Search - 2005

 
 
BUSINESS
Jun 14, 2006

U.S. rate fears pound Nikkei

The benchmark Nikkei stock index plummeted more than 600 points Tuesday as investors were spooked by the likelihood of further U.S. interest rate hikes and an admission by Bank of Japan Gov. Toshihiko Fukui that he has 10 million yen in an investment fund linked to insider trading.
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2006

REIT value swells 63% to surpass 4 trillion yen

The aggregate value of land owned by real estate investment trusts totaled 4.03 trillion yen at the end of March, up a sharp 63 percent from a year earlier, attesting to the solid growth of the REIT market, the Land, Infrastructure and Transport Ministry reported Friday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 10, 2006

Dream Technologies' revival tied to Murakami

Late last October, while everyone was watching Rakuten Inc. make a surprise bid to integrate with Tokyo Broadcasting System Inc., Yoshiaki Murakami launched a new investment plan.
JAPAN
Jun 5, 2006

Murakami, three execs face arrest over alleged insider trades

Investment fund mogul Yoshiaki Murakami and three of his executives are expected to be arrested as early as Monday for alleged insider trading, sources said Sunday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Jun 4, 2006

Everything you need to know about Japan's All-Star Games

Fan balloting is under way for the 2006 Japan Pro Baseball Sanyo All-Star Series to be played next month.
BUSINESS
Jun 3, 2006

Murakami probed over NBS share deals

Prosecutors are investigating the Murakami fund for possible insider trading in connection with its Nippon Broadcasting System share transactions last year, sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Jun 2, 2006

Workers shed coats, ties for '06 'Cool Biz' season

This year's "Cool Biz" casual attire campaign kicked off Thursday with men across Japan, from politicians to office employees, urged to leave their coats and ties at home during summer to help cut back on power consumption for air conditioning.
JAPAN
May 30, 2006

Defense trio admit guilt in project bid-rigging

Three former Defense Facilities Administration Agency officials pleaded guilty Monday to playing key roles in rigging bids in projects related to defense facilities.
BUSINESS
May 30, 2006

All major life insurers had better financial health in '05

The nation's nine major life insurers had financial improvements in fiscal 2005 due mainly to appraisal gains on stockholdings.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 28, 2006

Lack of power not hurting Hillman's Fighters

The Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters American manager Trey Hillman says the most exciting time of his 3 1/2 seasons at the helm of the Pacific League club is right now.
Japan Times
LIFE
May 28, 2006

Manga by any other name is . . .

With the video-game business now outgrossing Hollywood's box office, and anime being distributed to destinations as diverse as Patagonia and Phuket, the influence of Japan's entertainment industry on young people worldwide has never been as powerful.
BUSINESS
May 26, 2006

Customers push megabanks to share the wealth

The top six banking groups' record profits from 2005 are being criticized not only by customers who have put up with years of bad service and token interest rates, but also regional banks seriously affected by their advances.
BUSINESS
May 25, 2006

Sompo Japan president to resign amid scandals

Sompo Japan Insurance Inc. President Hiroshi Hirano announced Wednesday that he will become chairman in late June after being replaced by Managing Director Masatoshi Sato as the company deals with scandals that have drawn sanctions from the government.
JAPAN
May 24, 2006

Three firms hit for tax evasion

Chubu Electric Power Co. failed to declare about 7.6 billion yen in taxable income in the two-year period to March 2005, while Brother Industries Ltd. failed to declare about 2.2 billion yen in the two-year period to March 2004, tax agency sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
May 24, 2006

Shinsei Bank profit hits record 76 billion yen

Shinsei Bank has reported a record group net profit of 76.01 billion yen for the fiscal year to March 31, up 12.8 percent from a year earlier.
EDITORIALS
May 24, 2006

To thwart self-destruction

Iraq's national unity government finally was inaugurated Saturday after the Parliament approved a list of 36 men and women appointed to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. The government is the first constitutionally based one since President Saddam Hussein's was toppled in 2003. With the...
COMMENTARY
May 22, 2006

Japan keeps blowing smoke

This year's slogan adopted by the World Health Organization for No Tobacco Day (May 31) is "Tobacco: deadly in any form or disguise." Since the framework convention on tobacco control came into effect in February 2005, the antismoking movement has become an irreversible global trend.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
May 21, 2006

Zuleta defends his actions after being plunked by Kanemura

It was Sunday, April 16. The Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks and Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters were playing in Kyushu. Hawks slugger Julio Zuleta was at the plate when Fighters right-hander Satoru Kanemura delivered a pitch that sailed inside and nailed Zuleta in the middle of his 197-cm frame.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
May 19, 2006

Psychedelic radar 05.19

Friday, May 19
BUSINESS
May 18, 2006

March industrial output up 0.2%

Industrial output grew a seasonally adjusted 0.2 percent in March and rose an unadjusted 1.6 percent in fiscal 2005, the government said Wednesday in leaving the data unchanged from a preliminary report.
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
May 16, 2006

Second-class citizens

Rogelio Buscio's shoes were missing. It was the evening of July 27, 2005, and 30-year old Filipino Bucio was getting ready to leave the dormitory he shared with other Sanjo Metal Company Ltd. trainees to start his evening shift. He looked everywhere, asked everyone. Nobody was giving up the shoes.
CULTURE / Books
May 14, 2006

Asia needs to fill its brand deficit

ASIAN BRAND STRATEGY by Martin Roll, Palgrave Macmillan, 2005, 272 pp., $42.50 (cloth). Shizuka Arakawa's graceful spins and spirals enthralled a nation as she won Japan the gold medal in women's figure skating at the Winter Olympics. But few would have cheered more loudly than Tokyo rice producer Toyorice...
BUSINESS
May 12, 2006

Merged duo's photo pullout results in loss of 54 billion yen

Konica Minolta Holdings Inc. reported a 54.31 billion yen net loss for fiscal 2005 on Thursday, as it wrote down fixed assets following a decision to withdraw from the camera and film business.
BUSINESS
May 12, 2006

NEC reports 84% plunge in profit

NEC Corp. on Thursday reported an 84 percent plunge in profit for fiscal 2005 due to a drop in prices for computer chips, computers and mobile phones.
BUSINESS
May 10, 2006

Disney properties' profit down in '05 due to Aichi Expo

The operator of Tokyo Disneyland said Tuesday it posted a pretax profit of 26.69 billion yen in fiscal 2005, down 13.5 percent, due to the World Exposition in Aichi.
EDITORIALS
May 2, 2006

Nepal's king caves in

The confusion in Nepal's political situation appears to have been settled at least temporarily. But the future prospect is not necessarily transparent. Large-scale strikes and protests punctuated with violence have forced the increasingly isolated King Gyanendra to reinstate the dissolved Parliament....
EDITORIALS
Apr 29, 2006

Responsible decision on relief

Kubota Corp., a major machinery maker, has established its own relief system for sufferers of asbestos-linked diseases who were not employees. This system, which offers "relief money" ranging from 25 million yen to 46 million yen each, covers residents around the company's asbestos-contaminated factory...
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2006

Matsushita, Toshiba show strong annual results

Major consumer electronics firms Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. and Toshiba Corp. posted strong financial results Friday for fiscal 2005 despite a wide difference in the performances of their flat-panel display businesses.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2006

ANA's sales and operating profit soar; net profit falls

All Nippon Airways Co. reported Friday record-high consolidated pretax profit, operating profit and sales for fiscal 2005, thanks to strong demand for domestic air travel, which more than offset the impact of higher fuel prices.

Longform

A small shrine perched atop rocks braves the waves hitting the shoreline during a storm in Shimoda, Shizuoka Prefecture. The area is under threat of a possible 31-meter-high tsunami if an earthquake strikes the nearby Nankai Trough.
If the 'Big One' hits, this city could face a 31-meter-high tsunami