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finances

Japanese convenience store or Japanese supermarket: Which one is cheaper?

Popular drinks and snacks in Japan really do come with different price tags.

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Japanese game developer reveals the rags-to-relevance tale behind his mobile JRPG

He allegedly had just 20,000 yen (US$188.87) left in savings when the game was released.

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Living costs of Tokyo families now average 23.5 million yen over half a lifetime

And that’s not something you can easily take a loan out for.

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Over 50 percent of single Japanese women in their 20s struggle to make ends meet, survey says

Young women in Japan are experiencing serious financial trouble. 

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Author breaks down economics of anime, tells us exactly what Sailor Moon’s house is worth

How much are these classic anime families earning to afford their family households?

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Pulling up the Sewol could take six months and cost US$98,240,000

It is now approaching one month since the passenger ferry Sewol sank off the coast of Jindo, South Korea. The whole world has watched the death toll rise to an official count of 275, with several dozen people still missing. Compounding the catastrophic loss of life is the fact that the majority of the victims were mere high school students on a field trip to popular Jeju Island.

Many South Korean citizens are lambasting the government for its response to the disaster. Several crew members, including the captain, have also been arrested during the ongoing criminal investigation.

In light of these events, one question that is currently on everyone’s mind is how on earth is the ship’s operating company going to handle the financial burden of this disaster? Join us as a lawyer knowledgeable about shipwrecks gives his preliminary monetary estimates.

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Has Japan’s K-Pop bubble burst? Weakening yen hits major Korean record label hard

It wasn’t so long ago that everywhere you looked in Japan there were ads for Korean pop groups, cosmetics and health drinks. More people than ever were snapping up Korean language textbooks and, despite territorial squabbles and a few extreme-right noise makers, Japan was positively leaping on anything prefixed by the letter ‘K’.

Recent reports, however, suggest that all is not well in the K-Pop (Korean Pop music) camp in Japan, with major Korean record label and talent agency S.M. Entertainment reporting losses of more than 70 percent compared to the same period last year. Has the K-Pop bubble finally burst in Japan?

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“I like this guy… but is he suitable for marriage?”  This is one of the most important questions Japanese women ask themselves in considering a life time mate.  Marriage can be daunting even in the best of circumstances, so it’s crucial to have some assurance you’re making a good choice when deciding on that special person that you want to spend the rest of your life with.

Otome Sugoren, a website featuring articles on love, relationships and marriage, surveyed its female readers to get these results.  The reporter who compiled the info and wrote the article is a Japanese woman herself, so you can be sure of its authenticity!  Here are the top nine things Japanese women check out when Looking for a suitable marriage partner: Read More