author

 
Menu
Search
 
May 04, 2024
 

Today's print edition

Home Delivery
Subscribe for more access

Meta

Shinichi Terada
For Shinichi Terada's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
BUSINESS
May 13, 2008
Economic outlook warrants caution: Shirakawa
Bank of Japan Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa urged caution Monday about downside risks to the economy, including ongoing financial market turbulence and increasing energy costs.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2008
Soaring Softbank aims for the top
Softbank Corp. said Thursday that its operating profit in the business year to March rose 19.6 percent to ¥324.29 billion after it saw the largest net growth in subscribers among Japan's cellular phone operators.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 8, 2008
No more hostile takeover bids for Yahoo in works, Gates says
Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Wednesday the world's biggest software company has no plan to launch a fresh bid for search engine operator Yahoo Inc. after abandoning its $47.5 billion takeover attempt.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 6, 2008
Finance Ministry losing its luster
The Finance Ministry has long been known as the most powerful and elitist of Japan's bureaucracy. When Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda repeatedly tried in March to appoint a former vice finance minister as the new Bank of Japan governor — only to be rejected by the opposition-controlled Upper House — some opposition leaders charged that Fukuda's insistence on tapping a former Finance Ministry bureaucrat was evidence that the whole government is controlled by that ministry.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2008
Plant closure sends Tepco to first group loss in 28 years
Hurt by the closure of an earthquake-damaged nuclear power plant and higher oil and gas prices, Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Wednesday that it posted a group loss of ¥150.1 billion for fiscal 2007 — its first annual group loss in 28 years.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2008
J-Power ups dividend just ¥10, braces for fight with TCI
Electric Power Development Co., the country's biggest electricity wholesaler, said Wednesday it will raise its annual dividend by ¥10 — to a total of ¥70 per share — for fiscal 2007, spurning repeated calls by a U.K.-based hedge fund that it double the annual payout to shareholders.
BUSINESS
May 1, 2008
Softbank eyes 40% stake in Chinese SNS Oak Pacific
Softbank Corp. plans to take control of Chinese Internet firm Oak Pacific Interactive by buying a 40 percent stake for about ¥40 billion by 2011 in a bid to expand its Internet business in China.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2008
TCI defies Japan's request to drop attempt to expand J-Power stake
The Children's Investment Fund (TCI) defied a government request Friday to drop its bid to raise its 9.9 percent stake in Electric Power Development Co., known as J-Power, to 20 percent.
BUSINESS
Apr 25, 2008
KDDI posts 16% profit rise for '07 but looks vulnerable
KDDI Corp., Japan's second-biggest mobile phone operator, said Thursday that operating profit for the year ended March 31 rose 16.2 percent to ¥400.5 billion as it continued to add new subscribers.
BUSINESS
Apr 24, 2008
With credit tight, real estate growth tails off
Japan's real estate market is becoming lackluster after the growth of the past few years due to the ripple effect of the credit squeeze triggered by the U.S. subprime mortgage loan crisis.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 18, 2008
Industry chiefs to G8: Forge fair emissions goals
Business leaders of the Group of Eight industrialized nations called on G8 member nations Thursday to create a post-Kyoto Protocol framework that is fair and impartial to all major emitters.
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2008
Japan blocks TCI from upping J-Power stake
The government on Wednesday rejected a U.K.-based hedge fund's request to raise its stake in Japan's largest electricity wholesaler, citing a potential threat to national security.
BUSINESS
Apr 16, 2008
TCI turned down in bid to raise J-Power stake
A government panel said Tuesday night that a bid by a British investment fund to boost its stake in Electric Power Development Co., better known as J-Power, could "disturb the maintenance of public order."
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2008
G7 action to ease markets' woes a question mark
In this week's Group of Seven meeting of financial ministers and central bank chiefs, Japan is keen to show its commitment to cooperating on preventing the global financial system's problems from deteriorating further and damaging growth.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2008
OECD to Japan: Don't increase interest rates
The Bank of Japan should avoid raising interest rates until the specter of deflation has vanished, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 5, 2008
Stimulus plan advances project times, draws fire
The government unveiled measures Friday to stimulate economic growth, including providing financial assistance to small and midsize companies, revitalizing regional economies and improving the employment situation.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2008
LDP studying creation of sovereign wealth fund
Looking to earn better returns on Japan's massive foreign reserves, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party began studying in February the idea of creating a sovereign wealth fund, or a state-controlled investment fund, that would trade in more aggressive vehicles such as stocks and properties.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2008
Markets laud Fukuda offer to untie taxes
Sensing the will for reform, financial markets have responded generally favorably to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's proposal to free up road-related taxes for other purposes in fiscal 2009, but rural economies already suffering from cuts in public spending risk further damage, analysts say.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2008
Dollar plummets to near 13-year low against yen
The dollar nosedived below ¥96.00 Monday for the first time in nearly 13 years as fears of a U.S. financial industry meltdown persist amid America's festering subprime mortgage loan crisis.
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2008
G20 climate talks end divided
CHIBA — The Group of 20 environment and energy ministers vowed Sunday to continue their fight against global warming but fell short of reaching a consensus on a framework to succeed the 1997 Kyoto Protocol.
Biden calls ally Japan ‘xenophobic’ along with rivals China and Russia
U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in Syracuse, New York, on April 25.
Yen swings stir talk that Japan is in the FX market once again
An electronic screen in Tokyo displays the yen exchange rate against the U.S. dollar and the graph showing its recent swings, on Thursday.
Harajuku strives to reclaim its former glory — and surpass it
Laforet Harajuku, which celebrated its 45th anniversary last year, has been a witness to the district's evolution over the years.
Weak yen fattens tourist wallets in Japan
People visit the Ameya Yokocho market in Tokyo's Ueno district during the Golden Week holiday on Tuesday.
Japan's May 1 intervention may have cost ¥3.66 trillion, BOJ data suggests
An electronic screen displays a graph showing Japanese yen exchange rates surging against the dollar amid signs of intervention by authorities, in Tokyo on Thursday.
Kishida sets sights on energy and climate in South America trip
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida will use a policy speech in Sao Paulo to set out his vision for ties between Japan and South America, almost 10 years after former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe advocated for stronger ties between the two in the same city.
Yellow sand allergy: A health issue made worse by climate change
A screenshot of the Meteorological Agency's satellite image of clouds and yellow sand (in pink) on Sunday.
Climate change, chalky grains and the risks for Japan’s rice farmers
A farmer plants seedlings in Satsumasendai, Kagoshima Prefecture. Japan’s self sufficiency rate for rice is nearly 100%, compared with 38% for food overall, on a calorie basis.
Japan wants you to spend more with ‘luxury tourism’
Performers play a traditional drum unique to Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, in the prefectural capital of Kanazawa on March 16 to mark the extension of the Hokuriku Shinkansen line to Tsuruga Station in Fukui Prefecture.
Theaster Gates’ ambitious ‘Afro-Mingei’ brings Black Chicago to Tokyo
Theaster Gates' “A Heavenly Chord” lines up church pews before seven speakers and a Hammond B3 organ, a type of electric organ prevalent in Black American churches.

Podcast

From easily navigable train stations to the helpfulness of its municipal staff, Tokyo has earned high praise for its commitment to accessibility for disabled travelers.
[Rebroadcast] Japan is doing better on accessibility than you may think

Longform

When trying to trace your lineage in Japan, the "koseki" is the most important form of document you'll encounter.
Climbing the branches of a Japanese family tree
By Alex K.T. Martin

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there
Vol. 35: Travel in time — and stay there

SPECIAL SUPPLEMENTS note

Read more

SUPPLEMENTS BINDER