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Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 28, 2006

Fumio Nanjo to replace David Elliott

The Mori Art Museum's director, David Elliott, will leave his post at the end of October to take a position as the new director of the Istanbul Museum of Modern Art in Turkey. The news was announced Wednesday at a press conference at Roppongi Hills, where Elliott spoke of his five years in Tokyo working...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 5, 2006

Nuptials and moldy tatami

B&B Angelie asks what kind of business licenses are needed to open a Bed & Breakfast here in Japan. "I went to the local city office and walked away with tons of information on opening a ryokan . . . which is not what I had in mind at all."
BUSINESS
Sep 1, 2006

Toho Housing buys back Aneha-tainted condos

Toho Housing Co. has bought back all 32 units of a Tokyo condominium complex constructed with data fabricated by disgraced architect Hidetsugu Aneha and started razing the structure with a plan to rebuild it, company sources said Thursday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Aug 27, 2006

TBS's "Message," TV Tokyo's "Dawn of Gaia" and more

Aug. 28 marks the 53rd anniversary of the very first broadcast of a television commercial in Japan, and as a way of commemorating the event TBS has produced a special two-hour drama, "Message" (Monday, 9 p.m.), about Toshi Sugiyama, who is considered the most innovative TV commercial director in the...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Aug 23, 2006

Bottled water and problems that flow

Having just spent several weeks in the United States, I can report with confidence that, more than ever before, Americans have their hands full.
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2006

Osaka rights funds, 'buraku' kingpin, mob enjoy shady ties

OSAKA -- Calls for fundamental changes in how Osaka funds human rights activities are mounting following new allegations of fraud and discoveries of further links involving a disgraced former official representing the "burakumin" community and underworld figures.
BUSINESS
Aug 15, 2006

July bankruptcies up but total debt is on decline

July saw 1,051 corporate bankruptcies, up 2.6 percent from 1,024 a year earlier, a private research institute said Monday.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Aug 6, 2006

Many happy returns to my Tokyo village past and present

As readers of this column last week may recall, I wrote there about a period in the early 1980s when my wife and I lived in the western Tokyo suburb of Soshigaya in Setagaya Ward. Three of our four children were born in the local hospital, and we have only the fondest memories of the old neighborhood....
BUSINESS
Aug 2, 2006

Land prices log first rise in 14 years

The average price of land along selected key thoroughfares nationwide rose for the first time in 14 years, standing at 114,000 yen per sq. meter as of Jan. 1, up 0.9 percent, or 1,000 yen, over a year earlier, the National Tax Agency said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Jul 30, 2006

Time-capsule Tokyo along a street where I lived

In the early 1980s, my wife and I lived in a tiny flat in Soshigaya on the Odakyu Line in Tokyo's Setagaya Ward. The eldest three of our four children were born then, and I have only the fondest memories of pushing a pram up and down the kilometer-long shotengai (shopping street) between the station...
BUSINESS / U.S. BUSINESS SCHOOL SYMPOSIUM
Jul 27, 2006

U.S. experts urge Japan to embrace transition to postindustrial economy

See related story: Is Japan about to ride an M&A wave, or flounder in just a ripple?
EDITORIALS
Jul 17, 2006

A guy, a paper clip and the Internet

It's tempting to forget about finding a larger meaning in the story of Kyle MacDonald and to just sit back and enjoy it. Mr. MacDonald is the 26-year-old Canadian blogger who has rocketed from Internet cult figure to mainstream news item since he pulled off a remarkable bartering feat recently, trading...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 9, 2006

Looking at Westerners' accounts of the salaryman blues

THE BLUE-EYED SALARYMAN by Niall Murtagh. Profile Books, 2006, 228 pp., £7.99 (paper). The phenomenon didn't start with Lafcadio Hearn, but in his day he became best known for it -- the foreigner who comes to Japan and writes a book about his experiences. His female contemporary, Isabella Bird, was...
EDITORIALS
Jul 8, 2006

Payback time after merging

The drama triggered when the Murakami fund, managed by maverick investor Mr. Yoshiaki Murakami, purchased a large chunk of Hanshin Electric Railway Co. shares came to an end last week as shareholders of both Hanshin and Hankyu Holdings Inc. voted for a merger. It is the first merger of major railway...
Japan Times
LIFE
Jun 25, 2006

Tokyo's ring of steel

Who would have thought that something that chases its tail all day for a living could be so incredibly important to the workings of a major metropolis?
JAPAN
Jun 23, 2006

Ah, no kids afoot: Empty trains, work till you die

There has been a great deal of hand-wringing in the media and government about Japan's population implosion. A breakdown in the pension system, soaring health-care costs, slower economic growth and a looming labor shortage are just a few of the dark clouds on the horizon.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2006

Fitch keeps Hankyu ratings intact

Fitch Ratings said Wednesday it has decided to keep the credit ratings of Hankyu Holdings Inc. unchanged because the burden stemming from the tender offer for Hanshin Electric Railway Co. shares has stayed within the anticipated level.
BUSINESS
Jun 20, 2006

Trust banks should handle assets, new BOJ member says

Newly appointed Bank of Japan Policy Board member Tadao Noda said Monday that entrusting stockholdings with trust banks is one way to boost the transparency of senior BOJ officials' financial assets.
BUSINESS
Jun 6, 2006

Murakami fund to sell Hanshin stake to Hankyu

The investment fund led by Yoshiaki Murakami announced Monday that it is selling its shares in Hanshin Electric Railway Co., paving the way for Hankyu Holdings Inc.'s takeover bid for Hanshin.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
May 30, 2006

'Gokiburi,' new law and residency

Cockroaches One of our readers has been having problems with cockroaches recently. She has been cleaning the apartment regularly, placing cockroach traps and even used a "bomb" to try and get rid of them, all to no avail.
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2006

Business profits pose challenges

One company after another is announcing good business results for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006. Firms listed on the first section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange are reporting increased revenues and profits for the fourth consecutive year. They are expected to post record recurring profits for the...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
May 19, 2006

Beacon: Power dining that shines

The stock market's up and ditto consumer spending. Real estate is rebounding and there's even talk of another bubble. No surprise then that we've been seeing plenty of upmarket restaurants opening in recent months. Better still, some of our favorite restaurateurs are getting into the action.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2006

Bankruptcies surged 14.9% in April

The number of corporate bankruptcies in Japan jumped 14.9 percent in April from the previous year to 1,087, with debts totaling 426.78 billion yen, and among them are contractors stung by a state crackdown on bid-rigging, Tokyo Shoko Research said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
May 13, 2006

Household savings up 2.1% in '05, averaging 17 million yen

Households with two or more members held average total savings of 17.28 million yen in 2005, up 2.1 percent from 16.92 million yen the previous year, the government said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
May 11, 2006

Seeing Europe as a museum

WARSAW -- In the late 19th century, Europe viewed Asia mainly as either a source of inspiration for its artists or a focus of imperial ambition. Asians, for their part, viewed Europe as either a model of modernity, as in Meiji Japan, or a barometer of decay, as in China.
JAPAN
May 2, 2006

Female, elderly entrepreneurs on the rise as society grays

The number of women and elderly people preparing to start new businesses has been rising amid the aging of the population and consequent decrease in the number of small and midsize companies as their owners retire, a recent government report says.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2006

Earnings solid at JFE, Kobe Steel

Major steelmakers JFE Holdings Co. and Kobe Steel Ltd. both reported strong earnings Thursday for fiscal 2005 to March 31, thanks to robust domestic and overseas demand.

Longform

After pandemic-era border regulations eased, Indian migrants began returning to Japan. Their population now stands at more than 50,000 across the country.
How remote work is rewriting the migrant experience in Japan