Search - business

 
 
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2009

Booster shot for big companies

As the special measures law for corporate revitalization was revised, the government has started a scheme to inject capital into large companies suffering from the current economic downturn. The Development Bank of Japan will provide funds if companies meet certain conditions.
COMMENTARY
May 12, 2009

Northern Territories dispute lives on self-righteous deadlock

Visits to Japan by Soviet and Russian leaders over the years have done little to break the Northern Territories deadlock — Moscow's refusal of Tokyo's demand for two large islands at the southern end of the Kuril Island chain occupied by Soviet troops in 1945, as a condition for a peace treaty with...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 12, 2009

Between a rock and a hard place

The islands of Okinawa offer subtropical resorts, original delicacies and a distinct culture.
JAPAN / Q&A
May 12, 2009

Historic change puts justice in public hands

With the "saibanin" lay judge system set to take effect May 21, Japan is gearing up for an important transition in its judicial system, in which citizens begin serving as de facto jurors in district court trials involving serious crimes.
BASKETBALL
May 10, 2009

HeatDevils hoping to live to see fifth season

The Oita HeatDevils endured an 8-44 regular season, the worst record in the bj-league this season. And now the team is looking to find a way to remain in business.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 10, 2009

A death from human kindness

On April 21, the body of former pop singer Yukiko Shimizu was found in a cemetery in Oyamacho, Shizuoka Prefecture, in front of her father's grave. Police assume that she committed suicide on the spot by inhaling hydrogen sulfide fumes and had probably also tried to kill her 80-year-old mother, who was...
Japan Times
LIFE
May 10, 2009

Blurring the boundaries

Every society has its own terminology for a young generation regarded as odd or unfathomable, and marketers are quick to give them catchy labels. It's no exception in Japan, which is now abuzz with talk of men with a soft spot who are becoming known as soshokukei, meaning "herbivorous" or "herbivores."...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 10, 2009

Kawasaki risen from the grit with plenty to offer

Back in December 1972, having just taken a job with a Japan Airlines subsidiary, I moved into the company's bachelors dormitory at Miyauchi 2-chome in Kawasaki's Nakahara Ward.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2009

No place left to go after exiting Guantanamo

GUANTANAMO BAY — I write this from the U.S. Detention Center at Guantanamo Bay, where I have been held without charge for almost seven years.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2009

Toshiba posts record red ink

Top chip maker Toshiba Corp. tumbled to a record annual loss amid sinking global demand that has forced it to cut thousands of jobs.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2009

Toyota expects ¥850 billion loss

Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday it expects a ¥850 billion group operating loss and a ¥550 billion net loss for the year ending next March — its biggest losses ever and its second straight year of red ink — as the global economy shrinks and the yen muscles up against other currencies.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2009

Geithner bets U.S. banks can avert 'lost decade'

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is betting that U.S. banks can do something their Japanese counterparts were unable to accomplish in Japan's "lost decade" of the 1990s: earn their way out of trouble.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2009

Nissan, Penske said eyeing Saturn venture

Nissan Motor Co. may join a venture with U.S. retailer Penske Automotive Group Inc. and General Motors Corp.'s Saturn car brand, two sources said.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 6, 2009

Benoit resigns after two seasons as Broncos coach

David Benoit has ended his tenure as the head coach of the Saitama Broncos, The Japan Times has learned.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 6, 2009

Techies flock to new robot center

Some robot-loving people have been tinkering with screwdrivers and motors instead of heading to the beach or hot springs this Golden Week.
Japan Times
BASKETBALL
May 5, 2009

Much-improved Golden Kings set sights on bj-league coronation

A vastly different Ryukyu Golden Kings basketball team stepped onto the court this season than the one that suited up for the 2007-08 campaign as a bj-league expansion squad.
Japan Times
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 5, 2009

Valentine stays calm at eye of the storm

It's been an interesting season for the Chiba Lotte Marines.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 5, 2009

Go with the flow at classic 'sento'

Not simply as a means to get clean, "sento," or public baths, have traditionally been places where communication flowed. Bathing and chatting together with one's friends and neighbors in the buff exemplifies the off-guardedness of the most informal relationships.
COMMENTARY
May 5, 2009

Cannes set to sparkle in a depressing year

The Cannes Film Festival will unreel May 13, although the global recession has damped business at the picturesque French seaside resort renowned for its rich playboys and beautiful women.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 5, 2009

Google crosses line with controversial old Tokyo maps

When Google Earth added historical maps of Japan to its online collection last year, the search giant didn't expect a backlash. The finely detailed woodblock prints have been around for centuries, they were already posted on another Web site, and a historical map of Tokyo put up in 2006 hadn't caused...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 5, 2009

Mean streets feared under Tokyo's new safety law

Last month a group of activists called Dystopia Tokyo called a protest against what they described as a "Draconian" new city ordinance by conservative Gov. Shintaro Ishihara.
Japan Times
Events / WHERE IT'S AT
May 5, 2009

'Silent Auction' lends ear to plea of needy

There are many ways to enjoy art: Visit an art museum, join a pottery club or simply walk around a town and take a look at the different architecture.
COMMENTARY / World
May 3, 2009

U.S. imitating Japan's denial of responsibility

NEW YORK — The world's attention is now on President Barack Obama to see if he can rebuild America's democratic and moral leadership in a world that "Bush America" has weakened. After World War II, under the United States-led occupation, Germany and Japan wholeheartedly embraced America's tutelage...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
May 3, 2009

Encore Matsuyama!

Nibbling a sweet mikan from Ehime, prime terroir for Japan's citrus, I decided to explore somewhere I had a vague feeling might be an interesting off-the-beaten ramble.
COMMENTARY
May 2, 2009

Mideast and cheaper oil

LONDON — Back in the golden bubble days when stock markets were riding high and a barrel of crude oil sold for more than $140, there was no doubt which countries were getting richest quickest.

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