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BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
May 26, 2010

Lottery administrators get their comeuppance (so what?)

A government reform unit says money gathered from the lottery might be have been misused but should the Takurakuji itself take the blame?
BUSINESS
May 22, 2010

Trust in Toyota's tainted brand to be tested when incentives end

DETROIT — U.S. buyers were willing to overlook Toyota Motor Corp.'s safety troubles the last few months thanks to zero-percent financing and other deals, but as the lure of incentives fades, the carmaker has a tough job: Winning over consumers who no longer trust the brand.
JAPAN
May 19, 2010

NPOs' social roles still in stage of infancy

When he set up a nonprofit organization 35 years ago to sell organic vegetables, Kazuyoshi Fujita never expected his pursuit would grow into a big business.
BUSINESS
May 11, 2010

Ford wins favor among parts suppliers, tops Nissan

Ford Motor Co., following its first annual profit since 2005, became the only non-Japanese automaker ever ranked among the top three in a survey of suppliers.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 4, 2010

Eikaiwa on the ropes after fall of Geos

RICHARD SMART Special to The Japan Times A chain of English conversation schools is closed down. Thousands of employees are left worrying whether they will get paid or keep their jobs. Students are told refunds will not be given on advance payments for lessons. G.communication steps in to pick up the...
COMMENTARY
May 3, 2010

Plans for 'small' reactors nudge waste-disposal concerns to fore

Imagine a world in which midsize cities, factories and towns in many countries have their own small nuclear reactors to generate electricity and heat. Some would be in remote locations unconnected to the national grid but others would be in densely populated zones that need local sources of constant...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 30, 2010

Only got 4Minutes to take the world

T he five young members of 4Minute sit dressed in tight, black leather outfits at a luxury hotel in Ebisu, Tokyo. It's one day before their Japanese debut, but they show no signs of nerves.
JAPAN
Apr 28, 2010

Craft shops cash in on recession

Tomoyo Shibuya's coat is more than six years old, but she has no plans to ditch it. Instead of buying a new coat, she went to a handicraft shop, bought new navy-blue buttons, the same color as the coat, to replace the old silver buttons.
EDITORIALS
Apr 25, 2010

Secrecy not helping Mr. Hatoyama

The Tokyo District Court on Thursday gave Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's former state-financed secretary a suspended two-year prison term for falsifying the political funding reports by Mr. Hatoyama's funds-management body.
Japan Times
LIFE
Apr 25, 2010

Native Works puts city on fashion radar

Kenichi Kishimoto, 33, and Noriko Yasuda, 34, are a fashion-design duo who run an atelier-cum-shop named Native Works that's right beside the world-renowned Todaiji Temple.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 24, 2010

Commuting by bicycle benefits more than just your health

In an attempt to reduce Japan's carbon footprint, more government and corporate initiatives are encouraging commuters to cycle to work.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2010

Geos' fate sealed by failure to react quickly to rapid drop in demand

The failure of major language-school operator Geos Corp. occurred because the company didn't trim unprofitable branches fast enough at a time when the industry was facing a drastic drop in students, people in the industry said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 17, 2010

Belfor Japan carving out a niche in Asia disaster-recovery services

Any smooth-running business can be devastated by fire, typhoon or earthquake, especially in Japan.
LIFE / Digital
Apr 14, 2010

Tech pushes Japan's music scene; industry won't budge

The music business reinvents itself every 20 years or so — basically every time a new format comes down the pike. But the industry has never faced the kind of fundamental challenge presented by the digital file-sharing revolution.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Apr 13, 2010

Lawson 100 and the evolution of the convenience store

As a rule you don't go to a convenience store for value. The new exception to the rule is Lawson Store 100.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2010

Japan gets U.S. pitch to buy spy drones

The U.S.-made RQ-4 Global Hawk spy plane looks like an upside-down double-decker bus with wings, flies slowly, offers zero leg room — and is one of the most coveted pieces of military technology in the world.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Apr 7, 2010

Game director Mikami ups speed, action in 'Vanquish'

Fifty-two floors above the ground in Tokyo's Roppongi district, one man is reaping all the applause. As he soaks it up, the look on his face is difficult to read. It has been over four years since he last received such attention, and he has yet to impart the information he came to relay; has yet to experience...
JAPAN / ARRIVAL OF E-READERS
Apr 3, 2010

Publishers don't see iPad revolution anytime soon

Many in the U.S. publishing industry feel Apple's release of the iPad, a multipurpose tablet computer with a built-in electronic reading device, will revolutionize the way consumers read and push the market into the digital age — just as the firm's iPod and iTunes did with music.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Apr 3, 2010

Patience a virtue in miso making

If miso is part of your daily routine, "you're having a decent life," says Tony Flenley, Japan's only British miso maker. Flenley, who runs a 105-year-old miso company in Osaka, believes the time taken to prepare and eat the soup shows the right priorities have triumphed over a fast food lifestyle.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Apr 2, 2010

Cost-cutting brings classics to the masses

"Rather than managing an opera house, I wanted to create a 'structure' for a new event," says French producer Rene Martin in a book published in Japan last month titled "How a Classical Music Festival Gathered 1 Million People."

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan