Search - 2005

 
 
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2006

Eco-technology development crucial: Ford exec

Although it is struggling with financial trouble, U.S. automaker Ford remains committed to investing in new products and technology, a senior executive said Friday.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2006

Weaker, yen energy gains charge up Marubeni profits

Trading house Marubeni Corp. said Friday that its group net profit for the first half of fiscal 2006 jumped 72 percent year-on-year to 65.6 billion yen, led by robust earnings in its energy business and the yen's depreciation against other currencies.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 27, 2006

GM Takada bag of nerves before game

SAPPORO -- Fighters general manager Shigeru Takada was wandering around the dugout and backstage and could hardly contain his jitters before the game.
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Oct 27, 2006

Psychedelic radar 10.27

Saturday, Oct. 28
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2006

No good exit strategy from Iraq for U.S.

LONDON -- Landlubbers usually get maritime analogies wrong. "Changing course" is not cowardice; it's the sensible thing to do if the ship is headed for the rocks. "Cutting" (the anchor cable) "and running" (before the wind) is what you do when the storm is raging, the anchor is dragging, and the ship...
COMMENTARY
Oct 26, 2006

N. Korea: Who's to blame?

SEOUL -- "It's all Bush's fault!" "No, it's all Clinton's fault!" Has anyone engaged in this increasingly counterproductive debate over who should be blamed for North Korea's nuclear test ever stopped to consider that it might actually be Kim Jong Il's fault? . . . and that North Korean's "Dear Leader"...
EDITORIALS
Oct 25, 2006

50 years shy of a deal

Oct. 19 marked the 50th anniversary of the signing of the Japan-Soviet Joint Declaration, which restored diplomatic ties between Japan and the then Soviet Union (now Russia). Yet the prospect for solving the Northern Territories issue has not improved.
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 22, 2006

Something 'beautiful' that leaders may not see from on high

Sometimes a very significant event in the life of a country passes largely unnoticed, particularly if it occurs away from the center of power. Just such a thing happened on the 11th of this month.
EDITORIALS
Oct 21, 2006

Surrogate births raise complex issues

News that a woman in her 50s has acted as a surrogate mother for her daughter and her daughter's husband underscores the need to enact a law governing how to legally treat children born in this way. The guidelines of the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology prohibit doctors from engaging in surrogacy-related...
BUSINESS
Oct 21, 2006

Daiei operating profit up, net profit down

Daiei Inc. said Friday its operating profit for its March-August half was 25.45 billion yen, up 41.9 percent from the previous year, on sales of 672.1 billion yen, due to strong sales in its credit card subsidiary OMC Card Inc.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Oct 20, 2006

New skipper Collins determined to turn Buffaloes into winners

OSAKA -- An intense student of baseball, Terry Collins wears his heart on his sleeve. His expectations are emblazoned on his shirt.
EDITORIALS
Oct 20, 2006

Afghanistan at the tipping point

The top NATO military commander in Afghanistan, British Gen. David Richards, has warned that Afghanistan is at a crucial juncture. If the lives of ordinary Afghans do not improve soon, there is the very real danger that they will switch their allegiance back to the Taliban. Loss of the support of the...
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2006

Is Labour's Gordon Brown electable?

LONDON -- British Finance Minister Gordon Brown obviously wants to succeed Tony Blair as British prime minister. But it is less obvious that he is willing to do what is necessary to lead the Labour Party to victory in the next general election. In some critical sense, he must repudiate Blair's legacy,...
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2006

Inpex to drill for Indonesian gas

Inpex Holdings Inc. said Wednesday it plans to develop a gas field in southern Indonesia to produce about 3 million tons annually beginning as early as 2014 in a bid to ensure Japan has a steady supply of liquefied natural gas.
COMMENTARY / World
Oct 19, 2006

America's double standard fuels crises

LONDON -- The U.S. government's double standard in dealing with the intensifying nuclear crisis in North Korea further strengthens the argument that President George W. Bush's colonial designs are either exasperated by the vulnerability of his foes or deterred by their lethal preparedness.
MORE SPORTS
Oct 16, 2006

Chinese stars earn repeat titles

Lin Dan capitalized on his signature left-arm firing shots and Taufik Hidayat lost his signature -- his cool.
COMMENTARY
Oct 16, 2006

Abe off to impressive start

In his summits with Presidents Hu Jintao of China and Roh Moo Hyun of South Korea last week, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took the first step toward improving relations that had soured between Japan and the two countries under the rule of his predecessor, Junichiro Koizumi. His initiative also opened a...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 16, 2006

Global imbalances, economic and political, must be rectified

As countries throughout the globe undergo radical economic changes from the impact of globalization, there exist two major imbalances in the world today.
EDITORIALS
Oct 15, 2006

Backing off the merge lane

Talks between General Motors Corp., on one hand, and Nissan Motor Co. and Renault SA, on the other, concerning a three-way alliance have collapsed, as the U.S. automaker couldn't find a good enough reason to form such an alliance. The unanimous decision by GM's board to reject the alliance appears to...
CULTURE / Books
Oct 15, 2006

The first steps to rapprochement

JAPAN'S FOREIGN POLICY 1945-2003: The Quest for a Proactive Policy, by Kazuhiko Togo. Leiden: Brill Academic, 2005, 484 pp., $49 (paper). Kazuhiko Togo, one of Japan's leading strategic thinkers about foreign policy, wrote an article in the June issue of Far Eastern Economic Review calling for a moratorium...
SUMO
Oct 14, 2006

Haircuts, sumo stars and amateurs in Osaka

Autumn is a time of change for the Japanese. Summer clothes are put away and sightings of thicker, woollier garments become increasingly common. The mercury encounters a daily struggle to stay first above 20 degrees then above 10, and the country collectively takes its foot off the pedal.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami