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EDITORIALS
Mar 31, 2012

Approach tax hike with caution

The Noda Cabinet on Friday endorsed and submitted to the Diet a bill aimed at raising the consumption tax from the current 5 percent to 8 percent from April in 2014 and to 10 percent from October 2015. Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda is so obsessed with a tax hike that he seems oblivious to the possible...
JAPAN
Mar 23, 2012

Foes to sales tax hike in DPJ impede bill

The administration and the Democratic Party of Japan failed again Thursday to form a consensus among party members on the contentious consumption tax hike, postponing until next week a planned Cabinet meeting to formalize the bill.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Mar 13, 2012

Methane hydrate energy solution?

The launch of preparatory drilling for methane hydrate off Aichi Prefecture last month drew public attention amid hopes it will become an alternative to nuclear power at a time when Japan's self-sufficiency rate in energy is a meager 4 percent.
BUSINESS
Feb 25, 2012

Panasonic eyes big U.S., Europe solar, storage acquisitions

Panasonic Corp. is in talks over potentially its biggest acquisitions in the U.S. and Europe in a decade, hoping to speed its transition from manufacturing televisions to supplying solar energy and power storage services.
BUSINESS
Feb 21, 2012

Panasonic forecasts mobile rise

Panasonic Corp. aims to quadruple sales of components used in energy-saving systems and mobile devices to ¥450 billion in the five years ending in March 2016, the head of the business said Monday.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 17, 2012

America's pivot to Asia is not just about countering China

"All right China, come out with your hands up; we've got you surrounded!"
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Feb 12, 2012

'Dinosaur Bridge' leads Tokyo push to ease traffic and boost economy

Tokyo's "Dinosaur Bridge" opens to vehicles Sunday after 10 years of construction, with the world's largest metropolis hoping it will cut traffic jams that slow vehicles to half of the nation's average highway speed and boost its economy.
JAPAN
Feb 11, 2012

DPJ unveils 'hidden' tax estimate of 17.1% to sustain pension system in 2075

2075 scenario: The consumption tax is 17.1 percent just to keep the pension system afloat.
COMMENTARY / World
Feb 9, 2012

What an Obama or Romney win means

Successful political candidates try to implement the proposals on which they ran. In the United States, President Barack Obama and the Democrats, controlling the House of Representatives and (a filibuster-proof) Senate, had the power to do virtually anything they wanted in 2009 — and so they did.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2012

Takeda to pare workforce 9% to revive profit

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. plans to eliminate about 9 percent of its workforce over the next four years to integrate Nycomed, the Swiss company it's counting on to reverse declining profits.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jan 20, 2012

FamilyMart to add 600 Southeast Asia stores

FamilyMart Co. plans to open 600 stores in Indonesia and the Philippines, tapping demand from young people as an aging population saps growth at home.
COMMENTARY
Jan 16, 2012

Finer details of atmospheric science in Beijing

In July 2009, China's Foreign Ministry made a demand of the American embassy: Stop taking measurements of air pollution in Beijing available to ordinary Chinese since they conflicted with official data and could lead to "confusion" among the public and undesirable "social consequences."
BUSINESS
Jan 14, 2012

Medical firms see high sales potential in China

Japanese manufacturers of medical devices are counting on a China sales surge to lead growth as the economic rebound fades and the domestic market continues to shrink as the population ages.
JAPAN
Jan 11, 2012

Hashimoto hunt for ward bosses finds 60 takers

Around 60 people, including many from the corporate world, had applied for 24 Osaka city ward chief positions as of Tuesday, one day before the deadline.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 23, 2011

Sapporo battles for Vietnam 'guzzlers' as China beer market slows

Japanese brewers are looking past China's $57 billion beer market to a country with less than one-tenth the population: Vietnam.
Japan Times
Rugby
Dec 18, 2011

Hong Kong wins big in Airlines Cup final

Playing off the South American continent for the first time, Brazil ended its participation in the Emirates Airlines Cup of Nations with a 37-3 loss Friday to champion Hong Kong.
BASKETBALL / HOOP SCOOP
Dec 18, 2011

Don't expect Japanese basketball to embrace a real, workable plan

Every few months a false sense of hope surfaces on the blogosphere and in the mainstream media, where optimists peddle the message that Japan's basketball "leaders" finally have their act together, that a new men's pro league will, ahem, finally replace the outdated, increasingly irrelevant JBL and the...
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2011

Exodus of Japanese executives from UBS continues

UBS AG said Tuesday that Yasuki Matsui will resign as chairman of the investment banking division in Japan, becoming at least the third senior executive in the country to leave a European bank since October.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 21, 2011

Improvement in Indian-Pakistani trade ties bodes well for resolving conflict in South Asia

The summit meetings of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation are not the most exciting of gatherings and for years SAARC has been known for not delivering. But the latest summit held in the Maldives will be remembered, not for any substantive achievement of SAARC itself but for the fact...
EDITORIALS
Nov 19, 2011

Diet action for reconstruction

The Lower House on Nov. 10 passed the supplementary budget for fiscal 2011 to finance reconstruction from the March 11 disasters. This week the Upper House has started deliberations on it. Both the extra budget and related bills are expected to be enacted by the end of the month. But more than eight...
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2011

Morgan Stanley gain lifts MUFG profit target

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. raised its full-year profit target by 50 percent as a gain from a conversion of shares in Morgan Stanley offset a lending slump.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2011

Marubeni swaps trail only Tepco in growth

The cost to insure debt of Marubeni Corp. is poised to rise the most this month of any Japanese company besides Tokyo Electric Power Co., reflecting concern an economic slowdown will make it more difficult to meet forecasts for record profit.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami