Search - 2005

 
 
BUSINESS
Nov 18, 2005

Sanyo exec to bow out to take blame for losses

Former Sanyo Electric Co. Chairman Satoshi Iue is expected to resign as executive director to take responsibility for the firm's poor earnings, company sources said Thursday.
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Nov 13, 2005

Decision by Giants to release reliever Sikorski a real mystery

You read this past week where the Yomiuri Giants have decided to clean house regarding their foreign players, releasing outfielder Tuffy Rhodes and pitchers Brian Sikorski, Scott Mullen and J.B. Miadich.
BASEBALL / MLB
Nov 10, 2005

Korean 'treasure' returns for Konami

For winning an unprecedented three MVP awards, Sun Dong Yol was called "South Korea's national treasure" when he was an active player. And even after his retirement, he still is respected by everyone.
BUSINESS
Nov 5, 2005

Toyota suffers first drop in profit in four years

Toyota Motor Corp. said Friday its group net profit for the first half of fiscal 2005 declined 2.3 percent from the previous year to 570.5 billion yen -- the company's first interim profit drop in four years.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Nov 1, 2005

"Chasing Vermeer," "How Hedley Hopkins Did a Dare"

"Chasing Vermeer," Blue Ballietta, Chicken House; 2005; 272 pp.
MULTIMEDIA
Oct 30, 2005

Speaking volumes

Kaori Shoji
BUSINESS
Oct 28, 2005

Honda reports record net profits, group sales in first half

Honda Motor Co. said Thursday it posted record net profit and group sales in the first half of fiscal 2005, led by brisk sales in North America and the absence of a one-time tax payment.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Oct 27, 2005

An early look at Tokyo Design Week

Fall in Tokyo signals the arrival of festival season, and none has gained as much international praise as the annual gathering of all things contemporary and stylish known as Tokyo Design Week (Nov. 2-6). With four concurrent events -- Tokyo Designer's Week, Swedish Style, and new comers 100% Design...
BUSINESS
Oct 22, 2005

Kabu.com boosts first-half revenue

Online brokerage kabu.com Securities Co. said Friday its unconsolidated operating revenue in the April-September period shot up 52.6 percent from a year earlier to 8.21 billion yen on robust stock trading.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Oct 20, 2005

PIFF: Asia's magnet for movies

The Pusan International Film Festival, which took place Oct. 6-14, marked its 10th year with its biggest program ever -- 307 films from 73 countries. These numbers alone make PIFF the largest annual film-related event in Asia, and with the Pusan Promotion Plan (PPP) taking place in the Korean port city...
BUSINESS
Oct 19, 2005

Automakers pin hopes on motor show

The 39th Tokyo Motor Show opens Saturday, and industry officials are hoping the 16-day extravaganza inspires drivers to loosen their purse strings and buy a new vehicle.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Oct 16, 2005

Unconventional and unorthodox, but still fun to read

LAST SEEN IN SHANGHAI, by Howard Turk. Hong Kong: Asia 2000 Ltd., 1998, 286 pp., $18 (paper). INSPECTOR MORIMOTO AND THE SUSHI CHEF, by Timothy Hemion. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, Inc., 2005, 222 pp., $25.95 (cloth). THE TIGER'S GOLD by Donald G. Moore. Lincoln, Nebraska: iUniverse, Inc., 2005, 214...
COMMENTARY / COUNTERPOINT
Oct 9, 2005

America's war criminals pass the buck to underlings

'I was only following orders." With these words, that have entered our language as a cliche reeking of bitter irony, SS-Obersturmbannfurer Karl Adolf Eichmann (1906-62) defended his part in the murder of innocent prisoners in Nazi death camps. The court in Jerusalem, where Eichmann was put on trial in...
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2005

Tech show morphs into DVD war zone

CHIBA -- An annual technology exhibition that kicked off here Tuesday shows signs of becoming a battleground of sorts for the two next-generation DVD formats threatening to leave consumers with incompatible machines.
BUSINESS
Oct 5, 2005

Bureaucratic workforce to face 10% cut over five years

The government said Tuesday it will cut the number of national-level civil servants by 33,230, or at least 10 percent of the total as of the end of fiscal 2004, over the next five years, officials said.
JAPAN
Oct 4, 2005

'Tankan' up slightly amid worries over oil

Sentiment at large manufacturers rose slightly in September, with optimism for strong exports somewhat dampened by worries over soaring oil prices, according to the Bank of Japan's "tankan" quarterly business survey released Monday.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Oct 4, 2005

"Barkbelly," "The Sign of the Black Dagger"

"Barkbelly," Cat Weatherill, Puffin; 2005; 352 pp.
EDITORIALS
Sep 21, 2005

Patience has paid off so far

The issuance on Monday of a joint statement in Beijing by representatives of the six nations that had taken up North Korea's nuclear-weapons programs has come as relief to those who have been watching the talks with both trepidation and expectation. If the talks had failed, the United States, one of...
EDITORIALS
Sep 5, 2005

A child-rearing environment

Policy proposals for creating an economic and social environment conducive to childbearing and child-rearing should be an important issue for voters to consider in next Sunday's Lower House election. An accelerating decline in the birthrate, followed eventually by a smaller labor force, will have a great...
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2005

Japan Post may close loss-making 'kampo' lodgings

Japan Post may close or sell 11 of its "kampo" inn and leisure facilities by the end of fiscal 2005 because they are losing money, sources said Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 3, 2005

APEC ministers plan oil coordination

Asia-Pacific finance ministers at their meeting next week will call for increased policy coordination between oil-producing and -consuming states, including the launch of annual dialogue in the International Energy Forum, to curb surging oil prices, according to a draft joint statement.
Japan Times
LIFE / Lifestyle / ON THE BOOK TRAIL
Sep 1, 2005

"Cross Your Heart, Connie Pickles," "Hunter's Heart"

"Cross Your Heart, Connie Pickles," Sabine Durrant, Puffin Books; 2005; 247 pp.
BUSINESS
Aug 31, 2005

Ministries requesting 85.3 trillion yen for fiscal 2006 budget

The government as a whole is seeking 85.3 trillion yen in fiscal 2006 to finance public services and institutions and pay down its mammoth debt, the Finance Ministry said Tuesday.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Aug 27, 2005

Art show by visually impaired offers a hands-on experience

Seeing with their hands -- that is what young visually disabled artists did to create works for an ongoing exhibition at Gallery Tom.
EDITORIALS
Aug 24, 2005

Salary reform for public servants

has recommended that the government reduce the annual salary of central government workers for fiscal 2005 by 0.1 percent, or 4,000 yen from the previous fiscal year's level, to bring it into closer alignment with the annual salary level for private-sector workers. More importantly, it has called for...
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Aug 21, 2005

It's the eccentrics whose appeal endures

KILLING RAIN, by Barry Eisler. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2005, 337 pp., $24.95 (cloth). BANGKOK TATTOO, by John Burdett. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2005, 304 pp., $24 (cloth). While perhaps not as well known as Sherlock Holmes or Agent 007, pulp magazines and later paperback books featuring the intrepid...
BUSINESS
Aug 12, 2005

Oil spike dents current account surplus

Japan's current account surplus shrank 8.9 percent in the first half from a year earlier to 8.752 trillion yen, marking a first decline in four half-year periods, the Finance Ministry said Thursday.

Longform

Figure skater Akiko Suzuki was once told her ideal weight should be 47 kilograms, a number she now admits she “naively believed.” This led to her have a relationship with food that resulted in her suffering from anorexia.
The silent battle Japanese athletes fight with weight