Search - 2005

 
 
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2006

Annual retail sales record first increase in nine years

Retail sales rose 1.1 percent in 2005 to 129.52 trillion yen, chalking up their first year-on-year rise in nine years, due largely to soaring fuel prices and robust clothing sales, the government said Friday.
JAPAN
Jan 27, 2006

China again top Japan trade partner

Japan's trade with China totaled 24.949 trillion yen in 2005, making it the country's biggest trading partner for the second year running despite souring bilateral relations, according to Finance Ministry data released Thursday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jan 24, 2006

Can Japan absorb foreign influx?

When discussing the recent ethnic riots in France, The Economist newsmagazine ("Minority Reports," Nov. 10, 2005) posed an important question: How come some countries assimilate immigrants more peacefully than others?
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jan 22, 2006

Roster of foreign players nearly complete for 2006 season

Spring camps begin for the 12 Japan pro baseball teams in just 10 days, and there has been a flurry of activity in the past week with the Central and Pacific League clubs signing new-and second-hand-foreign players and finalizing rosters for the coming season. Following is a team-by-team update on the...
EDITORIALS
Jan 21, 2006

A new empire is shaken

Mr. Takafumi Horie, president of the high-flying Internet services company Livedoor Co., has once again been thrown into the media spotlight as a criminal investigation into his business activities begins.
JAPAN
Jan 18, 2006

Foreign tourists hit record high 6.73 million

The number of foreign tourists to Japan in 2005 is estimated to have been a record high 6.73 million, up 590,000 from the previous year, transport chief Kazuo Kitagawa said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 17, 2006

Hiroshima adds ex-Sox prospect

The Hiroshima Carp agreed Monday to a one-year deal with pitcher Felix Diaz, a Dominican right-hander who played for the Charlotte Knights, the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox, in 2005.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Jan 13, 2006

Miyamoto joins squad

Yakult Swallows infielder Shinya Miyamoto has joined the Japanese squad for the World Baseball Classic to fill the void left by Chicago White Sox infielder Tadahito Iguchi, the baseball commissioner's office said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jan 13, 2006

Reduction in bank lending slowed to 0.1% in '05

Lending by Japanese banks fell 0.1 percent in 2005 after adjustment for special factors, marking the smallest drop since the Bank of Japan started tracking the data in 1999, the central bank said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 30, 2005

Carrying on with fewer people

Japan's population started shrinking this year, according to two separate reports by the Health, Welfare and Labor Ministry and the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry. The shrinkage began one year earlier than the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research had projected....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Dec 29, 2005

A gradual rise to excellence

A loss of direction appeared to afflict large parts of the Japanese theater world in the beginning of 2005 as last year's promising stream of new actors and directors failed to live up to their 2004 debuts. Dramatists responded by looking outward for inspiration, creating an upsurge in international...
EDITORIALS
Dec 28, 2005

Portrait of a year in buzzwords

If it's December, it's time for those list-loving dictionary folks to be announcing their Words of the Year again -- and in the process providing editorial writers with a revealing lens on the past 12 months. This year, their labors yielded a couple of startlingly different scenarios.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2005

Japan's population declines by 19,000

The total population of Japan, including everyone who has been a resident longer than three months, fell to 127.76 million as of Oct. 1 for the first drop in the postwar period, the government said Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS
Dec 24, 2005

Asada, Valentine win FSAJ Awards

Figure skater Mao Asada, the Grand Prix Final and world junior champion this year, and Chiba Lotte Marines manager Bobby Valentine have been selected as the top Japanese and foreign sports figures for 2005 in voting by the Foreign Sportswriters Association of Japan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Dec 22, 2005

Elemental expressions

Art comes in many forms, but all those forms have in common their intimate dependence on light (something to bear in mind on this, the shortest day of the year). Without this miraculous form of energy you wouldn't know the difference between an Old Master canvas, an Abstract Expressionist work or an...
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2005

12.5% cut urged to take 'zaito' to 27-year low

The Finance Ministry on Tuesday proposed a 12.5 percent cut in the government's fiscal investment and loan program in fiscal 2006 to a 27-year low.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2005

Deflation's end on horizon for next fiscal year

The economy may finally emerge from seven years of deflation in fiscal 2006, although growth will slow to a real 1.9 percent from the 2.7 percent growth forecast for this fiscal year, according to a government report released Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 6, 2005

Genki drinks riding high

People the world over are raising a toast to the growing mainstream acceptance of energy and functional drinks.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Nov 30, 2005

'Secret' dolphin slaughter defies protests

Japan's annual slaughter of thousands of dolphins began Oct. 8 in the traditional whaling town of Taiji on the Kii Peninsula of Honshu's Wakayama Prefecture. These "drive fisheries" triggered demonstrations, held under the "Japan Dolphin Day" banner, in 28 countries. The protests went almost entirely...
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2005

Microsoft eyes server software foray

Microsoft Corp. said Thursday it will start marketing Japanese versions of two new server software products in February, as the U.S. software giant moves to bolster its enterprise in Japan.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 6, 2005

Hot hibachi league heating up; can Jojima cut it in majors?

Welcome to the new sponsored "Baseball Bullet-In," and thanks to Jeff Libengood and the staff of the just-opened East West Fitness workout place in Tokyo for the support. If you would like to sponsor a column in an upcoming edition of The Japan Times, please contact me at the e-mail address below.
COMMENTARY
Nov 1, 2005

Reform march must go on

The Diet on Oct. 14 enacted the postal-privatization bills that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi called the "centerpiece" of his reform agenda. It was a dream come true for Koizumi, after the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner New Komeito won two-thirds of the Lower House seats...
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2005

Toyota to be world's top carmaker in 2006: report

The Toyota Motor Corp. group is expected to boost its automobile production to more than 9.2 million units in 2006, making it almost certain the group will top General Motors Corp. to become the world's No. 1 automaker in terms of output, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported Wednesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Oct 9, 2005

Dark season for Giants comes to quiet end at Tokyo Dome

The atmosphere was very strange at Tokyo Dome last Wednesday, Oct. 5, as the Yomiuri Giants closed out a dismal 2005 season and two years of something between mediocrity and futility under the leadership of manager Tsuneo Horiuchi.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 18, 2005

Valentine, Marines take lead in hurricane, typhoon relief

The Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League have embarked on a campaign to raise funds for hurricane and typhoon relief efforts in the New Orleans and Mississippi Gulf Coast areas in the U.S., and Kagoshima here in Japan.
MORE SPORTS
Aug 4, 2005

Danjo lives her dream on the NFL stage

When Yoshiko Danjo stands at the sideline of RCA Dome as a member of the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders this fall, one thing she will bring to the sideline will be a photo of a Japanese cheerleader.
EDITORIALS
Jun 19, 2005

Inevitable need to be ready

Due to the geographic and geological characteristics of the Japanese archipelago, middle- to large-scale natural disasters can strike at any time. While military conflicts or terrorism may be thwarted through human efforts, typhoons and earthquakes are unstoppable, affecting all those residing in this...
EDITORIALS
May 20, 2005

A cautiously optimistic view

On the face of it, Japan's economy appears headed for a full-fledged recovery. In the first quarter of 2005, the gross domestic product (GDP) grew 1.3 percent from the previous quarter, or 5.3 percent in annualized terms, according to the Cabinet Office. It was the first solid quarterly growth since...
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2005

BOJ projecting change in easy monetary policy

The Bank of Japan said Thursday that easing anxiety over the country's financial stability has increased the likelihood that its ultra-loose monetary policy will change.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past