Latest In kuchikomi

Japan awash in fake medicines

For Japan, says Shukan Jitsuwa (Nov 12), 2006 was Year One of the fake med influx that by now has risen to a flood tide.…

Previously In kuchikomi

View All »

Others In kuchikomi

Self-centered zombies running rampant through Japanese society

During the Japan Open golf tournament held in mid-October, 18-year-old pro golf prodigy Ryo Ishikawa botched his swing on a bunker shot for a double…

The age of listless, wary, anxiety-ridden and insecure young men

Pity the young Japanese male. For him, it’s shock piled upon shock. No wonder he’s reeling. The monthly magazine Nikkei Woman (November) lists what career-oriented…

Three-day farming tryout leaves writer fatigued, aching and dejected

You're a self-described 35-year-old "lowbrow writer" facing shrinking outlets for your articles and no assurance things will get any better. So you look around to…

New breed of employees can’t communicate and wilt under pressure

Heard the one about the company employee who got chewed out by her boss? Next day she was absent. Around mid-morning, there came a call…

Domestic jeans makers panting for survival

Denim trousers were sold in Japan before WW2. But it was the rough-hewn Levi's look in Hollywood films exemplified by stars like James Dean that…

Japan’s medical infrastructure crumbling

In a society aging as fast as Japan’s, a solid medical infrastructure is a minimum precondition for viability. Japan’s medical infrastructure is anything but solid,…

Celebrity drug offenders face public humiliation

What is it about this country, and its media, that makes people think they can justify turning drug offenders into public spectacles? That's the question…

The age of the disposable male

Ask young women if their attitude toward men is “love ‘em and leave ‘em,” and almost all, says Spa! (Sept 22-29), will protest that they…

Low-income bachelors victims of widening 'sex gap'

Over the past several years, Japan's economists have devoted much discussion to the widening gap in living standards. Writing in biweekly magazine Sapio (Sept 30),…