Search - 2003

 
 
BUSINESS
Jun 15, 2005

Japan, France to study superfast passenger jet to replace Concorde

Japanese and French aerospace industry groups signed an accord Tuesday in France to study a next-generation supersonic passenger aircraft that would succeed the Concorde, which was taken out of service in 2003, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said.
JAPAN
Jun 15, 2005

People taking shorter domestic trips

Japanese travelers spent fewer than two nights on domestic trips on average last year, according to an annual government report on tourism released Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2005

January-March growth revised down to 1.2%

The economy expanded a real 1.2 percent in the January-March period compared with the previous quarter, the government said Monday, revising the initially reported growth of 1.3 percent downward due to slower than expected inventory growth and a fall in exports.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 14, 2005

Cyber war grips Asia

If comments on bulletin boards were bullets and hacking attacks real skirmishes then East Asia would probably be a war zone now.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Jun 12, 2005

A stage-dive back into the mayhem

Illnesses. Broken bones. Arrests. Bereavements. Just a few reasons why Fuzzy Logic has been on a six-month sabbatical. You don't need to know the details. So here's a rather straightforward comeback column in which I round up a few things and then, in future columns, I'll get back to introducing you...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Jun 11, 2005

'Artistic space consultant' unites walls and works

Nob Hagiwara is a brave man indeed. How many top-rank executives decide one day to chuck it all in and pursue personal goals? Not many -- and especially not in Japan.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Jun 11, 2005

Kiyomi Okukubo

Masaki Nakano, honorary professor of the Tokyo University of Fine Arts and Music, described Kiyomi Okukubo as "unique, with shyness and flamboyancy existing together. Her rusticity is her quality." He guided her graduation thesis on Kiso lunch boxes. Her chosen theme becomes less surprising as Kiyomi...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2005

Japan Kennel Club bitten for evading income taxes

Tax authorities have found that the Japan Kennel Club failed to declare 350 million yen in taxable income in the four fiscal years through March 2004, sources said Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 9, 2005

Life support for the pension system

There is widespread concern among Japanese that the nation's pension system is in disarray. The biggest issue is the decline in the rate of premium payers. In fiscal 2003, as many as 36.6 percent of the people registered in the kokumin nenkin (people's pension) system, a plan intended mainly for self-employed...
JAPAN
Jun 9, 2005

Tax breaks eyed for quake-proofing

The Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry is considering giving tax breaks in the next fiscal year to people who make their houses earthquake-resistant, ministry officials said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 8, 2005

House of babel that bubbles over

Hot on the heels of Hisashi Inoue's new play "Hakone Gora Hotel," which opened at the New National Theatre in Tokyo, "Kokugo Gannen (The First Year of the Japanese Language)," a vintage classic by the same playwright that premiered on the other side of Shinjuku at the Kinokuniya Hall in 1986, has now...
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2005

Nissan launches MMC-made Otti in bid to up minicar sales

Nissan Motor Co. launched the Otti on Tuesday as its third entry in the minivehicle market.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2005

Upper House cancels mad cow meeting

A lack of key witnesses caused the House of Councilors agriculture panel to cancel a meeting Tuesday in which a resolution calling for "caution" in resuming beef imports from the U.S. was expected to be adopted.
BUSINESS
Jun 8, 2005

Oki Data hopes tieup lifts China sales

Oki Data Corp. said Tuesday it has tied up with a Chinese firm in a bid to expand its sales of light-emitting diode color printers in China.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jun 8, 2005

A fling to remember

The all-male reworking of "Swan Lake" by English choreographer Matthew Bourne has become a dance and stage legend since its November 1995 premiere at Sadler's Wells Theater in London. This powerful piece of ballet zeitgeist toured widely before arriving in Japan in spring 2003. With nonstop curtain calls,...
BUSINESS
Jun 7, 2005

Sales of imported cars snap five-month decline

Sales of imported automobiles, including overseas models made by Japanese automakers, grew 5.5 percent in May from a year earlier to 20,606 units, snapping a five-month decline, an industry body said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 6, 2005

China showing a knack for taking risks

SINGAPORE -- A China that is willing to take ideological and political risks is emerging not only in affairs involving Hong Kong and Taiwan but also in the increasingly troubled relations with Tokyo and Washington.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM MOSCOW
Jun 5, 2005

Denial of existential needs

MOSCOW -- The blackout that hit Moscow late last month wasn't any better or worse than others that have struck big cities recently, say New York in August 2003. It is the same old thing over and over again -- people stuck in subways and elevators, hospitals canceling lifesaving surgeries, crowds grimly...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 5, 2005

The crucible of Japanese culture

INSPIRED DESIGN: Japan's Traditional Arts, by Michael Dunn. Milan: Five Continents Editions, 2005, 304 pp., 275 color plates and map, 2003, $85.00 (cloth). One might say that, traditionally, the Japanese are a patterned people. They live in a patterned country, a land where the exemplar still exists,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jun 5, 2005

Yo La Tengo: the band next door

Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley are a nice, mellow couple in their mid-40s from Hobokken, N.J. They like homemade peach pie, watching TV and going to the occasional baseball game. Oh, and they also founded one of the most critically acclaimed bands of the last decade, Yo La Tengo.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2005

Medical interns should get real wage: top court

Medical interns should be regarded as workers under the Labor Standard Law and should thus be guaranteed the minimum wage, the Supreme Court ruled Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 4, 2005

Guardrails in all prefectures apparently sabotaged to hurt

Sharp pieces of protruding metal blamed for injuring passing cyclists and pedestrians have been found on guardrails in all 47 prefectures, central and prefectural government officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

96,000 people listed as missing in '04

About 96,000 people nationwide disappeared from their homes last year, the first time in four years the figure has dipped to below the 100,000 mark, the National Police Agency said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 3, 2005

Premise of mutual confidence

The long-standing problem of the Northern Territories has been weighing heavily on relations between Japan and Russia. Summit talks between the two countries in the past have lifted hopes for a new development toward a settlement. Each time, though, hopes waned in due course because a new Soviet or Russian...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / THEN AND NOW
Jun 3, 2005

A bridge through time

The arched bridge highlighted in the accompanying wood-cut print is Senju Ohashi on the northern perimeter of Edo City. Built in 1594 at the head of the Sumida River, close to its junction with the Ara River, Senju Ohashi was the only bridge Shogun Ieyasu allowed to be built across a major river around...

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji