Search - 2004

 
 
LIFE / Lifestyle
Mar 14, 2006

Who is paying the price of health care?

Japan's health-insurance program is touted as being egalitarian, with treatment available at any medical institution in the nation to those people who pay monthly insurance premiums and 30 percent of their medical treatment, including diagnoses, tests and prescriptions.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Mar 13, 2006

U.S. current account deficit may trigger shift in global savings

The current account deficit of the United States topped $800 billion in 2005. Ben Bernanke, who recently became chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve, told a lecture in the spring of last year that the U.S. deficit level is "passively" determined by income, asset prices, interest rates, currency exchange...
JAPAN
Mar 12, 2006

NHK fee not linked to quality: judge

The Yokohama District Court has ruled that people who watch NHK must pay the "mandatory" subscriber fee even if they don't like its programs, the public broadcaster said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Mar 12, 2006

Chao Phya, the brown god

THAILAND REFLECTED IN A RIVER by Steve Van Beek, designed by Barry Owen and Thongchai Nawawat. Hong Kong: Wind & Water Ltd., 264 pp., profusely illustrated, 2004, $39 (cloth). T.S. Eliot has written: "I think that the river / Is a strong brown god -- sullen, untamed and intractable." In addition to this,...
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2006

Priest held over paid sex with minor

Police said Friday they have arrested a 73-year-old Buddhist chief priest on suspicion of paying 80,000 yen to a 15-year-old girl for sexual acts with her in 2004.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2006

Bill targets pension premium refusers

The Cabinet OK'd legislation Friday for presentation to the Diet the same day to establish a new pension services agency in 2008 to replace the Social Insurance Agency and enhance collection of pension premiums.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2006

Yamato, DHL in marketing tieup

Yamato Holdings Co. said Friday it has signed an agreement with DHL Global Mail (Japan) K.K., part of the Deutsche Post World Net group, that will create a joint direct marketing venture on April 3.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 11, 2006

Akane Okamoto-Kaminski

Marek Kaminski, born in Poland in 1947, graduated from Warsaw University. As an advanced student of ethnic minority groups, he went on to the University of Sweden. In Sweden he met and married his wife, a Korean-Japanese who was traveling there. Akane, their daughter, was born in Goteborg, and their...
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2006

Mitsubishi, Tepco in LNG tieup

Mitsubishi Corp. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday they have agreed to jointly procure and market liquefied natural gas tapped in Oman, starting in April.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 10, 2006

Olympic champ Arakawa pulls out of world c'ships

Olympic figure skating champion Shizuka Arakawa has opted to sit out the upcoming world championships, the Japan Skating Federation said Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2006

Employees dislike new pay system

Fujitsu Ltd.'s company Web site is being flooded with angry e-mails from unhappy workers, especially young people.
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2006

Exhaust pipe faults spur Isuzu recall

Isuzu Motors Ltd. told the transport ministry Thursday it will recall a total of 2,716 trucks it had manufactured under three models due to possibly defective exhaust pipes.
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2006

Asahara psychiatric test faulty: experts

The counsel for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara filed a statement Thursday from four experts challenging the credibility of an evaluation from a court-appointed psychiatrist that says the guru is mentally fit to stand trial in his appeal.
CULTURE / Music
Mar 10, 2006

Kings of Convenience

In 2001, when Kings of Convenience's first album was released (the near-perfect "Quiet is the New Loud"), it was almost an antidote to the humorless introspection of their contemporaries: the teen angst of Dashboard Confessional, the poetic depression of Elliot Smith, and politely existential Britpop...
JAPAN
Mar 10, 2006

Trial opens in Nishimura lawyer scandal

OSAKA -- Shingo Nishimura, the ultraconservative Diet member arrested last year for allowing a nonlawyer employee to illegally represent clients in his name, formally owned up to the charges as his Osaka District Court trial opened Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / FUZZY LOGIC
Mar 10, 2006

Romancing, not stoned

I've got four High Teens in my apartment, one of them is unconscious on my futon, and "romance" will ultimately be on the agenda. But please hesitate from rushing to the nearest koban and filing a report because, I promise you, this story does not involve drugs and underage sex. (I'm saving that for...
BUSINESS
Mar 10, 2006

BOJ lifts ultraloose policy

The Bank of Japan on Thursday ended its five-year-old ultraloose monetary policy, brushing aside concerns in the Cabinet and the ruling coalition that the nation has not yet overcome years of deflation.
JAPAN
Mar 9, 2006

Clone panel to ban eggs donated by researchers

A science ministry panel preparing guidelines for research on the cloning of human embryos has agreed to ban egg donations by female researchers and their female relatives.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2006

Coincident index continues its high

A key gauge of the current state of the economy stayed above the boom-or-bust threshold of 50 percent in January for the sixth straight month, spurred by all-time high indexes of production, industrial production shipment and electricity consumption by large-lot users, the government said Wednesday....
BASKETBALL
Mar 8, 2006

Kimura thinks outside the box as chairman of new hoop circuit

As the bj-league representative and president of Invoice inc., Ikuo Kimura draws a clear line from the conventional sports chairpeople and directors.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 8, 2006

Central League to add playoffs

Japan's Central League decided Tuesday to introduce postseason playoffs next year to help boost sagging attendance, following the success of the Pacific League.
JAPAN
Mar 8, 2006

Bill to fingerprint, photograph foreigners advances

The government approved a bill Tuesday requiring that all foreign visitors be fingerprinted and photographed as part of the campaign to fight terrorism.

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