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BUSINESS
Jul 9, 2008

Kuidaore mascot generates ¥900 million before shutdown

The popularity of the mannequin minstrel Kuidaore Taro, mascot of an eatery in Osaka's Minami district, has generated ¥900 million in economic stimulus in the area since the circa-1950 restaurant's closure was announced in April, according to a university study.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Jul 8, 2008

Cardboard coffins boast eco-merit

As more consumers pursue environmentally friendly lives, businesses are introducing products and services catering to those quests.
BUSINESS
Jul 8, 2008

NEC buys Hungarian wireless firm

NEC Corp. said Monday it has bought Hungarian communications-engineering company Linecom Kft. to expand operations in Eastern Europe.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / ON THE ROAD
Jul 6, 2008

Nissan stages own 'Olympics' to get ahead in hard times

Imagine you are a marketing mogul at one of Japan's big carmakers. Your job is to get the world's motoring press driving your cars, generate international exposure and spread the word about your company's products. And right now car sales are plummeting in many countries as rising oil prices hit consumers...
JAPAN / G8 SUMMIT SPECIAL: JAPANESE ECONOMY
Jul 6, 2008

Toyako 2008: lessons from Japan

In 1936, when Keynes wrote the "General Theory," the world's key economic problem was unemployment. There were too many people and not enough jobs.
EDITORIALS
Jul 5, 2008

Yet another food scandal

The agriculture and fishery ministry has found that an Osaka-based firm shipped 2.05 million Chinese grilled eels after labeling them as domestically produced. The firm, Uohide, says it wanted to clear Chinese eel inventories, the sales of which had had plummeted in the wake of food poisoning incidents...
BUSINESS
Jul 4, 2008

FSA slaps 10 insurers over 'nonpayments'

The Financial Services Agency slapped 10 life insurers, including two foreign ones, with business improvement orders Thursday saying their internal controls are insufficient to prevent them from failing to pay benefits to policyholders.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 3, 2008

Ramen makers eye wheat switch amid inflation

From dusk till midnight, office workers in suits and tourists in T-shirts crowd Fukuoka's open-air food stalls to perch on benches and slurp steaming pork-bone broth with thin, yellow noodles.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 2, 2008

Bill Gates' excellent adventure ends in tears

LONDON — The scene: a tasteful, wooded corporate retreat north of Seattle. The time: one day last March. A large group — mainly chaps in their mid-40s — stand around. They seem to be in quite a state.
BUSINESS
Jul 2, 2008

Sentiment tanks in latest 'tankan'

Business sentiment among large manufacturers plummeted in June for the third straight quarter, with rising oil and raw material prices gouging into profits, according to the Bank of Japan's "tankan" survey released Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 1, 2008

Toy makers cast their gaze on the future: talking dolls for grannies

Primopuel is a knee-high Japanese doll with soft, apple cheeks and big black button eyes. It comes in green and pink. When you cuddle it or talk to it, it talks back. It is for grandmothers.
EDITORIALS
Jun 28, 2008

The case against Mr. Sahashi

Mr. Nozomu Sahashi once built Japan's largest English-language chain. But the former president of Nova Corp. and one other former Nova official were arrested Tuesday on suspicion of misusing some ¥320 million deposited by employees into a welfare fund. Their arrests are expected to help unravel what...
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2008

Unhappy shareholders start gunning for underperforming managers

A year ago, executives at publicly traded companies defeated all 85 proposals put forward at general shareholders' meetings by investors seeking higher returns. Shareholders are going after the managers themselves this year.
BUSINESS
Jun 25, 2008

Auditors refuse TCI demand to sue board of J-Power for profit fall

J-Power said Tuesday its auditors won't sue the company's board for ¥6 billion to compensate the utility for lower profits, as demanded by U.K. hedge fund TCI.
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2008

Manufacturer confidence at four-year low

Confidence among manufacturers for the April-June quarter fell the most in at least four years because of surging commodity costs and waning demand for cars and electronics, a government survey showed Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / U.S. BUSINESS SCHOOL SYMPOSIUM
Jun 21, 2008

Long-term success can hamstring a company's ability to adapt to change and ultimately survive

Adaptability is the key to survival of even big, successful companies over time, said professor Charles O'Reilly, a professor at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.
JAPAN
Jun 21, 2008

After the drama, the curtain drops quietly on the current Diet session

The curtain drops on the ordinary Diet session Saturday, quietly and without the catharsis the Democratic Party of Japan aimed for with its last-minute censure motion against Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda last week.
COMMENTARY
Jun 21, 2008

Baptism by fire for Taiwan's President Ma

The success of the first round of talks between Taiwan and the China mainland is a feather in the cap of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, who made improved relations with Beijing the central theme of his campaign platform. But he has yet to display his acumen where foreign policy is concerned.
CULTURE / Music
Jun 20, 2008

Babyshambles "Oh! What a Lovely Tour"

If Babyshambles frontman Pete Doherty farted out Britain's national anthem accompanied by a barking dog, I would fork out cash for it. Pete is not just a rock star — he's a religion.

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes