Search - news

 
 
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 24, 2009

New game pokes fun at Nakagawa

A game developer is cashing in on former Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa, who resigned following an allegedly drunken appearance at a news conference at the end of the Group of Seven meeting in Rome earlier this month.
BUSINESS
Feb 18, 2009

Nakagawa resigns after G7 disgrace

Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa abruptly resigned Tuesday evening amid rapidly growing calls to quit over his sloppy and allegedly drunken appearance at a Group of Seven press briefing in Rome on Saturday.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2009

Aso won't fire 'drunk' Nakagawa

Prime Minister Taro Aso refused Monday to fire Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa for his unusual behavior Saturday after a Group of Seven meeting which has led opposition parties to call for his dismissal.
JAPAN
Oct 11, 2008

Lower House opens debate on MSDF bill

The Lower House on Friday began deliberating the government's special antiterrorism bill for extending the Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean.
COMMENTARY
Oct 10, 2008

Distressed Chinese dairy companies get help

HONG KONG — At a time when the United States — and now Europe — is acting to rescue financial institutions such as Bear Stearns, Merrill Lynch and AIG, it is interesting to note that Chinese authorities are offering a hand to distressed companies caught in the contaminated milk scandal.
JAPAN
Sep 29, 2008

Gaffe-prone Nakayama quits Cabinet

Prime Minister Taro Aso's Cabinet suffered a serious blow Sunday with the resignation of transport minister Nariaki Nakayama, who was under fire for several gaffes, including saying Japan is "ethnically homogenous."
JAPAN
Sep 10, 2008

Ishihara fifth to enter race for LDP presidency

Nobuteru Ishihara on Tuesday became the fifth Liberal Democratic Party lawmaker to throw his hat in the ring for the LDP presidency in the wake of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda's abrupt resignation announcement last week.
JAPAN
Aug 3, 2008

Ibuki tells LDP to draft tax hike scenarios

Finance Minister Bunmei Ibuki said Saturday the ruling Liberal Democratic Party needs to propose a scenario on how and when to ask for a tax hike before it starts campaigning for the next general election.
JAPAN / G8 COUNTDOWN
Jun 28, 2008

Verifying North report crucial: G8

KYOTO — The Group of Eight foreign ministers ended their meeting Friday in Kyoto by stressing the importance of ensuring that North Korea abandons its nuclear activities.
JAPAN
May 8, 2008

Fukuda, Hu put focus on future

Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and Chinese President Hu Jintao agreed Wednesday to make 2008 the year for boosting their nations' "mutually beneficial" relationship, as Tokyo hosted the first Chinese leader to visit in 10 years.
COMMENTARY
May 4, 2008

A chance for Beijing to take a stand on health

LOS ANGELES — As matters now stand, accredited, professional journalists from Taiwan are once again being denied press passes by U.N. authorities to cover the annual World Health Assembly of the World Health Organization. This year's event takes place in Geneva on May 19. The topic is "A Safer Future:...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
May 4, 2008

The role of the media in tulip massacres and suicide

Since late March there has been a rash of vandalism directed against flowers. Tulips, in particular, have been cut, uprooted or trampled in public places. The news trail seems to originate during the most recent cherry blossom season, when eight young trees were found destroyed in West Tokyo's Koganei...
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Apr 13, 2008

Confusion reigns after 'Yasukuni' doesn't tell us how to feel

The big media-related news story on April 1 was the ongoing controversy over the documentary feature "Yasukuni," screenings of which had been canceled by a number of movie theaters in Tokyo and Osaka out of fear of rightwing protests. That night, NHK's regular 7 p.m. news bulletin did not mention the...
SOCCER
Apr 2, 2008

Capello to face perjury probe

ROME (AP) Prosecutors intend to open proceedings against England manager Fabio Capello for perjury in a case stemming from the Italian match-fixing scandal, Italian news reports said Monday.
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Mar 29, 2008

Research on some research

Most of my Stateside friends and family have knowledge of Japan only as deep as what they see on TV. Which means they think I live my life in a "dizzified" world of ninja, yakuza and robots.
JAPAN
Mar 11, 2008

Media now gun-shy in Miura reportage

Ryo Sakamoto, a former editor of the major tabloid newspaper Tokyo-Sports, remembers the media frenzy in the 1980s over the case of Kazuyoshi Miura.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2008

English-language papers offer unique take on Asia

English-language newspapers in East Asia provide unique perspectives on political, economic and cultural news in the region to a global community where English is the dominant tongue, speakers at a Tokyo symposium said Saturday.
COMMENTARY
Dec 30, 2007

Living with war and a warmer planet

LONDON — 2007 was the year in which global warming finally began to be taken seriously. Climate-change deniers were in full retreat, and the realization that we face a long and grave crisis was finally dawning on the general public. However, it remains to be seen whether the world will agree on effective...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Dec 18, 2007

The myopic state we're in

We all notice it eventually: how nice individual Japanese people are, yet how cold — even discriminatory — officialdom is toward non-Japanese (NJ). This dichotomy is often passed off as something "cultural" (a category people tend to assign anything they can't understand), but recent events have...
JAPAN
Nov 5, 2007

Ozawa offers to resign

Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa offered his resignation Sunday as head of the biggest opposition force over the rift caused by his controversial handling of a proposal for a grand coalition with the ruling bloc.
LIFE / Digital
Oct 24, 2007

Nova gets the Web talking

Ah, the wonderful world of blogging, where people from all walks of life and all corners of the globe find a forum to have their voices heard. This week, let's take a peek into the goings on of Nova, Japan's largest English school company, which has recently found itself in a big onsen tub of hot water....
BUSINESS
Oct 11, 2007

Reuters boss upbeat on bid from Thomson

Reuters Chief Executive Officer Thomas Glocer said in Tokyo Wednesday he is optimistic that European Union antitrust regulators will clear Canada-based Thomson Corp.'s $17.6 billion bid to acquire the British news agency.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2007

Fukuda in lead to take over LDP

Yasuo Fukuda emerged Friday as the clear favorite in the race to replace Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as president of the Liberal Democratic Party, in what is shaping up to be a two-man contest with LDP Secretary General Taro Aso.
JAPAN
Sep 4, 2007

Account fudging undoes vice foreign minister

Dealing yet another blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Vice Foreign Minister Yukiko Sakamoto resigned Monday, admitting her political office falsified political funding records for fiscal 2004 and 2005.
SOCCER
Jul 16, 2007

Prickly Osim in rare form before match

HANOI — Ivica Osim's tit-for-tat battle with sections of the press at the Asian Cup finals reached surreal new heights Sunday ahead of defending champion Japan's final Group B match against cohost Vietnam.
JAPAN
Jul 5, 2007

Koike takes defense helm, condemns '45 A-bombings

Newly appointed Defense Minister Yuriko Koike pledged Wednesday to further strengthen the Japan-U.S. military alliance but also denounced the 1945 U.S. atomic bombings of Japan as "unacceptable from a humanitarian viewpoint."

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami