Category Archives: Media

Media watch: The inevitability of the immigration law revision

Posted on May 1, 2023 by philipbrasor

We’ve written in the past about the Japanese government’s treatment of asylum seekers, and the revision to the Immigration Control and Refugee Recognition Law that the ruling coalition has been working on for years to close inconvenient loopholes was supposed … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Adoptive parents still worry how society views their children, and them

Posted on April 10, 2023 by philipbrasor

Last week, Asahi Shimbun reported on a survey conducted by Jikei Hospital in Kumamoto of parents who had adopted children deposited in the hospital’s famous “stork cradle,” the euphemistically named box where parents can anonymously leave newborn babies they won’t … Continue reading →

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Number 1 Shimbun April

Posted on April 4, 2023 by philipbrasor

Here is our column for the April 2023 issue of Number 1 Shimbun, which is about NHK’s future as a public broadcaster.

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Media watch: Impossible to leave without a trace

Posted on April 1, 2023 by philipbrasor

For years, even decades, the big story surrounding Japan’s aging society is how to pay for people’s twilight years when so many grow old at exactly the same time. That time is upon us right now, and the story is … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Consumers will be paying for Tepco’s mistakes forever

Posted on March 24, 2023 by philipbrasor

On March 22, the Fukuoka District Court dismissed a lawsuit brought against the government by a regional electrical power company that claimed a surcharge added to all electricity bills nationwide to pay compensation to victims of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear … Continue reading →

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“Mr. Sunshine” settles historical scores, whether it means to or not

Posted on March 20, 2023 by philipbrasor

Last week, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol met with his Japanese counterpart, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, to settle a wartime labor compensation dispute between his country and its former colonizer brought about by Koreans who say they or their forebears … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Korean tourists celebrate uprising anniversary by patronizing former oppressors

Posted on March 1, 2023 by philipbrasor

Today is the 103rd anniversary of the March 1 Independence Movement in South Korea, a national holiday. On March 1, 1919, anti-colonial elements in Korea assembled at various locations to denounce Japanese rule, thus leading to a movement involving 2 … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Feminist icon outed as…a wife

Posted on February 27, 2023 by philipbrasor

The March 2 issue of the weekly magazine Bunshun contained a bombshell scoop of a sort. One of the articles is about Chizuko Ueno, a University of Tokyo sociology professor (graduate of Kyoto University) whose specialty is feminist theory, in … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Availability of abortion pill beset by obstacles

Posted on February 20, 2023 by philipbrasor

On Jan. 27, the health ministry approved public sale of the so-called abortion pill in Japan. As pointed out by Asashi Shimbun in its coverage of the news, Japan is one of the last developed countries to approve what is … Continue reading →

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Media watch: Prominent pundit linked to husband’s shady business deal

Posted on February 3, 2023 by philipbrasor

On Jan. 20, some news outlets reported that Tokyo prosecutors had raided the offices of an investment company that promotes solar power generation. Though the raid by itself was no big deal—prosecutors carry out raids of companies suspected of business … Continue reading →

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