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BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

Brokerage business helps lift Rakuten's profit 2.3-fold

Online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. reported Thursday 2.3-fold growth in its operating profit for calendar 2005 to 34.89 billion yen, buoyed by its stock brokerage business.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

Corporate character goods harness power of 'cute'

A traditional seasoning flies off store shelves after the bottles begin sporting a cartoon panda. A droplet-shaped character turns a little-known manufacturer into a household name.
MORE SPORTS
Feb 16, 2006

Kitajima to skip short-course nationals

Athens Olympics breaststroke double gold medalist Kosuke Kitajima said Wednesday he will not compete in the upcoming short-course national championships because of a sore elbow.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 16, 2006

From shame to governance

SINGAPORE -- Asia has been hit by three recent scandals involving a renown scientist, an upstart IT entrepreneur and a national charity in South Korea, Japan and Singapore, respectively -- Asia's three most developed economies. What lessons can one draw from them? What repercussions will they have on...
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / WILD WATCH
Feb 15, 2006

Underwater walker beggars belief

The winter's snow gathers first as a dusting on the riverside vegetation. The wiry dwarf bamboo bows slowly under the accumulating blanket; shrubs and bushes disappear beneath duvet-like domes of crisp whiteness. The surrounding Hokkaido forest becomes hushed; the trees white-coated, their branches laden...
BUSINESS
Feb 14, 2006

Top chip makers' capital spending nears 1 trillion yen

The country's seven major semiconductor makers are expected to spend a total of 984 billion yen on capital investment in the current fiscal year ending in March, according to data released by the companies Monday.
JAPAN
Feb 14, 2006

Building fraud exploited honor system, faulty law

Measures the government is considering to prevent further construction frauds may go part of the way in ensuring buildings meet structural codes, but they nonetheless fall short of effectively monitoring compliance with the law, according to a legal expert.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 14, 2006

Meditation, donor cards, transplants

Zen meditation Paul read that it is possible to practice Zen meditation at Enkakuji Temple in Kita-Kamakura. "I live in Yokohama, so not so far away. How would I go about this. My Japanese is poor. But then the artist I read about, Hans Bauer (interviewed on the People page; Feb. 4) was German and only...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 12, 2006

Will the Giants play as good as they look this season?

To say 2006 will be a pivotal year for the Yomiuri Giants would be an understatement, especially after that fifth-place, limp-to-the-finish-line showing in 2005.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Feb 12, 2006

Fathoming the depths and heights of Japan's intercultural encounters

JAPAN'S LOVE-HATE RELATIONSHIP WITH THE WEST by Sukehiro Hirakawa. Folkstone: Global Oriental, 2005, 557 pp., £50 (cloth). Rudyard Kipling, one of the most popular writers in the English tongue of his generation, addressed his poem "The White Man's Burden" to the American people in 1899 -- when the...
SOCCER / J. League
Feb 11, 2006

Ogura announces retirement

Former Japan striker Takafumi Ogura has announced his retirement after a 14-year professional playing career, officials of his J. League first-division club Ventforet Kofu said Friday.
Japan Times
OLYMPICS
Feb 10, 2006

Last chance for Terao to shine in short track

Satoru Terao has never slowed down in his hunt for an elusive medal and he is hungrier than ever before in the build-up to what is expected to be his final Olympic appearance.
JAPAN
Feb 10, 2006

North's abduction charge irks NGOs

Members of nongovernmental organizations trying to help North Koreans who have fled their impoverished country find safe haven lashed out Thursday over Pyongyang's claim this week that they were kidnapping its people.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2006

The man who couldn't quit

With "Hoop Dreams" having just been inducted into The National Film Registry (of the Library of Congress), Steve James is clearly one of America's most respected documentarians. And with good reason: The 43-year-old, Virginia-born filmmaker brings a sensitivity and sustained focus to his films that few...
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Feb 10, 2006

Napa vineyards survive deluges

Tremendous flooding in California's wine country over New Year's made for dramatic, televised scenes of almost completely submerged vineyards. California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger added to the excitement, proclaiming, "Napa was 4 feet under water, creating tremendous damage."
EDITORIALS
Feb 9, 2006

Iran tests the United Nations

Iran seems intent on confronting the world. Remarkably, the international community has mustered a unified response to the Tehran government's seeming determination to build a nuclear weapon. But brinkmanship continues: Last weekend Tehran said it was ending its commitment to the Additional Protocol...
COMMENTARY
Feb 9, 2006

'British' identity in the EU

LONDON -- British Chancellor of the Exchequer (Finance Minister) Gordon Brown has been calling for a national debate on the subject of British identity and what he terms "Britishness."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Feb 9, 2006

Burke Collection : An eye and taste for Japanese art

Among the major collections of Japanese art in the United States, the Mary Griggs Burke Collection of New York excels not only for its peerless quality but also for reflecting the eye of a connoisseuse with a deep love of Japan's traditional culture.
SOCCER
Feb 8, 2006

Hunger for Hoops success drives Nakamura

Japan international midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura has revealed that a hunger for winners medals was the chief reason behind his decision to join Scottish Premier League leaders Celtic in a high-profile move from Italy last summer.
JAPAN
Feb 8, 2006

Tokyo to hit Huser with condo sanctions

The Tokyo Metropolitan Government plans to impose sanctions against property developer Huser Ltd. for allegedly selling condominiums it knew to be structurally defective, sources said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Feb 7, 2006

Centrair seeks to revive expo-style traffic

Nearly one year after opening, Central Japan International Airport outside Nagoya is struggling to attract more passengers.
EDITORIALS
Feb 6, 2006

Pinch of censorship vs. pile of trouble

There's a good reason why censorship sparks so many squabbles, as developments in both China and the Muslim world this past week have reminded us. It's a slippery concept. We who favor openness and transparency think we know exactly where we stand on censorship: We think it's bad. Right? Freedom of speech...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes