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BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2006

June wholesale prices rise 3.3%

Wholesale prices rose strongly again in June, jumping 3.3 percent from a year earlier, matching the May increase and reflecting a continued surge in crude oil and other commodities, the Bank of Japan said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2006

Convenience store trio circle wagons against Seven-Eleven

Three major convenience store chains have agreed to jointly develop and market soft drinks in cut procurement costs and to better compete with industry leader Seven-Eleven Japan Co., sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Jul 13, 2006

Antiestablishment for all

Founded in 1970 by director Sho Ryuzanji, the Engekidan company was a natural bridge between two major theatrical movements in postwar Japan: the 1960s underground scene of dramatists such as Shuji Terayama and Juro Kara and the so-called "small-scale theater movement" started in the 1980s by the likes...
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2006

Student loan defaults hit 142,000 in '05

A record 142,000 people have failed to repay their student loans even a year after the deadline, a survey by the government-affiliated Japan Student Services Organization showed Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2006

Kirin bests Asahi in first-half suds shipments for first time in five years

Kirin Brewery Co. overtook Asahi Breweries Ltd. in terms of shipments of beer and beerlike drinks in the January-June period for the first time in five years, industry figures showed Wednesday.
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2006

Mr. Ozawa makes the right moves

Democratic Party of Japan President Ichiro Ozawa's efforts to convince the public that his and his party's policies significantly differ from those of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi and the Liberal Democratic Party are taking concrete shape, especially in foreign policy. He is embracing the principle...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Jul 13, 2006

Soaking up the 'male gaze'

What to make of photographs of blue tarpaulins, mobiles of cigarette butts and bathroom sponges folded to suggest a woman's derriere?
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2006

Japan firm on missile position

Japan remains firmly behind its U.N. Security Council draft resolution to impose sanctions on North Korea, despite France's proposed compromise this week, Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 13, 2006

Kabu.com will launch after-hours exchange

Online brokerage kabu.com Securities Co. said Wednesday it plans to start an after-hours trading system in August that will take orders from kabu.com account holders.
EDITORIALS
Jul 13, 2006

Problems go beyond data falsification

The criminal investigation into the falsification of earthquake-resistance data for buildings, which surfaced in November 2005 and shook the nation, has ended with the indictment of disgraced structure designer Mr. Hidetsugu Aneha and several other people. The investigation's outcome shows the issue...
JAPAN
Jul 13, 2006

Osaka activist's arrest lays bare yakuza ties with 'burakumin'

On the night of Jan. 26, 1985, four hit men from the Ichiwa-kai crime syndicate drove up to an apartment complex in Suita, Osaka Prefecture.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Toyota execs suspected of negligence

Three Toyota officials are under criminal investigation on suspicion of professional negligence for allegedly not issuing vehicle recalls for eight years and not fixing a defect that might have caused an accident, police said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Officials try to defuse fallout from pre-emption issue

Monday's inflammatory remarks by Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe in the wake of North Korea's missile tests have touched off a controversy over Japan's interpretation of "pre-emptive attacks."
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2006

Racism plagues Western media coverage

GAZA -- Racism is "the belief that one 'racial group' is inferior to another and the practices of the dominant group to maintain the inferior position of the dominated group. Often defined as a combination of power, prejudice and discrimination."
EDITORIALS
Jul 12, 2006

Crisis for the WTO

A nother attempt to revive the Doha Round of international trade negotiations has failed. Unable to find common ground on agricultural issues, some 60 trade ministers -- less than half the members of the World Trade Organization (WTO) -- cut short efforts recently to break the deadlock in Geneva. Before...
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2006

ANA, Rakuten tie on online booking

All Nippon Airways Co. and the Rakuten Inc. group will start a new service in October enabling people to reserve cheaper flights and hotels via the Internet, sources said Tuesday.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2006

Major insurers plan firm to run joint sales outlets

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co., Mitsui Life Insurance Co. and Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. said Tuesday they will jointly set up a new company to operate outlets to sell insurance products.
COMMENTARY / World
Jul 12, 2006

Look deeply into Putin's eyes

LONDON — As the leaders of the G7 countries meet in St. Petersburg this week I hope they will have another look into the eyes of Russian President Vladimir Putin. It is five years since U.S. President George W. Bush looked into those eyes and claimed to be able to see Putin's soul, which he found to...
JAPAN / Science & Health / NATURAL SELECTIONS
Jul 12, 2006

Guinea pigs hail 'mystical experience'

What was the most spiritually meaningful moment in your life?
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Horie key in takeovers: ex-CFO

Former Livedoor Co. Chief Financial Officer Ryoji Miyauchi told the Tokyo District Court on Tuesday that Livedoor founder Takafumi Horie played a key role when the Internet company decided whether to take over other firms.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Koizumi off to Middle East amid Gaza conflict

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi left for a five-day visit to the Middle East on Tuesday amid ongoing fighting in the Palestinian territories where Israel has been carrying out a military offensive and concerns back home that North Korea might test-launch more missiles.
JAPAN
Jul 12, 2006

Koizumi wants UNSC vote on North Korea before G8

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi said Tuesday he hopes the U.N. Security Council votes on a resolution calling for sanctions on North Korea before the Group of Eight summit starts in St. Petersburg, Russia, this weekend.
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Jul 12, 2006

Jewelwing damselfly

Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2006

BOJ will face flak over rate action -- or inaction

The Bank of Japan faces a tough decision at its Policy Board meeting later this week. Should it declare a formal end to its near-zero interest rate policy, adopting a more conventional monetary stance, or should it hold off until it is clear the economic stagnation that has haunted the country over the...
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2006

Isuzu to start making Elf, other small trucks in Russia

Isuzu Motors Ltd. said Tuesday it will start producing small trucks in Russia, the latest move by a global manufacturer to strengthen its business in the growing market.
BUSINESS
Jul 12, 2006

Odor recorder may bring smells online

People stopping to smell the roses can now take that sweet fragrance home with them or even send it to a friend far away -- thanks to a new Japanese gadget that records and replicates odors.

Longform

Mamoru Iwai, stationmaster of Keisei Ueno Station, says that, other than earthquake-proofing, the former Hakubutsukan-Dobutsuen (Museum-Zoo) Station has remained untouched.
Inside Tokyo's 'phantom' stations — and the stories they tell