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COMMENTARY
Mar 12, 2012

Fear and consequences of defense budget cuts

It turns out that "budget sequestration," portrayed as an evenhanded way to spur bipartisan negotiations over budget deficits, is actually a dagger aimed at defense spending. The president and other top administration officials have said the automatic spending cuts required by sequestration are "bad...
EDITORIALS
Feb 16, 2012

A new phase in reconstruction

The Reconstruction Agency was established Feb. 10, 11 months after the March 11 earthquake and tsunami devastated the Pacific coastal areas of the Tohoku region. Political confusion has delayed the establishment of the agency that will serve as a command center for reconstruction from the disasters and...
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2012

11 months on, Reconstruction Agency makes official debut

The Reconstruction Agency finally made its official debut Friday, 11 months since the devastating Great East Japan Earthquake, and its mission is to speed up the process of rebuilding the Tohoku region.
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2012

Bolstering Japan-India ties

Compared with its long historical and cultural ties and deep economic relations with China, Japan's relations with India are not so strong. But the economic and strategic importance of the world's largest democracy to Japan is growing fast. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda's visit to India in late December...
BUSINESS
Jan 17, 2012

Tokyo Gas eyes biggest bond sales in a decade

Tokyo Gas Co., the nation's biggest natural gas distributor, will sell the most bonds in a decade to help fund a ¥2.06 trillion spending plan and take advantage of coupons at an eight-year low.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2011

Investors driving up JGB yields at hasty pace amid downgrade worries

Investors are driving up Japanese government bond yields at the fastest pace in almost 11 months, and the move may continue before two auctions this week amid concern the nation may face a credit-ratings downgrade.
EDITORIALS
Nov 22, 2011

Organization for reconstruction

The Diet deliberations on the third supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 to finance reconstruction from the March 11 earthquake and tsunami and the Fukushima nuclear crisis and related bills are proceeding rather smoothly. But the ruling and opposition forces have a schism over a bill to establish a...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 24, 2011

Asian powers scrambling for regional space

Asia is witnessing a jostling among its major powers — China, Japan and India — for regional strategic space, and a flurry of activity by these countries is focused toward the Southeast Asia region, once a stable region but now a potential area for conflict. China, which is already a permanent member...
COMMENTARY
Oct 7, 2011

Nuclear power's face looking rested

The catastrophic accident at Japan's Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant earlier this year undermined confidence in, and support for, nuclear power around the world. The plant north of Tokyo on the Pacific coast was hit by a series of explosions, fires and serious radiation leaks after a massive earthquake...
BUSINESS
Sep 8, 2011

Nippon Yusen to issue low-rate bonds

Nippon Yusen K.K. is taking advantage of falling government note yields and a void in corporate debt sales to borrow at the lowest rate in eight years even as global trade growth slows.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2011

Mexico may issue samurai bonds again

Mexico may issue yen-denominated bonds for the second time in 10 months, tapping into Japanese investors' growing demand for the higher yields offered on samurai bonds.
COMMENTARY
Aug 17, 2011

Ten ways to reduce America's budget deficit

It's true: Deficit reduction isn't an economic panacea. It won't instantly boost the economy or the stock market. It won't automatically end financial turmoil. But none of this means that we should ignore deficits. Allowing the government's debt to spiral upward tempts a full-blown future financial crisis....
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 29, 2011

Toyota said opposing U.S. fuel-economy plan

Toyota Motor Corp. is objecting to a fuel-economy target of 54.5 miles per gallon (23.17 km per liter) by 2025, which competitors support, as the Obama administration seeks to reach a consensus among carmakers selling in the U.S., according to three sources.
BUSINESS
Jun 17, 2011

Hitachi cuts power-system sales goal

Hitachi Ltd. lowered its target for power-system sales in fiscal 2012 by 3.3 percent, as the company expects reduced revenue from its nuclear energy business.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2011

Feud over U.S. debt ceiling risks driving off investors

U.S. politicians are in the thick of a debate that is fascinating, urgent, passionate, stubborn and potentially highly dangerous both for the American economy and for the country's political reputation and standing in the world.
BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2011

Tepco may hobble Toshiba and Hitachi

Toshiba Corp. and Hitachi Corp. may struggle to find buyers for their nuclear reactors after the worst atomic disaster since Chernobyl damaged Japan's reputation for safety, according to analysts and investors.
BUSINESS
Mar 8, 2011

JR West taps low bond yields to refinance loans

West Japan Railway Co., starting the nation's newest bullet train service this week, is slashing interest costs by using the world's lowest bond yields to refinance government loans.
JAPAN
Jun 25, 2010

Experts find tax pledge wanting

Prime Minister Naoto Kan has begun to advocate raising the consumption tax to 10 percent, attacking the political hot potato head-on.
COMMENTARY
Apr 21, 2010

Hong Kong treads the democracy tightrope

The Hong Kong government announced earlier this month that it had nominated a leading jurist, Justice Geoffrey Ma, to be the next head of the judiciary, succeeding Chief Justice Andrew Li, who served in that post since the former British colony became a special administrative region of China in 1997....

Longform

Dangami House is a 180-year-old former samurai residence of the Kato clan, who ruled over Ozu, Ehime Prefecture, until the Meiji Restoration.
A house, a legacy and the quiet work of restoration in rural Japan