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Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 30, 2005

Are dress codes key to global warming?

Just as a 1,000-km journey begins with a single step, it seems that the arduous process of reducing Japan's greenhouse gas emissions starts with the simple removal of a few neckties.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2005

Electronics makers lost billions on price falls in '04

Major electronics makers lost hundreds of billions of yen in potential profits due to rapidly falling prices in fiscal 2004, and they expect the trend to continue in the current fiscal year.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2005

Mr. Putin's Russia

Hopes that President Vladimir Putin would use this week's state of the union address to clarify where Russia is heading were frustrated. His speech had a little something for everyone, leaving liberals and nationalists alike grasping for their favorite sound bite. It is tempting to look to the case of...
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2005

Arianespace touts partnerships

Arianespace SA said it hopes to promote its satellite launch business in Japan through its partnership with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., the top executive of the French commercial launch service provider said Tuesday in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2005

Index, KDDI move to boost mobile content

Index Corp., the leading distributor of content for mobile phones, said Monday it has formed a capital alliance with and will become the largest shareholder of toy maker Takara Co.
BUSINESS
Apr 23, 2005

Fuji, Livedoor set to detail alliance

Fuji Television Network Inc. and Internet service provider Livedoor Co. could hold the first meeting of their joint task force to work out details of their business alliance by the end of this month, Fuji TV President Koichi Murakami said Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2005

Yahoo Japan profit soars to record high

Yahoo Japan Corp. said Wednesday that group operating revenue and net profit rose to all-time highs in fiscal 2004 due to growth in advertising and the popularity of its Net auction business.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 16, 2005

Day-laborers give way to budget tourists

OSAKA -- The Airin district in Nishinari Ward here is well known as a hub for day-laborers. It's a working-class neighborhood that is quite unlike Osaka's upscale Umeda district or the neon jungle of Shinsaibashi.
COMMENTARY
Apr 16, 2005

Is Asia moving forward or backward?

LOS ANGELES -- Settling old scores is the characteristic of small minds; moving forward is the stuff of vision and leadership. Despite the growing trade among China, Japan and South Korea, much political activity appears to focus on the settlement of grudges.
BUSINESS
Apr 14, 2005

Lawson, FamilyMart post robust growth in earnings

Lawson Inc. said Wednesday its net profit for the year that ended in February rose 10 percent to a record 20.44 billion yen, buoyed by strong sales and aggressive store-openings.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2005

Livedoor shares drop to record low price

Market confidence in Internet company Livedoor Co. appeared to ebb Tuesday as its share price temporarily dropped to a record low of 292 yen on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

Red tape strangling deregulation efforts

Dr. Hirofumi Kawakita's plan to use the government's newly created special structural reform zones to launch a pediatric emergency medical service in Tokyo soon led him into a Kafkaesque nightmare.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 4, 2005

Sony passes over brash star Kutaragi

Known as the "Father of the PlayStation," Ken Kutaragi seemed to many a logical choice to take Sony Corp.'s helm as it struggles to turn around its stumbling electronics business and regain its past glory symbolized by the Walkman.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 2, 2005

Alleged al-Qaeda link seeks vindication

A Bangladeshi businessman who was incorrectly alleged by police and the media last year as being linked to the al-Qaeda terrorist network is seeking vindication.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2005

Softbank unit says Livedoor canceled talks

Softbank Investment Corp. officials said Monday that talks between top managers of the venture capital company and Internet portal Livedoor Co. were canceled for the day at Livedoor's request.
COMMENTARY
Mar 28, 2005

Positive media shock waves

Internet entrepreneur Takafumi Horie has sent shock waves reverberating through the Japanese media industry with his hostile takeover bid for Nippon Broadcasting Co., a member of the Fujisankei media conglomerate.
BUSINESS
Mar 11, 2005

JAL to pare 1,400 more jobs to cut costs

Japan Airlines Corp. said Thursday it will slash 1,400 more jobs by the end of March 2008 through attrition and transfers in an effort to counter high fuel prices.
BUSINESS
Mar 9, 2005

Toyota booming in world's No. 2 spot over U.S. rival Ford

Back in the 1970s, workers at Toyota Motor Corp. were taught to never turn down an order because good times couldn't be counted on to last forever. These days, Toyota cars are in such demand workers are exhausted just keeping up.
BUSINESS
Mar 4, 2005

Livedoor furor opens up M&A can of worms

As it gears up to pass new legislation that will make it easier for companies to merge or acquire other firms, Japan is getting cold feet.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Feb 19, 2005

Yuji Abe

"This is a 50-year-old story," Yuji Abe said.
BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2005

McDonald's Japan posts first profit in three years

McDonald's Holdings Co. (Japan) said Thursday it returned to profit in 2004 for the first time in three years.
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 3, 2005

Hitachi to acquire majority stake in PDP tieup with Fujitsu

Hitachi Ltd. said Wednesday it will acquire a majority stake in a 50-50 plasma display panel manufacturing joint venture with Fujitsu Ltd., as it aims to bolster its PDP TV business amid intensifying competition.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2005

Outcome of Daiei sponsorship struggle far from certain

A list of candidates to sponsor struggling retail giant Daiei Inc. has been narrowed to three groups. But a final selection by the state-backed corporate bailout agency is far from certain, because the three picked are doing different businesses and there is no decisive factor.
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
Jan 25, 2005

Former leaders to draft new Constitution

A Liberal Democratic Party committee working on drafting a new Constitution decided Monday to have 10 subcommittees headed by former prime ministers and other key members draft reports by March on a new supreme law for the country.
BUSINESS
Jan 21, 2005

Wage talks reflect big divide; bonus boost favored over raises

Japan's annual spring talks between unions and management on wages and working conditions started Thursday with no tension apparent but with the spreading pay gap between major and smaller companies expected to draw attention.

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