Search - business

 
 
LIFE / Digital
Apr 17, 2013

Facebook spreads like a virus with no cure

Infectious diseases, says the World Health Organization, "are caused by pathogenic microorganisms, such as bacteria, viruses, parasites or fungi; the diseases can be spread, directly or indirectly, from one person to another." Quite so. Just like Facebook addiction, which also spreads from person to...
BUSINESS / Companies
Apr 16, 2013

Nuclear plant supplier slides

Japan Steel Works Ltd., a nuclear plant parts supplier for customers including Areva SA, fell the most in two months in Tokyo trading after the Nikkei reported that workers at a factory will take time off as orders decline.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE FOREIGN ELEMENT
Apr 16, 2013

Mad court rush could brake or bless Abe's vision

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Cabinet rush to diminish the Bank of Japan's bothersome independence, join the Trans-Pacific Partnership negotiations (sort of . . .), start pouring lovely, popular concrete before the summer House of Councilors elections and (sotto voce) maybe even amend the Constitution,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Apr 16, 2013

Blossom Queen ritual becomes an education

Adjusting her cupcake-size replica of a Mikimoto gold-and-pearl crown and gliding through a downtown Washington hotel lobby in her white sash, Taylor Barfield offers her business card with a knowing grin: "First African-American United States Cherry Blossom Queen," it reads.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 16, 2013

No resting on techie laurels

Only a few years ago, it was forecast that Japan's best growth strategy would be to develop environment-related products. That forecast was off the mark.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 15, 2013

Deflation watch: gyudon

Will fast food price competition undermine Abenomics?
BUSINESS / Economy
Apr 14, 2013

U.S. to press Abe on yen 'devaluation'

The U.S. Treasury Department says it will pressure Japan to refrain from competitive devaluation while stopping short of accusing it of manipulating the yen.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 14, 2013

Net TV expresses views the mainstream ignores

Last week's column mentioned "Pack-in News," a current-affairs talk show that used to stream on the Internet TV channel Kinkin.tv, which is the personal project of veteran actor-emcee Kinya Aikawa. It was a continuation of "Pack-in Journal," a show hosted by Aikawa on the satellite station Asahi Newstar...
CULTURE / Books
Apr 14, 2013

Digging for insights on foreigners living in Japan from some of the most prominent figures

Donald Richie, prolific author of more than 40 books and longtime contributor to The Japan Times, died in February at age 88. April 17 was his birthday, so this review pays tribute by sharing some of the insights he passed on during an interview, one of 12 in this book, conducted four years ago.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Apr 13, 2013

Man City better off keeping Mancini

According to some reports, Manchester City has lined up various replacements should Roberto Mancini be fired this summer. This, of course, presupposes the club's power brokers have met to discuss possible successors in case they decide to fire the Italian.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2013

Japan-U.S. TPP deal sets stage for Congress verdict

Tokyo and Washington conclude preparatory negotiations over Japan's entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks, allowing the U.S. to keep tariffs on Japanese autos.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2013

French jeweler offers classes in Tokyo

A French jewelry company will hold a series of special lectures this summer in Tokyo to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its entry into the Japanese market and to share its knowledge and expertise, the firm's CEO said Wednesday in Tokyo.
BASKETBALL
Apr 12, 2013

Hoosiers' Zeller entering NBA draft

Indiana's Cody Zeller turned down one chance to play in the NBA. He couldn't say no twice.
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2013

Tepco boosts coal capacity to cut need for costly oil

Tokyo Electric Power Co. may cut its oil purchases by more than one-third as it boosts its reliance on coal plants to reduce an energy bill that's ballooned since the Fukushima nuclear crisis started.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 11, 2013

Welsh approach to 'national' theater is efficiently different

Always keen to break new ground, Keiko Miyata, artistic director of the New National Theatre Tokyo (NNTT), has created a series titled "With: linking theater" as the centerpiece of this season's program. In this, she has lined up three appetizing collaborations by asking playwrights from Wales, South...
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / NBA / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 10, 2013

King's election richly deserved, but long overdue

It was nothing short of a travesty that basketball great Bernard King was passed over by Hall of Fame voters on five previous occasions.
JAPAN
Apr 10, 2013

Hokkaido opposition to TPP surges

On a late March afternoon in central Sapporo's "raccoon trail," a covered shopping arcade, business is particularly brisk. While Honshu's main cities celebrate under the cherry blossoms, several meters of snow remain piled up beside icy sidewalks — with more expected.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 10, 2013

Bitcoin has financial powers nervous

Among the many unpleasant discoveries made by those who stashed their cash in Cypriot banks is that the island's government could stop them moving their money elsewhere. Capital controls are supposed to be a thing of the past, a figment of the pre-globalized world. But it turns out that when banks are...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 10, 2013

Five myths about the Iraq war

That the war changed Iraq into a stable and peaceful democracy is a myth. It has been left a broken and dysfunctional country. The big winner is Iran.
Japan Times
CULTURE / CULTURE SMASH
Apr 10, 2013

Pop tourism gains traction

Pre-flight shopping at Narita airport a couple of weeks ago, I passed a mannequin sporting a light-blue necktie and a turquoise wig with pig tails dangling down to its mini skirt. The vision spoke volumes: It was Hatsune Miku, of course, Japan's holographic, animated virtual pop star, beloved fashion...

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past