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BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 23, 2012

Consumption tax fiasco magnified by absence of financial fundamentals

To paraphrase Winston Churchill's all too famous words at the time of the Battle of Britain: "Never in the field of economic policy has so little been achieved by so many hours wasted by so many lawmakers." The outcome of the debate over Japan's consumption tax would surely extract a quote to surpass...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 22, 2012

TV 'wide shows' question decision to restart Oi reactor

When it comes to public relations, the Japanese government tends toward imprecision. Many say the Japanese language is already built for vagueness, but that doesn't mean Japanese people can't see through the haze.
JAPAN
Apr 22, 2012

Japan to cancel 60% of Myanmar's debt

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda announced Saturday that Japan will resume yen loans to Myanmar and cancel about 60 percent of the debt and overdue charges it is owed to assist the country's recent moves toward democracy.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 22, 2012

Past and present on Route 66

"Ah, there's nothing like a Polish sausage smothered with jalapenos to settle a queasy stomach," I said to my skeptical traveling companion Bob Allen, adding a squirt of mustard for good luck and taking a humongous bite.
JAPAN
Apr 21, 2012

Viable nuclear reactors down to 50

Kyodo The number of viable commercial nuclear reactors dropped to 50 from 54 on Friday, after four crippled units at the Fukushima No. 1 plant were officially classified as defunct the day before.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 21, 2012

I would rather eat a rock

A pleasant day in the park with a caressing sun and the flirtatious glow of spring! To top our day of Tokyo touring, I treat my U.S. guest to a food-stall serving of takoyaki — small balls of breaded octopus.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2012

Sony-led group wins EU approval for $2.2 billion EMI music purchase

A Sony Corp.-led group has won EU approval for its $2.2 billion purchase of EMI Group's music publishing unit after it agreed to sell rights to chart hits by Robbie Williams and Ozzy Osbourne.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2012

TSE glitch a boon for alternative trading platforms

The Tokyo Stock Exchange's worst technical glitch in six years has forced a rethink of the role alternative trading platforms play in ensuring trade in shares of global corporations continues.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL / BJ-LEAGUE NOTEBOOK
Apr 20, 2012

Geary displays coaching acumen for first-year club

Building a successful basketball team from scratch requires patience, enthusiasm, hard work and first-rate instincts.
Japan Times
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Apr 20, 2012

Comic plays mark anniversary

While the most prominent of entertainment company Yoshimoto Kogyo's myriad business interests are the near endless TV appearances by its contracted comedians, the real heart of its operation lies not in the studio but on the stage.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Apr 20, 2012

'Waga Haha no Ki (Chronicle of My Mother)'

Masato Harada, who once directed Hollywood-style entertainments such as 1989's sci-fi actioner "Ganheddo (Gunhed)" and the America-set 1993 road movie "Painted Desert," has since made a specialty of dramas about Japanese men at work. Based on true events and packed with incident, they made life in a...
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2012

Dongguan holds investment seminar

The city of Dongguan, China, held an investment seminar in Tokyo on Wednesday to lure more investment from Japanese manufacturers.
JAPAN
Apr 19, 2012

S. Korea poised to overtake Japan in GDP per capita by 2030: report

A think tank affiliated with the Keidanren business federation is predicting that South Korea will pass Japan in gross domestic product per capita around 2030.
BUSINESS
Apr 19, 2012

Autos boost Nippon Yusen

Nippon Yusen K.K., Japan's largest shipping line, expects its car-carrying vessels to transport more vehicles in fiscal 2012 than it has in five years as demand surges in North America and factories in Thailand recover from last year's floods.
JAPAN / ANALYSIS
Apr 18, 2012

Governor seen as goading administration into action

Though quick to get a reaction from experts and lawmakers Tuesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government's intention to purchase the Senkaku Islands will likely have little impact on the territorial dispute between Japan, China and Taiwan.
LIFE / Digital / TECH_JAPAN
Apr 18, 2012

Why good Wi-Fi is so hard to find in Japan

Friends visiting Japan often ask me why there are no, or very few, Wi-Fi hotspots available at hotels and cafes in Tokyo. They mention that in their countries, many places offer free Wi-Fi for guests — often it is completely open, or you simply need to ask the staff for the password.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2012

Toyota takes fight to VW on home turf

Toyota Motor Corp., which was overtaken by Volkswagen in sales last year, is striking back on the German automaker's home turf.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Apr 16, 2012

Trade deficit a reminder Japan needs to brace for economy's fifth stage

Japan's ¥2.49 trillion trade deficit in 2011 — its first in 31 years — tells you where the economy's development stands in relation to the balance of trade. Let's review how the trade balance has fluctuated in each stage of the nation's postwar development and look at some of the challenges ahead....
BASKETBALL
Apr 16, 2012

Shining Suns spoil Jets' home finale

There was a storybook finish to Sunday's Chiba Jets-Miyazaki Shining Suns game. But unlike a Disney-like fantasy for the hosts, the Shining Suns authored a riveting last-second finish, winning 78-76.

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