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BUSINESS
Apr 2, 2008

Outlook bleak, businesses say

Business sentiment among major manufacturers dropped by 8 points to 11, marking the biggest drop in three years, according to the latest Bank of Japan "tankan" survey released Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2008

'Extinct' bird on ¥10,000 note makes dramatic reappearance

It looks like an oversize, long-necked chicken with a piercingly loud squawk and impressive yellow-gold tail plumage.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2008

February factory output off 1.2%

Manufacturers in Japan cut production in February for a second month in a row as the United States, the country's biggest export market, verged on a recession.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Mar 30, 2008

Okada should call up Tulio to help solidify shaky backline for Oman match

Japan's disappointing 1-0 World Cup qualifying defeat to Bahrain this week came with no foreign-based players on the field, but it was the absence of one J. League stalwart that hit the hardest.
Reader Mail
Mar 30, 2008

What soldiers' criminal acts convey

Regarding Barbara Cavolick's March 20 letter, "Media's tendency to sensationalize": Let me point out some statistical facts. Japan-based U.S. servicemen and their dependents have committed a total of 28 crimes since 1995. Of these, felonies such as rape, arson and armed robbery account for 16 percent....
COMMENTARY
Mar 29, 2008

Flaws in criminal justice

LONDON — The criminal justice systems in Britain and Japan have flaws, but there are worse systems.
BUSINESS
Mar 29, 2008

Markets laud Fukuda offer to untie taxes

Sensing the will for reform, financial markets have responded generally favorably to Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's proposal to free up road-related taxes for other purposes in fiscal 2009, but rural economies already suffering from cuts in public spending risk further damage, analysts say.
JAPAN
Mar 28, 2008

Hashimoto's cost-cutting plans under fire

OSAKA — If Osaka Gov. Toru Hashimoto has his way, employees now working on international human rights issues may become school security guards and a popular women's center will be sold off.
BASEBALL / MLB
Mar 28, 2008

MLB's opening series wins big with fans, teams

Everyone got something out of this road trip. Both teams got a win, the fans loved it and the future of Major League Baseball in Japan looks bright.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2008

BOJ policy to stay flexible: Nishimura

The Bank of Japan will make "flexible" policy decisions as the economy's longest postwar expansion loses steam amid a U.S. slowdown and the yen's 13 percent surge against the dollar this year, BOJ Deputy Gov. Kiyohiko Nishimura said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2008

ANA gives Mitsubishi lift with plane order

All Nippon Airways Co. said Thursday it plans to order up to 25 small passenger jets from Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd., becoming the leadoff buyer of what would be Japan's first domestically developed jetliner.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 28, 2008

The revolutionary tale of Mikami's enka blues

Kan Mikami once beat the crap out of David Bowie.
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

Not just a matter of discrimination

Patrick Hattman, in his March 20 letter, "Basis for discriminatory legislation," raises some important questions about nationality settlements after World War II and "race" in Japan's postwar Constitution and Nationality Law.
Reader Mail
Mar 27, 2008

No merit to legalized prostitution

The Los Angeles Times article "Enough already: decriminalize prostitution," which The Japan Times printed March 20, prompted me to write. My mother was born during the Meiji Era in a poor fishing village near Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture. I remember what she said: In those days the only work for women...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Music's greatest theme park

In mid-March, as spring began uncoiling anew, the world's music industry once again turned its eyes to Austin, Texas, the self-styled "live-music capital of the world," for the annual South by Southwest industry conference and festival. Planes disgorged thousands of band members, record-label bigwigs,...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Mar 27, 2008

Detroit 7: Playing at SXSW is killer!

Detroit 7 are one of Tokyo's most explosive bands, a tight trio blasting out raw, Iggy Pop-inspired garage punk and dripping with showmanship. At their performance at South by Southwest's Japan Nite on March 14, singer Tomomi Nabana drawled her lyrics in a deep husk, thrashing her left-handed guitar...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2008

Writer blogs her way to top literary prize

Mieko Kawakami, a former bar hostess and bookstore clerk, was just another obscure singer until she started a blog.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 25, 2008

Pioneering women's center in Osaka slated for closure

Last month, the new governor of Osaka, Toru Hashimoto, announced his plan to shut down and sell or privatize 25 public facilities in a bid to tackle the prefecture's financial crisis. Except for two libraries, no prefectural facilities merit further public funding, argues Hashimoto. Included among the...
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2008

Reliance on aerial bombings

A just-released film and a special program was televised this month on the occasion of the 63rd anniversary of the hellish bombing of Tokyo by the United States, which killed 100,000 residents.
SOCCER / SOCCER SCENE
Mar 23, 2008

JFA gives cold shoulder to Premier League proposal to play games overseas

From a soccer perspective, the upcoming Major League Baseball season-opening series between the Boston Red Sox and the Oakland Athletics at Tokyo Dome feels like a glimpse into a parallel universe.

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers