Search - japan

 
 
JAPAN
May 14, 2007

UNESCO unlikely to register Iwami silver mine as World Heritage site

, a Shimane Prefecture official in charge of pitching the Iwami silver mine for UNESCO's World Heritage list, expresses disappointment over the unsuccessful bid at the prefectural government headquarters Saturday. KYODO PHOTO
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 13, 2007

5,000 victories, throwback uniforms and the oiribukuro

In commemoration of their 5,000th victory in the history of the franchise, the Yomiuri Giants will wear throwback uniforms during some interleague games next month.
Reader Mail
May 13, 2007

Whitlam era far from perfect

Owen Eather is entitled to claim that Chinese commentators are happy with recent Australia's military pact with Japan ("Australia-Japan pact welcome," April 22). I just hope he tells us who they are. But he is not entitled totally to distort my views in the process.
EDITORIALS
May 12, 2007

Mr. Abe's Yasukuni offering

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has not visited Yasukuni Shrine since he came to power in September 2006 (although he visited it in April that year while he was chief Cabinet secretary). Now it has surfaced that he recently donated 50,000 yen to dedicate evergreen "sakaki" trees for the war shrine's annual...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
May 12, 2007

Kylie Schuyler

"My interest in the M.S. Swaminathan Foundation stems from the vision of humanist and scientist Professor Swaminathan himself. His ideas and projects appeal to me greatly because by empowering people they are all aimed at the elimination of poverty. Swaminathan's focus has the potential to bring about...
EDITORIALS
May 11, 2007

Strengthening smaller firms

The fiscal 2006 government white paper on medium and small enterprises states that there are about 4.3 million such enterprises in Japan. Their employees account for about 70 percent of the nation's total employment. Given their weight in the economy, it is important that the government understand their...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
May 11, 2007

An ear-rattling unholy alliance

Although virtually unknown at home, in 2005 the international release of "Pink" turned Tokyo's Boris into one of Japan's biggest underground exports in the new millennium.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
May 11, 2007

Karuizawa tour offers luscious nature

Remember the last time that you heard birds singing over the din of the city's hustle and bustle? With most of us living in Japan's densely built-up areas, perhaps the closest you're likely to get to hear a chirping sound is upon entering a train station or department store where CDs meant to relax customers...
JAPAN
May 10, 2007

High-tech toilets literal hot seats?

Japanese toilet makers issued a warning to electric bidet users Wednesday, saying at least 105 units have caught fire or sent up smoke in Japan since 1984.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
May 10, 2007

KDDI winning number portability war

KDDI Corp., taking full advantage of the number portability system, said Wednesday that it added a net 249,400 new subscribers in April compared with only 65,800 for NTT DoCoMo Inc., the nation's largest mobile phone operator.
COMMENTARY
May 10, 2007

Who benefits from M&A?

LONDON — Mergers and acquisitions have been much in the news in the last few weeks. These have raised some controversial issues. One of these concerns the role of private equity. Another is that of cross-border mergers.
JAPAN
May 10, 2007

Red Army figure's life term stands

The Tokyo High Court on Wednesday upheld a Japanese Red Army leader's lower court-imposed life prison sentence for his role in terrorist attacks on two overseas diplomatic missions in the mid-1970s.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
May 10, 2007

Modern girls and outrage

The Taisho Era (1912-1926) saw young habitues of Japan's cafe society challenging and outraging their parents as they danced, smooched and smoked cigarettes, aping their idols of the silver screen. Emblematic of the age was the moga (modan gaaru, or modern girl) with her Western shoes, dresses, makeup...
JAPAN
May 9, 2007

Abe made offering to Yasukuni Shrine instead of visiting

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe chose not to visit Yasukuni Shrine last month during its spring festival but did make a 50,000 yen private offering, a Yasukuni spokeswoman said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 9, 2007

Nippon Steel eyes India tieups as sector girds against takeovers

In late March, Nippon Steel Corp. President Akio Mimura was in New Delhi to attend a board meeting for the International Iron & Steel Institute.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
May 9, 2007

Four-spot midget

* Japanese name: Hinuma itotombo * Scientific name: Mortonagrion hirosei * Description: "Four-spot midget" is an odd name for an insect, but in this case it is entirely accurate. This is a tiny animal, just 25-mm in length with four distinct spots on the top of the thorax. Males and females are the...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / TAKING A CHANCE
May 8, 2007

Bomb bra put Peach John on path to popularity

Two decades ago, the ideal career path was to join a blue chip company and steadily climb the corporate ladder until retirement — a system that helped sustain Japan's economic growth.
JAPAN
May 8, 2007

Health ministry, docs were at odds over Tamiflu effects

so that the causal links with it cannot be denied," the doctor said in the opinion. The 2005 case involved a 14-year-old male junior high school student in Aichi Prefecture who jumped to his death from an apartment.
BUSINESS
May 8, 2007

Aiding middle-income Asia ADB's future role?

KYOTO — The Asian Development Bank wrapped up its 40th annual meeting Monday with a broad agreement that the bank needs to reorganize but continue to financially assist the region.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 6, 2007

Skipper Oya deserves credit for BayStars' surge

Japan pro baseball's hottest team through the middle of Golden Week was the Yokohama BayStars, riding a five-game winning streak and standing in first place, albeit by percentage points, in the Central League pennant race.
BUSINESS
May 6, 2007

Asia finance chiefs agree on foreign reserves pool

KYOTO — Finance ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations along with Japan, China, and South Korea on Saturday hammered out a basic agreement to pool some of the region's $2.7 trillion in foreign reserves to prevent the kind of currency runs that led to the Asian financial crisis a...
JAPAN
May 5, 2007

Briton bicycles to remind nation about Article 9's ideology of peace

has become just (the) name of a pachinko parlor for many," Ward said, referring to a major pachinko company, claiming the heart of Article 9 has been lost since most of Japanese have no experience of war. Peace is taken for granted in this country, he said. Ward rearranged his road map from Hiroshima...

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