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JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Ex-liquor union exec arrested

Police arrested a former official of a liquor retailer union Thursday on suspicion of damaging the group by losing most of the 14.4 billion yen in pension funds that had been invested in foreign bonds, sources said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Trading houses join effort to boost economies of regional communities

Trading houses are teaming up with local governments to foster homegrown industries that could revitalize small cities and towns.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Horie bought Takebe poll backing: DPJ

Opposition lawmaker Hisayasu Nagata dropped a political bombshell Thursday in the Diet, claiming Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie sent an internal e-mail before the Sept. 11 election directing his staff to pay 30 million yen to the son of Liberal Democratic Party Secretary General Tsutomu Takebe....
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Spike in postal remittances to North Korea scrutinized

Japan has seen a sharp increase in the number of postal remittances to North Korea in recent years, an opposition lawmaker said Thursday.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Rape victim vs. 'wall of bureaucracy'

In the early hours of an April day in 2002, an Australian woman claims she was raped by a U.S. sailor inside her van in a parking lot in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

Brokerage business helps lift Rakuten's profit 2.3-fold

Online shopping mall operator Rakuten Inc. reported Thursday 2.3-fold growth in its operating profit for calendar 2005 to 34.89 billion yen, buoyed by its stock brokerage business.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Huser enters bankruptcy procedures

The Tokyo District Court began court-led bankruptcy procedures Thursday for condominium developer Huser Ltd., court officials said.
JAPAN
Feb 17, 2006

Koreans pressed into war service deserve redress as planned: group

The government should pay its long-owed obligations to Koreans pressed into military service or labor as stipulated in documents it drew up before 1965, said a citizens' group pushing the state to accept responsibility for its colonial rule of the peninsula.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

State eyes selling prime property

Surrounded by Izumi Garden Tower, the Saudi Arabian Embassy and luxury condominium complexes in Tokyo's Roppongi district, an ugly old apartment block stands.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

Part-timers eyed for pension payments

The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry told the Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry on Thursday that it wants to make part-time workers enroll in corporate pension funds.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

TSE plans capacity upgrade by May

The Tokyo Stock Exchange will raise the number of daily buy and sell orders it can process to 12 million in May from 9 million at present to keep up with surging growth in individual trading activity, TSE officials said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

Corporate character goods harness power of 'cute'

A traditional seasoning flies off store shelves after the bottles begin sporting a cartoon panda. A droplet-shaped character turns a little-known manufacturer into a household name.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music / THE SECOND ROOM
Feb 17, 2006

Psychedelic radar 02.17

Friday, Feb. 17
CULTURE / Music
Feb 17, 2006

The High-Lows "Flash -- Best"

The High-Lows are one of those bands that you have to at least know about. Formed 10 years ago, the band includes Hiroto Komoto (vocals), Masatoshi Mashima (guitar), and Mikio Shirai (keyboards), all former members of those architects of modern Japanese punk-pop, The Blue Hearts -- who took over the...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 17, 2006

Girls make their mark

Should women directors make films that are identifiably, even explicitly, female -- or should they invade traditional male preserves in gender neutral ways? Make action, horror and gross-out comedies for teenage boys? My own feeling is they should make whatever they want to make. My own observation,...
CULTURE / Music
Feb 17, 2006

John Scofield

Though guitar heads and groove-lovers dig the jazz of guitarist John Scofield, his ever-changing sound is just as cerebral as it is danceable. Whether leaping into jam band rock or funkifying post-bop, or whether, as on his most recent CD, "That's What I Say," electrifying the songs of Ray Charles, "Sco"...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 17, 2006

Video fest screens winners

With Tokyo Video Festival 2006's screening week drawing to a close, Saturday, Feb. 18, marks award ceremony day, when the public will be able to view the festival's prize-winning videos and take part in a discussion.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / TOKYO FOOD FILE
Feb 17, 2006

Casa Vecchia: Good local fare with uncommon flair

A trattoria is by definition a neighborhood institution, usually a small, family-run affair with modest prices and few pretensions, serving down-home cooking for a local clientele. Casa Vecchia fits that description perfectly.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 17, 2006

Gospel revolution plotted weekly on Radio Nippon

Radio Nippon's new gospel show, which started broadcasting Feb. 4, is the first time a major radio broadcaster in Japan has aired a prime time weekly show devoted solely to gospel.
BUSINESS
Feb 17, 2006

Postal holding firm feels hamstrung

The president of the holding company of the soon-to-be privatized postal system asked the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on Thursday to consider revising the privatization laws to give the firm greater freedom to make acquisitions, LDP officials said.
CULTURE / Music
Feb 17, 2006

Various Artists "Congotronics 2"

One of last year's great discoveries was the "Congotronics" album by Konono No. 1, a Congolese group that's been around since the 1970s. Founded by electrician Mawangu Mingiedi, Konono No. 1 produces music with likembe thumb pianos amplified through microphones and amplifiers rebuilt from old junk, and...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Feb 17, 2006

Balancing melody with noise

Its inevitable: No matter how unique a band may be, someone will find a way to compare them to other bands. For San Francisco four-piece Deerhoof, parallels continue to be drawn to Japanese artists: Cibo Matto, The Boredoms and Yoko Ono. Deerhoof's main vocalist, Satomi Matsuzaki, did grow up in Tokyo,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Style & Design / COUNTER CULTURE
Feb 17, 2006

Tokyo's major drag . . . redefined

Labeled the Champs Elysees of Tokyo, tree-lined "brand boulevard" Omotesando is one of Japan's most treasured strips. Acting as a conduit between the posh Aoyama district and youth mecca Harajuku, it houses a wealth of highly original retail experiences.

Longform

Sumadori Bar on Shibuya Ward's main Center Gai street targets young customers who prefer low-alcohol drinks or abstain altogether.
Rethinking that second drink: Japan’s Gen Z gets ‘sober curious’