Search - news

 
 
JAPAN
Apr 18, 2005

Princess marks her last birthday in palace

Princess Nori, the only daughter of Emperor Akihito and Empress Michiko, offered thanks to her parents as she turned 36 on Monday, her last birthday as an Imperial family member before leaving the palace to marry a commoner.
JAPAN
Apr 15, 2005

Mishaps keep JAL on ministry watch

The transport ministry said Thursday it will subject the Japan Airlines Group to special safety inspections through the end of the year, following a spate of safety-related problems involving the nation's largest carrier.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 15, 2005

Labor icon Miller: NHL players didn't get message out

Well, I never thought it would come to this.
BUSINESS
Apr 15, 2005

China tells Japan to proceed with caution

China on Thursday warned that Japan would have to take "full responsibility" for any consequences if it proceeds with exploration for oil and gas in a contested area of the East China Sea.
JAPAN
Apr 14, 2005

Court hits Nationality Law restrictions

It is unconstitutional for the government to refuse Japanese nationality to a 7-year-old boy of Japanese-Philippine parenthood born out of wedlock and later recognized by his Japanese father, the Tokyo District Court ruled Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 13, 2005

Kids born, fathered here by Japanese sue state for recognition as citizens

A lawsuit was filed against the government Tuesday on behalf of nine children born in Japan to Japanese fathers and Filipino mothers who are seeking to be recognized as Japanese, according to their lawyer.
BUSINESS
Apr 12, 2005

Hostile rallies put companies on edge

Japanese firms doing business with China are taking precautionary measures following a raft of violent anti-Japanese rallies there over the weekend.
JAPAN
Apr 9, 2005

Asylum-seeker sues state for damages

A Myanmarese asylum-seeker who recently received a special residence permit filed a damages suit against the government Friday, demanding 11 million yen for being detained despite his status as a refugee, his lawyers said.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 8, 2005

Drive toward reconciliation

CHIANG MAI, Thailand -- It seems rather awkward for outsiders to comment at this time on the tragic developments in the "deep South" of Thailand. Yet even Thai public opinion at large does not appear sufficiently informed of the extent of the events occurring there. One aspect of the drama that should...
BUSINESS
Apr 8, 2005

Ito-Yokado profit dives at its mainstay stores

Ito-Yokado Co. said Thursday its operating profit plunged 64 percent to 8.8 billion yen on a parent-only basis for the year that ended on Feb. 28, dragged down by dismal apparel sales.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Koizumi urges calm in history text row

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged South Korea on Tuesday not to let soured bilateral relations deteriorate further, following the approval of junior high school history textbooks that Seoul says distort Japan's colonialist past.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2005

Mac back on the attack with wide price cuts, growth plans

McDonald's Co. (Japan) Ltd. unveiled a new menu Thursday that cut prices for many of its core products.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2005

Beef safety dialogue to be bilingual

Japan will provide an English-language summary of the deliberations of its expert panel on beef safety to obtain U.S. understanding of Tokyo's position, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2005

NBS clients threaten to pull ads

Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. said Tuesday that many advertisers have threatened to withdraw sponsorship of baseball and soccer game broadcasts if Internet company Livedoor Co. takes over its management.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2005

Food safety panel won't feel political pressure over U.S. beef: minister

Food safety minister Yasufumi Tanahashi said Tuesday he does not expect the Food Safety Commission to come under political pressure to approve lifting the 15-month-old ban on U.S. beef imports.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Mar 6, 2005

People are so funny about their paper money

Every so often there's a big news story about someone finding a huge amount of money in the unlikeliest of places. The most recent one had to do with tens of millions of yen in cash discovered in a stream in Hasuda, Saitama Prefecture.
Rugby
Feb 20, 2005

Toyota's old, young and brave hold off Toshiba in All Japan semifinals

If Toyota ever decides to branch out into making soap operas it could do no worse than call its show "The Old, the Young and the Brave," based on the performance of its rugby team at Tokyo's Chichibunomiya on Saturday, as it beat Toshiba Brave Lupus 24-19 in the semifinal of the 42nd All Japan Championship....
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Feb 20, 2005

Ah-choo! Picked up an allergy to the hay-fever industry

Last week the pharmaceutical company Riken announced that it was developing a new desensitivity treatment for serious allergy sufferers. The treatment program would entail fifty or so injections over a three-year period, which is quite a reduction in time. I should know. I received biweekly or monthly...
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 18, 2005

Restaurant t.r: A 't.r iffic' little diner

One of Tokyo's unique pleasures is being able to eat out in restaurants that are no bigger -- and often considerably smaller -- than your own living room. There are thousands of places around the city with kitchens the size of closets and counters that seat less than a dozen, but which nonetheless serve...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 10, 2005

Toyota family scion seen being groomed for helm

Toyota Motor Corp. announced Wednesday that Senior Managing Director Akio Toyoda, a scion of the founding family, will become an executive vice president, in what is widely speculated as a step toward the top job at the nation's largest automaker.
BUSINESS
Feb 8, 2005

Okuda to complete Nippon Keidanren chairman term

Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Hiroshi Okuda clarified on Monday that he intends to complete his second two-year term as head of the Japan Business Federation (Nippon Keidanren), which expires in May 2006.
COMMUNITY / LIFELINES
Feb 1, 2005

Used CDs, pensions and a good resource

More used CD info On the subject of where to buy and sell used CDs in and around Tokyo, there are a number of shops that will take your old discs off you as well as Recofan (mentioned in our column of Jan. 18).
COMMENTARY
Jan 30, 2005

A mountain of good will without strings

HONOLULU -- Now that a month has passed since the tragic earthquake and tsunami that wrecked widespread devastation across South and Southeast Asia, it is time to separate fact from fiction regarding the timeliness, level and intention of U.S. relief efforts.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2005

Sony operating profit down 13% on poor electronics sales in quarter

Sony Corp. said Thursday its operating profit dropped 13 percent on a year-on-year basis to 138.2 billion yen in the October-December period, dragged down by weak sales of conventional televisions and portable audio products.
COMMENTARY
Jan 26, 2005

Things look up to Downer

LOS ANGELES -- They say an optimist looks at the very same glass that the pessimist sees as half-empty and proclaims it to be half-full. By that measure, one of the world's foremost optimists has got to be Alexander Downer, Australia's minister for foreign affairs.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Jan 23, 2005

LDP big guns fight NHK censorship claims

Last Monday, a meeting organized by the Violence Against Women in War Network Japan to discuss its ongoing lawsuit against NHK was moved at the last minute from a tiny room in the Bunkyo Kumin Center to a large hall at the YMCA. The change was made to accommodate the many reporters who were suddenly...
Japan Times
Features
Jan 23, 2005

Women to the fore in study of statues

At midday on March 29, 1914, a yacht named Mana, flying the British colors, dropped anchor in the tiny inlet of Cook's Bay, Hanga Roa. On board was an anthropologist who would carry out the first systematic survey of the Easter Island statues, and who would also record the last memories of a dying generation...

Longform

A sinkhole in Yashio, which emerged in January, was triggered by a ruptured, aging sewer pipe. Authorities worry that similar sections of infrastructure across the country are also at risk of corrosion.
That sinking feeling: Japan’s aging sewers are an infrastructure time bomb