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Japan Times
LIFE / WEEK 3
Jul 15, 2007

Bulbous hair gives 'Brand King' a head start

People aligning themselves with a unique hairstyle is nothing new. But Tsutomu Morita is likely the first pitchman via pompadour. "Some people don't believe it is real," Morita says in a back room of his discount luxury-brands store, referring to the black bulbous bob that hangs over his eyes. "Others...
JAPAN / UPPER HOUSE SHOWDOWN
Jul 14, 2007

Constitution pushed out of campaign

The pension records fiasco and concerns about a consumption tax hike have upstaged what Prime Minister Shinzo Abe most wanted to focus on during campaigning for the July 29 Upper House poll — revising the Constitution.
EDITORIALS
Jul 14, 2007

Zeal to expand 'defense' missions

The 2007 white paper on defense, the first such government report since the Defense Agency was upgraded to the Defense Ministry, stresses that the Self-Defense Forces must become an organization that can better cope with crises and contribute to world peace, saying the days are gone in which the SDF...
Japan Times
JAPAN / UPPER HOUSE SHOWDOWN
Jul 13, 2007

Will election turn the tables on Abe & Co.?

The campaign for the July 29 House of Councilors election officially kicked off Thursday, with the ruling coalition, reeling from a string of scandals involving Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet and the public pension debacle, facing a fierce battle with the opposition camp.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2007

Small-caps seen staging comeback in wake of Livedoor affair

Shares of Japan's smallest listed companies, Asia's worst performers last year, are staging a comeback as tougher accounting standards revive confidence in earnings reports and consumer spending rebounds.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2007

McCafes to test coffee shop market

McDonald's is set to take on Starbucks in Japan with a new chain of coffee shops brewing up bargain lattes, the fast food chain said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 13, 2007

First Lady of blues

She recently came close to death; now, about to headline the Japan Blues & Soul Carnival, Koko Taylor talks about her 50-year career — and the future of blues
SOCCER
Jul 12, 2007

Musovic: Osim's reaction no shock

Qatar coach Dzemaludin Musovic has come out in support of his old boss Ivica Osim after the Bosnian labeled his Japan charges "a bunch of amateurs" after the draw between the two teams in their Asian Cup finals Group B opener.
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2007

Overdue help for the orphaned

Japanese who were separated from their families in China at the end of World War II have agreed to accept a new support plan and to drop their lawsuits filed with 10 district courts and six high courts over the government's failure to swiftly bring them back to Japan and provide adequate support. Although...
JAPAN / PARTY LINE
Jul 11, 2007

SDP sees Upper House race as vital in protecting Article 9

The Constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 is in danger of being revised by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and the upcoming Upper House election is an opportunity to put a stop to this effort, Social Democratic Party leader Mizuho Fukushima said.
BUSINESS
Jul 11, 2007

Court setbacks deflate Steel Partners' investments

Warren Lichtenstein's Japanese investments are losing value after a Tokyo court called his fund "abusive" and shareholders rejected its latest takeover bid.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2007

No price cut planned for 'competitive' Xbox console

Insisting its prices are competitive, Microsoft Corp.'s Japan unit announced Monday it has no plans to reduce the price of the Xbox 360 game console.
SOCCER
Jul 8, 2007

Osim lashes out as storm causes concern

HANOI, Vietnam — Another storm is brewing in Vietnam — and it's got nothing to do with Typhoon Toraji which lashed parts of the country this week.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jul 8, 2007

Stuffing of All-Star ballot boxes goes back at least 50 years

Were you surprised to see eight members of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles elected to the 2007 Pacific League All-Star team by fan balloting?
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Kleptocracy to 'freedom'?

Hla Aye Maung's nightmare began in the central Tokyo district of Nishi Nippori when he went shopping. A police car pulled up beside him and the officers found he was one of the more than 250,000 illegal aliens apparently working in Japan. They took him to a police station in nearby Ueno, from where he...
Japan Times
LIFE / REFUGEES AND JAPAN
Jul 8, 2007

Screenings on behalf of 33 million

From July 18-26, the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) will sponsor the 2nd International Refugee Film Festival in Japan. The program of 30 movies over nine days at four theaters includes feature and documentary films that focus on the lives, trials and triumphs of people forced to leave their...
CULTURE / Books
Jul 8, 2007

A question of dignity or cause for embarrassment

THE DIGNITY OF THE NATION by Masahiko Fujiwara, translated by Giles Murray. IBC Publishing 2007, 278 pp., 1,400 yen (paper) The title of this little book deliberately echoes that of a notorious pamphlet issued by the Japanese government in 1937, at the peak of nationalist hysteria, in an attempt to...
JAPAN
Jul 7, 2007

Taiwan seen losing military edge to China

The military balance between China and Taiwan is shifting in Beijing's favor and the qualitative superiority of Taipei's fighting force may soon be lost, the Defense Ministry warned Friday in a report.
BUSINESS
Jul 7, 2007

Tokyo yen traders top Merc in sales

Yen sales by Japanese mom and pop investors this week exceeded professional traders' bets against the currency on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Jul 6, 2007

Crystal Kay is all yours

"I've been on the Crystal Kay train," says the R&B diva sitting across the table. Twenty-one-year-old Crystal Kay isn't speaking figuratively, or in some sort of existential code; she's referring instead to Tokyo's Yamanote Line, whose carriages were recently plastered inside and out with her visage...
BUSINESS
Jul 6, 2007

Corolla, Vitz lead first-half car sales

Toyota Motor Corp.'s Corolla model topped Japan's vehicle sales rankings during the first half of the year, after the company revamped the model in October for the first time in six years.
JAPAN
Jul 4, 2007

Candidate Tojo seeks resolution against A-bombings

The granddaughter of wartime Prime Minister Gen. Hideki Tojo said Tuesday in Tokyo that if she wins a seat in this month's House of Councilors election, she will submit a resolution to the Diet slamming the United States for the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.
EDITORIALS
Jul 4, 2007

Thoughtless nuclear-bomb remarks

Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma has resigned over the remark that the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the United States at the end of World War II "could not be helped." His comments on Saturday had offended Japanese people, the world's first victims of nuclear weapons.
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2007

UBS opens branch in bustling Nagoya aimed at wealthy retirees

UBS AG, the world's biggest money manager, opened an office Tuesday in Nagoya to sell wealth-management services, aiming to grab a bigger share of the savings of the country's affluent.
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2007

Wii pummeled PS3 in June sales

Nintendo Co.'s Wii game console extended its sales lead over Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 in Japan last month, research firm Enterbrain Inc. said Monday.
JAPAN
Jul 2, 2007

Ozawa hits Abe over Kyuma remarks

Defense Minister Fumio Kyuma's remarks on the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were an easy target for Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa during a policy debate Sunday in Tokyo with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic