Search - (2006-01-27)

 
 
JAPAN
May 8, 2007

Health ministry, docs were at odds over Tamiflu effects

so that the causal links with it cannot be denied," the doctor said in the opinion. The 2005 case involved a 14-year-old male junior high school student in Aichi Prefecture who jumped to his death from an apartment.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 6, 2007

Skipper Oya deserves credit for BayStars' surge

Japan pro baseball's hottest team through the middle of Golden Week was the Yokohama BayStars, riding a five-game winning streak and standing in first place, albeit by percentage points, in the Central League pennant race.
CULTURE / Books
May 6, 2007

In Japan, dogs 'wan,' cats 'nya' and cows 'mo'

HIRA HIRA KIRARI: Michey's Word Play, Onomatopoeia 1, 2, 3, by Mitsuko Hasse, illustrated by Haruko Nakaune, translated by Darrel Frentz. Fuzambo International, 2006, 155 pp., 2,000 yen (paper) Those familiar with The Japan Times' bilingual page will know Michey, the star of Word Play, a cartoon column...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 6, 2007

The different cases of Inspector Hanshichi

THE CURIOUS CASEBOOK OF INSPECTOR HANSHICHI: Detective Stories of Old Edo, by Kido Okamoto, translated by Ian MacDonald. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 2007, 335 pp., $24 (paper) Between 1916 and 1937 the critic and playwright Kido Okamoto (1872-1939) published the "Hanshichi Torimonocho"; stories,...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
May 6, 2007

New clarities set to cloud smoke screens of ambiguity

Last month, on April Fool's Day to be exact, I revealed some terms and expressions appearing in the forthcoming Japanese government publication, "The Dictionary of All-Too-True Japanese Words and Phrases." Actually, there is far more than meets the eye in this groundbreaking, earthy volume.
Japan Times
JAPAN / History
May 5, 2007

Modify Constitution for modern world, scholar urges

Born in 1949, baby boomer Setsu Kobayashi thanks the postwar Constitution for the freedom, peace and democracy Japan has enjoyed since its debut.
EDITORIALS
May 5, 2007

Alliance transformation

Just days after a Camp David summit between Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and U.S. President George W. Bush, Japanese and U.S. foreign and defense ministers held top-level security talks in Washington and agreed to pursue "alliance transformation." The joint statement issued by Foreign Minister Taro Aso,...
JAPAN
May 5, 2007

Nation's child population declines to new postwar low

Japan's child population has fallen to a record low since the end of World War II as the country's birthrate continues to fall, the government said Friday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
May 4, 2007

Constitution turns 60; Abe wants change

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe marked the 60th anniversary of the Constitution on Thursday by calling for a bold review of the document to allow the country to take a larger role in global security and foster a revival of national pride.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
May 4, 2007

'Ahiru to Kamo no Coin Locker'

Many directors keep returning to the same themes and motifs again and again. Alfred Hitchcock liked to torture ice queens (Grace Kelly, Kim Novak, Tippi Hedren), while Luis Bunuel, the master surrealist, subverted everyday reality with bizarre and disturbing imagery, like a sleeper returning to a familiar...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 2, 2007

Commissioner Kawachi guiding bj-league in right direction

Two seasons down and a bright future ahead. That's the view from here on the bj-league.
EDITORIALS
May 2, 2007

Insurance customers losing out

The failure of life and non-life insurance companies to pay benefits in numerous cases poses a serious problem. The Finance Services Agency recently reported that 38 life insurance companies operating in Japan failed to pay a combined 35.9 billion yen in insurance benefits in 440,000 cases over a period...
EDITORIALS
May 2, 2007

Lawmakers' spending still opaque

Until about a month ago, questions on the use of political funds and the accuracy of mandatory reports on such funds had been a hot political issue. But efforts to dispel public suspicions about issues involving money and politics are not moving fast enough. The fault mainly lies with political leaders,...
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
May 1, 2007

Are new rules kind to hostile mergers?

Delayed for a year because of strong opposition from domestic firms frightened by the prospect of being taken over, the so-called triangular merger system becomes legal Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
May 1, 2007

The pursuit of decentralization

The decentralization and reform promotion committee, recently set up in the Cabinet Office, has started discussions with the aim of submitting proposals to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe within three years. The committee, inaugurated under a law enacted in December 2006, will work out concrete proposals to...
JAPAN
May 1, 2007

'Freeters' rally for better wages

Temporary workers known as "freeters" and other dissatisfied laborers gathered Monday in Tokyo to demand a better work environment and higher wages, arguing government policies have caused many of them to settle for low-paying jobs and an unsteady life.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 1, 2007

Mixi vs. MySpace -- a fight for your bytes

Since she started using the mixi Web site last summer, Yuki Nikitaki has linked up with a network of friends all over the world, including in Japan, and in Greece where she grew up.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
May 1, 2007

"Endymion Spring," "The Legend of Captain Crow's Teeth"

"Endymion Spring," Matthew Skelton, Puffin Books; 2007; 439 pp.
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 2007

Global population is graying

The 2006 revision of the United Nations population estimates and projection recently made public shows that the world population, now 6.67 billion, will reach 9.19 billion in 2050. This increase of 2.52 billion people is equivalent to the world's total population in 1950. During the same period, the...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Apr 28, 2007

La vida LaRocca: Slugger enjoying playing with Buffaloes

Last season was a tough one for Orix's Greg LaRocca.
EDITORIALS
Apr 28, 2007

Quake victims still need support

Many people are still living under inconvenient conditions more than a month after a major earthquake hit Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture on March 25, killing one person and injuring more than 300. In the city of Wajima, the hardest-hit municipality, more than 1,000 houses were either destroyed...
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

NTT DoCoMo profit falls 25%

NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Friday that its net profit fell 25.1 percent from the previous year to 457.3 billion yen in business 2006, due partly to increased sales promotion costs.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2007

Improving consumer lifestyle choices key to meeting CO2 goals

Consumer behavior holds the key to Japan's ability to fulfill its commitments under the 1997 Kyoto Protocol to fight global warming, as rising greenhouse gas emissions in the household and transport sectors make it increasingly hard to achieve the nation's goals, said participants in a recent symposium...

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear