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BUSINESS
Sep 30, 2006

Microsoft won't market Zune player in Japan

NEW YORK (Kyodo) Microsoft does not currently have plans to release its new Zune digital music player in Japan, Darren Huston, president and chief executive officer of Microsoft Co., the Japan unit of Microsoft Corp., told Kyodo News on Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Music
Sep 29, 2006

J-cool factor struggles to woo NYC

For someone who stands to gain from the hot topic of Japan's "Gross National Cool," Taeko Baba ought to be the last to pop the phenomenon's bubble.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Stage
Sep 28, 2006

An Asian woman becomes aware

Thirty-one year-old playwright, director and actor Keishi Nagatsuka has been turning heads since he staged his first productions while still a student at Waseda University. In 1996 in Tokyo, he founded the Asagaya Spiders company, which has received glowing critical acclaim and regularly plays to full...
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2006

Abe to keep bureaucrat out of key post

In a bid to beef up the power of politicians, Shinzo Abe will not appoint an active bureaucrat to a key position in the prime minister's office that has been considered the top bureaucratic position in the entire country, a close aide to Abe said Monday night.
JAPAN
Sep 26, 2006

Ethnic minorities hope for better life post-Koizumi

Members of ethnic communities have expressed hope that the new administration, slated to be launched Tuesday by Shinzo Abe, will help improve their living conditions.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Sep 26, 2006

Notary publics, free legal advice

Notary public K. thinks he has seen this question in Lifelines before, but he can't remember the answer.
Japan Times
LIFE
Sep 24, 2006

Koizumi's Shake, Rattle & Roll

Elvis impersonator? Japan's Thatcher? Faction buster? Nah, as the curtain falls on the Koizumi show, he will be remembered above all for his missed opportunities and self-indulgent gestures at Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo -- that, and steamrollering the Constitution's war-renouncing Article 9 into oblivion....
JAPAN
Sep 22, 2006

Prince Hisahito's name added to royal registry

Newborn Prince Hisahito, the first heir to the throne born in 41 years, had his birth registered Thursday in the Imperial family registry, the Imperial Household Agency said.
JAPAN
Sep 21, 2006

Government 'concerned' by Thai coup

Japan on Wednesday called the coup d'etat in Thailand "regrettable" and expressed strong hope that a democratic political system will be quickly restored to the country.
Japan Times
Reference / SO WHAT THE HECK IS THAT
Sep 19, 2006

O-kyaku

Dear Alice,
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 18, 2006

Chronically hungry children of America

NEW YORK -- While it is normal to expect high levels of hunger and poverty in a developing country, it may come as a surprise to observe such conditions in one of the richest countries in the world. The Food Bank for New York City recently reported that nearly 20 percent of children in the city rely...
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2006

Share of urban wealth

While the gap between the haves and have-nots -- which is believed to have widened under Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration -- has become a political issue, another economic gap deserves attention. This is the gap between the nation's business and economic centers and the countryside....
BASEBALL / BASEBALL BULLET-IN
Sep 17, 2006

MLB scouts: Fukudome best Japanese position player in NPB

Who do you think is the best Japanese position player in Japanese baseball right now?
CULTURE / Books
Sep 17, 2006

Adding some passion to our plastic world

PLASTIC CULTURE: How Japanese Toys Conquered the World, by Woodrow Phoenix. Kodansha International, 2006, 112 pp., fully illustrated, 3,150 yen (cloth). Plastic toys were once considered cheap, disposable and replaceable -- bright and cheerful mass-manufactured dolls, model cars and trinkets that needed...
EDITORIALS
Sep 17, 2006

Have a nice 'sol'

It's that time again. Every so often, life on our planet just seems so bleak there's nowhere to look but out. That was certainly the case this past week. Not only did the usual whack-a-mole wars keep flaring and simmering, even good things had their dark sides. Here in Japan, the welcome birth of a prince...
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2006

Asahara's execution finalized

The Supreme Court on Friday rejected a special appeal by lawyers for Aum Shinrikyo founder Shoko Asahara, finalizing the death sentence for the man who masterminded the cult's horrific nerve gas attack on the Tokyo subway system in 1995.
JAPAN
Sep 16, 2006

Horie ordered profit inflation tactics, Miyauchi says

Livedoor Co.'s former Chief Financial Officer Ryoji Miyauchi testified about his former boss Takafumi Horie in court Friday and said that he and other former executives acted on orders from Horie to inflate the company's earnings for the business year to September 2004.
BUSINESS
Sep 16, 2006

Mixi shares close at 3.12 million yen

Shares of Mixi Inc. ended their second day of trading on the Tokyo Stock Exchange at 3.12 million yen Friday, up from the initial price of 2.95 million yen fetched in the morning.
JAPAN
Sep 15, 2006

Abe, LDP sued over history text approval

A group of people Thursday filed a lawsuit against Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe and the Liberal Democratic Party with the Tokyo District Court, claiming they broke the law by intervening in the approval process for a revisionist history text.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2006

Mixi skyrockets in stock market debut

Shares of Mixi Inc., Japan's most popular social networking site, shot up during the company's stock market debut Thursday as buy orders swamped sell orders and more than doubled its initially offered price.
BUSINESS
Sep 15, 2006

Uptrend in business failures shown tailing off in August

The number of corporate bankruptcies rose 1.4 percent to 1,169 in August from the previous year, but it was the third-lowest figure for any August in the past 10 years, a private credit research agency said Thursday.
Japan Times
CULTURE / Art
Sep 14, 2006

Allegations of plagiarism raised by kaleidoscope installation in Echigo-Tsumari

Picasso once said, "good artists copy, great artists steal." Of course, it has never been as simple as that. Questions concerning artistic authenticity, honest or dishonest intentions and outright plagiarism have been around ever since societies began to consider artistic expression the unique product...
COMMENTARY / World
Sep 14, 2006

Twins wreak havoc in Poland

LONDON -- "I am afraid that with Jaroslaw Kaczynski as prime minister, Poland will become more extreme, more anti-European and a more xenophobic country," warned Bronislaw Komorowski, a member of the opposition Civic Platform party, when the second Kaczynski twin was made prime minister by his brother,...
JAPAN
Sep 13, 2006

Builders face 6.7 billion yen in penalties for rigging bridge bids

The government and four highway operators are seeking payment of 6.7 billion yen in penalties by Sept. 29 from 38 contractors for allegedly rigging bids on bridge projects since 2003, government officials said Tuesday.
JAPAN
Sep 12, 2006

Imperial imposters get 26 months

The Tokyo District Court on Monday sentenced a man and a woman to 26 months in prison for staging a fraudulent wedding reception in which they pretended to be members of the Imperial family and bilked guests out of 12 million yen in cash and a painting.

Longform

Atsuyoshi Koike, the president and CEO of Rapidus, says there is a “sense of urgency” when it comes to Japan’s efforts in manufacturing semiconductors. “We have to make sure we are successful,” he says.
Atsuyoshi Koike’s big game: Fourth down and 2 nanometers to go