Philip Brasor
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Philip Brasor
@philipbrasor.bsky.social
590 followers 410 following 490 posts
Japan media watcher, blogger of Japanese housing
philipbrasor.com
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philipbrasor.bsky.social
Infrastructure blues: Japan shifting into reverse on sewerage policy. bit.ly/4oCjr18 #下水道計画 #浄化槽
Backed up
Where it’s buried Japan has one of the most extensive and sophisticated sewerage systems in the world. As of 2021, slightly more than 80 percent of the population was served by sewerage syste…
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November 9, 2025 at 1:06 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"The Bibi Files" and "Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin" open this weekend in Tokyo. bit.ly/43Pa4CG
@thebibifiles
#ネタニヤフ調書汚職と戦争
Review: The Bibi Files and Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin
Japanese distributors are releasing Alexis Bloom’s muckraking documentary about the House of Netanyahu a year after it was first shown elsewhere. Given the velocity of breaking news these day…
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November 8, 2025 at 2:37 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"Two Seasons, Two Strangers" opens today in Tokyo. bit.ly/4ouG9Ip
@tabitohibi
#旅と日々
Review: Two Seasons, Two Strangers
The fact that Sho Miyake’s latest movie (Tabi to Hibi in Japanese) is based on two manga may cause some misunderstanding. The manga author is Yoshiharu Tsuge, whose work is subtle and idiosyn…
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November 7, 2025 at 2:01 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
Japan's approach to palliative care is horrifyingly limited. bit.ly/4omNHg9 #透析 #緩和ケア
Pain mismanagement | FCCJ
November 2025 | Japan Media Review Constraints on pain management are condemning people to long, agonising deaths Photo by
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November 4, 2025 at 1:50 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"A Traveler's Needs" opens today in Tokyo. bit.ly/3JCZXKo
@hongsangsoo_JP
#旅人の必需品
Review: A Traveler’s Needs
There’s obviously something about Hong Sangsoo’s methodology that appeals to Isabelle Huppert, because this is the third movie of his that she’s starred in. It may be the free-for…
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October 31, 2025 at 10:35 PM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"So Long, See You Tomorrow" and "Spirit World" open today in Tokyo. bit.ly/4nuyV5K #あの時愛を伝えられなかった僕の3つのもしもの世界
@spiritworld25
#SPIRITWORLDスピリットワールド
Review: So Long, See You Tomorrow and Spirit World
Baek Seung-bin’s third feature’s literary pretensions go beyond his borrowing the title of William Maxwell’s classic 1979 novel. There’s a gay bar that figures centrally in …
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October 31, 2025 at 8:08 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"Something Is About to Happen" opens tomorrow in Tokyo. bit.ly/433jGcG
@something_movie
#サムシング・ハプンズ・トゥ・ミー
Review: Something Is About to Happen
The title of this Spanish drama has less to do with the mechanics of the story than with the expectations of the viewer. Director Antonio Méndez Esparza, adapting a novel, concentrates on the every…
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October 30, 2025 at 1:21 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
To drive or not to drive. That is the question for Japanese welfare recipients. bit.ly/4qpnrU1 #生活保護
Media watch: Welfare recipients have to choose between benefits and cars
In June the Supreme Court ruled that government cuts to welfare carried out between 2013 and 2015 were unlawful in a decision that undermined much of the welfare ministry’s rationale for how …
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October 27, 2025 at 12:33 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"The Day Iceland Stood Still" opens today in Tokyo. bit.ly/48LZcZK
@wdayoff_1975
#女性の休日
Review: The Day Iceland Stood Still
October 24 marked the 50th anniversary of the Women’s Day of Peace in Iceland, when 90 percent of Icelandic women commemorated the United Nations International Women’s Year by going on …
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October 25, 2025 at 12:35 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"Hard Truths" and "The Roses" open today in Tokyo. bit.ly/48G0u8z #ハード・トゥルース母の日に願うこと #巨匠マイク・リー最新作 #ローズ家
Review: Hard Truths and The Roses
One of the many refreshing things about Mike Leigh’s cinema is the way he disregards certain prejudices in terms of plotting and characterization. There are moments during his movies when vie…
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October 24, 2025 at 1:36 AM
Reposted by Philip Brasor
philipbrasor.bsky.social
Japanese govt. taps into anti-foreigner sentiments as if it were planned that way. bit.ly/47A4fLz #不法滞在者ゼロプラン #日本人ファースト
Media watch: Citizens demand end of immigration policy that doesn’t exist
Tokyo Immigration Services building One of the two women that Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has appointed to her cabinet is Kimi Onoda, who will be in charge of promoti…
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October 22, 2025 at 7:59 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
Japanese govt. taps into anti-foreigner sentiments as if it were planned that way. bit.ly/47A4fLz #不法滞在者ゼロプラン #日本人ファースト
Media watch: Citizens demand end of immigration policy that doesn’t exist
Tokyo Immigration Services building One of the two women that Japan’s first female prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, has appointed to her cabinet is Kimi Onoda, who will be in charge of promoti…
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October 22, 2025 at 7:59 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"The Conjuring: Last Rites" opens today in Tokyo. bit.ly/3WNW5ch
@horror_ent
#死霊館最後の儀式
Review: The Conjuring: Last Rites
I have not followed the Conjuring franchise so far and was taken aback by the conceit that it is based on the adventures of a real life married couple, Lorraine and Ed Warren, who performed exorcis…
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October 17, 2025 at 12:59 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"Eephus" opens tomorrow in Tokyo. bit.ly/4qauxvi
@slowball_film
#さよならはスローボールで
Review: Eephus
Because of Hollywood, American movies are considered the default cinematic form, meaning any other kind needs to be qualified first; but there are enough American movies that fall outside the perce…
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October 16, 2025 at 2:33 AM
Reposted by Philip Brasor
tobiasharris.bsky.social
I'm reading journalist Mark Gayn's "Japan Diary," which starts in December 1945, and thus far it seems useful as an illustration of a) racial attitudes at the end of the war and b) insanely unrealistic expectations for what the occupation could accomplish in *checks notes* two months.
October 10, 2025 at 2:08 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"Holy Cow" and "Brand New Landscape" open today in Tokyo. bit.ly/4326O6A
@holycowjpn
#ホーリー・カウ
@Miharashi_Movie
#見はらし世代
Review: Holy Cow and Brand New Landscape
Work, as the Nazis used to say, will make you free, though it depends on which end of the whip you’re on. A lot of it has to do with milieu. Louise Courvoisier’s continually surprising …
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October 10, 2025 at 12:50 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"Grand Tour" opens tomorrow in Tokyo. bit.ly/3J3KKBI
@grandtourfilmjp
#グランドツアー
Review: Grand Tour
Portuguese critic-turned-director Miguel Gomes is comfortable with anachronism. It was the most obvious narrative device in his era-splitting breakthrough Tabu, and in his latest movie it’s e…
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October 8, 2025 at 11:56 PM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
To renovate or not to renovate. That is the question, when it comes to abandoned houses. bit.ly/46RWLCg #空き家 #解体 #リフォーム
Mama said knock it down
House built in Nikko in the early 1980s Recent media reports say that housing starts are dropping in Japan, which is understandable but also worrying to those who gauge Japan’s economic healt…
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October 8, 2025 at 1:01 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
The Japanese media never really corrected its misinformation about the #HPV vaccine. bit.ly/435U5jb
Vaccine vexation | FCCJ
October 2025 | Japan Media Review Japan’s newspapers too often put emotion before science in their coverage of the HPV controversy Illustration by Julio Shiiki - Image source: Wikipedia While vaccines...
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October 6, 2025 at 12:27 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
Asia's biggest film festival tries to reassert its importance. bit.ly/4nD3MOz #biff2025
Revamped Busan film festival turns 30 with expanded cinematic showcase
Since its inception, BIFF has been a launchpad for Asian cinema. This year, it grew bigger and brighter with a new Competition section, 90 world premieres and high-profile guests.
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October 4, 2025 at 12:20 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
“One Battle After Another” opens today in Tokyo.
Review: One Battle After Another
Though I’ve little use for wholesale creative comparisons, the critical observation that Paul Thomas Anderson is this century’s Stanley Kubrick makes a certain kind of sense, if only be…
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October 3, 2025 at 3:09 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
If there's a problem with foreigners buying property in Japan, you'd think the government would have addressed it by now. bit.ly/3KtJ2Kq #ニセコ #固定資産税
Northern exposure
One of the topics being discussed by candidates for the Liberal Democratic Party presidency is foreigners in Japan, and an aspect of that discussion is foreigners buying property. Some years ago th…
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October 2, 2025 at 2:28 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"Julie Keeps Quiet" opens tomorrow in Tokyo. bit.ly/48PXiae #ジュリーは沈黙したままで
Review: Julie Keeps Quiet
Sports movies usually have a common narrative arc about overcoming adversity, one which this Beligan film refuses to follow almost constitutionally. The title character, played by Tessa Van den Bro…
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October 2, 2025 at 1:53 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"Midas Man" and "Becoming Led Zeppelin" open today in Tokyo. bit.ly/4831Slg #ブライアン・エプスタイン世界最高のバンドを育てた男
@zepmovie
#レッド・ツェッペリンビカミング
Review: Midas Man and Becoming Led Zeppelin
Midas Man, a biopic about Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein, received a qualified rave review from veteran rock critic Greil Marcus this summer. Marcus saw the movie at a film festival in Califo…
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September 26, 2025 at 2:22 AM
philipbrasor.bsky.social
"I Saw the TV Glow" opens tomorrow in Tokyo. bit.ly/3Kl0ZL0 #テレビの中に入りたい
Review: I Saw the TV Glow
Now that he’s dead, all us habitual moviegoers live in the shadow of David Lynch if only because Lynch was the predominant filmmaker of the last 40 years or so whose vision was not only uniqu…
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September 25, 2025 at 12:14 AM