Search - 2004

 
 
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2010

Incubator Bank lessons

The government and the Deposit Insurance Corp. of Japan, the state-appointed administrator of the Incubator Bank of Japan, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Sept. 10, have invoked the limited deposit protection plan for the first time since it was introduced in 1971. That means that deposits of...
JAPAN
Sep 17, 2010

Kan taps Okada for party's No. 2 post

Prime Minister Naoto Kan on Thursday tapped Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada as the party's secretary general, in what amounts to a test of whether Kan can achieve party unity after Tuesday's presidential election.
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2010

Currency intervention at last

The government and the Bank of Japan sent a strong message to foreign currency markets Wednesday by intervening in the currency trade for the first time since March 2004, to stem the rise in the value of the yen against the dollar. This was a surprise move because Prime Minister Naoto Kan had been considered...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 17, 2010

Noodles stir up instant indie rock on latest album

"In the beginning, I had no interest in touring abroad," says Yoko, guitarist and vocalist with indie-rock outfit Noodles, who have toured the United States nine times over the last seven years. "Then in 2003, we opened for The Breeders in Osaka, and they told us, 'You really should come to play in the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 17, 2010

New exhibition anticipates a design museum for Japan

In March, with the opening of the Design Museum Holon, Israel added its name to a long list of countries that have at least one full-fledged museum dedicated to design. Japan, despite its reputation as a design powerhouse — hard-earned during the 20th century by innovative work such as Sony's Walkman,...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2010

CEOs learning 'globish' to expand overseas

Oki Matsumoto, chief executive officer of online trader Monex Group Inc. and a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. partner, has a solution to the stagnant economy: Learn "globish."
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2010

Action on yen may bolster China's currency stance

Japan's first intervention in the foreign exchange market in almost six years may undermine calls for China to let its currency appreciate.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 15, 2010

Why Putin is good for Japan

For Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, it has been a hectic summer. He took a spin across 2,100 km of the Siberian tundra in a Lada, was initiated into the Hell's Angels, fired darts at gray whales with a crossbow and still found time to jump into the cockpit of a Be-200 jet to extinguish the wildfires...
CULTURE / Books
Sep 12, 2010

Japan's future: prolonged malaise or muddling through?

"Japan's best days are behind it," or so the common wisdom goes, and by reading Tokyo-based academic Jeff Kingston's latest work, it is easy to see why.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Sep 10, 2010

Eat, pray, love, kiss and tell

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. — Javier Bardem sounds almost as happy as he was the night he won the Best Supporting Actor Academy Award for "No Country for Old Men" in 2008. No wonder. He is recently married, to fellow Spaniard and Oscar-winner Penelope Cruz — his memorable costar in Woody Allen's "Vicky...
COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2010

The yin and yang of human rights in China

HONG KONG — The only lady vice minister in China's Foreign Ministry is Fu Ying, a well-coiffed, mild-mannered 57-year-old, an ethnic Mongol who speaks flawless English, who has served as ambassador to the Philippines, Australia and Britain, and who is known for her media skills.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 5, 2010

Fertility issue pregnant with discord

In 2004, Diet lawmaker Seiko Noda wrote a book titled "Watashi wa Umitai" ("I Want to Give Birth"), which chronicled her years of infertility treatments and the subsequent pregnancy that ended in miscarriage. Two years later she ended her six-year relationship with fellow politician Yosuke Tsuruho, who...
Japan Times
JAPAN / THE TROUBLE AT TOYOTA
Sep 3, 2010

Slow response made perfect storm worse

While the intense speculation that Toyota Motor Corp. may have covered up electronic defects appears to have ebbed, Japanese experts say the world's top automaker deserves a failing grade for its risk management, and the resulting damage to its reputation was worse than it should have been.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 3, 2010

Lord of the 'Ring'

On Sept. 25, 2006, hundreds gathered in New York's Times Square to watch the Metropolitan Opera's new production of Giacomo Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" on a jumbo screen. The Met, one of the world's most famous opera companies, was showing its opening night gala live to the general public for free....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 3, 2010

Korean artist Kim Siyeon opens house on personal struggle

For her first solo exhibition in Tokyo, Seoul-based artist Kim Siyeon brings her home to Gallery Foil in the form of photographs of installations that she created inside her house. Though she is known as an installation artist, the delicate nature of Kim's work and its location, which is an important...

Longform

Japan's growing ranks of centenarians are redefining what it means to live in a super-aging society.
What comes after 100?