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JAPAN
Apr 16, 2009

Grimmer pension forecast released

The government will probably renege on its pledge to keep pension benefits in fiscal 2038 at a minimum of 50 percent of a worker's average income, a paper released Tuesday by the welfare ministry says.
EDITORIALS
Apr 14, 2009

Record-breaking stimulus

The government has compiled the largest-ever economic stimulus package in the form of a fiscal 2009 supplementary budget, involving actual spending of ¥15 trillion. This is much larger than the past biggest stimulus package of ¥7.6 trillion, which the Obuchi administration compiled as a third supplementary...
COMMENTARY / World
Apr 12, 2009

A sense of drift pervades Indian democracy

LONDON — As the largest democracy in the world enters into the campaign phase for its 15th parliamentary elections, it seems preoccupied with trivialities: Which Bollywood actor will contest? Which Nehru-Gandhi family scion will be the prime ministerial candidate? Will various regional satraps come...
BUSINESS
Apr 11, 2009

Aso unveils record stimulus

To combat the deepening economic crisis, Prime Minister Taro Aso on Friday unveiled an additional stimulus package that calls for record actual spending of ¥15.4 trillion, or 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 11, 2009

Ranks of homeless swell in Osaka

OSAKA (Bloomberg) Within two months of losing his job packing shelves at a cold-storage company in Osaka, Toshiyuki Miki said, he was homeless. He counts himself among the many people worldwide whose life has been turned upside down in the wake of the "Lehman Shock."
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Apr 10, 2009

Mizuho plans to pare equities, save capital

To stem capital losses from slumping stock markets, the new president of Mizuho Financial Group Inc. has said he plans to reduce the megabank's ¥3 trillion in equity holdings by about 20 percent.
EDITORIALS
Apr 10, 2009

Happy golden anniversary

We congratulate the Emperor and Empress on their golden wedding anniversary. On April 10, 1959, the entire nation celebrated their wedding as TV and radio stations broadcast live the horse-drawn carriage parade carrying the newly-wed couple from the Imperial Palace to their residence.
EDITORIALS
Apr 9, 2009

The Conficker bug fizzles

The world did not end on April 1, the Internet did not fail and civilization did not collapse. In other words, for those who followed the hype, Conficker, a software virus that has infected computers worldwide, was no big deal. That is reassuring — and testament to the seriousness with which experts...
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 8, 2009

Comedian's TB spreads disease fears

Fear is quietly spreading in the entertainment world on the heels of a report that Haruka Minowa of the popular comedian duo Harisenbon has contracted tuberculosis.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / JUST BE CAUSE
Apr 7, 2009

'Golden parachutes' mark failure of race-based policy

Japan's employment situation has gotten pretty dire, especially for non-Japanese workers. The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry reports that between last November and January, more than 9,000 foreigners asked the Hello Work unemployment agency for assistance — 11 times the figure for the same period...
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHEN EAST MARRIES WEST
Apr 4, 2009

Making my dentist smile

My very first kiss was not from a girl but from a Rawlings baseball.
BUSINESS
Apr 3, 2009

Incentives help Toyota fare better than expected in U.S.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s U.S. sales fell less than analysts predicted last month, as the world's largest carmaker offered near-record incentives to spur demand.
MORE SPORTS
Apr 2, 2009

Rabbits forced to fold amid economic crisis

The Seibu Prince Rabbits, an ice hockey team with a 37-year history, is the latest casualty of Japan's economic crises.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Apr 1, 2009

JR bans smoking at Tokyo-area stations

April marks the beginning of the business year, and for Tokyo-area train stations, a breath of fresher air.
BUSINESS
Apr 1, 2009

Idled nonregulars to top 190,000

The tally of laid-off nonregular workers between October and this June will reach 192,061, the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry announced Tuesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / SOUTH KOREAN JOURNALIST SYMPOSIUM
Apr 1, 2009

Global crisis forces change on S. Korea

The global economic crisis will test whether South Korea can gain long-term competitiveness by changing its heavy reliance on exports and a limited number of big companies, veteran journalists from the country told a recent symposium in Tokyo.
COMMENTARY / World
Mar 31, 2009

Water, water everywhere but . . .

ISTANBUL, CITIZEN NEWS SERVICE — Water constitutes about three-fourths of Earth's surface, but only less than 1 percent of it can be used by its inhabitants. Most of it consists of saltwater oceans (about 97 percent), and 2 percent of that is contained in glaciers. With every country seeking to satisfy...
Japan Times
LIFE / Travel / BACKSTREET STORIES
Mar 29, 2009

Catch a falling star

Overhung by funky plastic streetlights, enlivened by piped music, and flanked with small stores, Shinohashi Shirokane Shotengai is exactly the kind of shopping street that once served as the commercial hub of many postwar Tokyo neighborhoods.
EDITORIALS
Mar 29, 2009

Supporting single mothers

As the economy worsens, some people will suffer more than others. For the first time ever, the number of Japanese single mothers receiving child-care allowances to supplement their low income has topped 1 million, the health and welfare ministry reported in March. These single-mother households greatly...
SOCCER / PREMIER REPORT
Mar 28, 2009

Gerrard hoping to show club form for England

LONDON — One of the best moves England manager and master tactician Fabio Capello could make before England plays Slovakia on Saturday is to hand the No. 8 jersey to Steven Gerrard.
BUSINESS
Mar 27, 2009

Toyota: Reluctant savior of faltering U.S. carmakers?

Ever since U.S. auto giants General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC began contemplating bankruptcy last year, industry specialists have been asking one question: Will Toyota rescue them?
JAPAN
Mar 26, 2009

Immigration reforms spell Big Brother, JFBA warns

The Japan Federation of Bar Associations and nonprofit organizations voiced concern Wednesday that bills to revise immigration laws will violate the human rights of foreign residents.

Longform

Bear attacks have dominated Japanese news headlines in recent months, with 13 people so far having been killed by the animals.
Japan’s bears have been on their killing spree for more than 100 years