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Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 6, 2006

Wind orchestra to pay tribute to Albert Reed

The Siena Wind Orchestra will perform a memorial concert for Albert Reed on Jan. 22 at Yokohama Minato Mirai Hall, conducted by Seikyo Kim. New York-born Reed (1921-2005) was one of the most prolific and frequently performed composers, with over 250 published works for wind ensembles, chorus and chamber...
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2006

DoCoMo in talks for 5% stake in Philippine telecom firm

NTT DoCoMo Inc. is negotiating to buy into Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co., the largest telecommunications firm in the Philippines, company officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2006

Department store sales start strong

Department stores enjoyed brisk sales in the new year as customers rushed to buy "fukubukuro," or lucky bags, filled with a mixture of sale items and luxury goods, retailers said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jan 5, 2006

TSE vows to fix systems as stocks resume climb

Tokyo stocks opened 2006 on a festive note Wednesday, the year's first day of trading, as Tokyo Stock Exchange officials vowed to restore public confidence in the world's second-largest bourse, which was shaken by computer problems last year.
JAPAN
Jan 4, 2006

Income disparities rising in Japan

During the period of high postwar economic growth, most people in Japan came to consider themselves part of a middle class.
JAPAN / FRAMING THE FUTURE
Jan 4, 2006

Crime fight goes high-tech to protect kids, assets

Not long ago most people in Japan felt this was one of the most crime-free nations in the world, but recent high-profile, violent crimes have shattered that sense of security.
SOCCER / J. League
Jan 3, 2006

Ogasawara to train with Hammers

Japan and Kashima Antlers midfielder Mitsuo Ogasawara, who is seeking a transfer to a European club, will take part in training sessions at English Premier League side West Ham United this month, sources close to him said Sunday.
JAPAN
Jan 3, 2006

Small manufacturers seek niche in space

For years, small manufacturers in the greater Tokyo area have been trying to market their technologies for space-related projects, hoping that work by their master craftspeople will find its way into rockets and satellites.
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2006

LDP landslide buries two-party system

The result of the Sept. 11 general election was a runaway victory for the Liberal Democratic Party, and political chaos. But from the fog of uncertainty that is enveloping Japan there may emerge a new political structure that could some day be called the "2005 order."
COMMENTARY / World
Jan 3, 2006

Divisions, rivalries threaten new Cold War in East Asia

What we have feared is threatening to become a reality. The open rivalry and discord between Japan and China is becoming the most destabilizing factor to the peace and prosperity of East Asia. The United States is so concerned by the mounting tensions between the two leading nations in the region that...
COMMENTARY
Jan 1, 2006

The year of Koizumi's exit

The year 2006 will mark a watershed for Japanese politics inasmuch as Junichiro Koizumi, who has ruled Japan for five years as one of the longest-serving prime ministers in the postwar era, insists that he will step down when his term as president of the governing Liberal Democratic Party expires.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Dec 31, 2005

Tsunami book gives peace to some, hope to more

Bill O'Leary is busy on Boxing Day. While back to business in Phuket, Thailand, by midday, he attends first a Muslim ceremony on the beach, and then a Buddhist service in a hotel to remember the 5,500 tourists and local people who were swept to their death by the tsunami of Dec. 26, 2004. Three thousand...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Dec 31, 2005

Asada's triumphs have ISU officials skating on thin ice

What if you had a Winter Olympics and the best figure skater in the world wasn't allowed to participate?
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Dec 30, 2005

Pull of the people

My album of the year was M.I.A.'s "Arular," for a number of reasons. First, it's a party album whose energy and imagination never flag. Second, it's utterly distinctive: Maya Arulpragasam's nursery-rhyme rapping style doesn't sound like anybody else's. Third, it's a work of art whose local specificity,...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Dec 29, 2005

MLB may be in Iwamura's future

Yakult Swallows president Yoshikazu Tagiku indicated Wednesday the Central League club will likely allow infielder Akinori Iwamura to make a switch to the major leagues after next season.
EDITORIALS
Dec 29, 2005

China's new 'peace offensive'

China has launched a public-relations offensive. The publication of a white paper on the country's "peaceful development" is designed to quiet concerns about China's growing affluence and how Beijing intends to use the influence that it wields. It is a difficult assignment. China may be assured of its...
JAPAN
Dec 29, 2005

11 who lost health insurance weren't treated, died

At least 11 people have died over the past six years because they were apparently unable to receive prompt medical attention after having surrendered their national health insurance cards for nonpayment of fees, according to a Kyodo News survey compiled Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2005

Banks post net profit record in fiscal first half

Combined parent-only net profit of 129 banks in Japan totaled 2.124 trillion yen in the April-September first half of fiscal 2005, up 5.3-fold over a year earlier.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2005

Tapes fast disappearing from movie rental shelves

Whether they're couch potatoes or not, people had better get DVD players if they want to check out the latest rental releases or even classic titles this holiday season.
BUSINESS
Dec 29, 2005

JAL to raise fares for domestic flights, cancel pay cuts

Japan Airlines will raise regular one-way fares on domestic routes by 500 yen to 1,300 yen in April to cover higher fuel costs, the mishap-prone carrier said.
JAPAN
Dec 28, 2005

Cabinet endorses basic plan to promote gender equality

A basic plan to achieve gender equality was endorsed at a Cabinet meeting Tuesday and features the goal of raising the rate at which woman are recruited for the top-level career track in the central government.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Dec 28, 2005

Sleazy snappers turn eco-show sour

Originally this column was going to be about Eco-products 2005, a trade show held at Tokyo Big Sight earlier this month. But as you'll see, I got seriously sidetracked and my focus shifted more or less entirely.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 28, 2005

INEPT LEADERSHIP CONTINUES

HONG KONG -- A controversial plan to extend democracy in Hong Kong died Dec. 21 when the legislature failed to pass it by a big enough majority. Hopes of true democracy in the special region of China have thus been put into deep freeze, with recriminations reverberating from Hong Kong to Beijing and...
JAPAN
Dec 27, 2005

Seven & I seals deal to buy Millennium

Seven & I Holdings Co., operator of Seven-Eleven Japan Co., formally announced Monday it will acquire department store giant Millennium Retailing Inc. for about 130 billion yen, creating the country's largest retail group.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 27, 2005

Dazed Meiji Yasuda seeks outside help

For scandal-hit Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co., the biggest task ahead is how to reflect outsiders' voices in management decisions, newly appointed President Kenji Matsuo said.
JAPAN
Dec 26, 2005

Ito-Yokado, Seibu enter final merger negotiations

The holding firms of supermarket chain Ito-Yokado Co. and Seibu Department Stores Ltd. are in the final phase of merger negotiations, industry sources said Sunday.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Dec 26, 2005

A Japanese take on 'intelligent design'

NEW YORK -- Why do my compatriots, the Japanese, try to copy Americans -- often on the basis of a most tenuous understanding? The wonderment occurred when I checked the Internet to see if the notion of "intelligent design" (I.D.) was known in Japan and at once found that it was, and more.

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