Search - 2005

 
 
EDITORIALS
Feb 10, 2007

Boost fire-prevention efforts

The number of people who died in accidental residential fires reached 1,041 in 2003, topping 1,000 for the first time. 2005 saw 1,220 deaths in such fires -- a record since 1979 when the oldest comparable statistics were taken, according to a white paper on fire defense approved by the Cabinet in December....
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2007

Pending retirees suddenly find, dote on wives

Mitsutoshi Fukatsu has been with his wife for three decades, but their lives have grown apart.
BUSINESS
Jan 31, 2007

Sony sees 15% fall in profit for quarter

Sony Corp. said Tuesday its group operating profit in the October-December period plunged 14.9 percent from 2005 to 178.9 billion yen due to the cost of launching the PlayStation 3 in November.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Jan 22, 2007

Demographics, wisdom push Japan's overseas M&A deals

Last month Japan Tobacco, perhaps as a kind of Christmas present to itself, announced it was going to buy Gallaher Plc of the United Kingdom. The quoted figure for the deal was 2.25 trillion yen (14.5 billion euro), making it the largest-ever foreign takeover by a Japanese company.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 21, 2007

Carp manager Brown confident of his team's success in 2007

Hiroshima Carp manager Marty Brown arrived back in Japan on Jan. 9 after a short winter break to get ready for the long 2007 pro baseball season.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Jan 21, 2007

IBL looking to become part of basketball boom in Japan

It's an exciting time for basketball in Japan.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jan 14, 2007

Get out of this world

Forget Hawaii, Hong Kong, Bali, Britain or Paris -- before too long your family vacation choices will include staying at space hotels or taking a 10-day spin around the moon.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 11, 2007

Russia's progress and regress

SANTA MONICA, California -- Fifteen years after the Soviet Union collapsed and split apart, Russia still fits British Prime Minister Winston Churchill's characterization of Josef Stalin's Soviet Union nearly seven decades ago: "a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jan 4, 2007

Cinema goes back for the future

Cinema is on the ropes. So much so that a cabal of top Hollywood moguls are putting their faith in a very old idea -- one usually dismissed as a fad -- to save the day.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2007

Foreign permanent residents on rise, filling gaps

Japan's population started declining in 2005, but in contrast, registered foreigners soared to a record high 2.01 million, a leap from 1.36 million a decade ago and accounting for 1.57 percent of the nation's total population.
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2006

Nikko faces big fine over padding

The Securities and Exchange Surveillance Commission recommended Monday that the Financial Services Agency slap Nikko Cordial Corp. with a fine of 500 million yen, the largest ever, for falsifying its fiscal 2004 financial reports.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2006

Murakami knew of Livedoor's NBS plan: Miyauchi

Ryoji Miyauchi played the role of star witness for the prosecution Friday on Day 2 of Yoshiaki Murakami's insider trading trial.
JAPAN
Dec 2, 2006

Murakami knew of Livedoor's NBS plan: Miyauchi

Ryoji Miyauchi played the role of star witness for the prosecution Friday on Day 2 of Yoshiaki Murakami's insider trading trial.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 26, 2006

Time to sink or swim for TV fish pundit Sakana

In September, the TV personality known as Sakana-kun was appointed to the position of guest assistant professor by the Tokyo University of Marine Science and Technology.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 16, 2006

Two views of Hugo Chavez

BUENOS AIRES -- Hugo Chavez's nearly eight years in power in Venezuela -- which he will seek to extend in presidential elections next month -- seem to defy economic analysis. Indeed, any and all economic examination of Chavez's Venezuela confirms Edgar R. Fiedler's quip that if you "ask five economists...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 5, 2006

Welcome to MLB players; hot hibachi league getting warm

A sincere yokoso (welcome) to manager Bruce Bochy and all the coaches, players and staff members on the current major league tour of Japan.
BUSINESS
Oct 31, 2006

MMC stems red ink in first half on cost cuts

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. announced Monday it has cut its losses for the first fiscal half to Sept. 30 compared with the previous year, thanks mainly to a weaker yen and cost-cutting efforts.
EDITORIALS
Oct 26, 2006

Checking violence at school

The number of violent incidents at public elementary schools nationwide rose by 128 to 2,018 in fiscal 2005 -- a new record for the third consecutive year, according to the education ministry's report entitled "Research on Problematic Behavior."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 12, 2006

Sony's battery fiasco a symptom of bigger woes at legendary firm

It was a fine day at Los Angeles International Airport on Sept. 16 when a passenger's ThinkPad laptop, containing a Sony Corp. battery already recalled by other companies, was suddenly wreathed in smoke and started emitting sparks.
EDITORIALS
Oct 6, 2006

Crying for attention, again

North Korea has announced it will conduct a nuclear-weapons test, without saying when. In February 2005, the North announced it possessed nuclear weapons, but this is the first time the country has publicized its intent to carry out a test.
BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2006

Young and tech-savvy, India's market remains largely untapped

Japanese companies increasingly look to India for business opportunities, but they have yet to fully tap the potential of one of the world's fastest-growing economies with its vast pool of skilled human resources, said participants in a recent symposium in Tokyo.
EDITORIALS
Sep 26, 2006

Saraba, Mr. Koizumi

Mr. Junichiro Koizumi leaves the center stage of Japanese politics Tuesday, after five years and five months in power. He can claim some major accomplishments under the banner of structural reform. He also has created problems that must be overcome by the new administration in the years to come.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami