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May 04, 2024
 

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Shinichi Terada
For Shinichi Terada's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
BUSINESS
Dec 12, 2007
Homes, firms hit by oil spike to get relief
The government announced a relief package Tuesday for small firms and low-income households to help them cope with high oil prices.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2007
Housing slump forecast to continue hurting economy
Despite recent signs of recovery, the housing slump caused by stricter regulations for obtaining building permits will continue to hurt the economy for some time to come, analysts say.
BUSINESS
Dec 4, 2007
Corporate capital spending off
Capital investment by companies excluding the financial and insurance sectors fell 1.2 percent in the July-September period from a year ago, the Finance Ministry said Monday, adding to concerns over the impact of the U.S. housing loan mess.
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2007
Loan guarantees slated for more small builders
The government has expanded loan guarantees for vulnerable small and medium-size firms in the construction and related industries as part of efforts to counter the recent plunge in housing starts that threatens economic growth, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2007
LDP body pushes for sales tax hike next decade
To finance swelling social security costs, the 5 percent consumption tax needs to be raised to around 10 percent in the middle of the next decade as more baby boomers become pensioners, according to an interim proposal by the Liberal Democratic Party's financial reform study group.
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2007
Discuss consumption tax hike now: panel
A hike in the consumption tax from the current 5 percent must be considered to finance the swelling social security costs stemming from the rapidly aging population, the governmental Tax Commission said in a proposal released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2007
Finance panel urges more belt-tightening
An advisory panel to the finance minister urged the government Monday to stick to its belt-tightening policy to restore the government's debt-ridden finances as it compiles the budget for fiscal 2008.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2007
Consumption tax hike certain: Mitarai
Hiking the consumption tax to finance social security is "unavoidable" because the government is scheduled to raise its portion of the funding in fiscal 2009, Fujio Mitarai, head the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2007
Toto ads take aim at America's great unwashed
In the summer, sanitary ware manufacturer Toto Ltd., best known for its Washlet bidet toilets, launched an aggressive advertising blitz in the United States to woo Americans who have long shied away from such a product as strange, unnecessary — and a little bit embarrassing.
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2007
GDP logs surprise increase of 2.6%
The economy expanded at a faster pace than expected in the July-September period, thanks to strong exports to other parts of Asia and an unexpected increase in consumer spending, the government said in a preliminary report released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2007
Current account surplus up 34.1% in April-September
The current account surplus expanded 34.1 percent in the April-September period compared with a year earlier to hit a record high ¥12.42 trillion, reflecting Japanese investors' sizable gains from overseas investments and growing trade with countries in Europe and Asia, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2007
Softbank profits triple as mobile users mount
Softbank Corp. said Tuesday its net profit more than tripled to ¥46.46 billion in the six months that ended Sept. 30 from ¥14.4 billion a year earlier after winning more mobile phone subscribers than bigger rivals NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
Nov 1, 2007
Retiree starts anew with Kidzania career theme park
It was in May 2004 that retired restaurant manager Einosuke Sumitani first visited a career theme park called Kidzania in Mexico and saw children cheerfully engaged in jobs there.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2007
DoCoMo profits plunge 21% in half year as users defect to rivals
NTT DoCoMo Inc. reported a 21 percent drop in operating profit for the April-September period Friday, reflecting its loss of customers to rivals KDDI Corp. and Softbank Corp.
BUSINESS
Oct 26, 2007
Sharp tax hikes mulled to fund pension system
The 5 percent consumption tax would have to be doubled to fully finance the state pension program with levies, the private-sector members of the government's top economic panel said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2007
Japanese businesses setting up virtual shop in Second Life
For a year, blue-chip corporations in the West have been setting up shop on Second Life, the online, 3-D alternate reality that is redefining Internet communication.
BUSINESS
Oct 25, 2007
Consultancy exec to take Livedoor helm in December
Livedoor Holdings Co. President Kozo Hiramatsu will step down in December and be replaced by Hironori Ishizaka, a 34-year-old consulting company executive, the firm said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 18, 2007
Don't start spending: Cabinet Office
Japan would need ¥6.6 trillion more in tax revenue to achieve a primary balance surplus in fiscal 2011 should economic growth stall and the pace of spending cuts slow, the Cabinet Office said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2007
Mobile phone carriers apply for WiMAX service licenses
Groups led by Japan's three mobile phone carriers — Softbank Corp., KDDI Corp. and NTT DoCoMo Inc. — applied Thursday for licenses to provide next-generation, high-speed WiMAX wireless telecommunications services.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2007
KDDI unveils new price plans
KDDI Corp. announced new mobile phone subscription packages Thursday that will slash calling fees, raise handset prices and possibly alter the alliances among handset manufacturers.
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

Rows of irises resemble a rice field at the Peter Walker-designed Toyota Municipal Museum of Art.
The 'outsiders' creating some of Japan's greenest spaces
By Stephen Mansfield

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

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

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