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JAPAN
Jul 18, 2009

Fad diets, poor economy send banana imports to record high

Banana imports are headed for a second straight record gain this year, fueled by fad diets and households looking for cheap food amid the recession.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 18, 2009

JAL faces more losses as retirees fight cuts

Takahiro Fukushima gets a pension of ¥2.7 million a year from Japan Airlines Corp., where he worked for 35 years. Two months ago, the unprofitable airline sent the former cabin attendant a letter asking his permission to cut it by more than 50 percent.
BUSINESS
Jul 16, 2009

Toyota leaning toward closing NUMMI plant

Toyota Motor Corp. is assessing the cost of shutting the California auto plant it used to share with General Motors Corp. and is leaning toward closure instead of funding the factory on its own, two sources familiar with the plan said.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 14, 2009

New Honda chief hypes hybrids

Honda Motor Co. will focus on developing gasoline-electric vehicles, foreseeing that hybrids will replace other types of vehicles over the next 20 years, the new president of Japan's No. 2 automaker said at his first news conference Monday.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jul 14, 2009

What do you think about this summer's round of cuts in bonuses for company workers?

BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2009

Market booming in digital publishing

While the market for print publishing continues to shrink, its digital counterpart is rapidly growing, driven mostly by cell phone users, panelists at a seminar said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE
Jul 10, 2009

Gundam goes green

Starting tomorrow, prominent Tokyo landmarks — with their fixed steel columns and beams — will likely be feeling a bit inadequate as a new, mobile player is set to rise up and illuminate the capital's skyline.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2009

Sony CEO rebuffs Activision calls for PS3 price cuts

Sony Corp. Chief Executive Officer Howard Stringer spurned calls by Activision Blizzard Inc., the world's largest video-game publisher, to cut prices of the PlayStation 3 because the $400 (¥37,000) console is unprofitable.
BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2009

Mitsui wins lithium Asia sales rights

Mitsui & Co. Ltd. said Wednesday it has won exclusive rights from a Canadian firm to sell lithium in Asia to meet rising demand for lithium-ion batteries for eco-friendly products, including hybrid vehicles.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2009

Nomura seeking partner in China

Nomura Holdings Inc. is seeking a partner in China to help it establish an equity underwriting business in the world's No. 2 stock market in terms of performance.
CULTURE / Books
Jul 5, 2009

Why Murakami's best-selling '1Q84' is worth the wait

When Shinchosha decided not to run a pre-marketing campaign for Haruki Murakami's new and highly anticipated two-volume novel, the publishing house must have banked on the book creating its own hype. It worked. The void soon filled with publicity and media speculation about the book's only available...
COMMENTARY
Jul 1, 2009

Tough to thwart North Korean arms exports

The cargo ship Kang Nam 1 has long been on a watch-list of North Korean vessels suspected of illicit trading. But it recently emerged from the shadows at the center of a cat-and-mouse game in Asian waters, tracked by U.S. warships, maritime reconnaissance planes and satellites under a United Nations...
BUSINESS
Jun 30, 2009

Output rises 5.9% for third straight monthly increase

Industrial output rose for the third straight month in May as companies rebuilt inventories and the economy started to climb out of its deepest postwar recession, the government said Monday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 27, 2009

Japan Post faces the music

Internal Affairs and Communications Minister Tsutomu Sato has approved the retention of Mr. Yoshifumi Nishikawa as president of Japan Post Holding Co. And now, with Prime Minister Taro Aso's endorsement of Mr. Sato's decision, the political turmoil over whether Mr. Nishikawa should remain in his position...
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2009

Rights-holder Sony expects revenue boost from Michael Jackson CDs, DVDs

Sony Corp., owner of rights to Michael Jackson's music, may boost revenue via a rebound in sales of the late pop icon's CDs and DVDs, analysts said.
BUSINESS
Jun 27, 2009

CPI tumbles at record pace

Consumer prices fell at a record pace in May, adding to signs that a return to deflation may hamper a rebound from the nation's worst postwar recession.

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