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A mix of what's trending on our other sites
"Living in desperation" is the title of a new column that commenced from Nov 26, and for its start, writer Kaoru Natsume tells the tale of a worker at one of the S&M bars in Shinjuku that was forced to halt business due to the coronavirus pandemic. "The corona pandemic… Read
Yonigeya, (fly-by-nighters) originated as specialty moving services that assist customers fleeing their creditors, and for other reasons. They are said to have enjoyed a major boom around 2008-2009, during the "Lehman Shock." "Yo-nige used to be closely associated with debts, but about 80% of our customers these days are running… Read
What’s life like, at 96 and alone? asks Shukan Gendai (Nov 13-20). Good, answers Masaji Fujioka. Media reports of extreme old age tend toward bleakness, possibly distorting the overall picture. Fujioka grew up near Hiroshima. During the war he served in the navy. The war over, he moved to Kobe… Read
"At international sports activities, one must cheer loudly for Japan." Oh really? Sez who? The above is one example extracted from a four-page article in Jitsuwa Bunka Tabuu (January), which purports to challenge the "mystifying peer pressure-driven behavior that makes Japanese appear as fools." With regard to the item shown… Read
Books on politics are rarely runaway bestsellers. But it does happen. The success of one written by freelancer Shizuka Wada in collaboration with Constitutional Democratic Party of Japan rep Junya Ogawa is explained in part by its very lengthy title: “If My Hourly Pay Never Rises Above Minimum Wage, is… Read
An unusually cold winter, perhaps the coldest in the past 10 years, is being forecast for the northern hemisphere. This has prompted Yukan Fuji (Nov 7) to warn that perhaps by February the nation's power utilities might be stretched to their limits. Should one or more power plant fail, blackouts… Read
Not all prostitution that flourished in Japan over the centuries operated out of government-designated yukaku in major urban areas, such as the famous Yoshiwara of Edo (and later Tokyo). Many were situated at rural hot springs, and others at post stations along such thoroughfares as the Tokaido and Nakasendo, where travelers… Read
“Even married people want love,” says Spa! (Nov 9-16) – more so, it finds, in a crisis such as the current pandemic. A rough survey it conducted of 100 married men in extra-marital affairs seems to indicate as much. The cause-and-effect connection is not crystal clear, intuitive rather than scientific,… Read
The coronavirus pandemic has brought hard times for young women in Japan. According to a Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications survey, from April to June this year the average number of women out of a job for more than six months reached 340,000, considerably above the average of 280,000… Read
Just when the meteorologists are forecasting a cold winter in the Northern Hemisphere due to La Nina, the nation's utility companies are in the process of jacking up prices. Tokyo Electric Power Co has already announced a price increase of 133 yen for standard residences from November, and from January… Read
