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BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2006

CPI makes biggest jump since March '98

The consumer price index rose 0.6 percent in May from the previous year, marking its biggest growth since March 1998, the government said Friday, providing further evidence that the economy is moving out of deflation.
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2006

Lack of new cars dragged industrial output down 1% in May

Industrial production fell for the first time in three months in May because automakers did not launch new models, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 29, 2006

"Tetsuya Noda Works 2000-2005"

Fuji Television Gallery Closes Saturday
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 29, 2006

Posies blossom as fans continue to pop up

Shonen Knife didn't make much of an impression overseas until the release of a 1989 tribute album that included versions of their songs by the likes of Sonic Youth and Red Kross. Coincidentally, the whole Seattle rock scene went global shortly thereafter, pulling into the spotlight bands that happened...
COMMENTARY
Jun 26, 2006

U.S.-dependent to what end?

At a Cabinet meeting May 30, the government finalized its basic policy on the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The action followed a final Japan-U.S. agreement May 1 on realignment aimed at strengthening deterrents and reducing Japan's burden of hosting U.S. military installations.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 23, 2006

Thomas Mapfumo "Rise Up"

Recorded in exile from his homeland Zimbabwe, Thomas Mapfumo's latest recording "Rise Up" is one of his best. With a 14-piece band of traditional and modern African musicians recording at a studio in Oregon, his voice and music sound as vibrant -- and angry -- as on his groundbreaking African recordings...
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2006

Top court sends case back, saying consider death penalty anew

The Supreme Court on Tuesday threw out a life sentence for a 25-year-old man convicted of the 1999 murders of a woman and her infant daughter, and ordered the Hiroshima High Court to rehear the case with an eye to sentencing the killer to hang.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 20, 2006

Family of POW makes appeal to Aso 'honor'

Japan's foreign minister, Taro Aso, will this week receive an appeal to his "honor and decency" in the repayment of a small family debt more than 60 years old.
JAPAN
Jun 20, 2006

Plan to curb false acacias stings apiarists

Beekeepers producing honey from the flowers of false acacias are panicking about the possibility that the trees may soon be regulated as an exotic species.
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2006

A united lobby for life

Japan has seen more than 30,000 people kill themselves annually for eight consecutive years since 1998. Last year, 32,552 people took their own lives, a total that breaks down to 89.18 suicides per day and 3.71 suicides every hour. Certainly these are grim figures.
Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jun 18, 2006

Have you heard the one about . . ?

Maybe it's simply down to human nature, but stereotypes about foreigners seem to be joke-fodder the world over. In the corners of bars, in huddles at parties, in books and movies, countless laughs have been had, for example, at the expense of supposed American boastfulnes, "uptight" British, "humorless"...
BUSINESS
Jun 16, 2006

Service industry activity up 1.3%

The service industry activity index rose 1.3 percent in April from the previous month for the first increase in three months, on robust activity in the wholesale and retail businesses and financial services, the government said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2006

LDP finance chief tells BOJ to think twice about hiking rates in summer

The chairman of a Liberal Democratic Party panel on monetary policy said Wednesday the economy was not ready for higher interest rates and called on the Bank of Japan to delay any move to push them higher.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 15, 2006

Japan bashing then, China bashing now

LONDON -- Pressure on China today to push up the value of the yuan against the dollar is eerily similar to the pressure on Japan 30 years ago to make the yen appreciate. Back then, "Japan bashing" came to mean the threat of U.S. trade sanctions unless Japan softened competitive pressure on American industries....
EDITORIALS
Jun 14, 2006

Do the right thing for emigrants

Faced with a graying population and a decreasing birth rate, Japan is now publicly debating whether to allow greater immigration to alleviate potential labor shortages in the future. Half century ago, however, in the wake of Japan's defeat in World War II, Japan was considering quite the opposite. To...
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2006

Tokyo court grants asylum to Afghan journalist

The Tokyo District Court granted refugee status Tuesday to an Afghan journalist, nullifying an earlier decision by the justice minister denying him asylum and ordering him deported.
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2006

Government still upbeat on economy, points to improvement in price trends

The government Tuesday upgraded its view on price trends and maintained its upbeat assessment on the overall economy for the fourth straight month.
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jun 14, 2006

Where are these life-saving drugs in Japan?

Wataru Tsurumi's book, "The Complete Manual of Suicide," was a best seller in Japan and it's easy to see why. He was writing for a market that is particularly interested in self-destruction.
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Jun 10, 2006

Overconfidence could sink England against Paraguay

MUNICH -- England will beat Paraguay in their World Cup opener on Saturday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2006

Core machinery orders jumped 10.8% in April

Core private-sector machinery orders in April soared a seasonally adjusted 10.8 percent over the previous month to 1.140 trillion yen, the highest since August 2000, the government said Friday.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2006

REIT value swells 63% to surpass 4 trillion yen

The aggregate value of land owned by real estate investment trusts totaled 4.03 trillion yen at the end of March, up a sharp 63 percent from a year earlier, attesting to the solid growth of the REIT market, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry reported Friday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 8, 2006

Big lessons from a small town

LONDON -- Al Gore has been visiting Hay-on Wye. Who is Al Gore and where is Hay-on-Wye?
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2006

Sales of Prius pass 500,000 mark

Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday that worldwide sales of the Prius hybrid have topped the half-million mark, with 504,700 vehicles sold by the end of April.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 4, 2006

France's weak incentive to earn income

LONDON -- France's chronic malaise is marked by periodic explosions of protest. The two most recent episodes -- the rioting and arson in French cities last autumn and the successful student campaign earlier this year against a new law governing young labor-market entrants -- seem to have little in common....
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 2, 2006

Serb tragedy needs epilogue

PRAGUE -- Serbia's long tragedy looks like it is coming to an end. The death of Slobodan Milosevic has just been followed by Montenegro's referendum on independence. Independence for Kosovo, too, is inching closer.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 2, 2006

Former Archer's crooked path

"I'm going be a strange hybrid of Mick Jagger and Johnny Cash, with a touch of Steve Forbert [singer-songwriter best known for his 1980 hit "Romeo's Tune"] and some animated bear whose name I can't remember. Oh yeah, and some hip-hop too -- the kids love that sh*t," jokes Eric Bachmann when asked what...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jun 1, 2006

Nakamura sidelined by arm pain

Orix Buffaloes infielder Norihiro Nakamura was removed from the active roster Wednesday as the pain in his left arm has not subsided since being hit by a pitch in a game on May 13.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jun 1, 2006

"Vu Dan Tan -- Tanorigami: Suitcases of a Pilgrim"

Art-U Room Closes in 11 days

Longform

Growing families are being priced out of Tokyo’s condo market, forced to choose between downtown convenience and suburban space.
Is living in central Tokyo still affordable?