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CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jun 5, 2005

The crucible of Japanese culture

INSPIRED DESIGN: Japan's Traditional Arts, by Michael Dunn. Milan: Five Continents Editions, 2005, 304 pp., 275 color plates and map, 2003, $85.00 (cloth). One might say that, traditionally, the Japanese are a patterned people. They live in a patterned country, a land where the exemplar still exists,...
BUSINESS
Jun 4, 2005

New blood sought to fill worker void

The country needs to foster young workers in the manufacturing sector as a large number of baby boomers will retire in the near future, the government said in a report submitted Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 3, 2005

223,000 homes stop paying fees to NHK; many cite neighbors' refusal

An additional 223,000 households have elected to no longer pay their NHK fees since the end of March, the public broadcaster announced Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jun 2, 2005

Nippon Life loses top spot to AIG in premium revenues

Nippon Life Insurance Co. lost its No. 1 position in the domestic market to American International Group Inc. in terms of premium revenues from new contracts concluded with individuals in fiscal 2004, according to financial statements.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jun 1, 2005

JR West vows to relax strict timetables

West Japan Railway Co. said Tuesday it will increase the flexibility of its timetables to reduce the pressure on drivers to be on time, according to a report on safety measures submitted to the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 31, 2005

Global airlines confront fuel crisis, consolidation

Members of the International Air Transport Association gathered Monday in Tokyo to find ways to survive high fuel prices and severe price competition.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 29, 2005

In the spirit of humanism

THE CINEMA OF GOSHO HEINOSUKE, by Arthur Nolletti, Jr. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2005, 243 pp., with photographs, $27.95 (paper). Though Heinosuke Gosho (1902-1981) is remembered in Japan where his films are still occasionally shown, he is all but unknown abroad. This neglect is not due...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 28, 2005

Liverpool's win shows miracles do happen

LONDON -- I now believe I will marry Julia Roberts. I now believe I will win the lottery triple rollover. I now believe I will win the Tour de France, the Olympic 100 meters and climb Mount Everest, possibly all in the same year.
COMMENTARY / World
May 28, 2005

Jakarta and Beijing cozy up

SINGAPORE -- During Chinese President Hu Jintao's recent visit to Jakarta and Bandung for the Golden Jubilee Commemoration of the 1955 Bandung Conference, Indonesian organizers underscored China's place at the conference and Hu stayed an extra day to sign a Strategic Partnership Agreement between Indonesia...
BUSINESS
May 25, 2005

SMFG posts record group net loss

Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group Inc. said Tuesday it posted a record 234.2 billion yen group net loss for the business year ended March 31, a sharp reversal from the 330.4 billion yen net profit it recorded a year earlier.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2005

Mizuho profit up 54.2% on improved bad debts

Mizuho Financial Group Inc., the nation's biggest banking group by assets, said Monday its group net profit for the last business year rose 54.2 percent from a year earlier amid the economic recovery and strong corporate earnings.
EDITORIALS
May 22, 2005

Brave new words

Not so long ago -- six or eight months, perhaps -- we heard a young man describe something as "ginormous." We were impressed. Although we had never heard the word, its meaning was obvious: gigantic plus enormous. How clever of this person, we thought, to coin such a fun, economical new way of saying...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
May 20, 2005

Man United-Arsenal F.A. Cup final promises to be a belter

LONDON -- The joke doing the rounds as the F.A. Cup final between Arsenal and Manchester United approaches is that the kickoff should be put back from3 p.m. until after the 9 p.m. watershed.
BUSINESS
May 20, 2005

Terrestrial digital radio to get early start in 2006

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications will allow terrestrial digital radio broadcasting to begin in 2006, five years earlier than originally planned, ministry officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
May 19, 2005

TBS takes countertakeover steps

Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc. said Wednesday it will issue stock purchase warrants worth 600 million yen to a wholly owned subsidiary of its financial adviser, Nikko Cordial Corp., as a means of tightening its defenses against hostile takeover attempts.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
May 19, 2005

Big names, big games, big show

The real "Bond . . . James Bond" is coming to video games. Electronic Arts has signed Sean Connery to reprise his role as British agent 007 in the video game version of "From Russia with Love."
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
May 18, 2005

Man United fans being irrational about Glazer's takeover

I was asked an interesting question recently.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2005

Toyota probes Prius woes in U.S.

Toyota is investigating complaints that its Prius hybrid cars are stalling in the United States, company officials said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 18, 2005

BOJ expected to keep liquidity target

Despite stronger than expected economic growth in the first quarter of 2005, the Bank of Japan is expected to stick to a monetary-easing framework until it sees more evidence the economy is on route to stable recovery, BOJ watchers said Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
May 18, 2005

Roppongi's art gallery boom

Roppongi, which used to be chiefly known as a pick-up party pit for Tokyo's ex-pat population, has recently begun to emerge as a contemporary art center. Spurred by the Mori Art Museum's opening in 2003, the neighborhood now presents the possibility of a short walking tour of new and interesting art...
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
May 17, 2005

Valentine living it up in Japan as Marine faithful think pennant

Bobby Valentine isn't interested in talking about when or if he'll make a return to the major leagues. The former New York Mets manager is perfectly happy here in Japan.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2005

Eisai again scores record profit

Eisai Co. said Monday it posted record group pretax and net profits for the fifth straight year in fiscal 2004 due to strong demand for drugs to treat Alzheimer's disease and peptic ulcers, its two major products in Japan and abroad.
BUSINESS
May 17, 2005

Current account surplus hits record high of 18.29 trillion yen

Japan's current account surplus hit a record high 18.29 trillion yen in fiscal 2004, up 5.8 percent from a year earlier for a second consecutive record high, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
COMMENTARY
May 16, 2005

Braking an arms free-for-all

The 2005 review conference of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, which opened May 2 at U.N. headquarters in New York, remains in limbo, although the agenda has finally been agreed.
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
May 16, 2005

Climbing up the down escalator: Inflation still out of Japan's reach

Inflation is not about to return to Japan just yet. According to the Bank of Japan's latest "Outlook for Economic Activity and Prices" released at the end of last month, the BOJ Policy Board members' median forecast for consumer prices in fiscal year 2005 is a 0.1 percent decline over FY 2004. Their...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
May 15, 2005

When law and justice won't mix

JAPAN'S COLONIZATION OF KOREA: Discourse and Power, by Alexis Dudden. Honolulu: University of Hawai'i Press, 2005, 215 pp. $45 (cloth). Lawful and just are two separate things that may be irreconcilable. A good example that offers plenty of material to fathom this out was the annexation of Korea by Japan....

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