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Japan Times
SOCCER / J. League
Mar 7, 2012

Popovic thinking big in his first season with FC Tokyo

Kashiwa Reysol pulled off the unprecedented feat of winning the J. League only a year after claiming the second-division title last season, but FC Tokyo manager Ranko Popovic is hoping history will repeat itself with his newly promoted team.
EDITORIALS
Mar 7, 2012

Third term for Mr. Putin

He did it again. Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin won another presidential election. While the outcome was no surprise, neither was the controversy that greeted his victory. Despite Mr. Putin's claim that he won "an open and honest fight," the opposition has charged that the outcome reflects vote...
BUSINESS
Mar 7, 2012

Hitachi dumps Elpida as chip-maker dives

Hitachi Ltd. has sold its entire 4.7 percent stake in Elpida Memory Inc., whose stock will be delisted in less than a month after it filed for bankruptcy last week, spokesman Yuichi Izumisawa said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 6, 2012

Caveat emptor: Not all 'word of mouth' blogs unpaid

Is word-of-mouth information on the Internet trustworthy — or to be taken with a grain of salt?
EDITORIALS
Mar 6, 2012

Increase pension oversight

The news that AIJ Investment Advisors Co. lost most of ¥210 billion entrusted to it by corporate pension funds is causing great worry to many salaried workers. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry has found that 84 corporate pension funds entrusted their assets to AIJ. The effect of the loss is serious...
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2012

Orix Bank hopes to entice wealthy, households to take out more loans

Orix Corp., a major financial services conglomerate active in fields from leasing to insurance, aims to expand loans at its banking unit by ¥150 billion next fiscal year on demand from households and wealthy clients.
BUSINESS
Mar 6, 2012

AIJ fiasco begs need for asset-manager oversight: DPJ

The ruling Democratic Party of Japan is seeking to amend laws to require external audits for privately owned asset management firms in a bid to avoid a recurrence of the AIJ Investment Advisors Co. case.
JAPAN
Mar 3, 2012

Operation Tomodachi a huge success, but was it a one-off?

Operation Tomodachi, launched by the United States in response to last March's quake and tsunami, was an unprecedented effort by Washington and especially the U.S. military to provide relief to disaster victims.
Japan Times
JAPAN / CHUBU CONNECTION
Mar 3, 2012

Ice phenomenon warms up hearts in the Lake Suwa region

To the delight of local residents this winter, an elevated line of cracked ice appeared on the frozen surface of Lake Suwa in Nagano Prefecture for the first time in four years.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Mar 3, 2012

Is Japan's enrollment season really a problem?

The University of Tokyo -or Todai as it is locally called — is considering changing its enrollment from spring to autumn to be more in sync with universities around the world, 70 percent of which are said to have enrollments in the fall.
COMMENTARY
Mar 2, 2012

Sure winner fails to inspire

Before the scandalous presidential election of 1996, the situation was clear-cut and critical. A victory by Gennady Zyuganov over Boris Yeltsin would have meant an old-style Communists' revenge for their defeat in the August 1991 putsch as well as a strong drive toward renationalization of the economy...
BUSINESS
Mar 2, 2012

January Iran oil imports fall 23%

Japan's crude imports from Iran in January fell 23 percent from a year ago to 1.67 million kiloliters, or 338,900 barrels a day, according to data from the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.
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.
Reader Mail
Mar 1, 2012

No reason to deny marriage right

Regarding Thomas Clark's Feb. 26 letter, "Twisting the meaning of marriage": Since when has the ability to procreate been the criteria for marriage? I'm quite sure that the heterosexual couples who are childless by choice or who have problems with fertility would be surprised to find that their marriages...
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 1, 2012

Instinct and appetite will guide Putin's next term

Few people, least of all Prime Minister Vladimir Putin — who plans to return to Russia's presidency on March 4 — could have imagined last December that Russians would, for the first time in 20 years, wake up and rally in their tens of thousands against the government. Unlike the Arab Spring rebellions,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / Japan Pulse
Feb 29, 2012

New dishes on company cafeteria menus

Company cafeterias, not usually the realm of gourmet fare, are making a name for themselves, and their company's brand, by serving up unique dishes.
BUSINESS
Feb 29, 2012

TPP on agenda for ACCJ meeting

The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan will hold the U.S.-Asia Business Summit in Tokyo on Thursday and Friday to discuss major trade issues and U.S. strategies toward Asia, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Feb 28, 2012

Teacher outfoxes board, exposes bid to fleece JETs

English teachers on the JET program are often faced with the bittersweet moment when they realize their contract is ending and they will soon be returning to their home country.
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.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Feb 27, 2012

Fiscally hobbled Japan nears multiple-currency era: Is yen's demise nigh?

For a single-currency area to be sustainable, one of two conditions needs to be met. One, sufficient economic convergence throughout the area in question. Two, a transfer mechanism to offset whatever economic divergences exist in the area. The eurozone currently meets neither of these conditions. Thus...
COMMENTARY
Feb 27, 2012

U.S. flirts with risky cold war in warm waters

On two occasions in my life I found myself living close to the South China Sea. The sea became my escape from life's pressing responsibilities. There is no escaping the fact that the serene waters are now also grounds for a nascent but real new cold war.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 27, 2012

Pragmatic Islamists of the Maghreb countries

Just over a year ago, the Arab Spring sparked dramatic change throughout the Arab world. Popular movements have brought a range of avowedly Islamist political parties to power, replacing the largely secular former regimes. What that will mean for these countries, and for the region, is one of today's...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Feb 26, 2012

Fantasy series 'O-Parts'; documentary on Japan's new budget airlines; CM of the week: Bath Roman

A new four-part fantasy series, "O-Parts" (Fuji TV, Mon.-Thurs., 11 p.m.), based on the popular manga, will air this week. Ryuhei Maruyama plays Kakizawa, an unemployed youth who is abducted by a mysterious man in black.

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