Search - 2003

 
 
EDITORIALS
Apr 11, 2005

Intellectual property disputes

Japan's efforts to bolster the legal system for protecting intellectual property (IP) rights reached a major milestone with the recent establishment of the Intellectual Property High Court. The new court, which is housed in the same building as the Tokyo High Court, will handle a broad range of disputes...
Rugby
Apr 9, 2005

Government backs bid for Rugby World Cup

The Japan Rugby Football Union's hopes for hosting the Rugby World Cup in 2011 were boosted on Friday with news that the Japanese government was officially backing the bid.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 9, 2005

Ex-Yankee Irabu hangs up his glove

Former New York Yankees and Hanshin Tigers pitcher Hideki Irabu has decided to retire, Hanshin officials said Friday.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2005

Ex-Sheraton exec accused of evading taxes

Tax authorities have filed a criminal accusation with prosecutors against a former top official of Sheraton Grande Tokyo Bay Hotel, sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2005

Yoshinoya forecasts profit for current year

Yoshinoya D&C Co. on Friday forecast a profit for the current fiscal year, despite the loss of its signature dish of "gyudon" beef on rice.
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2005

High-tech firms putting more focus on patents

A growing number of Japanese high-tech firms are strategizing to protect their patents, viewing intellectual property rights as "the source of competitiveness."
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2005

Australia's leader 'discovers' Asia

The hallmark of Australian Prime Minister John Howard's eight years in office has been an unblinking orientation toward the United States. At one point, there was even talk of Australia acting as the U.S. "deputy sheriff" in East Asia. That outlook appears to be changing.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

JAXA eyes moon shuttle by 2025

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has compiled a long-term space exploration program that calls for launching a domestically designed manned spacecraft to the moon within the next 20 years, JAXA officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

Import auto sales off 3.8% in '04; first fall in three years

Sales of new imported vehicles in Japan fell 3.8 percent in fiscal 2004 from the previous year to 268,703 units for the first decline in three years.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 6, 2005

Getting an eyeful at Goggle Central

The HQ of Japan's current '60s revival is a small office above a Chinese restaurant next to Koenji Station in Tokyo. That's the office of Sazanami Label, a record company started in 2003 by the band Goggle-A. Having formed in 1994 and with four studio albums behind them, they are veterans of this burgeoning...
CULTURE / Stage
Apr 6, 2005

Butoh creates beauty from misery

"Why are we in this form? Why do we have to be this particular shape? Why is the face on top of the neck? Our face could be on the soles of our feet. . . . Human beings are quite a strange kind of life form . . ."
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Seibu Railway theme park hit for back tax

Amusement park operator Toshimaen Co., which is under the scandal-hit Seibu Railway Co. group, failed to declare 200 million yen in taxable income in connection with rent payments for a company house used privately by a female acquaintance of its former president, sources said Tuesday.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 5, 2005

Russia wastes time as AIDS crisis builds

NEW YORK -- In recent years, HIV/AIDS infection in Russia has been spreading at the fastest rate in the world. Several experts estimate that more than 1.5 million Russians are HIV-infected at present. According to World Bank estimates, that number could total 5.4 million to 14.5 million by 2020 unless...
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2005

Unstable bond unraveling

South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun's March 23 statement denouncing Japan for its colonial past is bound to seriously damage Tokyo-Seoul relations that have been improving in recent years. The statement reverses positive diplomacy Seoul has pursued on the basis of a 2003 agreement between Roh and Prime...
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2005

Origami's global ambassador Akira Yoshizawa dies at age 94

Akira Yoshizawa, an origami master whose expressive paper gorillas made an art out of the craft tradition, died last month of heart failure and pneumonia, his wife said Sunday. He was 94.
COMMENTARY
Apr 4, 2005

Wild card in Filipino politics

MANILA -- Ideally, in a democracy the military is subordinate to the political leadership, which enjoys a popular mandate through universal elections. In reality, civil-military relations often have a different quality.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 3, 2005

Spanish pair leads Japan Open

Spain's Gemma Mengual and Paola Tirados took the lead over Japanese duo Emiko Suzuki and Saho Harada in the duet Saturday at the opening of the synchronized swimming Japan Open, which is also the national championships.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 3, 2005

The rebirth of a salesman

For Atsushi Yamada, conductor of the New York City Opera, his presentation of Giacomo Puccini's opera "Madame Butterfly" to be staged in Tokyo and Nagoya in May will be something of a triumphant return.
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2005

Nuclear foes want Rokkasho, Monju on U.N. nonproliferation agenda

KYOTO -- Japanese and international antinuclear groups plan to use an upcoming United Nations conference on nuclear nonproliferation to push for a moratorium on the Rokkasho atomic fuel reprocessing plant and the Monju prototype fast-breeder reactor.
COMMENTARY
Apr 2, 2005

India-China rivalry sharpens

NEW DELHI -- When Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrives in India next week, the rhetoric of cooperation between the two Asian giants will intensify. But one has only to scratch the surface to know the extent of the embedded mistrust and competition between the two.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2005

Alleged al-Qaeda link seeks vindication

A Bangladeshi businessman who was incorrectly alleged by police and the media last year as being linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network is seeking vindication.
Rugby
Apr 1, 2005

Rugby fans tell IRB: Give the 2011 World Cup to Japan

If the Japan Rugby Football Union is on the lookout for a theme song for its bid to host the 2011 Rugby World Cup, it could do a lot worse than the Ray Davies penned, "Give the People What They Want."
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2005

52 teachers penalized for anthem snub

The Tokyo Metropolitan board of education punished 52 public school teachers Thursday for refusing to stand up and sing the "Kimigayo" national anthem at March graduation ceremonies.

Longform

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