Search - japan

 
 
CULTURE / Music / J-POPSICLE
Dec 26, 2001

Tower's pop fire flickers?

A lot of people in the music biz -- not to mention regular music fans -- were shocked by reports that surfaced last week to the effect that all or part of Tower Records' Japanese operations will be sold.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 25, 2001

Koizumi orders review of 'spy ship' response

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Monday he has ordered a review of the response Saturday to a possible spy ship in Japan's exclusive economic zone with a view to enhancing the country's ability to deal with similar cases in the future.
COMMENTARY
Dec 24, 2001

No rush to ease rules against layoffs

A government advisory group recommends that Japan consider legislation to establish standards and rules for layoffs. A report to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi by the Council for Regulatory Reform covers a wide range of subjects, including medical care, welfare and education. However, resolving the...
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2001

Koizumi justifies shots fired at mystery ship

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Sunday the Japan Coast Guard fired on an unidentified ship believed to be from North Korea in "legitimate self-defense."
JAPAN
Dec 24, 2001

Coast guard ships retrieve bodies of two suspected spies

The Japan Coast Guard on Sunday recovered two bodies believed to be crew members of a suspected North Korean ship that sank off Kyushu after exchanging fire with Japanese patrol boats Saturday night, coast guard officials said.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2001

New Year travel by train likely to peak Dec. 29-30

The peak period for outbound passengers on Japan Railway trains over the New Year period will fall on Dec. 29-30, while Tokyo-bound trains will peak Jan. 3, according to bookings made for Dec. 28 through Jan. 6, according to the JR group.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2001

Women's rights activist Kato dies at 104

Shizue Kato, one of the first Japanese women to become a Diet member and a pioneer of women's rights in Japan -- particularly known for her advocacy of birth control -- died Saturday from respiratory failure at a relative's house in Tokyo's Bunkyo Ward, her family said. She was 104.
BUSINESS
Dec 22, 2001

Governments wait to see how far yen will fall

Although the yen remains under downward pressure, Washington, Beijing and other countries across Asia have adopted a wait-and-see policy.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 22, 2001

Huge financial windfall predicted from World Cup

Next year's World Cup soccer finals, to be cohosted by South Korea and Japan, could generate economic benefits of up to 3.6 trillion yen if Japan wins the tournament, two private research institutes said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 21, 2001

Domestic car sales expected to fall for second year in row

Domestic sales of automobiles, including minivehicles, are likely to shrink by 0.7 percent in 2002 to 5.88 million vehicles for the second straight year of decline, an industry group said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Dec 20, 2001

China puts forth new proposal regarding trade rift

Japan and China failed to reach a breakthrough at vice-ministerial talks Wednesday on the trade row stemming from Japanese import curbs on three farm products, but agreed to resume talks.
ENVIRONMENT
Dec 20, 2001

Concern over threat to rare blue corals

Ancient and complex, the rare blue coral reef of Shiraho, Ishigaki Island -- part of the Ryukyu island chain, Japan's southernmost -- is one of the world's biggest and perhaps oldest blue coral reefs. Though only 3 km long, it contains at least two-thirds the number of species of Australia's 2,000-km...
BUSINESS
Dec 19, 2001

Tokyo, Beijing enter last-ditch round of trade talks

Japan and China will hold sub-Cabinet-level talks in Tokyo today in a last-ditch effort to resolve a lingering trade dispute.
JAPAN
Dec 17, 2001

Special loan program in Asia may be extended

Japan may extend a special yen-loan program worth 600 billion yen beyond its planned expiration next spring to help Asian neighbors hit by a global slowdown and the economic fallout from the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States.
SOCCER / World cup
Dec 16, 2001

Troussier remains quiet on Scotland's approach

Japan manager Philippe Troussier has left the door open regarding a possible move to manage Scotland after the 2002 World Cup, describing it as "a great challenge."
COMMUNITY
Dec 16, 2001

From pinholes to pixels, photgraphy keeps evolving

The camera on a tripod outside Edward Levinson's countryside home in Chiba Prefecture is deceptive in its simplicity. It has no lens or viewfinder, no focusing dial, and no shutter-release button.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / JAPAN LITE
Dec 15, 2001

Merii Kurisumasu ando guddo naito

Dear Santa,
EDITORIALS
Dec 14, 2001

Caught in a worsening recession

Japan's economy is in serious condition. Despite years of recovery efforts, its vital signs continue to worsen. Gross domestic product in July through September contracted at an annual rate of 2.2 percent, posting two straight quarters of negative growth -- a condition that is technically defined as...
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

30 roadwork firms searched over suspected bid-rigging

The Fair Trade Commission searched the offices of about 30 roadwork firms Thursday in connection with alleged bid-rigging on highway contracts, sources at the commission said.
BUSINESS
Dec 14, 2001

Kagome to buy control in Heinz unit

Kagome Co., Japan's largest manufacturer of processed tomato foodstuffs, said Thursday it will buy a controlling stake in Heinz Japan Ltd., the Japanese unit of H.J. Heinz Co. of the United States, next February to make it a joint venture with the U.S. food giant.
LIFE / Lifestyle / MATTER OF COURSE
Dec 14, 2001

Every child gets to be a musician here

My 7-year-old is learning to play a uniquely Japanese instrument. The shamisen? No. The koto? No. Like virtually every other first-grader here, my son is learning to play the kenban hamonika (keyboard harmonica).
JAPAN
Dec 14, 2001

Lift age for retirement, medical services: proposal

A government strategy drafted with Japan's graying society in mind proposes increasing the mandatory ages for retirement and eligibility for medical services, according to the draft outline obtained by Kyodo News.
JAPAN
Dec 13, 2001

State bars three countries from donating organs

A health ministry panel decided Wednesday to add Belgium, Italy and the Netherlands to a list of seven countries from which organ donations to Japan are barred to prevent the spread of the brain-wasting Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
EDITORIALS
Dec 12, 2001

A lesson from Mr. Schroeder

Attention here has been focused on Japan's unprecedented response to the Sept. 11 terror attacks on the United States. Germany also has been grappling with the same issue amid a similar historical legacy. While Germany, too, has decided to send military forces to assist the U.S.-led coalition, the debate...
JAPAN
Dec 12, 2001

Aid in works for hibakusha living abroad

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry is considering earmarking about 500 million yen from the budget to help hibakusha living overseas come to Japan for treatment beginning in fiscal 2002, ministry officials said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Dec 11, 2001

The Diet that set a precedent

The Diet session that closed last Friday set a significant precedent for Japan's evolving security policy debates, paving the way for the first "wartime" deployment overseas of the Self-Defense Forces. That was the most important feature of the extraordinary session. What prompted the SDF move was, of...
Japan Times
Events
Dec 11, 2001

New Zealand kendo practitioners publish quarterly journal in English

KYOTO -- Having practiced kendo for over a decade, Alexander Bennett and Hamish Robison have long been aware of the lack of English reading material on the sport, aside from technical manuals. The two New Zealanders thus decided to rectify the situation.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Dec 11, 2001

Extremism fills intellectual void?

The profiles of the perpetrators of the Sept. 11 terror attacks in the United States remind scholar Hiromi Shimada of senior Aum Shinrikyo members.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Dec 9, 2001

Young adventurers laid to rest far away

Four graves in a Victorian cemetery near London mark the final resting place of some of the earliest travelers from Japan to the West. Though they traveled separately, years apart, they shared the same aspirations and were fated to meet similarly sad ends. The four gravestones were joined by a monument...

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’