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BUSINESS
Apr 9, 2008

Service puts aroma into handsets

Cell phone users will test a new service that allows them to download fragrances, NTT Communications Corp. said.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Apr 9, 2008

A renaissance of hand-held power

Crank up the music: Giving electronic devices mobility is the easy part. Empowering them to function for any length of time before you have to recharge them is quite another challenge. Local gadget whiz Thanko is helping out with its functionally titled Cranking MP3 Player, a new digital- music player...
EDITORIALS
Mar 28, 2008

Police priorities crossed in stabbings

Eight plainclothes police officers on the lookout for a 24-year-old man were unable to stop him from going on a stabbing spree in and outside JR Arakawaoki Station in Tsuchiura, Ibaraki Prefecture, on March 23. One man was killed and seven other people were injured, two of them critically.
Japan Times
LIFE
Mar 23, 2008

Oh what an extravaganza

Even the heavens were smiling on Tokyo Girls Collection. Balmy 19-degree temperatures — the year's highest up until then — provided the perfect setting last Saturday for the Spring/Summer edition of this hugely popular fashion-show-cum-showbiz extravaganza, allowing most of the 22,000 teenage and...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 17, 2008

In Japan, there's a 'quiet revolution' afoot

First of two parts
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Feb 6, 2008

A digital SLR camera for every trigger finger

Snap-happy: Digital cameras come in all shapes and sizes. With their interchangeable lenses and reasonable prices, entry-level digital SLR (single-lens reflex) cameras are a halfway house between a cheap pocket-size point-and-click camera and a full-on pro shooter. The best-selling of the entry-level...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
Jan 30, 2008

Hitachi gives its HD camcorders even more memory; and cars look us in the eye

Going HD: As television sets get more advanced, so too do video camcorders, and that means going high-definition. Hitachi's recent DZ-BD7H camcorder records onto Blu-ray discs alongside its 30-gigabyte hard disk. But Hitachi has upped the stakes with its new DZ-BD9H, out in February and keeping the Blu-ray...
BUSINESS
Jan 24, 2008

China's Baidu begins services in Japanese

Baidu.com Inc., China's leading Internet search company, began offering Japanese-language services Wednesday, taking aim at major search engine providers Yahoo Japan and Google Japan.
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2007

DoCoMo profits plunge 21% in half year as users defect to rivals

NTT DoCoMo Inc. reported a 21 percent drop in operating profit for the April-September period Friday, reflecting its loss of customers to rivals KDDI Corp. and Softbank Corp.
BUSINESS
Sep 20, 2007

Rebate system must stay: KDDI chief

KDDI Corp. President Tadashi Onodera criticized on Wednesday a government panel report urging the mobile phone industry to end its marketing practice of offsetting heavy discounts on handsets with higher phone service charges.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Aug 14, 2007

Sumiko Sakamoto

Sumiko Sakamoto, 70, is a singer and award-winning actress whose heartfelt performances have made her a favorite of the late film director Shohei Imamura. Imamura cast her in three of his films, among them "The Ballad of Narayama," winner of the 1983 Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, in which her...
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2007

KDDI announces fee cuts; could spur industry price war

KDDI Corp. said Thursday it plans to cut its basic monthly mobile-phone fees by 50 percent starting in September if users sign a two-year-contract — a decision that could trigger an industry price war.
LIFE / Digital / IGADGET
May 23, 2007

Internet umbrellas — today's pet rocks?

Once upon a time, during the stone age era known as the 1970s, a product completely devoid of usefulness was created: the pet rock. This thing enjoyed a burst of commercial success that engenders acute embarrassment. Its inventor proved that the alchemists were right, you can make gold out of completely...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
May 8, 2007

Naoki Sakai

Naoki Sakai, 60, is a designer whose revolutionary ideas have made him an industry powerhouse. After designing Nissan's Be-1, the vehicle that in the late 1980s started the round-and-cute car boom, Sakai came up with concepts for three more popular cars from Nissan — the PAO, Figaro and Rasheen —...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2007

December CPI up just 0.1%

Japan's core consumer price index in December rose at a slower pace than expected, the government said Friday, adding to doubts that the Bank of Japan will raise interest rates next month.
BUSINESS
Nov 2, 2006

Softbank to add clarity to 'zero yen' promo ads

Softbank Mobile Corp. said Wednesday it plans to change the content of its advertisements, possibly by this weekend, in response to an investigation by the Fair Trade Commission into whether the firm's "zero-yen" campaign was misleading.
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2006

DoCoMo's profit drops 17% after slow sales stunt growth

Japan's largest mobile phone service operator, NTT DoCoMo Inc., said Friday profit dipped 17 percent in the most recent quarter as sluggish phone sales and higher costs offset modest growth in its mobile services.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Oct 28, 2006

Living the slow life -- at warp speed

Autumn on Shiraishi island -- the tourists are gone and weekends are for cycling, sailing and holding impromptu beer parties.
BUSINESS
Aug 3, 2006

Softbank cuts ties with SBI Holdings

Internet and telecom conglomerate Softbank Corp. said Wednesday its group has ended its capital ties with SBI Holdings Inc., the holding company of the SBI Group firms, with the sale of its remaining 19.2 percent stake in SBI Holdings to Goldman Sachs Japan Ltd.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2006

Cell phone makers vow to unify jacks, chargers

Trade groups representing mobile communications providers and cell phone makers have informed the government they plan to develop common specifications for cell phone jacks and battery charger plugs around 2010, when fourth-generation handsets are expected to become commonplace, ministry officials said...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 23, 2006

Making certain of a positive I.D.

Last weekend, I visited three major retail outlets in Shinjuku, Tokyo, to inquire about the purchase of a cell phone.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

Higher costs cut into KDDI profit by 30%

KDDI Corp. said Tuesday profit fell by 30 percent in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago, hurt by higher sales promotion costs and a loss caused by a writedown of assets.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji