Search - 2005

 
 
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2006

Brisk demand for gadgets helps boost industrial output 1.6%

National industrial production rose an unadjusted 1.6 percent in fiscal 2005 for the fourth consecutive year of growth, supported by brisk demand for electronic devices and transportation equipment, the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry said in a preliminary report Friday.
BUSINESS
Apr 29, 2006

Howa Bank eyes public funds to boost capital

Howa Bank, a second-tier regional bank based in Oita Prefecture, said Friday it is considering applying to the Financial Services Agency for an injection of public funds to strengthen its depleted capital.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2006

MMC operating profit may signal end to dark days

Mitsubishi Motors Corp. reported Thursday it had an operating profit of 6.8 billion yen in fiscal 2005, its first profit in three years and a sign the firm may finally be coming out from under the weight of its defect coverup debacle.
BUSINESS
Apr 28, 2006

JR trio saw record sales, pretax profits in '05, despite crashes

Three major Japan Railway carriers Thursday reported record consolidated sales and pretax profits for fiscal 2005, led by strong demand for bullet train and conventional rail line travel, despite fatal train accidents involving two of them.
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Apr 26, 2006

A voice of reason countering Big Oil's clout

The United States government may be hemorrhaging money in Iraq, but the financial condition of America's oil companies and their top management couldn't be rosier.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 23, 2006

Giants hope Glover has golden touch

In last week's column, I mentioned five key players who have triggered the phenomenal start this season by the Yomiuri Giants: second baseman Makoto Kosaka, outfielder Kenji Yano, first sacker Lee Seung Yeop, starting pitcher Jeremy "J.P." Powell and closer Kiyoshi Toyoda.
JAPAN
Apr 23, 2006

Kimura execs to be arrested this week

Police have decided to arrest Moriyoshi Kimura, president of Kimura Construction Co., and former company executives early this week on suspicion of submitting falsified financial statements to the infrastructure ministry, sources said.
CULTURE / Books
Apr 23, 2006

Two theaters of the Asian absurd

THIRTY-THREE TEETH by Colin Cotterill. New York: Soho Press, 2005, 238 pp., $24 (cloth). FAN-TAN by Marlon Brando and Donald Cammell. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, 249 pp., $23.95 (cloth). Novels set in Asia that combine crime and detection with touches of humor are not especially numerous, but the...
EDITORIALS
Apr 22, 2006

Trust and the Food Safety Commission

The trustworthiness of the Food Safety Commission appears to be in jeopardy. Half of the 12-member panel under the commission that was tasked with assessing the safety of North American beef resigned as of March 31. The six who quit were regarded by consumer groups as being cautious about the idea of...
BUSINESS
Apr 21, 2006

Yahoo Japan sets another profit record

Yahoo Japan Corp. reported Thursday that it set an all-time high for earnings for the ninth consecutive year, helped by an increase in advertising and the popularity of its Internet auction and shopping businesses in 2005.
JAPAN
Apr 20, 2006

After a bad winter, experts try to come up with a snow plan

A government panel of experts has come up with an outline of recommendations on how to deal with heavy snow, which caused 150 deaths this winter season.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Apr 16, 2006

Return of Hara, revamped roster have Giants off to fast start

The Yomiuri Giants are off to a great start in the 2006 Central League pennant race, winning 11 of their first 13 games (with one tie) and taking the early lead in the CL standings.
EDITORIALS
Apr 16, 2006

Burden-sharing must be fair

Japan and the United States have been holding negotiations over sharing of the cost to relocate U.S. Marines from Okinawa to Guam. In the negotiations held in Washington earlier this month, the two parties could not overcome their differences. A followup round of negotiations held in Tokyo last week...
BUSINESS
Apr 15, 2006

FSA orders suspension at Aiful

The Financial Services Agency said Friday it has ordered consumer finance firm Aiful Corp. to suspend most operations at its 1,700 outlets for three to 25 days over the use of strong-arm collection tactics.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2006

Nonresident stock buys beat 1 trillion yen in March

Nonresident net purchases of Japanese stocks totaled 1.49 trillion yen in March, topping the 1 trillion yen mark for the first time in two months, the Finance Ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 13, 2006

Lending climbs 1.5%

The average daily balance of bank lending grew for the eighth straight month in March, up 1.5 percent from the previous March after adjustment for special factors, according to a Bank of Japan report released Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Apr 12, 2006

A hazard named Winny

It seems not a day passes without news on leakage of confidential information from governmental and other entities onto the Internet. The types of information leaked are vast and the content is critical -- Self-Defense Forces-related documents, quake-resistance data for nuclear-power plants, access codes...
EDITORIALS
Apr 7, 2006

Nuclear safety called into question

A court ruling issued in late March concerning a power reactor in Ishikawa Prefecture has proved both rare and astounding. Saying that there is a problem with the earthquake-resistance design of the reactor, the court ordered a halt to the operation of the nuclear-power station -- the first ruling ordering...
EDITORIALS
Apr 6, 2006

Care of the terminally ill

Seven patients died between 2000 and 2005 at a hospital in Imizu, Toyama Prefecture, because doctors removed their respirators. Police have started an investigation. A 50-year-old chief surgeon responsible for taking the respirators from six of the patients said he acted on the will of the patients'...
EDITORIALS
Apr 4, 2006

A divide over the income gap

The perceived widening in the gap between the haves and have-nots in Japan has become a frequent topic of public debates. Those conscious of the gap refer to it as a negative byproduct of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reforms. Meanwhile, the government denies that the income gap is growing.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2006

Larger vehicle sales down; minicars strong

Domestic new vehicle sales excluding minicars edged down 0.7 percent from the previous year to total 3.9 million units in fiscal 2005 -- which ended Friday -- due to weak passenger car sales, the Japan Automobile Dealers Association said Monday.
BUSINESS
Apr 4, 2006

Manufacturers' confidence takes surprising drop

Confidence among major manufacturers dropped unexpectedly -- albeit slightly -- in the first quarter of the year due to high oil prices, marking the first decline in four quarters, according to the Bank of Japan's closely watched "tankan" survey released Monday.
JAPAN
Mar 31, 2006

23,800 rights abuses tallied in Japan

The number of human rights violations reported to the Justice Ministry's regional legal affairs bureaus across Japan reached a record-high 23,800 in 2005, up 4 percent from the previous year, a ministry tally showed Thursday.
JAPAN
Mar 30, 2006

Change to allow foreign political funds

Running for office doesn't come cheap. Politicians need money for posters, vans, venues for speeches and meals for volunteers. The problem for aspirants to office is that political donations are falling, and corporate money in particular is dwindling fast.
BUSINESS
Mar 28, 2006

Big firms' confidence off

Major companies became less confident about business conditions in the January-March quarter as manufacturers were hit by high oil prices, pushing the key confidence index down for the first time in four quarters, a government survey showed Monday.

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