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BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2007

Most nonlife insurers see profit increase

Profits at most major nonlife insurers jumped in the six months to September, thanks partly to brisk gains from investments in stocks and funds that escaped the turmoil generated by the subprime housing loan crisis in the U.S., the companies said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 21, 2007

Foreign arrivals get biometric scan

NARITA, Chiba Pref. — Japan began fingerprinting and photographing foreigners arriving in the country Tuesday under a revised immigration law to keep terrorists out, drawing criticism from rights groups and foreign residents that their data might be abused.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Nov 21, 2007

Save a bomb and warm your bones this winter

Saving can hurt: With Christmas on the way, it's time to get saving those pennies. Toymaker Tomy is offering to help with its bomb-shaped piggy bank. Looking like one of the ancient black bowling-ball-type bombs beloved of cartoons past, it comes complete with a white skull-and-crossbones motif and a...
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2007

Sumitomo Mitsui logs 30% profit drop

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc., Japan's third-biggest banking group by assets, said Monday its group net profit dropped 30 percent to ¥170.6 billion in the six months to September partly due to losses resulting from the U.S. subprime loan crisis.
LIFE / Language
Nov 20, 2007

Dial up a good impression with denwa echiketto

"Moshi-moshi. Kochira wa Japan Taimuzu no Shuraibaa to moshimasu. Itsumo wo sewa ni natte orimasu" ("Hello, this is Schreiber of the Japan Times. Thanks as always for your kind support.")
BUSINESS
Nov 20, 2007

Michelin's first Tokyo guide names eight 3-star eateries

The Michelin Guide named Tokyo the "world leader" in gourmet dining, awarding three-star status to eight restaurants in its inaugural edition for the capital.
Reader Mail
Nov 18, 2007

Encounter with undercover police

I was very surprised at the timing of the "Gaijin card" article. I have been living here in Utsunomiya for nearly nine years and was carded on the street for the first time last weekend while walking home late at night. What surprised me most was that I was carded by undercover police officers. Has...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Nov 18, 2007

Roadside profits and the parking lottery

For my stationary sins, I have been slapped with parking tickets from Los Angeles to London, and I used to think all fines were basically the same. Eagle-eyed traffic wardens pinpoint infringers and litter windscreens with $100 fines before you can say "Gimme a break!" Then you either pay up in person...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2007

Sudan abuses may spur oil ban; utilities probe impact

The trade ministry is studying the effect of a possible ban on Sudanese oil imports, anticipating increased public pressure to halt trade with the African nation because of concern about human rights abuses, officials said.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2007

Isuzu hit for repeated bus recalls

Isuzu Motors Ltd. received a warning from the transport ministry over the company's repeated recalls of buses.
COMMENTARY
Nov 14, 2007

Telling the truth about the limits of oil

LONDON — If a diplomat is "an honest man sent abroad to lie for the good of his country" (Sir Henry Wotton, 1612), then oil industry executives used to be the business world's equivalent of diplomats.
BUSINESS
Nov 14, 2007

Development costs hit Kenwood

Kenwood Corp. reported Tuesday that its first-half profit fell 3.5 percent on costs to develop new products.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 13, 2007

'Gaijin card' checks spread as police deputize the nation

In the good old days, very few Japanese knew about Alien Registration Cards — you know, those wallet-size documents all non-Japanese residents must carry 24/7 or face arrest and incarceration.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2007

Honda solar panels

Honda Motor Co. said Monday it will increase the number of outlets where it sells solar panels and is planning overseas sales to compete against Sharp Corp. and Kyocera Corp.
BUSINESS
Nov 13, 2007

Okinawa oil refinery to get upgrade

Sumitomo Corp. and Brazil's Petroleo Brasileiro SA plan to spend ¥100 billion to upgrade an oil refinery in Okinawa to tap rising petroleum demand from China and Southeast Asia, Sumitomo said Monday.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 11, 2007

Employment issues special, weight loss special, Vermeer art special

Japan's employment situation is discussed in depth on "Nippon no Shukuzu: Sennin ni Kiku Haken no Honne (Japan in a Nutshell: A Thousand People Tell Their Real Feelings About Contract Work)" (NHK-G, Monday, 10 p.m.). About one-third of all workers in Japan are either part-timers, contract employees or...

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