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Japan Times
COMMUNITY / How-tos / HOME TRUTHS
Jun 4, 2013

Sometimes it pays to look on the bright side

The flyers were provocative: New houses priced at more than ¥35 million, but the builder promised that the mortgage would amount to ¥0 a month. A free house is obviously too good to be true, but we decided to check out the merchandise to see what the story was.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT
Jun 1, 2013

Ecological disaster looms for rain forests of Sumatra

Our small plane had been flying low over Sumatra for three hours but all we had seen was an industrial landscape of palm and acacia trees stretching 50 km in every direction. A haze of blue smoke from newly cleared land drifted eastward over giant plantations. Long drainage canals dug through equatorial...
BUSINESS / Tech
May 22, 2013

Yahoo's Tumblr deal carries risks, rewards

Yahoo has concluded that Tumblr, the social blogging service, is worth a whopping $1.1 billion. Will the bet prove a good one?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 20, 2013

Facebook playing catch-up a year after flawed IPO

After a market debut marred by technical glitches and a deep dive in the company's stock price, Facebook has spent the past year focused on its biggest weaknesses: how to make money and keep its more than 1 billion users tethered to the social network.
COMMENTARY / World
May 9, 2013

Possible solution to Apple's cash-flow problem

It's possible that Apple's best long-term move would be to release a hefty portion of its unused cash to shareholders who would then plow it back into the economy.
BUSINESS
May 4, 2013

China struggles to unlock its huge shale gas potential

In a remote corner of southwestern Sichuan Province, in an area of lush, terraced hillsides, oil exploration teams have been scaling cliffs to lay seismic charges and struggling to move heavy equipment along winding mountain roads.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
May 2, 2013

Softbank chief says Dish wrong fit for Sprint

Softbank Corp. President Masayoshi Son lashed out at fellow billionaire Charlie Ergen, saying he doesn't have the expertise to run Sprint Nextel Corp., the U.S. mobile phone company both men are trying to take over.
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Mar 14, 2013

Convenience store companies boost employee income, engage in one-upmanship

Convenience stores a leading the way for higher employee wages, but is it enough?
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Companies
Feb 26, 2013

Nissan's female execs help drive strong sales

Among the 780,000 people employed in Japan's auto industry, only three are women responsible for the rollout of new models. They all work at Nissan Motor Co.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / Tech
Feb 8, 2013

Android 'fragmentation' leaves smartphones vulnerable

In late October, researchers at North Carolina State University alerted Google to a security flaw that could let scam artists send phony text messages to Android phones — a practice called "smishing" that can ensnare consumers in fraud.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Dec 11, 2012

Sony loses science talent as student resumes go to dairies

Science students are eschewing traditional high-powered employers such as Sony Corp. and Panasonic Corp. to help make ice cream and yogurt.
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 5, 2012

Apple after Steve Jobs: separating fact and fiction

This fall, Apple chief executive Tim Cook formally apologized for the company's mistake-filled mobile map application, which became a national joke for its screwy geography. The misstep focused new attention on the legendary company and how it has fared since the death of Steve Jobs in October 2011....
BUSINESS
Oct 30, 2012

Firm's new HR placement goals focus on internationally minded recruits

Major human resources placement company Robert Walters Japan is strengthening its support for Japanese companies that want to hire people suited to international business, its president said in a recent symposium in Tokyo.
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Oct 21, 2012

Enka scandal keeps star in the news

The conflict between Japan and South Korea over Takeshima/Dokdo has spilled over into the entertainment realm. Some Korean actors and K-pop stars have stated publicly that the group of islets belongs to Korea, causing Masayuki Matsumoto, the president of NHK, to express concern. Last month he hinted...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 11, 2012

Three steps to judging whether a disciplinary measure is legal

An English teacher writes: "Recently, my company placed me on a three-month suspension from work, until five days before my fixed-period employment contract expires. As I am still employed, I cannot claim unemployment benefits, and this lengthy period makes it almost financially prohibitive to remain...
BUSINESS
Aug 18, 2012

Orix looking to buy stake in Dubai life insurance firm

Orix Corp. is in talks to spend about $400 million to buy a stake in a Dubai-based life insurer from a European bank, according to President Makoto Inoue.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives
Aug 11, 2012

Import club caters to need for home comfort

The blonde man in shorts and a baseball cap, sporting a lopsided grin and a dangling backpack and parking a rusty bicycle, looked less like a captain of industry than a superannuated college student. Yet American Chuck Grafft, 50, is founder and CEO of Foreign Buyers Club, one of the largest importers...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 31, 2012

Strife-idled plant hits Maruti's dominance

Maruti Suzuki India Ltd. is weighing options for restoring production of its most popular models as recurring labor disputes at one of its plants threaten the company's lead in Asia's third-largest car market.
BUSINESS
Jul 28, 2012

Nagai taking over as Nomura CEO signals global retreat

Nomura Holdings Inc.'s appointment of domestic brokerage head Koji Nagai as the new chief signals a retrenchment into its home market as Japan's biggest investment bank reels from the insider-trading scandal and losses abroad.
Japan Times
LIFE
Jul 22, 2012

A century of Tokyo taxis

The year 1912 is recorded in Japan both as the 45th year of Meiji Era and the first year of the Taisho Era. After a protracted illness, Emperor Mutsuhito expired, age 61, on the night of July 29 (although the official announcement came the next day). Through the remainder of the summer, the front pages...
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 20, 2012

Property mogul Mori bets $202 million on China

Billionaire Akira Mori, the owner of Japan's most profitable closely held developer, said he has formed a company to invest in China and advise Japanese companies on expanding there.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 10, 2012

Ajinomoto goes gunning for growth

Seasonings company Ajinomoto Co. is considering acquisitions and plans to boost its pharmaceutical business to improve profitability.
COMMUNITY / Issues / LABOR PAINS
Jun 19, 2012

In 'right-to-work' Japan, employees should also have the right to rest

According to the tagline for the 1991 film "City Slickers," "All you need in life is love, courage and paid holidays." Indeed, some of us may find meaning to our lives through single-minded devotion to our jobs, but without leisure time our bodies and minds would inevitably putter out. Taken to extremes,...
EDITORIALS
May 24, 2012

The Facebook fizzle

The initial public offering (IPO) for Facebook, the social networking website, generated a media frenzy rarely seen since the dot.com bubble over a decade ago. Those who missed out on Friday's IPO could still buy shares through Tuesday, although the offering produced more press than profit — at least...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
May 10, 2012

Shakespeare's Globe hails a Japanese 'Coriolanus'

In fewer than 100 days time, athletes and spectators from around the world will be pouring into London to fill the great steel and concrete "O" of the Olympic Stadium. But there's another major venue that is already welcoming international audiences and stars — the "wooden O" of Shakespeare's Globe....
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2012

Postal privatization with service

The Lower House on Thursday passed a bill to revise the privatization scheme of the Japan Post group. The bill was jointly submitted to the Diet on April 3 by the Democratic Party of Japan, the Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito. It represents a rare case in which consultations among the three parties...
JAPAN / History / JAPAN TIMES GONE BY
Mar 18, 2012

Frog battles carp, indignant seamen strike, Roppongi the new night-life hub, passive-smoking case stubbed out

100 YEARS AGOTuesday, March 15, 1912
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / THE ZEIT GIST
Mar 6, 2012

Berlitz court ruling unequivocal on basic right to strike

After hearing more than three years of testimony, the judge took only a minute to read the court's verdict rejecting Berlitz Japan's ¥110 million lawsuit against striking teachers and their union and reaffirming organized labor's right to take industrial action.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past