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EDITORIALS
Jun 13, 2006

Shoddy care of a nation's heritage

The Cultural Affairs Agency has come under public criticism for slipshod preservation work on the Takamatsuzuka ancient burial mound in Asuka, Nara Prefecture, which is well known for its colorful painted frescoes. Not only has the agency failed to prevent the formation of mold in the mound -- which...
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Consumer confidence fell in May

Consumer confidence fell in May from the previous month, prompting the government to downgrade its assessment of the mood of the nation's households, the Cabinet Office said Monday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

'17 trillion yen needed' to put budget in black

The government on Monday revised downward the estimated shortfall it must cover if it is to reach its goal of achieving a budget surplus by fiscal 2011 from 20 trillion yen to 17 trillion yen.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Wholesale prices see biggest rise in 2 1/2 decades

Wholesale prices rose 3.3 percent in May from a year earlier, their strongest year-on-year rise since March 1981, during the second oil crisis, the Bank of Japan said Monday.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jun 13, 2006

Pensions, credit and new law

Missing pension Reader X began working for a company here eight years ago, at which time his employers failed to inform him of his right to enroll in the Employees' Pension and Health Insurance Programs.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Official nixes latest WTO proposal on farm tariffs

Vice farm minister Mamoru Ishihara said Monday he is opposed to the latest WTO proposal calling for an average cut of 54 percent in tariffs on farm goods and based on ideas put forward by the Group of 20, a coalition of developing-country exporters.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 13, 2006

Fuss over fingerprinting

No consistency The new law requiring foreigners to be fingerprinted and photographed at Japan's airports is unfair.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WORDS TO LIVE BY
Jun 13, 2006

Suzue Akashi

Suzue Akashi, 74, is a folk musician who plays traditional Japanese songs on shamisen with taiko drum accompaniment. Her insatiable desire to learn took her from a Tokyo dairy to the education center at Haneda Air Force Base, to university in Tennessee and work in Texas during the 1950s. Back in Japan,...
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Sompo insurance sales ban kicks in

A temporary ban on part of Sompo Japan Insurance Inc.'s business operations, ordered by the Financial Services Agency, took effect Monday as punishment for financial irregularities.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Vodafone to expand world roaming

Vodafone K.K. said Monday it will add four markets to its international roaming service network June 28, bringing to 158 the number of countries and regions where its existing third-generation mobile phones can be used.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Economy grew 3.1% in January-March

The economy expanded an annualized real 3.1 percent in the January-March period from the previous quarter, revised sharply upward from a 1.9 percent increase in the initial report on strong capital investment data, the government said Monday.
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

May 'happoshu' shipments up 1.8%

Shipments of "happoshu" low-malt beer from Japan's five largest brewers rose 1.8 percent in May from a year earlier, their first increase in 22 months, industry figures showed Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 13, 2006

Tiffany-Gehry collaboration, Commes des Garcons for Speedo, Oliver Goldsmith eyewear . . .

Architectural accessories Synonymous with refined New York-style luxury, jeweler Tiffany & Co. has signed up California-based Pritzker Prize-winning architect Frank Gehry to enhance its conservative image with a little left-field design credibility. The stellar collaboration has resulted in six lines...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design
Jun 13, 2006

The beautiful game inspires sartorial sins

Soccer might be known as the beautiful game, but it has never inspired beautiful design. As the World Cup in Germany gets into full swing, patriotic fervor will move millions of fans to purchase their team's jersey, resulting in innumerable crimes against good taste.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Jun 13, 2006

Should Japan impose restrictions on non-Japanese-speaking-foreigners coming here to work?

Niels Hansen Business owner, 38 I just wonder if the Japanese would want the same standards applied to them if they went anywhere else. It would damage international business. I don't think it's a good path to go down when you start imposing borders.
LIFE / Language / BILINGUAL
Jun 13, 2006

World Cup commentary a whole new ball game

It's the season of the Warudo Kappu (World Cup, duh!), the season that screams: Sakka fuan ni arazuba hito ni arazu (Those who aren't soccer fans aren't even people). At least until July 11 (the day after the World Cup final) that is, or until the sakka netsu (soccer fever) abates -- whichever comes...
BUSINESS
Jun 13, 2006

Current account surplus declined 20% in April

The current account surplus fell 20.2 percent in April from a year earlier to 1.28 trillion yen, its first decline in three months, due mainly to higher oil prices and a rise in the services trade deficit, the Finance Ministry said Monday.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 12, 2006

Japan set to battle Socceroos

BONN -- The long, long wait is finally over.
SOCCER / World cup
Jun 12, 2006

England meek in opener

FRANKFURT -- England labored to an unconvincing 1-0 win against Paraguay in its Group B opener in Frankfurt on Saturday.
Rugby
Jun 12, 2006

Italy crushes Japan in test match

Japan fell to its second big defeat in a week in a 56-6 drubbing by Italy in a rugby test match on Sunday.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2006

A tenable vision of efficiency

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's structural reforms for creating a "simple, efficient government" have entered the final phase. In late May, the Diet enacted the administrative reform promotion law and four related bills aimed at continuing Koizumi's reform programs after he steps down in September...
SUMO
Jun 12, 2006

Ozeki Hakuho rules the day

Mongolian ozeki Hakuho disposed of countryman Asasekiryu in the final to claim his first victory at a single-elimination tournament on Sunday.
EDITORIALS
Jun 12, 2006

If you can't trust the elevators

It is taken for granted by most people that an elevator moves only after its doors are securely closed and not while the doors are open. But events on the evening of June 3 at a 23-story condominium building in Tokyo's Minato Ward have betrayed this trust.
COMMENTARY / World
Jun 12, 2006

Arms race widening in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia's return to prosperity since the financial crisis of 1997 has brought a regionwide splurge on new weapons. Most Southeast Asian countries are, indeed, now busily modernizing their armed forces. So far, most have done so without compromising their autonomy in security matters. But with...
JAPAN
Jun 12, 2006

Filmmaker retraces footsteps of Palestinian thinker

"Fighting the jihad with the pen is the same as dying for the jihad," says Mahmoud, a young Lebanese man in a new documentary dedicated to Edward Said, the Palestinian-American intellectual and advocate for the Palestinian cause.
COMMENTARY
Jun 12, 2006

Needed: new energy sources

LONDON -- Naturalist and broadcaster Sir David Attenborough used to be skeptical about how far climate change could be ascribed to human actions. He has now declared he is convinced that what we are doing or failing to do has had seriously damaging effects on the climate, and he has been demonstrating...

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