Search - 2005

 
 
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2007

Corporate bankruptcies up 32.4%

Corporate bankruptcies rose 32.4 percent in June from a year earlier, the ninth straight month for the number of business failures to rise, a private research agency said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2007

Lone Star's acquisitions of golf courses suffering in economic recovery

The economy is so healthy it's bad for business, according to Mitsuo Hirose, who heads golf operations in Japan for John Grayken's Lone Star Funds.
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 11, 2007

SDP sees Upper House race as vital in protecting Article 9

The Constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 is in danger of being revised by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the upcoming Upper House election is an opportunity to put a stop to this effort, Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima said.
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2007

Court setbacks deflate Steel Partners' investments

Warren Lichtenstein's Japanese investments are losing value after a Tokyo court called his fund "abusive" and shareholders rejected its latest takeover bid.
JAPAN
Jul 10, 2007

DPJ airs pledges for upcoming race

as the backbone of this manifesto is 'People's lives are the priority,' " DPJ President Ichiro Ozawa said of the platform for the July 29 Upper House race. "We must engage in politics on the same footing as the people." Brushing off the ruling bloc's attack on his plan to raise money through administrative...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2007

No price cut planned for 'competitive' Xbox console

Insisting its prices are competitive, Microsoft Corp.'s Japan unit announced Monday it has no plans to reduce the price of the Xbox 360 game console.
COMMENTARY
Jul 9, 2007

Next stage of emission cuts

Speaking at the 13th International "Future of Asia" conference in Tokyo May 24, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe announced a set of comprehensive strategies for cutting greenhouse-gas emissions.
Reader Mail
Jul 8, 2007

Taking chances on a rail line

Meitetsu railroad, based in Nagoya, changed its timetable at the beginning of the month. Besides the many improvements, some services have deteriorated. Among these are several trains during the morning rush hour that have been shortened. One of these is a train I take in the morning, now running...
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Funding scandal hits farm minister

has given an explanation." In the 16-year period up to 2005, a total of 22.8 million yen was registered as rent, 71.6 million yen as personnel costs, 13.5 million yen as utility costs and 15.6 million yen as other miscellaneous costs, according to the funding reports.
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Kleptocracy to 'freedom'?

Hla Aye Maung's nightmare began in the central Tokyo district of Nishi Nippori when he went shopping. A police car pulled up beside him and the officers found he was one of the more than 250,000 illegal aliens apparently working in Japan. They took him to a police station in nearby Ueno, from where he...
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Sit-ins win new home, in Canada!

All Kurdish asylum-seeker Erdal Dogan wanted was a peaceful home for himself and his family.
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Screenings on behalf of 33 million

From July 18-26, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will sponsor the 2nd International Refugee Film Festival in Japan. The program of 30 movies over nine days at four theaters includes feature and documentary films that focus on the lives, trials and triumphs of people forced to leave their...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2007

Sales tax hike would need voter OK via Lower House poll

If the government hopes to raise the 5 percent consumption tax, it will have to gain voter approval in the next House of Representatives election, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuhisa Shiozaki said Friday.
JAPAN
Jul 6, 2007

Voter litmus test last thing Abe needs now

Scandals, from corruption to suicide, have been the hallmarks of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's first ordinary Diet session, which ended Thursday with support for his Cabinet at its lowest ebb.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2007

'Koi Suru Nichiyobi Watashi Koi Shita'

In the 1990s the WOWOW satellite station financed a series of films under the banner J Movie Wars. With producer Takenori Sento at the helm, J Movies Wars became a fertile breeding ground for young directing talent, including Naomi Kawase, who won the Cannes Camera d'Or prize in 1997 for her debut feature...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Jul 6, 2007

'Glastonbury'

As the summer festival season draws closer in Japan, now is a good time to take a moment and recall the festival that has served as an inspiration for so many others (including Fuji Rock Festival). No, I'm not talking about Woodstock, which is a great example of how to run a nonsustainable event in which...
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2007

Kyuma incident rekindles A-bomb debate

Fumio Kyuma's resignation Tuesday as defense minister over his remarks on the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has spotlighted the still sharply divided perception gap between Japan and the United States over what some see as one of the most horrific war atrocities in history.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2007

'Japan's Condi Rice' known for courting controversy

OSAKA — New Defense Minister Yuriko Koike, 54, is a world traveler fluent in Arabic and English and considered one of the Diet's leading experts on the Middle East.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 5, 2007

Will the dollar lose its crown to the euro?

NEW YORK — Much of America's dominance in world finance comes from the dollar's status as international money. America's commitment to free capital markets, the rule of law, and price stability confer credibility on the dollar as a store of value. But American spending habits have undermined the dollar's...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Jul 5, 2007

Exposing our tacky selves

Walking through an exhibition of Martin Parr's photography is an emotional experience. The Englishman's works make you laugh, snicker, cringe; they prompt self- and societal reflection; but most of all they make you marvel at the dry wit and superior eye that Parr has for things simultaneously insipid...
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2007

A corporate culture turned fatal

The final report of the government's Aircraft and Railway Accidents Investigation Commission on the April 25, 2005, West Japan Railway accident in Hyogo Prefecture — which killed the train driver and 106 passengers and injured 562 people — has blamed the railway company's corporate culture for the...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2007

U.S., SDF face new challenges 50 years on

U.S. Forces Japan enjoys a mature, strong relationship with the Self-Defense Forces developed over the 50 years since establishing its headquarters here, according to the USFJ commander.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight