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BUSINESS
Nov 17, 2009

Oops! Trade chief leaks GDP data

Trade minister Masayuki Naoshima jumped the gun in disclosing Japan's gross domestic product growth data early Monday, raising concerns over the rookie Cabinet's management of information.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 17, 2009

Unholy hunt for an EU president shows the hypocrisy of states

HONG KONG — With the signing of the Lisbon Treaty by Czech Republic President Vaclav Klaus, the leaders of the 27 countries of the disunity known as the European Union are now free to take an important step backward on the tortuous road to give Europe global relevance that matches the size of its combined...
JAPAN
Nov 16, 2009

American Air's oneworld partners crafting incentives to retain JAL

American Airlines' partners in oneworld, the industry alliance that includes British Airways, are devising incentives to help keep Japan Airlines Corp. in the group. Each carrier is crafting its own offer, which will then be sent to JAL and the Japanese government as one proposal, oneworld managing partner...
LIFE / Travel / WEEK 3
Nov 15, 2009

Opening a 'window' to Japan

As a seven-year veteran at the Narita Airport Tourist Information Center, Yuka Tsujimura is at ease handling all kinds of questions and requests for help from inbound tourists who have just set foot in Japan.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball / NPB NOTEBOOK
Nov 13, 2009

Surprise contributors provided major impact for Giants this season

One year ago, outfielder Tetsuya Matsumoto appeared in just three games for the Yomiuri Giants. Pitcher Wirfin Obispo wasn't even a real member of the team.
COMMENTARY
Nov 13, 2009

Highlighting the return to a neglected region

HONG KONG — U.S. President Barack Obama plans to include the prime minister of Myanmar (aka Burma), a country long shunned by Washington, when he meets this week with leaders of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN).
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BY THE GLASS
Nov 13, 2009

An early start for Japanese wines

"Please don't drink too much," screeches a man wielding a megaphone, but he's a bit too late because half the genteel crowd are already totally hammered. It's not surprising, really, seeing as there are around 70 wines to sample and there's not a single spittoon in sight.
COMMENTARY / World
Nov 13, 2009

Obama's Asian occasions

This week Barack Obama begins his first trip to Asia as U.S. head of state. His visit to Singapore for the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meeting plus additional stops in Japan, China and South Korea offer an opportunity for the president to give further dynamism to America's relationships...
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2009

Emissions cap-and-trade as policy?

Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, at the United Nations Summit on Climate Change held Sept. 22, stated Japan's pledge to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) 25 percent from 1990 levels by 2020, which is premised on "all the major economies" agreeing on ambitious targets.
BUSINESS
Nov 12, 2009

New nonbureaucrat body starts cutting away at budget requests

Shifting away from the long-held practice of bureaucrats examining budget requests, the Government Revitalization Unit led by Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama on Wednesday took over the task and began looking for ways to pare ministries' funding demands for fiscal 2010.
COMMENTARY
Nov 12, 2009

Re-energizing America's role in trade talks

International trade has been an engine of growth for many Asian countries, enabling them to create jobs and raise living standards faster than in countries elsewhere in the world that were unready to take advantage of surging trade opportunities.
BUSINESS
Nov 11, 2009

Japanese women still hitting a glass and bamboo ceiling in the boardroom

Japan ranks 31st out of 35 countries in terms of the percentage of female board of directors, falling below Jordan, Oman and Kuwait, a U.S.-based nonprofit group said Tuesday.
EDITORIALS
Nov 7, 2009

Tough pension task for DPJ

When the Democratic Party of Japan was in the opposition, party member Mr. Akira Nagatsuma was known for research into the problem of hard-to- identify pension-premium payment records and his sharp questions on the matter in the Diet. Now as health, labor and welfare minister, he finds himself struggling...
BUSINESS
Nov 7, 2009

APEC to ask Japan for proposals on regional FTA

SINGAPORE (Kyodo) Leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum will give Japan, the next APEC chair, the task of identifying ways for the 21-member grouping to create a free-trade bloc, according to a statement they are expected to issue at their Nov. 14-15 summit in Singapore.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY
Nov 7, 2009

Yoko Ono, forever a force for peace

Even before she married John Lennon, even before she embarked on a career as an avant-garde and conceptual artist, Yoko Ono was under scrutiny, first by her teachers and peers, later by people of a different region as her family fled the fire-bombings of Tokyo.

Longform

After the asset-price bubble crash of the early 1990s, employment at a Japanese company was no longer necessarily for life. As a result, a new generation is less willing to endure a toxic work culture —life’s too short, after all.
How Japan's youth are slowly changing the country's work ethic