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BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2007

Quick profits, yes, but merger mania has its share of failures

Mergers and acquisitions are making headlines as companies increasingly seize on consolidations to generate quick profits to reward shareholders and cope with intensifying competition in a saturated domestic market.
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2007

Bizarre offer to quit

Mr. Ichiro Ozawa's announcement of his offer to resign as head of the Democratic Party of Japan, which controls the Upper House together with other opposition forces, was too abrupt and bizarre. His behavior was irresponsible, especially in light of his party's strength in the Upper House. He had the...
SUMO / SUMO SCRIBBLINGS
Nov 6, 2007

Game over for Kaio and Chiyotaikai?

As the Kyushu Basho, running Nov. 11-25, rumbles around once again, so does the regular talk of ozeki retirement.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Nov 6, 2007

Big jobs, car clubs

Jobs on the Net David saw an ad on TV that he believes was for jobs in Japan.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 6, 2007

Sympathy for Bhutto surpasses support

PRAGUE — As the initial shock of the terrorist attacks last month against Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto fade, it is becoming clear that they were a political boon for her, triggering a wave of public sympathy that extends well beyond her local Sindh stronghold.
BUSINESS
Nov 6, 2007

Takeda sees big profit rise via Actos

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Japan's largest drugmaker, forecast its biggest jump in full-year profit in six years on sales of the best-selling Actos diabetes pill.
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Nov 5, 2007

Can new stock market keep startups in Tokyo?

Last week, the Tokyo Stock Exchange announced it was tying up with the London Stock Exchange to establish a new type of market in Japan.
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Nov 4, 2007

Teacher's providing guidance, problem-solving geisha, secret police

Everyone's favorite junior-high-school teacher, Kimpachi-sensei (Tetsuya Takeda), is back for another season of sage advice for confused young minds on "San-nen B-gumi Kimpachi-sensei (Year 3 Class B: Teacher Kimpachi)" (TBS, Wednesday, 9 p.m.).
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Nov 4, 2007

A thoroughly modern retro classic

1903 was an amazing year for motorized vehicles in America. Henry Ford started producing his first Model A, the Wright Brothers made the world's first successful powered flight — and Bill Harley and Arthur Davidson began building motorcycles.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Nov 4, 2007

It's where you live, and not where you're at, for those bureaucrats

Last week, the Cabinet rejected a recommendation from the National Personnel Authority to raise bonuses and special allowances for some government employees, believing that the public, disillusioned by a constant stream of money scandals involving politicians and bureaucrats, wouldn't stand for it. But...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Nov 4, 2007

Who'd trust conservatives to conserve the countryside?

Farmers in many countries are icons of their nation's ethos. But "American Gothic," Grant Wood's famed 1930s painting of a gaunt, stoic-looking farming couple complete with pitchfork, is by no means the whole story. In fact, today it is not even part of it.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Nov 1, 2007

Art al fresco in Daikanyama

Years ago, Daikanyama was one of those places you could visit for a bit of peace and quiet in Tokyo. It had beautiful tree-lined streets and lovely old traditional Japanese houses. There was also a slightly bohemian edge to it, with small independent shops and galleries littered among the back alleys....
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital
Oct 31, 2007

Loopy Lisa offers a surreal take on cybersex

The Internet is a wonderful thing. By firing up your computer and jacking it into a wall socket, you have instant access to millions of pages of information. You can learn about any subject under the sun, share your knowledge with others, market your business, buy almost any product imaginable, keep...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Oct 30, 2007

Avoid the chemically impaired

Anyone who has cruised around a Japanese supermarket or the basement of a department store has no doubt feasted their eyes on the robust, red and super-shiny apples at about ¥1,000 a pop.
COMMENTARY / THE VIEW FROM NEW YORK
Oct 29, 2007

Fatal deliverance from an 'iron storm'

NEW YORK — I was thinking once again about the intractability of Japan's part in the Pacific phase of World War II when the news came: Okinawans had staged a huge rally to protest the Japanese government's downplaying in textbooks the military's role in "group suicides" among civilians during the Battle...
BUSINESS / JAPANESE PERSPECTIVES
Oct 29, 2007

Sovereign vultures look Adam Smith in the eye

When Adam Smith wrote "An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations" in 1776, the industrial revolution had entered its second decade and the relationship between nations and their wealth was still relatively straightforward.
Reader Mail
Oct 28, 2007

Asian residents get the short end

Regarding the Oct. 23 Views From the Street question, "Which minority groups face the worst discrimination in Japan?": I find it interesting that of the three Japanese people questioned, only one mentioned race, whereas all of the foreigners questioned answered to the effect that "Chinese and Koreans...
Reader Mail
Oct 28, 2007

Does decency go beyond the pale?

Debito Arudou's bruising critique of the government's "Public Survey on the Defense of Human Rights" (Oct. 23 Zeit Gist article, "Human rights survey stinks") leaves one question unanswered: If 59.3 percent of respondents agreed that foreigners should have the same human rights protection as Japanese,...
Japan Times
LIFE
Oct 28, 2007

Masters of all they survey

"How do you get to the Seibu department store?"
BUSINESS
Oct 27, 2007

No price cut for China-bound Wii

Fresh off bumper earnings, Nintendo Co. ruled out a price cut for its smash-hit Wii video game console Friday and announced the company will start selling the Wii in China next year.
EDITORIALS
Oct 27, 2007

Part-time all the time

Some days, it seems as if all of Japan is being run by part-timers. Every service job, from store clerks to ticket vendors to front-desk help, seems to be handled by nonregular employees. The enthusiasm of many freshly hired workers is matched by their lack of experience. One hardly knows what to expect...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Oct 27, 2007

Ryozo Tanaka

A question often asked of Professor Ryozo Tanaka is "What made you so keen on English culture and tradition?"
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Oct 27, 2007

The last of the ninja

There's this guy I know in his late 50s who, like many Japanese, looks much younger than his age. Blessed with a boyish smile, a flat tummy and jet-black hair — in all likelihood dyed — the man has already retired from employment at an electronics firm and now stands at the door of his second youth....

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji