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BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Carmakers enjoyed record overseas output in February

Four out of five major Japanese automakers increased overseas production in February from a year earlier, with all of them posting a new record for the month, according to figures released Friday by the five.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

METI backs off banning sale of used electrical goods

Responding to an outcry from dealers in used goods and musicians, the government said Friday it will relax regulations on trade in noncertified used electrical items that were set to take effect April 1.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Rising demand triggers expansion of rare metal reserves

Japan will expand the scope of its rare metal reserves to include such substances as platinum, indium and rare earth metals as increased demand from China has triggered concern about global supply shortages, according to government sources.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Household assets hit 1.5 quadrillion yen

Total assets held by the nation's households hit a record high 1.509 quadrillion yen in 2005, reflecting increases in income and rising share prices amid the economic upswing, the Bank of Japan said Friday.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Rain factor hit February store sales

Sales at supermarkets fell 1.7 percent in February from the year before on a same-store basis for a second straight monthly decline, while department store sales rebounded 0.5 percent following a marginal fall in January, industry groups said Friday.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 25, 2006

Ukraine's watershed election

KIEV -- Ukraine's politics are not those of the steppe. Our voters cannot stroll in one direction during one poll, and in the opposite direction the next time they vote, without worrying about falling over the edge. Ukrainians are people of the watershed: We live on either one side or the other of a...
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Oji Paper to replace retiring chief

Oji Paper Co. said Friday that Managing Director Kazuhisa Shinoda will replace Shoichiro Suzuki as president in June.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Abe rules out repeat 'land bubble'

Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe on Friday ruled out the possibility of another "land bubble," a day after a government report showed a pickup in commercial land prices in Japan's three largest metropolitan areas.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

Unit 731 exhibit to grow into peace, protest park

BEIJING (Kyodo) A germ warfare exhibition in Harbin in northern China that showcases deadly medical experiments carried out by Japanese forces on live prisoners during the war will expand its area by three times and reopen as a peace park, the curator said Friday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2006

Shifting fortunes of 'shunto'

Since 2002, major Japanese labor unions have refrained from demanding wage increases during their annual spring labor offensive (shunto). Instead, they have concentrated on securing union members' jobs amid a persistently stagnant economy. But after a long "winter," a ray of hope appears to have emerged...
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

Hotline near for people who blow the whistle

3581-4989. The legislation, which cleared the Diet in June 2004, specifies that entities violating the law are barred from taking retaliatory action against those who unveil their misdeeds.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

Weather services compete in blossom forecasting

One would think Eishin Murakata has a pleasant, relaxing job. Every spring, he strolls each day to the same cherry tree in central Tokyo and gazes up at its boughs. When he spots a full bud on the verge of blossoming, he carefully snaps a photograph.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / PERSONALITY PROFILE
Mar 25, 2006

Ken Nimori

Ken Nimori has an unusual personal background. He is a Japanese who, despite having lived almost always in Tokyo, did not beyond kindergarten receive Japanese education. He spent his full 12 years of schooling at the American School in Japan.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

East Timor leader lauds Japan's aid toward peace

" for another year, Alkatiri said. Asked what lessons the international community can learn from the reconstruction of a country emerging from conflict like East Timor, Alkatiri said that encouraging the voluntary initiatives of the people is key to success.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

Suginami Ward can't just put willing residents' info on Juki Net: court

The Tokyo District Court dismissed a demand Friday by Tokyo's Suginami Ward that the Tokyo Metropolitan Government accept partial data on residents for the national resident registry network.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Livedoor's new chief hopes Horie reduces stake

Livedoor Co. President Kozo Hiramatsu expressed hope Friday that his predecessor, Takafumi Horie, who has been in detention since his Jan. 23 arrest over alleged accounting fraud, will reduce his equity stake in the firm.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2006

Nikko Cordial eyes Tokyo Star Bank

Nikko Cordial Corp. is in the final stages of talks to buy more than one-third of Tokyo Star Bank's shares from the U.S.-based Lone Star Group investment fund, possibly leading to an outright purchase of the bank, sources said Friday.
JAPAN
Mar 25, 2006

Nagata finally IDs magazine exec as e-mail middleman

Democratic Party of Japan lawmaker Hisayasu Nagata finally revealed Friday what various media sources have already divulged -- that Dumont magazine executive Takashi Nishizawa gave him the fake e-mail suggesting a shady financial link between Livedoor Co. founder Takafumi Horie and a son of Liberal Democratic...
MORE SPORTS
Mar 24, 2006

JOC blames self-indulgent athletes for poor Turin results

The Japanese Olympic Committee, reflecting on the nation's disappointing results in Turin, criticized some of the athletes Thursday for what it said was their self-indulgent attitudes.
BASEBALL / Japanese Baseball
Mar 24, 2006

WBC members Aoki, Miyamoto lead Yakult to exhibition win

World Baseball Classic Team Japan members Norichika Aoki and Shinya Miyamoto helped the Yakult Swallows beat the Hanshin Tigers 7-5 in a preseason game Thursday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Mar 24, 2006

New envoy says he is not too soft on China

Tokyo's next ambassador to Beijing on Thursday played down concerns he might be too soft on China and said he will continue to put Japan's interests first when he takes up his post April 10.
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 2006

Glory days for Japanese baseball

I n recent years, circumstances surrounding Japanese baseball suggested that its popularity was in decline and that soccer was drawing away many fans. However, Team Japan's 10-6 victory over Cuba this week to win the inaugural 2006 World Baseball Classic (WBC) is certainly enough to lift the fortunes...

Longform

Once smoky, male-dominated spaces, today's net cafes, like Kaikatsu Club, are working to make their operations more attractive to women customers.
The second life of Japan's net cafes