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JAPAN
Dec 15, 2010

Host-nation support to stand at ¥188 billion until 2016

Japan agreed Tuesday to maintain its level of host-nation support for U.S. forces at an annual ¥188.1 billion for the next five years starting in fiscal 2011.
EDITORIALS
Dec 9, 2010

Aomori draws closer

Super-express trains began running directly between Tokyo and Aomori on Dec. 4 after the Tohoku Shinkansen Line extension from Hachinohe to Shin-Aomori — both in Aomori Prefecture — opened. The fastest run links Tokyo and Aomori in about three hours and 20 minutes, about 40 minutes less than before....
BUSINESS
Dec 8, 2010

Autoliv has $1 billion for Japan acquisitions: CEO

Autoliv Inc., the world's largest maker of automotive air bags and seat belts, has about $1 billion to spend in Japan and fast-growing segments such as electronic accident prevention, according to Chief Executive Officer Jan Carlson. "We're better equipped to do acquisitions, and we are looking to do...
COMMENTARY
Nov 25, 2010

Surviving the currency competition

The yen's exchange value is considered likely to top the rate of ¥79.75 to the dollar registered in 1995 for an all-time high sooner or later. At a meeting that ended Oct. 23, Group of 20 finance ministers and central bank governors managed to contain the confrontation between the advanced economies...
EDITORIALS
Nov 17, 2010

Uphill on trade policy, diplomacy

As its relations with China and Russia are deteriorating over territorial issues and its domestic opinion is sharply divided on further opening of its markets, Japan hosted and chaired the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum summit on Saturday and Sunday in the port city of Yokohama — the first...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 14, 2010

Media sheepish over island disputes

Last Tuesday, when Tokyo prosecutors raided the offices of YouTube in order to find the person who leaked those videos of a Chinese fishing boat ramming a Japan Coast Guard vessel near the Senkaku Islands, the Asahi Shimbun published a letter from a man who said he had worked in media for 30 years. He...
EDITORIALS
Nov 12, 2010

Japan's push for open trade

The 2010 APEC forum meetings started in Yokohama on Monday and an APEC leaders summit will take place on Saturday and Sunday. As host and chair, Japan faces the task of leading the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation members to agree on steps to push for further liberalization of trade and investment....
BUSINESS
Nov 9, 2010

Ghosn's Russia quest seen as 'last-chance saloon'

Carlos Ghosn's talks to take control of OAO AvtoVAZ may be the Renault-Nissan alliance's final opportunity to grab the leading position in one of the four main growth markets. "It's their last-chance saloon for getting into emerging markets in a meaningful fashion," said Erich Hauser, an analyst with...
EDITORIALS
Oct 30, 2010

Mr. Cameron's new 'Big Society'

British Prime Minister David Cameron calls his vision for his country "the Big Society." Doubts about what that vision entails have been put to rest in his government's first budget. "The Big Society" consists of small government and a private-nongovernment organization partnership that fills in the...
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2010

No one wins devaluation race

In their meeting in Gyeongju, South Korea, last week, finance ministers and central bank governors from the G20 developed and emerging economies agreed to "move toward more market-determined exchange rate systems that reflect underlying economic fundamentals and refrain from competitive devaluation of...
EDITORIALS
Oct 21, 2010

On track to succeed Mr. Hu Jintao

Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping was appointed vice chairman of the Chinese Communist Party's Central Military Commission during the Fifth Plenary Session of the 17th CCP's Central Committee — a four-day event which ended on Monday. The appointment set the 57-year-old Mr. Xi, who now holds the No....
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2010

Hitachi, Johnson in auto battery tieup

Electronics giant Hitachi is tying up with a U.S. battery maker in developing and making batteries for energy-efficient vehicles, both sides said Monday.
COMMENTARY
Oct 11, 2010

Is Japan's disease curable?

Since the 1990s, often called Japan's "lost 10 years," many parts of Japanese society have been disintegrating. Japan's influence has been in decline in the international community and on the global economic scene.
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Sep 29, 2010

Japanese facility aimed at creating a sun on Earth

Outside a small town in Gifu Prefecture is a little-known scientific research establishment engaged in a project to "create a sun on the Earth." If successful, this venture will profoundly affect the lives of most people in the world.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’