported by Shimbun Akahata, the … Continue reading →

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Media watch: New tax plan’s acceptance in doubt because no one understands its real effects

Posted on November 17, 2024 by philipbrasor

The Democratic Party for the People (DPP) did well in the recent general election, increasing the number of seats it held in the lower house from 7 to 28 (11 constituent + 17 proportional). The party with the most number … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Three countries stake their claim on Okinawa

Posted on November 9, 2024 by philipbrasor

Our column this month in the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan’s Number 1 Shimbun is about the government purposely neglecting to report two sexual crimes allegedly perpetrated by U.S. military personnel stationed on Okinawa to the Okinawa prefectural government. The … Continue reading →

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Media watch: NHK gets flak for its special about the Johnny Kitagawa scandal

Posted on October 27, 2024 by philipbrasor

Japan’s public broadcaster, NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corp.), has announced that it will resume hiring talent from the entertainment agency formerly known as Johnny & Associates, whose late founder, Johnny Kitagawa, had been accused of sexually abusing more than a hundred … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Social services continue to miss the real reasons behind child abandonment

Posted on September 23, 2024 by philipbrasor

Earlier this month, the Children and Family Agency released statistics about child abuse in Japan. In 2022, 72 children died as the result of “abuse,” two fewer than in 2021. However, in recent years this statistic has remained pretty much … Continue reading →

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Media watch: How sustainable is Japan’s health insurance system?

Posted on September 9, 2024 by philipbrasor

There are reasons why I, an American, have decided to live the rest of my life in Japan, and though one of them is the current state of political discourse in my native country, that factor entered into the decision … Continue reading →

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