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JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 27, 2011

Skipping the ads gets harder as shows become infomercials

In the late 1990s, I did piece work for a public relations company, translating achievement reports into English for its non-Japanese clients. The reports outlined how and where the company had secured mentions of its clients' products in various media, and included equivalent advertising value amounts...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 23, 2011

Aeon eyes China with Parco stake

Retailer Aeon Co. has bought a stake in department store operator Parco Co. as part of its plans to expand in Japan's urban areas and China.
EDITORIALS
Feb 22, 2011

TV broadcasts and the Internet

Two Supreme Court rulings in January on services that allow TV programs to be viewed by people overseas via the Internet highlight copyright problems related to TV broadcasts in the Internet age.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2011

Toyota sales rebound in U.S. adds to gains by Asia-based carmakers

Toyota Motor Corp. led U.S. gains for Asia-based automakers in January after sales rebounded from a recall that halted some deliveries a year earlier. The world's largest automaker said Tuesday that sales in the U.S. jumped 17 percent last month, beating the 16 percent average of four estimates compiled...
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 21, 2011

Facebook and dark matter

HONG KONG — News that Goldman Sachs has taken a $450 million stake in Facebook in a deal that puts a $50 billion valuation on the fledgling company raises interesting and somewhat troubling questions beyond the immediate gawping and jaw-dropping headlines that a spotty-faced Harvard dropout aged 26...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Jan 19, 2011

'Tokyo Control': Sony launches its first 3-D drama into the air

If 2010 was supposed to be 3-D's coming-out party, then in 2011 the party is poised to continue as manufacturers do their best to make this trendy technology truly stick.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Jan 14, 2011

Quality is key at Chilean organic winery

When two representatives from Chilean winery Emiliana came to town in October, it coincided with fantastic news. Images of the rescue of the last miner who'd been trapped underground since the Aug. 5 Copiapo mining accident were played out over the giant screens in front of Tokyo Station and, in a nearby...
BUSINESS
Jan 13, 2011

'Boring cars' worst of Toyota problems

DETROIT — It would be easy to think Toyota's biggest problem is its damaged reputation caused by sudden acceleration recalls, millions in government fines and massive lawsuits and settlements. But what's hurting the company most is an aging lineup of boring cars.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 7, 2011

Haneda's nighttime services falling short with travelers

Opening up Tokyo's Haneda airport to more international flights was supposed to make a lot of sense for travelers.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Dec 16, 2010

Bonenkai season a blast for some, drag for others

A recent survey says budgets for year-end bonenkai parties are up; on the other hand, more companies are opting to take their festivities in-house.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Nov 28, 2010

Education profiteers and the public trough

NEW YORK — A college or university, especially of a private variety, may not be "an eleemosynary institution," as Sen. Sam Ervin, of the Watergate hearings, might put it were he alive, but the American insistence on free-market notions has brought the matter to the other extreme in higher education....
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 27, 2010

Dangerous myth of the hero entrepreneur

NEW YORK — Earlier this month, I sat on a panel in Monte Carlo, a hot spot of the establishment, discussing the question, "Why can't Europe be more like the U.S.?" The formal name of the panel was "Silicon Envy: Will Europe ever build the next new media giant?"
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 10, 2010

Rising racket hoodwinks the have-nots

The gap between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen in Japan, and one attendant development is the rise of hinkon bijinesu (poverty businesses), enterprises that are blatant attempts to take advantage of people who are already poor.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2010

Theme restaurants work some magic

A ninja takes you through a dark narrow path, serves you food and drink and performs magic in a restaurant in Tokyo's Akasaka district where the likes of former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and famed film director Steven Spielberg have dined.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Aug 20, 2010

McDonald's sticks its Big Mac where it's not wanted

Taking a tip from the gyudon wars earlier this year, McDonald's drops its Big Mac price to a low u00a5200.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 3, 2010

Dying to work: Japan Inc.'s foreign trainees

"The Industrial Trainees and Technical Interns program often fuels demand for exploitative cheap labor under conditions that constitute violations of the right to physical and mental health, physical integrity, freedom of expression and movement of foreign trainees and interns, and that in some cases...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jul 25, 2010

A bailout by any other name

The gap between rich and poor seems to be widening worldwide, the result of government deregulation and the dominance of market-led economic policies. As businesses are given freer rein to do whatever they want, wages at the lower end of the pay scale drop. Government revenues consequently shrink, thus...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 23, 2010

Reflections of Chekhov's Russia in modern-day Japan

"People compare me with Bertolt Brecht, and I am glad to hear that — but why won't anyone call me Anton Inoue?"
BUSINESS
Jul 17, 2010

China, Indonesia drive on Komatsu

Komatsu Ltd., the world's second-largest construction equipment maker, plans to double production this financial year to meet demand from China and Indonesia.
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2010

Sumitomo to up Bolivia zinc yield

Sumitomo Corp. plans to boost zinc production at its mine in Bolivia by 4 percent this year as the operation runs at full capacity, an executive said.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2010

Sakata Seed foresees higher India share on 'F1' demand

Sakata Seed Corp. is betting that rising demand for its disease-resistant hybrid "F1" seeds will help the company triple its market share in India.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2010

Aderans plans to expand upscale wig shops

Aderans Holdings Co., Japan's largest wigmaker, plans to expand its network of luxury female wig stores sixfold as the nation's growing elderly population spurs demand.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 20, 2010

Towering ambition

One sunny Saturday last month, Hitachi Ltd., Japan's largest electronics maker, made headlines when it hosted a rare tour of its spanking new elevator-testing tower — the world's tallest — at its sprawling facility in Hitachinaka, Ibaraki Prefecture.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Jun 6, 2010

Chips for the kids and all

I have just returned to my study after two days and a night spent in the woods with a group of young people who are visually disadvantaged. Some of them had no eyesight at all, some could just barely make out shades and vague shapes.

Longform

Rock group The Yellow Monkey played K-Arena Yokohama in June as part of a nationwide tour. Concerts are increasingly popular in the age of social media as users value in-person experiences.
Inside Japan’s arena boom: Sports, sound and city-building