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COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2005

Positive media shock waves

Internet entrepreneur Takafumi Horie has sent shock waves reverberating through the Japanese media industry with his hostile takeover bid for Nippon Broadcasting Co., a member of the Fujisankei media conglomerate.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 15, 2004

Toy maker Takara needs Christmas gift: renewed demand

It isn't likely to be a very merry Christmas for Keita Sato this year.
JAPAN
Nov 24, 2004

Tougher visa requirements planned for entertainers

The government plans to impose stricter work-visa requirements on foreign entertainers to fight human trafficking, according to the outline of a draft action plan.
COMMENTARY
Nov 16, 2004

Locals foot bill in sports stadium scam

WASHINGTON -- Not long ago Washington, D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams and the city's political elite held a triumphant press conference announcing the return of baseball. League officials began counting nearly a half billion dollars in public subsidies.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 25, 2004

New PlayStation enjoys limelight

CHIBA -- The country's largest video game show kicked off its three-day annual run here Friday, with a record 117 firms showcasing their latest products and nearly 500 new game titles unveiled.
COMMENTARY
Sep 6, 2004

Blame it on the cell phones

The continuing doldrums in the Japanese economy began with a slowdown more than 13 years ago -- in May 1991. The slump stems from sluggish consumer spending, which accounts for 60 percent of the gross national product, and bad loans plaguing Japanese commercial banks. Let's consider the reasons for sluggish...
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2004

Record firms raided over ring-tone blocks

Fair Trade Commission investigators on Thursday searched the Tokyo offices of several major record companies suspected of blocking mobile phone service providers from selling pop tunes for ring tones.
CULTURE / Books / THE BOOK REPORT
Jul 1, 2004

Mystery writer Nishimura continues on winning run of great train stories

The recently released list of top taxpayers for fiscal 2003 has shown that, despite the overall slump in the book trade, the payoff can still be great for authors who strike a chord with the public.
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 16, 2004

If you go into the woods today . . .

Whether "Into the Woods" works as meaningful entertainment for adults rather than just a musical confection of assorted fairy tales for children is the question hovering over this clever and complex Broadway musical scripted by James Lapine, with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. First staged and...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
May 15, 2004

If it's cricket, it's TV Masala's Club Masala

What luck to pick up a promotional flier for Club Masala -- the first Indian subcontinent cable TV network operating in Japan -- in a branch of the curry chain Samrat. Interesting, I thought, and zipped off an e-mail. Now here I am with its president, Nofil Iqbal, who, it transpires, was born in Pakistan....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 4, 2004

Amusement parks on white-knuckle ride

Roller coasters and merry-go-rounds at amusement parks offer people an opportunity to spice up their lives with a few thrills and spills.
BUSINESS
Feb 3, 2004

Sony gets serious about chip production

Sony Corp. said Monday the Sony group of companies will spend 120 billion yen in fiscal 2004 to manufacture high-end semiconductors at production sites run by Sony Computer Entertainment Inc., IBM Corp. and Toshiba Corp.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 1, 2004

Entertaining the idea of surrogate mums

Last week, the health ministry decided not to recommend revisions to current guidelines regarding fertility treatments. This disappointed the ruling Liberal Democratic Party, which has been advocating the legalization of such controversial procedures as the use of surrogate mothers because they say they...
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 25, 2003

The rise of the machines

She's young, beautiful, and fluent in several languages.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 14, 2003

Taiwan's spas bubbling over with popularity

TAIPEI -- Chu Chien-huei stretches her arms in a hot tub full of orchid petals on a sunny day at Spring City Resort, a hot spring hotel in Peitou, with her 5-year-old daughter at her side.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 19, 2003

Online games offer users chance to communicate, slay dragons

In the medieval kingdom of Aden, thousands of princes, princesses, knights, elves and wizards hunt monsters and dragons and battle to take over each other's fortresses.
BUSINESS
Jun 12, 2003

Ex-Sony chief to donate retiree benefits to Nagano town

Norio Ohga, former chairman and president of Sony Corp., plans to donate all 1.6 billion yen of his retirement benefits after taxes to the town of Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, company and town officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 5, 2003

Ohga to get 1.6 billion yen in Sony retirement deal

Sony Corp. plans to pay 1.6 billion yen in retirement allowances to Honorary Chairman Norio Ohga, who resigned as a board member in January, according to a company letter sent to shareholders by Wednesday.
LIFE / Digital / TANGLED WEBS
Mar 13, 2003

Poorly laid plans go astray

Let's admit it -- we made a mistake. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but we screwed up. It's time to make things right and repeal the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 28, 2003

Celebrated geisha's tell-all a hot item

The mystery of the geisha, with their painted faces and elaborate kimono, has long been a source of fascination for people worldwide. But it has also led to fantasies and misunderstandings about their true roles.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jan 12, 2003

A price on their heads

Help wanted: Able-bodied, handsome men required to wine and dine as many women as their schedules permit; some extracurricular cosseting may be called for. Educational requirements: None. Salary: Enough to make a salaryman gag.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Aug 21, 2002

Universal comedy without errors

Hold on to your seats: We're going back to the essence of theater -- entertainment. "The Kyogen of Errors," directed by and starring 36-year-old Mansai Nomura, is a fitting way to celebrate his five-year appointment as artistic director of the Setagaya Public Theater (SEPT), which was announced two weeks...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Aug 15, 2002

Don't mess with the Maori

You may not know it, but Sony Computer Entertainment has an American game arm -- aptly known as Sony Computer Entertainment America.
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jul 18, 2002

'Wrestlemania X8': stone-cold fun

In America, every demographic has its own form of entertainment. For cultured people, there is opera and polo. For the teaming masses, there is World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), an entire league of behemoth men and scantily clad women brawling on a nightly basis to thrill and titillate the beer-and-pork...
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Jun 6, 2002

Lessons learned from E3 gathering

Few people could have been happier to see the end to this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) than Douglas Lowenstein, president of the Interactive Digital Software Association (IDSA).

Longform

Visitors walk past Sou Fujimoto's Grand Ring, which has been recognized as the largest wooden structure in the world.
Can a World Expo still matter? Japan is about to find out.