Search - japan

 
 
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2005

Minimum for oil reserves to be cut in line with IEA

Japan will cut its mandatory minimum for oil reserves held by refiners and other private-sector oil firms in a concerted action by the International Energy Agency, a senior government official said Monday.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Sep 6, 2005

The empire strikes back

Venerated by militarists and marinated in over a century of militarism and war, Yasukuni Shrine may well be Japan's least friendly venue for a demonstration by pacifists.
BUSINESS
Sep 6, 2005

Insurer errors may top 100,000

Sompo Japan Insurance Inc., one of Japan's six biggest nonlife insurers, said Monday it failed to make payouts totaling 920 million yen in 27,296 cases between July 2002 and last June.
COMMENTARY
Sep 5, 2005

A historic scramble to rule

The Sept. 11 Lower House election will test Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's politics, giving voters a chance to choose the nation's leadership between the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and the opposition Democratic Party of Japan.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 4, 2005

The aged better off heading for the hills on their limited pensions

The main opposition parties claim that Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's attempt to make the upcoming Lower House election a referendum on postal reform is simply a scheme to deflect public attention away from the ruling Liberal Democratic Party's fiscal failures under his leadership. Consequently,...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Sep 3, 2005

Bringing porn to the people

It has always surprised me how so often in Japan, the beauty of the countryside loses out to the convenience of the city. To most Japanese people, the countryside is backward and just not suited for everyday living. Nature is like a video to be watched for a few hours during your free time, preferably...
BUSINESS
Sep 2, 2005

Koizumi gets some high marks but must do more: Doyukai

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration should be given high marks for having addressed issues untouched by its predecessors, but there is still more to do, according to the chairman of the Japan Association of Corporate Executives (Keizai Doyukai).
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2005

Groups against revisionist history text call campaign a success

Civic groups opposing a contentious revisionist history textbook on Thursday hailed the result of the publisher's recent survey, as well as their own, that less than 1 percent of the nation's junior high schools are likely to use the book from next April.
Sep 1, 2005

Defense Agency wants 5 trillion yen

The Defense Agency on Wednesday requested 4.89 trillion yen in the fiscal 2006 budget to increase the capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces to counter threats to national security, including acts of terrorism, missile attacks and natural disasters.
EDITORIALS
Aug 31, 2005

More than postal reform at stake

As the Lower House election campaign goes into full swing, Japanese voters face an important decision: whether to endorse the reform politics of Liberal Democratic Party leader and Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, or a different kind of reform politics pushed by the opposition Democratic Party of Japan....
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Aug 31, 2005

The nature of the mind

Shunmyo Masuno calls his works "expressions of my mind," and they have the power to stir up depths of emotion and even tap into the subconscious. They are not psychedelic paintings, however, nor are they virtual reality installations -- they are gardens. And the man who creates them is a Buddhist priest....
EDITORIALS
Aug 30, 2005

A timely warning to Tokyo

It is tempting to overreact to warnings that al-Qaeda is preparing an attack on a large financial center in Asia. That would be a mistake. If accurate a big if the reports should spur officials to better prepare for that awful possibility. But the news is not really new: Japan has already suffered one...
Japan Times
JAPAN / POLL SHOWDOWN
Aug 30, 2005

Okada hopes to shift election focus

Democratic Party of Japan leader Katsuya Okada is calling for voters' support in the Sept. 11 general election to bring about regime change and rebuild Japan in the face of ballooning government deficits and a rapidly aging population.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Aug 30, 2005

Spoiled pooches live the good life

Whether it's "wan-wan," "bow-wow" or "ruff-ruff," dogs in Japan are all speaking the same language: life here ain't too dog-gone bad.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 28, 2005

Summer scorecard: road trips, managers, scraped bathtubs

Road Trip of Survival: The Hanshin Tigers came through their "Road Trip of Death" in pretty good shape. The team went 10-9 while away from their home Koshien Stadium (being used for the national high school Tournament) for 25 days from Aug. 1 and was still in first place in the Central League, leading...
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle
Aug 28, 2005

Privacy of sperm donors leaves lives in limbo

Emi Nishimura's identity quest began the hard way.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 28, 2005

The face of joy and happiness

OTAFUKU: Joy of Japan, by Amy Sylvester Katoh, photographs by Yutaka Sato. Singapore: Tuttle/Periplus, bilingual (English and Japanese), 2005, 192 pp., many illustrations, 1,700 yen (cloth). Most of us know Otafuku without knowing her name. She is the full-faced folk figure we see all around us in Japan,...
CULTURE / Music
Aug 28, 2005

Cuban salsa godfather keeps his stories real

Despite the embargo imposed by the United States on Cuba since 1961, the music of this north Caribbean island has somehow made its way into every corner of the earth, including Japan. It is no coincidence that "The Sons of Cuba," the most recent film from the creators of "Buena Vista Social Club," culminates...
EDITORIALS
Aug 27, 2005

Fading hopes for a UNSC seat

Japan's long-cherished desire to become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council remains as strong as ever, but realizing that aspiration in the near future is becoming extremely difficult in the face of stiff objections from certain countries. The government's strategy for expanding...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 27, 2005

Toyota hopes to steal BMW's thunder via Lexus

The Japan launch of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus luxury brand next week is likely to mark the beginning of a period of intense competition in the premium car sector.
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2005

Oil bonanza spurs imports, trims surplus

Soaring crude oil prices pushed Japanese imports to record highs in July, trimming the nation's customs-cleared trade surplus for a fourth straight month, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Aug 26, 2005

10 firms honored for aiding economy

The Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry announced Thursday it will honor 10 companies for promoting Japanese technology and culture abroad, or introducing new business models to Japan through investment.
JAPAN
Aug 25, 2005

Translations of disputed texts on Web

Chinese and Korean translations of parts of eight Japanese junior high school history textbooks dealing with modern history appeared on the Foreign Ministry's Web site Wednesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 22, 2005

LDP rebels launch another new party

Koki Kobayashi and three other rebels from the Liberal Democratic Party formed a new party Sunday, with Yasuo Tanaka, the outspoken governor of Nagano Prefecture, taking the top position.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Aug 21, 2005

Hoshino, the next manager of the Giants? Not so fast!

The Nikkan Sports paper claimed in back-to-back front pages on Aug. 11-12 that former Chunichi Dragons and Hanshin Tigers manager Senichi Hoshino has been offered the job to head the Yomiuri Giants in 2006.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 18, 2005

Four illegal crocodiles take a bite out of crime

Tokyo police have arrested a reptile wholesaler from Shizuoka and two other people on suspicion of illegally breeding and falsely registering four false gavials, a type of endangered crocodile, it was learned Wednesday.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years