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Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 31, 2006

Eyeing Japan's new year and far, far beyond

The future may be fundamentally uncertain, but people's appetite for predictions of what will be happening in days, weeks, months, years or even decades to come is one thing, at least, that is certain to be part of it.
LIFE
Dec 31, 2006

Timeline points to ways ahead

The following are extracts from the mirai nenpyo (future timeline) database prepared by the team led by Masataka Yoshikawa, research director of the Institute of Life and Living at Hakuhodo Inc., Japan's second-largest advertising agency. By collecting vast amounts of published information spanning many...
Japan Times
LIFE
Dec 31, 2006

Shaping our future along with robots

Yoshiyuki Sankai is a professor of engineering at Tsukuba University in Ibaraki Prefecture and a front-runner in the field of "cybernics," which combines robotics with a wide array of academic disciplines, including neurology, information technology, behavioral science and psychology. Now aged 48, he...
BUSINESS
Dec 30, 2006

Nikkei ends rocky '06 on an up-tweak

The Tokyo Stock Exchange edged up just over a point Friday, wrapping up a turbulent 2006 marked by a spate of high-profile corporate scandals.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2006

Mansfield Center eyes lay judge debut

A new system that gives ordinary citizens in Japan a role in deciding the outcome of criminal trials debuts in less than three years.
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2006

Watanabe named new reform chief

A day after one of his Cabinet members resigned over a political funding scandal, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe on Thursday appointed Yoshimi Watanabe as the new administrative reform minister.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2006

Outline of the 'J-SOX' financial rules

As the implementation of "J-SOX" -- Japan's version of the U.S. Sarbanes-Oxley Act -- draws closer, companies are working to establish internal controls to ensure accurate financial reporting.
COMMENTARY
Dec 28, 2006

Turkey's gaze is shifting East

LONDON -- The ambiguous attitude of Western European countries toward Turkish entry into full membership of the European Union has produced a flood of comments, as well as a good deal of anger and confusion in Turkey.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 28, 2006

Murakami's influence will linger

Yoshiaki Murakami's arrest was one of the biggest financial scandals of 2006, but the nation's best-known shareholder activist has played a pivotal role in persuading Japanese managers to be more attentive to shareholder interests, according to Marc Goldstein, head of Institutional Shareholder Services...
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2006

Aneha seen as just part of problem

Architect Haruyasu Kawaguchi thought something was wrong when he looked at the blueprints and concrete pillars of a condominium high-rise in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture. This was on Nov. 22, 2005, for a TV program, a few days after a major shoddy construction scam was revealed.
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2006

Abe to name Kosai head of the Tax Commission

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said Tuesday he plans to appoint noted economist Yutaka Kosai, 73, as head of the Tax Commission to replace Masaaki Honma, who resigned under a cloud last week.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 27, 2006

Our family festivities run foul of hard facts

Christmas has become a modest affair in our family. Our son gets a few presents and the adults get a day of peace and quiet.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2006

Prosecutors demand four years for Horie

Prosecutors on Friday demanded a four-year prison sentence for Takafumi Horie, the former president of Internet firm Livedoor Co., for alleged violations of the Securities and Exchange Law.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 22, 2006

Voices from the Inside

To find out what 2006 meant to others in Japan, we spoke to people involved in the industry. Here's their take on the best, the worst and what comes next.
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2006

One bad apple set to spoil Osaka's 'buraku' aid barrel

projects because the system of distributing funds could easily be abused," he said. "Local political leaders at that time bear much of the blame for Osaka's current scandals." Osaka pumped billions of yen into social welfare projects run by Konishi for more than three decades in line with its policy...
JAPAN
Dec 19, 2006

One bad apple set to spoil Osaka's 'buraku' aid barrel

More than six months after mobster Kunihiko Konishi was arrested for decades of embezzlement, Osaka is set to scrap two dozen city projects to aid the plight of the local 'buraku" community of descendents of the feudal outcast class.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Dec 19, 2006

Men's restrooms

Dear Alice,
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Dec 18, 2006

Triangular mergers and the argument for stringent controls

With the ban on so-called triangular mergers scheduled to be lifted in May, debate in Japan -- which has occasionally involved interested parties in the United States and Europe -- has focused on determining the conditions under which such cross-border takeovers should be allowed.
EDITORIALS
Dec 16, 2006

Blame users, not software

The Kyoto District Court has fined Mr. Isamu Kaneko, a former University of Tokyo researcher, for developing the anonymous file-sharing software Winny. It ruled that development of the software program, in effect, helped users illegally copy copyrighted content.
BUSINESS
Dec 16, 2006

Tokyo, New Delhi OK trade agreement talks

India and Japan agreed Friday to launch talks on an economic partnership agreement centered on lowering tariffs on bilateral trade, with Tokyo trying to make up for lost time as it tries to deepen business ties with India, whose economy is growing rapidly.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes