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EDITORIALS
Mar 5, 2012

Much to learn from crisis report

A report made public Feb. 27 by a private-sector independent panel set up by the Rebuild Japan Initiative Foundation reveals in detail how the government handled the crisis at Tokyo Electric Power Co.'s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Mar 4, 2012

Anti-yakuza laws are taking their toll

Five months after tough new ordinances cracking down on the activities of organized crime syndicates went into effect, it's not yet clear what impact, if any, they've had on gang activities.
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2012

Capital spending boosts economic rebound hopes

Companies' capital spending jumped by the most in nearly five years in the fourth quarter, government data showed Thursday, adding to signs that the economy is set to return to growth.
BUSINESS
Mar 1, 2012

Subaru tops for Consumer Reports

Subaru, a car brand of Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd., was named top automaker in Consumer Reports magazine's annual rankings as Honda Motor Co., last year's leader, fell to fourth.
JAPAN
Feb 29, 2012

Noda tax quest one dimensional?

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda has cleared numerous political hurdles since taking office in September, but his goal of raising the consumption tax and reforming the social security system may prove insurmountable as he wages a two-front battle.
BASKETBALL
Feb 29, 2012

Warriors to send Tyler to D-League

As the NBA All-Star break concludes, rookie post player Jeremy Tyler will join the Dakota Wizards, the Golden State Warriors' NBA Development League team, according to published reports in the Bay Area.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 29, 2012

Pedigree, big returns lured investors to AIJ

A pension fund based in Nagano Prefecture said it invested with AIJ Investment Advisors Co., whose business has been suspended by regulators, because it was run by a former Nomura Holdings Inc. manager and offered 7 percent returns.
BUSINESS
Feb 29, 2012

January retail sales beat forecasts, post 1.9% rise

Retail sales exceeded economists' forecasts in January, signaling that a recovery in consumer spending will help the economy return to growth this quarter.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 28, 2012

Threatened Goldman Japan workers unionize

The past year has been anything but business as usual for the financial industry. Faced with a frosty economic climate, financial service companies have been busy chopping dead wood. Last year, 200,000 financial service jobs ended up on the cutting block worldwide.
Japan Times
MORE SPORTS
Feb 28, 2012

UFC hopes to shake up Japan fight scene

In the fourth round, Benson "Smooth" Henderson caught the neck of Frankie Edgar in a guillotine, and it looked so tight. But somehow Edgar, the UFC lightweight champion, escaped.
BUSINESS
Feb 28, 2012

Suspended AIJ fund reported 241% return

AIJ Investment Advisors Co., suspended by financial regulators, told investors one of its funds returned 241 percent since it started in May 2002 by mainly trading Nikkei 225 options, according to a newsletter obtained by Bloomberg News.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Feb 27, 2012

The first rule of writing ate-ji: There are no rules

As a general rule, kanji (Sino-Japanese ideographs) are classified in dictionaries according to two readings: kun-yomi (native Japanese) and on-yomi (approximation of the original Chinese pronunciation). For example, 東, the tō in 東京 (Tokyo), meaning "east," is an on-yomi that came from the Chinese...
JAPAN
Feb 26, 2012

Overseas experts urge Japan to create 'safety culture' in nuke power industry

Visiting overseas nuclear experts on Saturday urged Japan to create a culture of safety among its power companies and energy industry regulators, calling this the best way to avoid another nuclear disaster.
BASKETBALL
Feb 26, 2012

Aomori delays entry into bj-league

The Aomori Prefecture expansion franchise will push back its entry into the bj-league until 2013-14, the league announced on Friday, confirming a report The Japan Times published several weeks ago.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Feb 26, 2012

Gloom, doom — and Lester Brown's 'Plan B'

Anyone who has read any of the 50-plus books that Lester Brown has authored or co-authored (in any of the 40-odd languages into which they've been translated) might easily imagine him to be another gloomy environmentalist.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Feb 25, 2012

Villas-Boas latest scapegoat for Chelsea

In 40 years of reporting I cannot remember a more hostile media campaign against a manager than the one we are seeing with Chelsea's Andre Villas-Boas.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Feb 25, 2012

Multilingual ex-professor pours all his energy into translation, writing

Curled up in his German grandfather's library, the young Charles De Wolf looked up from the pages of Goethe to dream of the cobblestoned streets of Europe.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2012

Morning movies: 50 audience favorites to get you out of bed

Moviegoers set your alarms early, because the Toho Cinemas chain will in March begin its third annual Gozen Jū-ji no Eiga Sai (10 a.m. Film Festival). This year's event is the second series under the tag line "50 Films That Never Get Old," and the yearlong "festival" showcases 50 classic films, ranging...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 24, 2012

Fiennes gets savage in Shakespeare's 'Coriolanus'

An angry mob of protesters waving banners and wielding bats advances on a government building protected by black-clad riot police. Hooded hotheads break open the gates and all hell breaks loose.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 24, 2012

HSBC to withdraw from Japan consumer banking, close branches

HSBC Holdings PLC, Europe's largest bank, said it will withdraw from consumer banking in Japan, closing down six branches four years after starting the business.
JAPAN
Feb 23, 2012

Transcripts sketch out NRC's 3/11 confusion

Transcripts of phone conversations immediately after the March disasters, released Tuesday by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, reveal the early sense of urgency and confusion about the crisis unfolding at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant.
Reader Mail
Feb 23, 2012

Heart of Japan's administration

Jeff Kingston's Feb. 6 review of my recent book, "JAPAN'S NUCLEAR CRISIS: The Routes of Responsibility," is baffling. Kingston thinks that the title misleads and that the work is hastily cobbled together, relying on materials from prior texts. He protests that I do not put the Ministry of Economy, Trade...

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers