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BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2005

Costs chill large firms' confidence

Business confidence among large companies in Japan plummeted in the January-March quarter.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2005

New Sony chief has ear for consumer

Incoming Sony Corp. President Ryoji Chubachi said Thursday the electronics giant would adopt a more consumer-oriented approach in its bid to reinvigorate its slumping electronics division.
BUSINESS
Mar 25, 2005

Livedoor wants in Meteorological Agency press club

Livedoor Co. has applied for membership in the press club of the Meteorological Agency, officials of the Internet portal site operator said Thursday.
EDITORIALS
Mar 25, 2005

Begin the postal-reform debate

With the passage of the 2005 government budget Wednesday, the Diet effectively ended the first half of its 150-day regular session. The biggest issue in the second half is the proposed privatization of postal services -- the main pillar of Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's reform initiative. To succeed,...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel
Mar 25, 2005

All fired up for ceramics central

Despite having saddled itself with the dire name of Centrair Airport, Japan's newest air facility, which opened last month near Nagoya, looks to have started off well enough.
Japan Times
LIFE / Food & Drink / BEST BAR NONE
Mar 25, 2005

Chummy in the Chome

Shinjuku Ni-chome is still alive and thriving as the headquarters for Tokyo's gay bar scene. Unlike other party centers in Tokyo, I wouldn't say much has changed of late in the Chome, as the area is usually called by those who frequent it. No one ever calls it Shinjuku Ni-chome because that would be...
SUMO
Mar 24, 2005

Education comes first at Nakamura stable

The Nakamura Beya stands out among the 55 stables in Japan's indigenous professional sumo world for its personal computers for sumo wrestlers to take correspondence courses on the Internet.
EDITORIALS
Mar 24, 2005

Nuclear shadow follows Ms. Rice

Ms. Condoleezza Rice has just completed her first tour of Asia as U.S. secretary of state. The trip took her to the major capitals of the region -- Delhi, Islamabad, Tokyo, Seoul and Beijing -- as well as to Afghanistan, briefly. At each stop, she confirmed U.S. commitment to the region and pledged to...
COMMENTARY
Mar 24, 2005

Northern Territories dispute highlights flawed diplomacy

Japan is now in serious territorial disputes with all of its neighbors -- Taiwan, China, South Korea and Russia. True, this could prove there is something wrong with all of Japan's neighbors. But it could also prove that there is something wrong in the way Japan handles territorial problems with its...
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2005

Tokyo land prices grow for first time in 14 years

Land prices at five commercial areas in Tokyo edged up an average of 0.5 percent in calendar 2004 for the first increase in 14 years.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2005

Sanyo forecasts bigger loss for 2004

Sanyo Electric Co. said Wednesday it had revised downward its earnings forecasts for fiscal 2004 and will not pay dividends at the end of the year.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2005

Trade surplus fell 22% last month to 1.09 trillion yen

The customs-cleared trade surplus shrank 21.7 percent in February from a year earlier to 1.09 trillion yen for the second straight month of decline.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2005

BioCarbon Fund gets new buyer

Sumitomo Chemical Co. said Wednesday it will invest $2.5 million in the World Bank's BioCarbon Fund by 2017 to obtain some 400,000 carbon credits, which count against greenhouse gas emissions.
Japan Times
ENVIRONMENT / ANIMAL TRACKER
Mar 24, 2005

Japanese wagtail

* Japanese name: Segurosekirei * Scientific name: Motacilla grandis * Description: Wagtails are easily identified by the way their tails wag frenetically when they walk. Even their flight pattern seems to wag -- they fly in an undulating wave. The head, throat and the top of the back and the wings...
Japan Times
LIFE / Digital / NAME OF THE GAME
Mar 24, 2005

The spy who stayed in the dark

When mankind becomes an endangered species due to the actions of an Indonesian terrorist, super secret uber-spy Sam Fisher is called in to make things right. Fisher is not a spy after the suave James Bond manner, with pretty women and luxury cars at his beck and call; he's more of a ninja for the 21st...
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Mar 24, 2005

Power answers blowing in the wind

There is no doubt our dependence on fossil fuels will end. We will wean ourselves off oil and coal because they pose unacceptable environmental and security risks, or we will be forced to stop using them as reserves dwindle and climate change intensifies.
BUSINESS
Mar 24, 2005

Skymark eyes night flights from Tokyo to Okinawa

Skymark Airlines Co. plans to start late-night round-trip flights between Tokyo and Naha, Okinawa Prefecture, this summer -- the first regular late-night flights in Japan in more than 30 years, Skymark sources said Wednesday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 23, 2005

Ishida among eight for NFL Europe

Linebacker Rikiya Ishida is among eight Japanese players on three teams who has made the roster to play in NFL Europe for the opening day of the 2005 season next month, the affiliate of the NFL said Tuesday.
MORE SPORTS
Mar 23, 2005

Aoki, M. Ozaki get Japan Open passes

Isao Aoki and Masashi Ozaki will receive a special exemption to compete at the Japan Open this fall, the Japan Golf Association said Tuesday.
BASKETBALL / NBA / NBA REPORT
Mar 23, 2005

Jackson could join LeBron in Cleveland

NEW YORK -- Well, at least when Don Nelson's coaching days in Dallas ended a few days ago his son (Donnie) got to remain a Maverick, which is more than can be said for Paul Silas whose son (Stephen) was dusted along with him yesterday by the Cavaliers.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art / NEW ART SEEN
Mar 23, 2005

Drawing circles is the secret to a new visual language

It is exceedingly rare for a contemporary art show to sell out at the opening reception, and especially so in Japan. It is rarer still to arrive at a vernissage to discover that the show has sold out even before it opened. But that was the case with the Keegan McHargue exhibition that debuted at the...
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2005

Beef safety dialogue to be bilingual

Japan will provide an English-language summary of the deliberations of its expert panel on beef safety to obtain U.S. understanding of Tokyo's position, Foreign Minister Nobutaka Machimura said Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2005

Toyota takes the wraps off two new SUV hybrids

Toyota Motor Corp. on Tuesday released two sport utility vehicles featuring hybrid engines, expanding its hybrid lineup to appeal to a wider range of customers.
BUSINESS
Mar 23, 2005

Carmaker pushes hybrids as key environmental technology

The launch Tuesday of two sport utility vehicles featuring hybrid engines highlights Toyota Motor Corp.'s keenness to spread the hybrid system as a core environmental technology.

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