Search - (2006-01-27)

 
 
BUSINESS
Nov 29, 2005

Mitsubishi Fuso to slim operations

Scandal-tainted Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. said Monday it will streamline its domestic sales network and group firms to slash costs and increase efficiency as it struggles to cope with dwindling domestic sales.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 27, 2005

Sikorski's release, expansion and playoff ideas fill mailbag

Thanks to all readers of the "Baseball Bullet-In" for your e-mails and interest in Japanese baseball.
JAPAN
Nov 27, 2005

Meeting flu drug target to take two years

The health ministry's target of stockpiling enough Tamiflu, the antiviral drug considered the first line of defense against the H5N1 avian flu virus, to cover 21 million people can be met in two years at the earliest, sources said Saturday.
BUSINESS
Nov 26, 2005

State severs talks with localities on subsidy cutbacks

The central government broke off talks Friday with local government representatives on ways to decentralize fiscal authority, brushing off local-level opposition to proposed cuts in welfare subsidies.
BUSINESS
Nov 23, 2005

Panel eyes death of 1999 tax cuts

The Tax Commission plans to recommend in its fiscal 2006 tax reform proposals that the government abolish the 1999 income tax cuts at both national and local levels in January 2007, and some corporate tax cuts as scheduled in March, Commission Chairman Hiromitsu Ishi said Tuesday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 20, 2005

Inaugural Konami Cup a great way to end the 2005 season

The first Konami Cup Asia Series, held Nov. 10-13 at Tokyo Dome, gets high marks from this chair for its organization, execution and quality of play.
BUSINESS
Nov 19, 2005

BOJ on same page with ruling bloc, Fukui assures

The Bank of Japan's goal is to sustain economic growth, just like the politicians who are decrying any suggested attempt by the central bank to end its ultraloose monetary policy, BOJ Gov. Toshihiko Fukui said Friday.
JAPAN
Nov 17, 2005

30 billion yen extra-budget eyed for asbestos victims

The government will propose that 30 billion yen be allocated in the fiscal 2005 supplementary budget to redress asbestos victims not eligible for workers compensation, sources said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2005

Suzuki Swift named car of the year

Suzuki Motor Corp.'s Swift has won the 2006 RJC Car of the Year award from the Automotive Researchers' & Journalists' Conference, the 87-member group said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Nov 16, 2005

Koizumi wants bond issues cut

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi instructed his Cabinet and Liberal Democratic Party leaders Tuesday to keep new issues of government bonds "as near 30 trillion yen" as possible in the fiscal 2006 budget.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 15, 2005

Aussies preparing for worst

SYDNEY -- Tough new antiterrorist laws will soon give troops shoot-to-kill authority when patrolling Australian streets in anticipation of a terrorist attack. But the change will come only after the Australian public has agonized over a claimed loss of civil liberties.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 13, 2005

Decision by Giants to release reliever Sikorski a real mystery

You read this past week where the Yomiuri Giants have decided to clean house regarding their foreign players, releasing outfielder Tuffy Rhodes and pitchers Brian Sikorski, Scott Mullen and J.B. Miadich.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2005

IT, R&D tax breaks may be eliminated in March

A Tax Commission subcommittee agreed Friday that some of the government's corporate tax breaks should be abolished as planned next March because the economy seems to be recovering.
EDITORIALS
Nov 11, 2005

High hopes for Mr. Mitarai

Mr. Fujio Mitarai, president of Canon Inc., has been picked to succeed Mr. Hiroshi Okuda as head of Nippon Keidanren (the Japan Business Federation). He will start leading the organization dubbed as the "commanding headquarters" of Japan's business community in May 2006.
EDITORIALS
Nov 8, 2005

Ending the zero-rate policy

In March 2001, the Bank of Japan set short-term interest rates at near zero, declaring that the nation's economy had entered a period of deflation. That extra-loose monetary policy, which is said to have had few parallels in the world, is likely to change next spring, because an upturn in consumer prices...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 6, 2005

Hot hibachi league heating up; can Jojima cut it in majors?

Welcome to the new sponsored "Baseball Bullet-In," and thanks to Jeff Libengood and the staff of the just-opened East West Fitness workout place in Tokyo for the support. If you would like to sponsor a column in an upcoming edition of The Japan Times, please contact me at the e-mail address below.
JAPAN
Oct 21, 2005

7 trillion yen cut in health care spending eyed by '25

The government is seeking to cut health care spending to 49 trillion yen by fiscal 2025, or 7 trillion yen lower than its current goal, mainly by raising elderly people's insurance premiums and their share of the bills, according to a draft plan.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / CERAMIC SCENE
Sep 29, 2005

Raku's hand-held universes and the unseen pots of Kamoda

The phrase "contemplation of the everyday object as a mystical resource" graces the back of a catalog from the 1998 Raku exhibition that toured Europe. I say it over and over in my mind like a mantra, challenging myself to be aware of the things I live with and how they not only satisfy my needs but...
SOCCER / World cup
Sep 21, 2005

Japan to face Germany in friendly

Japan will play Germany in an international soccer friendly next May in a warmup for the 2006 World Cup, Japan Football Association President Saburo Kawabuchi said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2005

No tariff cut on Mexican chicken

Japan and Mexico failed to agree on a cut in Japanese tariffs on exported Mexican chicken meat at talks in Paris Japanese officials said Thursday.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Sep 6, 2005

CL eyes playoff system for 2007

The members of the Central League executive committee agreed Monday to consider introducing a playoff system for the first time in league history in 2007.
JAPAN
Sep 2, 2005

Panel proposes measures to ensure trains run at safe speeds

A transport ministry panel said Thursday that it will issue proposals mainly to ensure trains don't run at unsafe speeds, after the deadly derailment on West Japan Railway Co.'s Fukuchiyama Line in April.
BUSINESS
Aug 24, 2005

Mizuho outlines public funds repayment

The Mizuho Financial Group Inc. said Tuesday it will return 616.4 billion yen of the 1.466 trillion yen in public funds it received to replenish its capital by the end of this month, and that it planned to pay back the remaining 850 billion yen in the first half of fiscal 2006.
JAPAN
Aug 20, 2005

Postal reform bills still top LDP agenda

The Liberal Democratic Party pledged Friday to resubmit Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's defeated postal privatization bills for passage in the next Diet session.
COMMENTARY / World
Aug 20, 2005

Consolidating against conflict, disaster

SINGAPORE -- Despite some initial difficulties, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations preserved its cohesion as a credible regional organization to end a weeklong series of annual meetings on a good note late last month in Vientiane:
JAPAN
Aug 13, 2005

Economy grew 0.3% in April-June quarter

The nation's economy grew by a less-than-expected 0.3 percent in the April-June quarter, the government said Friday, but economists said better business and consumer spending, along with strong exports, suggest Japan's recovery this time may last.

Longform

Ichiro Suzuki, one of the most iconic players in NPB and MLB history, was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame with 99.7% of the vote.
With Hall of Fame induction, Ichiro makes himself heard loud and clear