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EDITORIALS
Jan 31, 2011

Shoring up the 'basic' pension

The government is trying to reform both the social welfare system and the tax system as Japan's financial condition deteriorate. Before discussing overall changes, it must strengthen the "basic" portion of pensions.
BUSINESS
Jan 26, 2011

Inpex has debt-cost advantage over China

Japan, surpassed by China as the world's second-largest economy, has one advantage in competing with its neighbor for natural resources: lower borrowing costs.
BUSINESS
Jan 22, 2011

Shiseido plans 15% annual China growth

Cosmetics maker Shiseido Co. is seeking to increase sales in China by 15 percent or more every year as rising incomes in the world's fastest-growing major economy spur demand for consumer products.
COMMENTARY
Jan 13, 2011

China's military challenge

SINGAPORE — Will China's development of new weapons counter the dominance of U.S. forces in the Asia-Pacific region — in space, at sea and, most recently, in the air?
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2010

Fears growing over land grabs

When the news first broke in June that a Hong Kong-based investor had two years earlier purchased more than 50 hectares of forest in Kucchan, near the Niseko ski resort in Hokkaido, shock waves ran through local residents.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Oct 1, 2010

Japan's toilet business flush with success

Asia loves the Washlet. In fact, some people can't leave home without it.
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 3, 2010

Failings of Indian infrastructure

NEW DELHI — New Delhi at last has its proud defining modern monument at the very point of entry to India — a massive, sparkling new Terminal 3, which alone is the sixth-largest airport in the world. Remarkably, too, it was built on time, in three years by a public-private partnership, and on a $3...
JAPAN
Jul 28, 2010

Infrastructure abroad key focus

Building so-called social infrastructure has huge potential abroad, prompting Japanese companies to form broad corporate alliances, often with government support, to win contracts for overseas projects.
EDITORIALS
Apr 30, 2010

Russia extends its reach

Russia has considered states on its periphery as part of its sphere of influence. Frequently, however, those neighbors have had ideas of their own and their domestic politics have been defined by the struggle between pro- and anti-Russian factions.
COMMENTARY
Apr 21, 2010

Hong Kong treads the democracy tightrope

The Hong Kong government announced earlier this month that it had nominated a leading jurist, Justice Geoffrey Ma, to be the next head of the judiciary, succeeding Chief Justice Andrew Li, who served in that post since the former British colony became a special administrative region of China in 1997....
JAPAN / Q&A
Apr 15, 2010

Financial behemoth has huge footprint

The postal system has been on the path toward privatization, but a recent Cabinet decision to double the ceiling on postal savings accounts and maintain a large government share in the postal group has turned the clock back on reform.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2010

Growth here worst in G7: OECD

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development said Japan's potential growth rate will be the lowest among Group of Seven nations, casting doubt on Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama's growth target.
JAPAN
Feb 20, 2010

Kansai execs fret affairs of the state

KYOTO — Senior business leaders in the Kansai region have long been able to rely on smooth relations with local and central government politicians sympathetic to their causes.
COMMENTARY
Feb 1, 2010

Nuclear plant construction up; South Korea challenging market

SINGAPORE — Recent startups hardly provide much evidence of the vaunted "renaissance" in civilian nuclear power that promises reliable supplies of electricity without the pollution and greenhouse gas emissions associated with fossil fuels, especially coal.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 16, 2009

Rich turn to solar power for latest status symbols

Forget the 58-inch flat-panel TV, the new domestic status symbol for Japan's rich is a cooker.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Oct 9, 2009

State's Japan Post share selloff must be shelved, Haraguchi says

Freezing the government selloff of its shares in the Japan Post group units is priority-one in revamping the privatization process, Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Kazuhiro Haraguchi said Thursday.
JAPAN / ELECTION 2009
Aug 21, 2009

Decentralization picking up steam?

OSAKA — Imagine, if you will, Japan in 2018. Following the historic Lower House election in 2009, the country passed legislation that abolished the 47 prefectures and thousands of smaller local governments.

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