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BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2008

J-Power, Marubeni ink China deals

J-Power, Marubeni Corp. and JGC Corp. are among Japanese companies that signed agreements Friday to develop water and power projects in China and gain from increased demand in the fastest-growing major economy.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2008

Japan Post Bank logs first-half profit

Japan Post Bank Co., the world's biggest deposit holder, reported half-year profit of ¥150.1 billion Friday, beating listed rivals that have been struck by rising bad loans and investment losses.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2008

Morimoto folds, failures hit record

Property developer Morimoto Co. filed for bankruptcy protection Friday with ¥162 billion in debt, bringing the number of bankruptcies among publicly traded companies in Japan to a postwar record.
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2008

Idemitsu plans 15% quarterly cut in oil processing as demand wanes

Idemitsu Kosan Co., Japan's second-largest oil refiner, said Friday it plans to cut crude oil processing by 15 percent in the quarter ending Dec. 31 as demand for gasoline and other petroleum products declines.
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2008

Supplementary budget shelved

Prime Minister Taro Aso finally made it clear that he will not submit a second supplementary budget for fiscal 2008, which is necessary to implement the ¥26.9 trillion economic stimulus package, to the current extraordinary Diet session. Instead, he will submit it to an ordinary Diet session to be convened...
EDITORIALS
Nov 28, 2008

Confusing remarks about grants

The Cabinet of former Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda in May decided to free up road-related tax revenues from fiscal 2009 for use in such fields as education and social welfare. At the same time, it decided that care should be taken so that road construction is not hampered and that local governments do...
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2008

Diet extended for key bills as DPJ relents

The government and the Liberal Democratic Party-New Komeito ruling bloc officially ordered an extension to the current extraordinary Diet session until Dec. 25 to secure passage of two key bills.
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2008

Top court notifying lay judge candidates

Over the next few days, some 295,000 Japanese can expect to find a large envelope from the Supreme Court in their mailboxes with the following notice: "This is to inform you that, as a result of a lottery, you are listed as a prospective lay judge of the court (between May 21 and Dec. 31, 2009)."
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Nov 28, 2008

Kansai's many Christmas highlights

Streets in the Kansai region have already started to sparkle with the cheerful spirit of the season. Yes, the Christmas and New Year's holidays are coming around soon. Here are some ideas on where you can get into a jolly, festive mood.
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Nov 28, 2008

A hideaway in Mito

The historic city of Mito in Ibaraki Prefecture serves as the transfer point to the JR Suigun Line, a narrow-gauge single-track line that runs along the scenic Kuji River en route to the Fukuroda Falls.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 28, 2008

Defense of an artist who had lived as a slave

NEW YORK — Next year will mark the 20th anniversary of the collapse of communism in Europe. Liberated from the complexity of knowing too much about the cruel past, the young people of Eastern Europe's postcommunist generation seem uninterested in what their parents and grandparents endured.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2008

'Broken English'

Zoe Cassavetes' first feature film, "Broken English," hovers expertly between the realm of total credibility and urban fairy-tale for chicks, the kind of story you're likely to hear from a girlfriend over lunch about someone in her office who hasn't had a date in two whole years and wham! She met THE...
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2008

Airing of test scores opposed

About 95 percent of municipal boards of education do not want to disclose how well — or how badly — public school students in their jurisdiction do on nationwide achievement tests, according to an education ministry survey released Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008

Dreaming of a Pink Christmas

"Almost every year, I'm working at Christmastime," mourns Kaori Asada. "If I'm not working, I'll have a big Christmas party with friends and family. But in the last 10 years, I haven't had that kind of Christmas party, ha ha. Still, I like Christmas."
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008

Chanson musicians bring a little warmth to a Japanese winter

As a genre, chanson is difficult to pin down. In French, it simply means "song," and for most of France's history the word described anything from madrigals to romantic poetry. Since the end of World War II, it has come to represent a pop style that places a premium on the fluidity of the French language....
JAPAN
Nov 28, 2008

An NGO reaches out to bullied foreign kids

KYOTO — Bullying is widely recognized as a problem affecting Japanese children. But non-Japanese kids and their parents who are also harassed can have a particularly hard time finding either sympathy or practical advice in their native language.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Nov 28, 2008

'1408'/'Diary of the Dead'

"1408" is the latest story by Stephen King to make it to the big screen, and it's quite similar to one of the first King movies, "The Shining." There's a cynical writer — John Cusack this time, instead of Jack Nicholson — who goes to stay at a spooky hotel, but it's OK, because he doesn't believe...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Nov 28, 2008

Lisa Loeb

Now that it's almost December, there can be only one thing on the minds of kids around Japan: Um, summer camp?

Longform

Members of the nonprofit group Japan Youth Memorial Association search for the remains of dead soldiers in a cave in Okinawa Prefecture in February.
The long search for Japan’s lost soldiers