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BUSINESS
Mar 21, 2006

Softbank may prove worthy rival

Softbank Corp.'s announcement last Friday it was buying Vodafone K.K., a Japanese unit of Vodafone Group PLC, may give the Internet company a competitive edge in the mobile phone industry.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Mar 21, 2006

Deposits, insurance and health

Security deposit I think I've heard that a law's been passed preventing a landlord from keeping your security deposit for wear and tear of an apartment.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 19, 2006

Africa's clock ticking on bird flu virus

NEW YORK -- The spread of avian flu to Africa and Europe, although expected, is unwelcome news. In the last few weeks the disease has reached several states in northern Nigeria and Niger. Together with other countries in West Africa, they are on the bird migratory route from Central Asia and the Middle...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 19, 2006

Myths behind the rise of the mobile

PERSONAL, PORTABLE, PEDESTRIAN: Mobile Phones in Japanese Life, edited by Mizuko Ito, Daisuke Okabe, and Misa Matsuda. Massachusetts: MIT Press, 357 pp., $39 (cloth). Consider the refrigerator. The changes this appliance brought in its wake are monumental. Thanks to that big humming machine in the kitchen,...
Japan Times
Features / WEEK 3
Mar 19, 2006

Take note of how to sort out your life

Despite working late every day, Yukihiro Misawa always felt he wasn't getting enough done.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 18, 2006

Clemens issues cryptic statement

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Roger Clemens' muddy future may have cleared up a little bit after Thursday's 2-1 World Baseball Classic loss to Mexico.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

Insurers asked to clarify policies

The Financial Services Agency called on all 86 insurance firms in the nation Friday to check their sales material on savings-type insurance products after it discovered some firms had not been clearly explaining their policies.
BUSINESS
Mar 18, 2006

Meiji Yasuda Life to show breakdown in its profit

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. plans to disclose itemized profit data in a first for a major, private-sector life insurer in Japan, possibly starting with its fiscal 2006 financial statement, to regain the trust of policyholders.
EDITORIALS
Mar 17, 2006

Foreign Ministry mind game

Mr. Bunroku Yoshino, 87, director general of the Foreign Ministry's American Bureau from January 1971 to May 1972, was in charge of negotiations with the United States on the reversion of Okinawa to Japanese control. In recent media interviews, Mr. Yoshino admitted that Japan secretly shouldered $4 million...
JAPAN
Mar 17, 2006

Usen chief to buy Fuji's Livedoor stake

Usen Corp. President Yasuhide Uno said Thursday he will personally purchase Fuji Television Network Inc.'s entire 12.75 percent stake in Livedoor Co. for 9.5 billion yen.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 17, 2006

Heating up dance floors

The Latin boom continues unabated in Tokyo. There are Latin dance lessons aplenty, spicy eateries and specialty cigar and rum bars; the latest bands from Cuba tour to full houses; and a Japanese-language free magazine, Salsa 120%, lists all things Latin. No longer just a fad, Latin culture has become...
BUSINESS
Mar 17, 2006

UFJ NICOS, Visa tie up on payments via mobiles

UFJ NICOS Co. will tie up with the Visa International credit group to expand UFJ NICOS Smartplus mobile-phone payment service, officials at the two firms said Thursday.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Mar 17, 2006

Bellydance partywith feast of sound

Tokyo band Tabla Kwaiesa will be injecting the plush Club Heights in Shinjuku with a whole lot of Arabic soul for "Tokyo Ihtifaal," an event taking place March 21. Some of Japan's top bellydancers, including Suran Negishi -- competition winner at Armani's Oriental Festival in Lebanon last year -- and...
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2006

Airport security code leak hits ANA

Another data leak involving the Winny file-sharing program came to light Wednesday as All Nippon Airways said access codes for restricted areas at 29 airports, including major gateways such as Narita, were leaked onto the Internet from an ANA captain's personal computer in November.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2006

Firms on a roll OK first raises since '01

Production workers at major automakers and electronics companies won increases in basic monthly pay Wednesday for the first time in five years, with Toyota Motor Corp. agreeing to the 1,000 yen raise demanded by its union.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2006

Wage increases reflect growing pay disparity

The pay raises at major carmakers and electronics firms announced Wednesday may be the first increases in five years but illustrate the fact that there are growing wage disparities between industries, companies and individuals.
JAPAN
Mar 16, 2006

New traffic plan aims to cut deaths to 5,500 per year

The government said Tuesday it has drawn up a five-year plan for bringing traffic deaths under 5,500 a year by calendar 2010.
BUSINESS
Mar 16, 2006

Fuji TV eyes Usen offer on Livedoor

The chairman of Fuji Television Network Inc. indicated Wednesday the network would prefer to sell its Livedoor shares to Usen Corp. or another information technology-related firm, instead of selling them to an investment fund.
JAPAN
Mar 15, 2006

Horie, four colleagues dealt new charges

Former Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie and four others, as well as the company itself, were charged Tuesday with falsifying the company's financial statements for the business year through September 2004.
EDITORIALS
Mar 15, 2006

Asbestos aid falls short

The Diet enacted a law in early February to financially help people suffering from asbestos-related health problems not covered by labor accident compensation. Eligible people can start filing requests for the aid under the law on March 20. Enactment of the law was quick -- in about seven months -- after...
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2006

Business failures rise 3% but they leave fewer debts

The number of corporate failures rose 2.9 percent in February from a year ago to 1,044, but the amount of debt left by those businesses fell 61.2 percent from the year before to 288.50 billion yen, Tokyo Shoko Research said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 15, 2006

New chief vows to steady JAL

Japan Airlines Corp. should restructure itself into an airline that can consistently make an operating profit of at least 100 billion yen so it can survive in volatile business conditions, the troubled carrier's incoming president said in an interview with The Japan Times.
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2006

Architect group to offer directory of highly trained members

A nationwide organization of architects will publicize later this month the names and addresses of architects who have taken training courses on the latest technologies and construction regulations, the group said Monday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 14, 2006

Iwakuni vote won't halt U.S. move: Abe

The central government will go ahead with plans to move 57 U.S. carrier-based warplanes and support personnel to the U.S. Marine Corps Iwakuni Air Station in Yamaguchi Prefecture, despite the overwhelming opposition expressed in a nonbinding local plebiscite, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Monday....
JAPAN
Mar 13, 2006

Iwakuni voters reject realignment plan

IWAKUNI, Yamaguchi Pref. -- A majority of Iwakuni residents voted "no" in a closely watched plebiscite Sunday, rejecting the central government's plan to move 57 U.S. warplanes and 1,600 additional marines to the area, according to partial vote counts and exit polls.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Mar 13, 2006

Koreans hope semi spot enough for military release

PHOENIX -- Grab a uniform and do it for your country. Whether it is in the army or in the World Baseball Classic, several members of Team Korea will do just that soon enough. Or they will already have done both.
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2006

NHK fee not linked to quality: judge

The Yokohama District Court has ruled that people who watch NHK must pay the "mandatory" subscriber fee even if they don't like its programs, the public broadcaster said Saturday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Mar 11, 2006

Good Day to hear all about Ranald MacDonald

Never heard the name Ranald MacDonald? (Not easily forgotten, for sure.) This is about to change, thanks to the book "Native American in the Land of the Shogun: Ranald MacDonald and the Opening of Japan" by American author Frederik Schodt.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2006

Japan's offshore firms unprepared for health crises

Despite a possible outbreak of a new strain of influenza that may kill more people than SARS did in 2002, only a few Japanese firms operating overseas have drawn up plans to deal with an epidemic.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’