search

 
 
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2006

All regions see recovery for quarter

For the first time in nine years, the Finance Ministry's 11 regional bureaus all reported a recovery trend in their areas for a second straight quarter.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2006

Sharp sees third straight year of record profit

Major electronics maker Sharp Corp. on Wednesday announced a record high group net profit of 88.67 billion yen for the year to March 31, up 15.4 percent from the previous year, thanks to brisk sales of flat-screen TVs.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 27, 2006

Putting art into fashion

"I'm just fed up with all the recycled cliches and the sensationalism," says Samuel Bourdin, son of the celebrated French fashion photographer Guy Bourdin, over the phone from Paris. "The press tries to make my father out to be some kind of depraved monster, but that's just not accurate."
JAPAN
Apr 27, 2006

North urged to hand Sin over

on suspicion that its top officials were involved in Hara's kidnapping.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2006

Stores to hold prices on ersatz beer

Retailer Aeon Co. said Wednesday it will hold the price of "third-category" beer steady despite an increase in taxes on the product that will take effect Monday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Apr 27, 2006

Embracing an organic modernism

At one of the extremes of 20-century architecture there were the modernists Adolf Loos and Le Corbusier and Bauhaus' Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe. They made impersonal and cool buildings in the "International Style" in vogue at the time that celebrated whiteness, straight lines and steel and...
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2006

Marubeni mulls joining buyout of Westinghouse

Marubeni Corp. is considering joining Toshiba Corp.'s $5.4 billion acquisition of Westinghouse Electric Co. of the U.S., company officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 27, 2006

FSA to punish SMBC for making borrowers buy interest swaps

The Financial Services Agency will punish Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. for abusing its position as a lender to force corporate borrowers to buy interest rate swaps, sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Apr 27, 2006

A permanent-collection show that impresses

The modern city envelops modern man so completely that he inhabits it even in his dreams -- even in his best dreams. That's the message weaving through the current exhibition at the Watari-Um Museum of Art in Tokyo's Aoyama district. "Beautiful Cities in Dreams" is the eighth incarnation in Watari's...
SUMO
Apr 26, 2006

Mini tourneys to be held on summer tour

The Japan Sumo Association will hold mini exhibition tournaments featuring sumo wrestlers from the top-tier makuuchi division during a five-day training tour of Taiwan scheduled for this summer, association officials said Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 26, 2006

Arakawa likely to sit out Grand Prix series

Olympic champion figure skater Shizuka Arakawa indicated Tuesday she will sit out this year's Grand Prix series while giving priority to appearances in ice shows.
SPORTS / E-LIST
Apr 26, 2006

Giants plowing on; Kiyohara vowing plows

So the Yomiuri Giants are some 49,000 games above .500 less than a month into the season. The E-List figured the Giants would have to be much better than they were last season, when the Giabbit cried so many tears over Yomiuri's crummy season he looked like a strung-out teenager who wore eyeliner in...
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 26, 2006

Media's vilification of Bonds shows lack of objectivity

It's a question that has to be asked.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 26, 2006

Scandal causes 8 JSF officials to step down

Eight members of the Japan Skating Federation executive committee will resign at the end of June over their alleged involvement in questionable business operations, federation officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

Mourners mark anniversary of JR West crash

AMAGASAKI, Hyogo Pref. -- Relatives of the dead and survivors gathered Tuesday morning to mark the first anniversary of a train crash that killed 107 people and injured nearly 550.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

More seniors opting for personalized wills

It hardly seems likely a kit called "Let's Write Our Will" would be a best-seller, but since its debut last year it has been a hit with elderly people.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

FTC raids firms over bid-rigging in water treatment

The Fair Trade Commission searched the offices of six water-treatment plant makers Tuesday looking for evidence of bid-rigging on local government contracts, investigation sources said.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

Koizumi era one of change, tension

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi, who pledged to "destroy" his own Liberal Democratic Party when he became its president five years ago, will probably be remembered for putting in place much-needed structural reforms.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

Dad urges harshest sentence for Obara

Timothy Blackman asked the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday to give the maximum penalty to Joji Obara, who is standing trial for the rape and fatal drugging of his daughter, Lucie, as well as another death and the rapes of eight other women.
JAPAN
Apr 26, 2006

Kin of forced laborers not eligible for back pay: court

The Tokyo High Court, upholding a lower court ruling, rejected on Tuesday a damages suit over unpaid wages filed by relatives of seven Koreans who were forced to work at a steel mill in Iwate Prefecture during the war.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

Nissan logs 872 billion yen record profit on global sales

Nissan Motor Co. said Tuesday it posted a record operating profit of 871.84 billion yen, up 1.2 percent from the previous year, in fiscal 2005 due to brisk global sales.
EDITORIALS
Apr 26, 2006

Learning from Chernobyl

At 1:23 a.m. on April 26, 1986, the worst nuclear-power accident in history occurred at Chernobyl, Ukraine, which was then part of the Soviet Union. Twenty years after the accident, the name "Chernobyl" and a view of the 90-meter-high concrete and steel sarcophagus covering Reactor Four at the power...
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

Toray bags big carbon-fiber deal for Boeing 787

Toray Industries Inc. said Tuesday it has won a contract to supply carbon fiber material for use in Boeing Co.'s new midsize B787 aircraft through 2021.
BUSINESS
Apr 26, 2006

Higher costs cut into KDDI profit by 30%

KDDI Corp. said Tuesday profit fell by 30 percent in the first quarter compared with the same period a year ago, hurt by higher sales promotion costs and a loss caused by a writedown of assets.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight