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April 05, 2025
 

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Kanako Takahara

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Kanako Takahara
Kanako Takahara is a staff writer who has covered national politics, diplomacy, business and the economy at The Japan Times. A graduate of Sophia University, she is currently a national news editor.
BUSINESS
Oct 9, 2008
Japan may bail out U.S.: economist
With Tokyo stocks plunging and the yen surging against the dollar, the financial crisis born in the United States can no longer be regarded as just a problem on the other side of the ocean.
BUSINESS
Oct 2, 2008
Industry's mood at five-year low
The business confidence of big manufacturers dipped below zero for the first time in more than five years in the latest Bank of Japan "tankan" survey released Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Sep 27, 2008
Primary surplus not top priority: Nakagawa
Achieving a primary surplus by fiscal 2011 is not the most important goal for Prime Minister Taro Aso's administration, finance and financial services minister Shoichi Nakagawa said in an interview Friday.
BUSINESS
Sep 26, 2008
Economists split over Nakagawa's dual financial duties
Prime Minister Taro Aso's appointment of Shoichi Nakagawa to head both the Finance Ministry and the Financial Services Agency drew mixed reactions Thursday as economists wondered whether the move will help Japan cope with global turmoil or compromise the FSA's regulatory role.
BUSINESS
Sep 19, 2008
BOJ joins dollar-swap deal
The Bank of Japan and four other central banks Thursday agreed to a $180 billion swap deal with the U.S. Federal Reserve to pump dollars into short-term money markets and ease the global credit crunch.
BUSINESS
Sep 17, 2008
Collapse echoes through Japan
Monday's bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the fourth-biggest financial institution in the United States, sent shock waves through the global financial industry, and Japan was no exception.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Sep 12, 2008
Coach builds brand of affordable luxury goods
Twenty years ago, at the height of the bubble economy, Coach Inc. started out small in Japan, selling its products at the Mitsukoshi department store in Yokohama.
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Sep 2, 2008
Against high odds, masses chase luck
What would you do if you won ¥400 million? Would you buy a convertible, a new house, start a business? All of the above?
BUSINESS
Aug 29, 2008
Debt-servicing costs swell next year's budget
Ballooning debt-servicing costs will raise next year's general account budget to ¥86.13 trillion on a request basis, a 3.7 percent rise from this year, Finance Ministry officials said Thursday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 21, 2008
Travelers turning to highway buses to save on fares
At a time when food prices are on the rise and income levels remain flat, it's not easy finding the money for shinkansen tickets, which cost ¥13,240 per person for a nonreserved seat from Tokyo to Osaka.
BUSINESS
Aug 20, 2008
Economy 'sluggish,' BOJ says
Growth has turned "sluggish," the Bank of Japan declared Tuesday, revising downward its assessment of the economy for the second straight month.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2008
Traditional nuptials revived to up tourism
Some 2,500 tourists were on hand to watch as 22-year-old bride Noriko Kageyama and groom Takanori Nakazawa paraded through the streets of Inawashiro town in Fukushima Prefecture one Saturday in June.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Aug 16, 2008
Cash still flows for weddings
Consumers are being forced to tighten their belts by soaring food and oil prices and the expanding economic slowdown triggered last year by the subprime-loan crisis in the United States.
BUSINESS
Aug 14, 2008
2.4% decline in GDP spells recession
The economy shrank at an annualized pace of 2.4 percent in the second quarter, the government said Wednesday, posting Japan's first negative growth in a year and signaling the approach of a recession linked to rising oil prices and a slowdown in the United States.
BUSINESS
Aug 8, 2008
Cabinet Office report points to recession
With the word "weakening," the Cabinet Office on Thursday effectively called an end to the longest expansion of the postwar period.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Aug 7, 2008
Clarify rules to attract foreign investment, Motegi says
Japan must make clear its criteria for restricting foreign direct investment if it hopes to attract capital from abroad, financial services minister Toshimitsu Motegi said Wednesday.
Japan Times
BUSINESS / CABINET INTERVIEW
Aug 5, 2008
Detail goals before raising taxes: Ibuki
Before initiating any hike in the 5 percent consumption tax, the ruling bloc must clearly articulate to voters what policies it will pursue and its priorities in line with a higher levy, new Finance Minister Bunmei Ibuki said Monday.
BUSINESS
Aug 1, 2008
Downturn doesn't spell 'R' word: Mitarai
Although the economy is suffering a downturn because of the slowdown in the U.S., Japan is unlikely to experience a recession in the foreseeable future, Fujio Mitarai, chairman of the nation's biggest business lobby, said Thursday.
BUSINESS
Jul 30, 2008
Sony profit fell 47.4% in quarter; forecast pared
Sony Corp. said Tuesday its group net profit plunged 47.4 percent to ¥35 billion in the April-June quarter from a year ago amid fierce competition in the consumer electronics sector, including compact digital cameras and computers.
BUSINESS
Jul 26, 2008
India's Subbarao urges more direct investment
Visiting Indian Finance Secretary Duvvuri Subbarao called on Japanese firms Friday to boost investment in India, especially in the field of infrastructure, where the nation plans to spend $500 billion in the next five years.
U.S. tourist arrested after bringing a handgun into Japan
Hyogo police believe the handgun a U.S. tourist inadvertently brought into Japan slipped through security procedures at Kansai International Airport in Osaka Prefecture.
3D printer used to construct train station building in Japan
A train station building (front) is assembled from parts printed using 3D printer technology, in Arida, Wakayama Prefecture, on Wednesday.
Japan’s leader didn’t read the job description
Prime Minister and ruling Liberal Democratic Party leader Shigeru Ishiba is facing a political funding scandal that has damaged his reputation and sparked speculation that internal efforts to remove him are underway.
Japan promises 'bold and speedy' response to Trump’s surprise 24% tariffs
U.S. President Donald Trump unveils new U.S. tariffs at the White House in Washington on Wednesday.
Tokyo’s KK Line to close for decadelong overhaul as public greenway
People enjoy running and yoga on Tokyo Expressway’s KK Line, a 2-kilometer elevated expressway cutting through the capital’s commercial Ginza district, when it was opened as a pedestrian space in May last year.
Haruki Murakami TV adaptation revisits 30 years of watershed moments
Though Haruki Murakami's trademark whiff of offbeat existentialism is threaded throughout NHK's "After the Quake," the final episode — conceived as a sequel to the story "Super-Frog Saves Tokyo" — is the most stylized, featuring an anthropomorphic talking frog (voiced by Non) and his erstwhile associate Katagiri (Koichi Sato).
Nintendo to launch the Switch 2 on June 5
The controllers for the Switch 2 will attach to the console magnetically rather than sliding on rails as with the original device.
A new human trafficking trend emerges from Myanmar scam centers
Victims of scam centers who were tricked or trafficked into working in Myanmar gather at a compound inside KK Park, a fraud center on the country's border with Thailand, after a multinational crackdown in February.
Meiji says sayonara to bottled milk, a staple of Japan's bathhouses
Meiji bottled milk lined up in a fridge at Kosugiyu, a bathhouse in Tokyo. The sticker urges patrons to enjoy the milk one last time before it’s gone.
A Canadian made a weekend trip to Costco a Japanese pastime
Under the watchful eye of Ken Theriault, Costco representative director and Japan country manager, the American membership-model wholesaler has flourished in Japan.

Podcast

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.
Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

Longform

Professional cleaner Hirofumi Sakurai takes a moment to appreciate some photographs in a Gotanda apartment whose occupant died alone.
The last cleanup: Life and death in a lonely Japan
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