Search - 2004

 
 
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2005

Easing beef ban seen as missing chance to let consumers rule

Yoshinoya D&C Co. executives, intent on reviving the restaurant chain's trademark beef-on-rice bowls as quickly as possible, are calling U.S. meatpackers to find out how much beef they can get and at what price.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 13, 2005

Decision by Giants to release reliever Sikorski a real mystery

You read this past week where the Yomiuri Giants have decided to clean house regarding their foreign players, releasing outfielder Tuffy Rhodes and pitchers Brian Sikorski, Scott Mullen and J.B. Miadich.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 13, 2005

Nobel laureate set to be garlanded in cliche

Awarding this year's Nobel Prize in literature to British playwright Harold Pinter is giving the recipient an opportunity to mount a stage of enormous proportions, and his acceptance speech in Stockholm next month may be the most provocative, fiery and influential address ever given on this august occasion....
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / VINELAND
Nov 11, 2005

Can Japan sales save Beaujolais Nouveau?

Japan overtook the United States as Beaujolais' top export market in 2004, but a disastrous sales campaign for Beaujolais Nouveau last year raised serious doubts as to whether Asia can save the Beaujolais from the hole that they've dug themselves into.
JAPAN
Nov 10, 2005

Half-year Iraq duty extension urged

The Ground Self-Defense Force reconstruction assistance mission in Iraq needs to be extended by at least six months past its Dec. 14 expiration, a government source has said.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2005

FHI to cut jobs by 5% as first-half profit falls

Fuji Heavy Industries Ltd. said Tuesday that its net profit in the first half of fiscal 2005 declined 3.8 percent to 8 billion yen and announced it will cut its domestic workforce by 5 percent, or 700 workers, by the end of January.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 9, 2005

Central League releases schedule

The Central League said Tuesday the regular season next year will begin one week later than the Pacific League with the same 146-game schedule.
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2005

Tepco profit dives 41% in half as oil prices rise

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Tuesday its group net profit for the six months through September plunged 41.0 percent from a year before to 107.98 billion yen due to rising fuel costs stemming from sharp rises in crude oil prices.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 8, 2005

Sikorski gets his walking papers

The Yomiuri Giants said Monday right-hander Brian Sikorski will leave the Central League team after the reliever was left out of new manager Tatsunori Hara's plans for the next season.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 8, 2005

Giants release slugger Rhodes

The Yomiuri Giants have notified Tuffy Rhodes they will not sign a contract with the slugger for next season, the Central League club said Monday.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Nov 8, 2005

Spreading the spirit of an old Japanese tradition

It's probably a sign of impending old age but these days, I find myself recalling the words of my late grandmother and applying them to current life situations.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2005

NHK head apologizes for arrest

ponders a question during a news conference at the public broadcaster's headquarters in Tokyo.
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2005

Japan to write off 690 billion yen of Iraq's debts

Japan has agreed in principle to write off 690 billion, yen or 80 percent, of Iraq's $7.3 billion debts to Tokyo, and the rest will be repaid over 23 years with a six-year deferment, government sources said Saturday.
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2005

Heads roll at Meiji Yasuda as severity of scandal sinks in

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co. said Friday that 11 executives, including President Ryotaro Kaneko, will step down Nov. 30 to take responsibility for the company's repeated failure to pay legitimate insurance claims.
EDITORIALS
Nov 4, 2005

Toward a police-controlled media

There is a strong social trend toward protecting privacy. A milestone will be the enforcement of the Private Information Protection Law beginning in April. But the government is apparently taking advantage of this trend and people's distrust of the media -- due to often sensationalistic crime coverage...
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Nov 3, 2005

Make English mandatory for elementary pupils, Kosaka says

The new education minister believes English education should be made mandatory for elementary school students.
JAPAN / CABINET INTERVIEW
Nov 3, 2005

Aso planning to run for LDP president

Foreign Minister Taro Aso, a potential successor to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, said he will run for president of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party next September if he can get the required 20 party members to nominate him.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 2, 2005

Matsuzaka shelves big league plans

Seibu Lions ace right-hander Daisuke Matsuzaka has given up on his plan to pursue a career in the major leagues and will remain with Seibu next season, baseball sources said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Nov 2, 2005

No changing colors in China

HONG KONG -- Two weeks ago, China issued a 23,000-word white paper on democracy, the first time the Communist government had ever done so. However, instead of being a blueprint for the development of representative government, the white paper turned out to be a defense of the perpetuation of the monopoly...
JAPAN
Nov 1, 2005

Takebe reappointed secretary general of LDP; Nakagawa gets policy affairs

Prime Minister and Liberal Democratic Party President Junichiro Koizumi reappointed Tsutomu Takebe, 64, to the party's No. 2 post of secretary general, while switching LDP Diet affairs chief Hidenao Nakagawa to the post of policy affairs chief.

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