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BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2009

Panasonic cuts TV recycling time

KATO, Hyogo Pref. — Panasonic Corp. and its fully owned unit Panasonic Eco Technology Center Co. said Thursday they have developed new technology that makes it possible to recycle old-style TV sets three times faster and leaves less waste than previous methods.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2009

New economy minister vows careful approach

Although Japan has stopped sinking into its deepest recession since World War II, the economy still is shaky and must be handled with care, Yoshimasa Hayashi, the new economic and fiscal policy minister, said Thursday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2009

Global CO2 treaty imperative: Ban

The world must seal the deal on a new treaty to curb pollution at a crucial climate change meeting in Copenhagen in December, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon said Wednesday in Tokyo, urging global business leaders to join efforts against global warming.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2009

Move reveals Aso's lack of power

Prime Minister Taro Aso's decision to bolster his depleted Cabinet appeared to be strategy as usual and his apparent inability to change the Liberal Democratic Party leadership is a sign party bigwigs still hold sway, but neither may matter in the looming general election, pundits said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2009

Japanese teen in Singapore gets swine flu

SINGAPORE (Kyodo) A Japanese teenager is among the latest people found to be infected with the swine flu in Singapore, where the number of H1N1 cases has soared to 701, officials said.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2009

G8 still relevant but must lead, envoy says

Despite doubts cast on its influence over the global economy, the Group of Eight will remain a key framework to guide the world out of the economic downturn, one of Japan's top coordinators for the G8 summit in L'Aquila, Italy, said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Jul 1, 2009

LDP leaders scramble to end disarray

The Liberal Democratic Party fell into further disarray Tuesday, with party executives scrambling to stop the movement to oust Prime Minister Taro Aso from spreading as some LDP lawmakers grew louder in their calls to replace the unpopular party chief ahead of the Lower House election.
JAPAN / CONTROLS ON FOREIGNERS
Jul 1, 2009

Visa overstayers given too many breaks: rightist

Fourth in a series
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 30, 2009

Older, smaller population to impact Japan's choices

— The next few months will be crucial for Japan's defense and security policies. The National Defense Program Guidelines (NDPG), which outline the framework for national security policy, are due by yearend. This in turn provides the foundation for the Mid-Term Defense Program, which translates that...
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 30, 2009

Japan a low-key player in space race

Japan has launched Earth observation, communications and weather satellites as well as other space vehicles since it began its space program in the late 1960s.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Jun 29, 2009

Two cheers from the grave punctuate the nationalization of GM

The automaker General Motors filed for bankruptcy earlier this month, and there are surely two people rejoicing in their graves at the news. One of them is John DeLorean. The other is Clement Attlee.
Reader Mail
Jun 28, 2009

Concept of Japanese citizenship

In mid-March I found an article about the Japanese government granting one-year temporary resident status to Noriko Calderon, a Japanese-born Filipino girl. Noriko's parents, facing deportation for being undocumented workers, thought it was better for their daughter, who speaks only Japanese, to stay...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 28, 2009

International community signs on to help keep Bobby V. in Chiba

You heard where those dedicated fans of the Chiba Lotte Marines gathered more than 110,000 signatures on a petition opposed to the team's dropping of American manager Bobby Valentine at the end of the 2009 season. The document was delivered to the team's front office earlier this month for presentation...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 28, 2009

Priorities and politics 'must change fast' to head off global calamity

The 19th-century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer declared: "All truth passes through three stages. First, it is ridiculed. Second, it is violently opposed. Third, it is accepted as self-evident."
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jun 28, 2009

The only bonus you'll get this summer is the sun

One of the cleverest ideas developed by the Japanese business world is the distribution of semiannual "bonuses" to employees. Usually, a bonus is tied to a company's good fortune or an employee's performance. Japanese workers have always deemed them to be part of their salaries and tend to plan their...
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2009

Japan Post faces the music

Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato has approved the retention of Mr. Yoshifumi Nishikawa as president of Japan Post Holding Co. And now, with Prime Minister Taro Aso's endorsement of Mr. Sato's decision, the political turmoil over whether Mr. Nishikawa should remain in his position...
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2009

Toyota to focus on regions

The new president of Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday he will review his company's aggressive global expansion and focus more on strategies based on each region around the world.
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2009

EU cyclone belts the left

BRUSSELS — The only results to cheer in the recent European Parliament elections came from Greece, where PASOK (Panhellenic Socialist Movement) went up to nine seats, and Ireland, where the financial crisis and public re-evaluation of regulation saw the Irish Labour party win two to three seats. Meanwhile,...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Jun 26, 2009

Sugiuchi sure Hawks will contend in PL race

The Central League probably couldn't get rid of Fukuoka Softbank Hawks pitcher Toshiya Sugiuchi fast enough by the end of the 2009 interleague season.
JAPAN
Jun 26, 2009

Google should help make copyright agency: lawyer

Google Inc. should help create a Japan-based copyright dispute settlement agency over Japanese books the firm has scanned as part of its massive online library project, a lawyer representing 182 authors in Japan said Wednesday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 25, 2009

Dancing with the dragon

Nearly six months after U.S. President Barack Obama entered the White House, it is apparent that America's Asia policy is no longer guided by an overarching geopolitical framework as it had been under President George W. Bush. Indeed, Washington's Asia policy today appears fragmented. The Obama administration...

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years