Search - 2005

 
 
BASKETBALL
Nov 25, 2005

AND1 crew puts on good show in Tokyo

Known better as a hallowed sumo venue, Tokyo's Ryoguku Kokugikan transformed into a hoops hotbed on Nov. 13.
EDITORIALS
Nov 25, 2005

Press on with territories issue

Russian President Vladimir Putin visited Tokyo this week for the first time in five years for a summit meeting with Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. They and their ministers signed 12 documents, ranging from joint efforts to counter international terrorism to economic cooperation, including a Russian...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 25, 2005

Can you keep up with Autechre?

It's pretty much a character-defining kind of thing: Either you think the seminal U.K. electronic act Autechre are taking the ball and running with it to places you didn't know existed, or you're convinced that they've gone bleak, technical and chaotic, and you just want them to write some damn melodies...
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2005

Megabanks show signs of revival

The nation's three giant banking groups posted drastic gains in the first half of fiscal 2005 after unloading many of the bad loans that undermined their strength and threatened the financial system for more than a decade.
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2005

EBC frets corporate law amendment

The European Business Council in Japan issued an annual white paper on the nation's business environment Thursday that recommends changing an article in the revised corporation law it fears could make the structure of some European companies here illegal.
BUSINESS
Nov 25, 2005

GameCube fall halves Nintendo profit

Nintendo Co. said Thursday its group operating profit for the six months to Sept. 30 dived 51.0 percent on smaller sales of its GameCube video console and ballooning development costs for its next-generation Revolution console.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Nov 25, 2005

Psychedelic radar 11.25

Saturday, Nov. 26
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Nov 23, 2005

Big Money warms to socially responsible investing

Environmentalists have been preaching for decades that true societal change will only happen when the really big-money players, such as multinational corporations and banks, begin to balance profit-making with social responsibility.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2005

Major insurers profit thanks to fewer disasters

The nation's six major nonlife insurers reported higher first-half net profits from a year ago thanks to a decline in natural disasters, according to parent-only earnings reports released Tuesday.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2005

Council seeks huge cuts in welfare, civil service, U.N. outlays

A Finance Ministry panel on Monday urged drastic cuts in social security, local government financing and civil servant payrolls in the fiscal 2006 budget to shore up the nation's debt-laden finances.
JAPAN
Nov 22, 2005

Kyushu student summit looks at hurdles to tourism, cures

BEPPU, Oita Pref. -- Some 460 students interested in travel and the tourism industry from around the world gathered this month in this hot-spring resort town in southeastern Kyushu to discuss the sector's untapped potential.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2005

MFG sees sharp rise in net profit

Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the country's second-largest banking group by assets, said Monday its group net profit for the first half of fiscal 2005 through September rose 44.7 percent from a year earlier, as the economic recovery boosted the financial health of its corporate borrowers.
BUSINESS
Nov 22, 2005

23 Toyotas for China motor show

Toyota Motor Corp. said Monday it will display 23 concept and production vehicles at a Chinese motor exhibition to be held in Guangzhou for a week beginning Tuesday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Nov 22, 2005

The 'IC you' card

People are still reeling from September's LDP landslide election, realizing that Koizumi can essentially legislate whatever he wants.
EDITORIALS
Nov 21, 2005

Tax diversion poses challenges

This fiscal year the government is expected to collect about 5.78 trillion yen in revenues from six different taxes paid by automobile and road users. Because these revenues are legally earmarked for road improvement, however, the government cannot use the money for other purposes. This rigidity has...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Nov 21, 2005

Tweedle-George, tweedle-Jun and their futures in Wonderland

In Alice's world through the looking glass, Tweedledum has "Dum" embroidered on his collar and Tweedledee has "Dee" embroidered likewise. Alice assumes they both have "Tweedle" written on the backs of their collars as well. In our world of 2005, "Dum" would read "George W." and "Dee" would be "Junichiro,"...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Nov 21, 2005

China far way from becoming global technology powerhouse

China has come a long way to show "pockets of excellence" in some fields of science and technology, but it still has a long way to go before it can become a full-blown innovative power, a China expert at a U.S. think tank told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Nov 20, 2005

The good, the bad and the cliched

A RABBIT'S EYES by Kenjiro Haitani. Vertical, 2005, 288 pp., $14.95 (paper). On first publication, the mellow and delightful 1974 novel "A Rabbit's Eyes," out now in English for the first time, brought Kenjiro Haitani a great deal of fame and a wide following.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2005

State special accounts: Why they face scrutiny

A subcommittee of the Finance Ministry's Fiscal System Council recommended Friday that the 31 special accounts in the government's budget be streamlined by absorption into the general account, privatization, or management by independent administrative institutions.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2005

BOJ on same page with ruling bloc, Fukui assures

The Bank of Japan's goal is to sustain economic growth, just like the politicians who are decrying any suggested attempt by the central bank to end its ultraloose monetary policy, BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui said Friday.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2005

Fuji TV to split NBS into asset manager, radio broadcaster

Fuji Television Network Inc. said Thursday it will split its wholly owned subsidiary Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. into an asset management company, which it will absorb, and a radio broadcasting firm.
JAPAN
Nov 18, 2005

MUFJ profit tops Toyota's, hits record

The estimated consolidated April-September net profit of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. has topped the group net profit of Toyota Motor Corp. to become the largest in Japan, figures released Thursday showed.
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2005

R&D spending dents Isuzu first-half profit 27%

Isuzu Motors Ltd. said Thursday its group net profit plunged 27.4 percent to 26.02 billion yen in the six months to Sept. 30, mainly due to an increase in research and development spending by the truck maker.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

30 billion yen extra-budget eyed for asbestos victims

The government will propose that 30 billion yen be allocated in the fiscal 2005 supplementary budget to redress asbestos victims not eligible for workers compensation, sources said Wednesday.
JAPAN
Nov 15, 2005

Tower exhibit adds weight to public debt

If you were to stack up 10,000 yen bills equal to the value of the country's estimated public debt in 2005 of 773 trillion yen, the pile would easily reach the stratosphere, according to a government-sponsored exhibit set to open at the Tokyo Tower.

Longform

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What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji