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BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2008

MMC to shut Aussie plant, shift production to China, Russia

Mitsubishi Motors Corp., Japan's fastest-growing car exporter, will shut a factory in Australia after models made there failed to attract buyers, said three company officials who declined to be named.
BUSINESS
Feb 5, 2008

Takeda to purchase local Amgen unit

Takeda Pharmaceutical Co., Japan's largest drugmaker, agreed to buy the local unit of Amgen Inc., gaining cancer and arthritis medicines.
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2008

Geopolitical risks on the rise

DAVOS, Switzerland — At the recent World Economic Forum meeting of top political, business, intellectual and civil-society leaders, the discussions centered on a range of major international challenges — from new threats to the growing strain on water and other resources.
COMMENTARY
Feb 4, 2008

'Plumpynut' features in malnutrition fight

NEW YORK — The World Health Organization estimates that 20 million children worldwide suffer from severe acute malnutrition right now. This untenable condition leads to a child dying every five seconds in regions such as the Sahel, the Horn of Africa and South Asia, known as the world's "malnutrition...
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2008

A farce of a presidential race

While the U.S. campaign intensifies, Russia's presidential race is becoming increasingly farcical. There is little doubt that Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, President Vladimir Putin's chosen successor, will win the March ballot. But the government is taking no chances, eliminating any real competition and making...
BUSINESS / THE VIEW FROM EUROPE
Feb 4, 2008

For Russia and Japan, bad blood not as thick as it seems

The great industrialist Henry Ford once proclaimed "history is bunk." But when it comes to international business, this wisdom does not always prevail.
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2008

Focus in U.S. campaign narrows

The U.S. presidential campaign sharpened last week with the withdrawals of Mr. Rudy Giuliani and Mr. John Edwards. Now, two main candidates dominate each race and will battle head to head in "Super Tuesday" this week and to their nominating conventions later this year. Voters in both parties now have...
COMMENTARY
Feb 3, 2008

Election should settle the war question

LOS ANGELES — The current race for the White House might just prove to be a great clarifier on the Iraq war. This is undoubtedly the high-profile foreign-policy problem that the world would like our electoral system to resolve decisively.
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2008

Facebook adds to the isolation

Thank you for the editorial on the keitai culture. But it may be a case of too late. As the keitai culture has now "blossomed" into Facebook culture, we truly are on the road to further isolation. Weren't increasing advancements in technology meant to keep us closer together? anthony kimbley
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2008

Whaling dates back centuries

In response to Lindsay Caffin's Jan. 27 letter, "If we're talking about tradition" (with regard to whaling), I would like to suggest doing research via a simple tool like the Internet. Records such as the Kojiki, Japan's oldest written document, state that whaling goes back to the eighth century, meaning...
Reader Mail
Feb 3, 2008

Policies discourage childbearing

Moving the birthrate up from its presently pitiful levels is a task for which every member and segment of Japan government, community, business has some degree of responsibility. From the point of view of the business world, it would be helpful if pricing policies made the participation of families in...
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Feb 3, 2008

Teams open training camp, begin countdown to start of season

Sounds of baseballs popping into gloves and the crack of bat against ball are ringing out in Okinawa, south Kyushu and Shikoku as the 12 Central and Pacific League teams began spring training Feb. 1 in preparation for what promises to be an exciting Japan pro ball season that begins in just 46 days with...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Feb 3, 2008

'Lest We Forget' — what?

There may be no more potent expression of our consciousness of historical tragedy than the three words "Lest We Forget."
EDITORIALS
Feb 3, 2008

Putting the pieces back together

The Social Insurance Agency on Dec. 17 started sending notices about pension premium payment records to people with the expectation that the notices would help them remember details of past pension premium payments and partially solve the problem of 50.95 million hard-to-identify payment records.

Longform

In 2020, 38% of all households were single-person. That figure is projected to rise to 44.3% by 2050.
The rise of AI companionship in a lonely Japan