search

 
 
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

Envoy fears regional Cold War

East Asian economies must cooperate on energy issues as quickly as possible if they want to keep regional peace and protect the environment, the Philippine ambassador to Japan said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

Business collaboration law enacted

The Diet passed a bill into law Wednesday to facilitate collaboration among small and midsize companies by providing subsidies and other incentives when two or more jointly start new businesses or research and development projects.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

Kirin enters fray for near-beer with new brew

Competition for beerlike beverages heated up Wednesday as Kirin Brewery Co. entered the market with a new beverage.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

Eastwood hears Ishihara's Iwo Jima plea

Tokyo Gov. Shintaro Ishihara had one request for Clint Eastwood before the American film director begins his next project, about the World War II battle of Iwojima Island: Respect the fallen soldiers.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

JAXA eyes moon shuttle by 2025

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency has compiled a long-term space exploration program that calls for launching a domestically designed manned spacecraft to the moon within the next 20 years, JAXA officials said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

BOJ maintains monetary policy; member objects

The Bank of Japan said Wednesday its policy-setting panel decided to leave its ultraloose monetary policy unchanged.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

Ex-official appeals AIDS death ruling

A lawyer for Akihito Matsumura, a former health ministry official found guilty in connection with an AIDS death, filed an appeal Wednesday with the Supreme Court.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

Pony Canyon eyes share ploy

Major music label Pony Canyon Inc., a key Nippon Broadcasting System Inc. subsidiary, may allot new shares to an investment fund set up by a group that includes the radio company, sources said Wednesday.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / OLD NIC'S NOTEBOOK
Apr 7, 2005

Birds of fine feather -- and taste

The Green or Common pheasant was adopted as the national bird of Japan in 1947, and a pair of these kiji used to decorate the 10,000 yen note. Recently however, the noble pheasant, symbol of masculine might and courage -- and, through its sudden agitated flying and crying, supposedly a prophet of earthquakes...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Apr 7, 2005

Finding fun in moral dilemmas

Steven Kent is taking some time off to pursue other projects. Stepping into the breach is experienced game reviewer Ryan Payton.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

Fuso flouted screening regulations

Fuso Publishing Inc. repeatedly violated textbook screening regulations by distributing drafts of texts to boards of education and teachers more than eight months before its textbooks were officially approved, the education ministry said Wednesday.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

Import auto sales off 3.8% in '04; first fall in three years

Sales of new imported vehicles in Japan fell 3.8 percent in fiscal 2004 from the previous year to 268,703 units for the first decline in three years.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

Red tape strangling deregulation efforts

Dr. Hirofumi Kawakita's plan to use the government's newly created special structural reform zones to launch a pediatric emergency medical service in Tokyo soon led him into a Kafkaesque nightmare.
BUSINESS
Apr 7, 2005

LCD TVs said on top; Matsushita wary

Liquid-crystal display televisions outdid plasma TVs in Japan's large flat-screen TV market in February for the first time, a market survey agency announced Wednesday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Apr 7, 2005

"Skinny B, Skaz and Me," "Ice Drift"

"Skinny B, Skaz and Me," John Singleton, Puffin Books; 2005; 274 pp.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2005

Mercury tops 30 in many areas

Japan experienced a hot day Wednesday as temperatures in many areas, mainly the west and northeast, soared to 25 or more, while Tokyo and other cities saw cherry blossoms in bloom, the Meteorological Agency said.
SUMO
Apr 6, 2005

Asashoryu to promote sumo in U.S.

Mongolian grand champion Asashoryu left Japan for the United States on Tuesday to promote a sumo wrestlers' visit to Las Vegas scheduled for October.
SPORTS / SPORTS SCOPE
Apr 6, 2005

Triumph in Tohoku: Staff of Eagles works miracle

SENDAI -- I saw something beautiful Friday night.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 6, 2005

Ai-chan is top-ranked Japanese

Popular teenage table tennis player Ai Fukuhara became the highest-ranked Japanese woman, moving up nine places to 23rd in the latest rankings issued Tuesday by the International Table Tennis Federation.
CULTURE / Music
Apr 6, 2005

Getting an eyeful at Goggle Central

The HQ of Japan's current '60s revival is a small office above a Chinese restaurant next to Koenji Station in Tokyo. That's the office of Sazanami Label, a record company started in 2003 by the band Goggle-A. Having formed in 1994 and with four studio albums behind them, they are veterans of this burgeoning...
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Koizumi urges calm in history text row

Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi urged South Korea on Tuesday not to let soured bilateral relations deteriorate further, following the approval of junior high school history textbooks that Seoul says distort Japan's colonialist past.
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 6, 2005

U.S., Vietnam draw closer

HONOLULU -- An American warship steamed slowly up the Saigon River last week to mark the gradual forging of normal political, economic and even military relations between the United States and Vietnam 30 years after the end of their long and bloody war.
JAPAN
Apr 6, 2005

Dignified-death law mulled

A group of lawmakers seeking to legalize dignified death held its first meeting Tuesday in Tokyo to discuss its plan to submit a bill on the issue to the Diet, group members said.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji