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May 02, 2024
 

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Maki Shiraki
For Maki Shiraki's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 17, 2015
Takata, automakers stuck in uneasy relationship as recalls mount
Air bag manufacturer Takata Corp. and Japan's carmakers are locked in the commercial equivalent of a bad marriage, not entirely happy in each other's company but unable to break apart.
BUSINESS / Companies
Mar 22, 2015
Toyota set to approve $1 billion Corolla plant in Mexico within weeks
Toyota Motor Corp. is finalizing plans for its first car plant in Mexico, which could be approved by its board as early as next month, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 25, 2014
Regulators' sweep threatens auto parts business model
When a Japanese carmaker issued a tender for shock absorbers a few years ago for a model it planned to sell in Indonesia, two suppliers came back with bids that were "so obviously coordinated," said an executive at the automaker.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 27, 2011
K-pop stars luring Japan to buy Korean products
Yuko Ishii, a 53-year-old factory worker in central Japan, used to feel reluctant about buying products made in South Korea. That changed after she became a fan of pop stars such as boy band TVXQ.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2011
Solar-panel producers stand to benefit from nuke fears
Akiko Hirai says the Hamaoka power station 3 km from her home evokes such dread of the crippled Fukushima plant that she would spend ¥500,000 installing solar panels if it helped make Japan nuclear-free.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 22, 2011
Silver lining in sight for makers of solar panels
Akiko Hirai says the Hamaoka power station 3 km from her home evokes such dread of the crippled Fukushima plant that she would spend ¥500,000 installing solar panels if it helped make Japan nuclear-free.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2010
Porn stars in 3-D lure buyers to new TVs
Porn star Mika Kayama is at the frontier of a push to develop videos and content in Japan that Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. need to lure customers for their new 3-D televisions.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2009
Sony head sees big things for 3-D
Sony Corp. Chairman Howard Stringer forecast 3-D movies, pictures and games will be the electronics maker's next $10 billion business, challenging investors and analysts who say the technology isn't ready to become mainstream.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2009
Rich turn to solar power for latest status symbols
Forget the 58-inch flat-panel TV, the new domestic status symbol for Japan's rich is a cooker.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2009
Women forsake frills but spare no expense for skin
When Miwako Taniuchi's income slumped 30 percent last year, out went the expensive dinners and new Gucci and Louis Vuitton handbags. One purchase that didn't get axed: a skin cream worth its weight in gold.
'So hot you can't breathe': Extreme heat hits the Philippines
A pedestrian cools himself with a folding hand fan as he waits for a ride along a road in Manila on Wednesday, as extreme heat hit the Philippines.
Did Japan intervene to prop up the yen? Analysts think it did.
A man walks past an electronic board displaying the exchange rate for the yen against the U.S. dollar (right) in Tokyo on Tuesday.
Town to block view of Mount Fuji in response to overtourism
The town government of Fujikawaguchiko, Yamanashi Prefecture, decided to set up a 2.5-meter-high screen to prevent tourists from taking pictures of Mount Fuji looming behind a convenience store.
A peek inside the brains of ‘super-agers’
For a little more than a decade, scientists have been studying a subset of people they call "super-agers.” These individuals are age 80 and older, but they have the memory ability of a person 20 to 30 years younger.
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.
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.
Casa del Cibo: A thriving jewel born from Tohoku’s harsh past
When chef Ryohei Ikemi moved to Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture, and opened Casa del Cibo in 2011, it was the first proper Italian restaurant in the city.

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