Search - 2005

 
 
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 25, 2007

Whaling — for nationalism or science?

When it comes to whaling, Japan digs in its heels, as do antiwhaling nations and conservation groups.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Dec 25, 2007

Whaling — for nationalism or science?

When it comes to whaling, Japan digs in its heels, as do antiwhaling nations and conservation groups.
JAPAN
Dec 22, 2007

Taiwan's presidential candidates jostle to win Japan's crucial backing

, which supports unification with China, has typically fared poorly at establishing a rapport with Tokyo — something that comes more naturally to the independence-inclined DPP. In November, however, Nationalist presidential candidate Ma Ying-jeou smashed that paradigm with what many pundits hailed...
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 20, 2007

The case for compelling people to vote

PRINCETON, New Jersey — As an Australian citizen, I voted in the recent federal election there. So did about 95 percent of registered Australian voters. That figure contrasts markedly with elections in the United States, where the turnout in the 2004 presidential election barely exceeded 60 percent....
JAPAN
Dec 18, 2007

Prison eased for killer of parents

The Tokyo High Court on Monday trimmed two years off the prison sentence of an 18-year-old youth convicted of stabbing his parents to death and causing an explosion at the family's Tokyo residence in 2005, acknowledging the boy suffered at the hands of an abusive father.
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 Times
JAPAN
Dec 7, 2007

Japan climate effort needs rethink: experts

One of Japan's goals at the Bali conference on climate change is getting legally binding emission controls placed on developing countries, but many experts doubt the nation's ability to get its own house in order first.
BUSINESS
Dec 5, 2007

Housing slump forecast to continue hurting economy

Despite recent signs of recovery, the housing slump caused by stricter regulations for obtaining building permits will continue to hurt the economy for some time to come, analysts say.
JAPAN
Nov 29, 2007

UNHCR chief pitches third-country resettlement

Japan is notorious for accepting very few refugees, despite making a significant financial contribution to the office of the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2007

Globalization blurs North-South divide

NEW YORK — The notion of a divide between the rich north and the poor and developing south has long been a central concept among economists and policymakers. From 1950 to 1980, the north accounted for almost 80 percent of global GDP but only 22 percent of its population, and the south accounted for...
BUSINESS
Nov 28, 2007

Loan guarantees slated for more small builders

The government has expanded loan guarantees for vulnerable small and medium-size firms in the construction and related industries as part of efforts to counter the recent plunge in housing starts that threatens economic growth, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 15, 2007

Isuzu hit for repeated bus recalls

Isuzu Motors Ltd. received a warning from the transport ministry over the company's repeated recalls of buses.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 9, 2007

'Ten Ten'

Some directors are like fashion brands, churning out immediately identifiable product the same way again and again. Others are more like a hot stock: a spectacular rise, followed by an equally spectacular fall. There are also those who are like an underperforming athlete who suddenly changes into a worldbeater....
BUSINESS
Nov 8, 2007

G.communication has grown quickly on M&As

Nagoya-based G.communication grp., the firm taking over part of the failed language school chain Nova Corp., has grown rapidly in the past few years via aggressive mergers and acquisitions.
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.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Nov 7, 2007

Ochiai's Dragons aim to capture Asia Series championship

Fresh off conquering Japanese baseball, the Chunichi Dragons are turning their attention to Asian supremacy.
JAPAN
Nov 7, 2007

Recidivism rate reached an all-time high in 2006

Despite an overall decline in reported crimes nationwide, those committed by repeat offenders reached a record high in 2006, according to a Justice Ministry white paper released Tuesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 2, 2007

Amerie

Amerie leaped to fame in 2005 with the platinum-selling smash single "1 Thing," a masterful piece of dance-floor R&B cowritten and produced by Beyonce cohort Rich Harrison. The song was a perfect pop platter, offering a taste of the times while somehow sounding one step ahead of the competition. Better...

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