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EDITORIALS
Nov 3, 2006

Resumption of tough negotiations

North Korea's agreement to return to the six-party talks on its nuclear-weapons program is good news. At least, there will be no new nuclear-weapons tests by Pyongyang for the time being. But optimism is not warranted. The difficult task of getting North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons and related...
BUSINESS
Nov 3, 2006

FSA soliciting bids for Ashikaga bank

The Financial Services Agency began soliciting bids Thursday for the sale of state-owned Ashikaga Bank Ltd., publishing the conditions that buyers must satisfy to purchase the Tochigi Prefecture-based bank.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2006

Softbank to add clarity to 'zero yen' promo ads

Softbank Mobile Corp. said Wednesday it plans to change the content of its advertisements, possibly by this weekend, in response to an investigation by the Fair Trade Commission into whether the firm's "zero-yen" campaign was misleading.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2006

Kimura exec who cooked the books can walk

The Tokyo District Court sentenced former Kimura Construction Co. executive Akira Shinozuka to a suspended one-year prison term Wednesday for window-dressing the firm's 2004 financial statements.
JAPAN
Nov 2, 2006

Japan stands firm with sanctions on North Korea

Japan will continue the economic sanctions it leveled against North Korea despite Pyongyang's apparent about-face on returning to the multilateral talks to end its nuclear threat, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki told a news conference Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2006

Abe says he will tackle Constitution, including Article 9

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe aims to revise the Constitution, including the war-renouncing Article 9, because he believes it has become outdated over the 60 years since the end of the war, a government official quoted him as saying Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2006

Son offers apology for weekend crash; cuts fees

Softbank Mobile Corp. President Masayoshi Son apologized Monday for the system crash this weekend that forced the company to stop taking subscription and cancellation applications for its phone services.
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2006

MMC stems red ink in first half on cost cuts

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. announced Monday it has cut its losses for the first fiscal half to Sept. 30 compared with the previous year, thanks mainly to a weaker yen and cost-cutting efforts.
COMMENTARY
Oct 30, 2006

Even nuclear talk detracts

Some influential Japanese politicians have called for debate on whether the nation should adopt nuclear arms, causing repercussions at home and abroad. Since 1967, Japan has upheld the three-point policy of not possessing, making or allowing the entry of nuclear arms, while remaining under the U.S. nuclear...
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 29, 2006

A Hero's Journey

A telegram arrived in the evening. Belinda sat on the edge of the faded chintz sofa in her parlour, staring at the envelope on her knees yet keeping her right hand poised above it as if it were a butterfly about to take to the air. She couldn't bring herself to open it, not straight away. She couldn't...
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2006

Sony battery in Japan laptop sparks

Kyodo News A Sony Corp. lithium-ion battery pack short-circuited in a Fujitsu Ltd. notebook computer, sending out sparks that burned the user's hand, a Fujitsu spokesman said Friday.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2006

Weaker, yen energy gains charge up Marubeni profits

Trading house Marubeni Corp. said Friday that its group net profit for the first half of fiscal 2006 jumped 72 percent year-on-year to 65.6 billion yen, led by robust earnings in its energy business and the yen's depreciation against other currencies.
COMMENTARY
Oct 27, 2006

Crisis boosts U.S.-China ties

HONG KONG -- North Korea's nuclear test Oct. 9 may have created a crisis atmosphere in the world but, at the same time, it has greatly improved China's relations with the United States as the two countries work closely together to put pressure on Pyongyang to give up its nuclear-arms program.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2006

Nissan hit by dearth of new models in first half

Nissan Motor Co. said Thursday that its group operating profit for the first half of 2006 fell 15.3 percent year-on-year to 348.6 billion yen, mainly due to falling car sales in Japan and the United States and rising raw materials costs.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 26, 2006

Lower corporate taxes can fuel recovery

BANGKOK -- It is a hopeful sign that professor Masaaki Honma of Osaka University has been set to be appointed chairman of the tax panel that briefs the prime minister. This would be a happy departure from the position of the current chairman of the tax panel, Hiromitsu Ishi, who consistently advocated...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 25, 2006

Fighters move ahead

SAPPORO -- Takeda and Takeda sounds like a law firm in Marunouchi, but up north, it's a crack pitching tandem.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2006

The rising wealth of nations

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut -- The new Penn World Table, Version 6.2, comparing standards of living across countries, has just been released. The latest figures are for 2004, and, because of data lags, not all countries are included. Yet these numbers are valuable because they are of exceptional quality and...
MORE SPORTS
Oct 23, 2006

Meisho Samson fails to capture Triple Crown

KYOTO -- Meisho Samson's bid for the Triple Crown was stopped at two Sunday as darkhorse Song of Wind stormed down the stretch to clinch the final leg Kikkasho in record time. Winning time was 3 minutes, 2.7 seconds over 3,000 meters of fast turf. Second choice Dream Passport followed Song of Wind over...
EDITORIALS
Oct 22, 2006

China squeezes Pyongyang

A series of meetings last week among the foreign ministers of the United States, Japan, South Korea and China were significant for helping the four nations confirm their mutual cooperation in implementing sanctions against North Korea following its first nuclear-weapons test Oct. 9.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 22, 2006

Plea to a TV comic: Take on the big boys and take on politics

To Hikari Ota, c/o Titan Talent Agency.

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