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BUSINESS
Feb 11, 2006

Metalworker unions seek pay hike

Labor unions at steel and heavy machinery makers and shipbuilding companies presented their pay demands Friday to begin this year's expected monthlong round of wage negotiations.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 10, 2006

Youthful dramatics

Oriza Hirata, founder of the cutting-edge, Tokyo-based Seinendan Theater Company that has been at the forefront of Japanese contemporary drama for over a decade, is one of Japan's leading scriptwriters and directors. But as owner of the Komaba Agora Theater, two stops down the Keio Inokashira Line from...
Japan Times
CULTURE / Film
Feb 10, 2006

A unique take on Nazi Germany

Filmmaker Marc Rothemund says of the German film industry: "The environment has never been more suited to making quality films. Young people are now avidly watching German films whereas 10 years ago the theaters were all about Hollywood productions. And, surprisingly, there's a great demand for historical...
EDITORIALS
Feb 7, 2006

Enough of make-believe bidding

The arrests last week of senior officials of the Defense Facilities Administration Agency (DFAA) confirmed that bid-rigging on public-works projects remains an entrenched practice in Japan. What happens, basically, is that a contract is awarded at a price higher than if it were put out to bid through...
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Feb 7, 2006

Guarantors and leaving the country

Guarantor Is there an organization in Japan that serves as a guarantor for foreigners in Japan who want to rent apartments?
EDITORIALS
Feb 4, 2006

End of an era at the Fed

Mr. Alan Greenspan ended his 18-year tenure as chairman of the U.S. Federal Reserve Board this week, stepping down after the Fed raised interest rates to their highest level in nearly five years.
JAPAN
Feb 4, 2006

Tokyo to leverage whole talks on abduction issue

In a move to pressure North Korea a day before bilateral talks between Tokyo and Pyongyang are to start in Beijing, Foreign Minister Taro Aso said Friday that Tokyo may consider abandoning the three-track talks on security, abduction and normalization if there is no progress on the abduction issue.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Feb 3, 2006

Rare instruments put up for auction

Music-box collectors will have a chance to get their hands on rare items when a total of 140 antique mechanical musical instruments, which have been displayed at Orugoru no Chiisana Museum in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, are auctioned off. The museum closes its doors March 31.
EDITORIALS
Feb 2, 2006

Leading in science and technology

The government will launch a five-year science and technology development plan with the start of fiscal 2006 in April. The plan is based on the "third basic plan for science and technology" that the General Council on Science and Technology submitted to the government late last year spelling out the...
BUSINESS
Feb 2, 2006

696 yen last week, Livedoor plummets under 100 yen a share

Livedoor Co. stock on Wednesday sank below 100 yen for the first time, compared with nearly 700 yen just before the Internet services firm was raided Jan. 16 over an alleged accounting fraud.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2006

Turin travelers urged to be careful

The Foreign Ministry on Tuesday urged Japanese visiting Turin, Italy, during the Feb. 10-26 Winter Olympics to be careful, avoid crowded places and take sufficient safety precautions.
JAPAN
Feb 1, 2006

'Horiemon' draws mixed reaction from University of Tokyo students

Former Livedoor Co. President Takafumi Horie rapidly became one of Japan's most successful entrepreneurs after dropping out of the prestigious University of Tokyo, and, within a decade, fell from grace -- something many current students see as an example of how not to behave.
OLYMPICS
Jan 31, 2006

Blogs by Olympics participants to be banned

The Japanese Olympic Committee is telling athletes competing at the Turin Winter Olympic Games not to open web logs because the Olympic Charter bans athletes' journalist activities when the games are on, and violators will be disqualified.
COMMUNITY / How-tos / LIFELINES
Jan 31, 2006

Rail passes, donor card, pawnshops

Rail pass wisdom Pam and Jacob's inquiry about the economic sense of buying a 7-day Japan Rail Pass (Lifelines; Jan. 9) when only moving around Kanto brought a flurry of useful information and advice from readers.
JAPAN
Jan 31, 2006

Yen fall, Dow rise send TSE to 65-month high

The key Nikkei stock index rose Monday to end at a fresh five-year, five-month high on buying prompted by the yen's fall against the dollar and recent strength on Wall Street.
JAPAN
Jan 29, 2006

SESC probes Livedoor for shady trading in takeover

The securities watchdog has been probing the possibility of insider trading related to Livedoor Co.'s takeover of a used automobile dealer, sources said Saturday.
CULTURE / Books / THE ASIAN BOOKSHELF
Jan 29, 2006

Understanding, visiting and living in North Korea

NORTH KOREA IN THE 21ST CENTURY: An interpretative Guide, by J.E. Hoare and Susan Pares. Global Oriental, 2005, 253 pp., including index, references/bibliography, b/w illustrations, £14.95 (paper). Jim Hoare opened the British Embassy in Pyongyang in 2001 and was the first British diplomat and charge...
CULTURE / TV & Streaming / CHANNEL SURF
Jan 29, 2006

Nihon TV dramatizes Harutoshi Fukui's best-selling novel "Sengoku Jietai" and more

On Jan. 31 and Feb. 7 at 9 p.m., Nihon TV will present a two-part dramatization of Harutoshi Fukui's best-selling fantasy novel "Sengoku Jietai (Warring Nations Self-Defense Forces)," which was adapted as a big-budget movie last year.
Japan Times
Features
Jan 29, 2006

Cultures combined in the mists of time

Adopt "a correct view of history," China and South Korea demand of Japan. Fair enough. We can all agree on the merits of a "correct view" of anything. The difficulty is to define "correct.''
JAPAN
Jan 28, 2006

Livedoor nemesis now rescuer

Livedoor Co. on Friday asked Fuji Television Network Inc. to support its efforts to recover during the two firms' first executive-level talks since prosecutors raided Livedoor's offices on Jan. 16 over alleged Securities and Exchange Law violations, Fuji TV President Koichi Murakami said.
BUSINESS
Jan 28, 2006

No single recipe for facing challenges of globalization

T here are multiple ways for companies to stay competitive in a globalized world, and even firms in what are often perceived as sunset industries have the potential for success, scholars and business executives said at a recent symposium in Tokyo.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2006

Individual investors frazzled in wake of 'Livedoor shock'

Yoshikazu Tsugiyama is devastated that his Livedoor shares have nosedived.
BUSINESS
Jan 27, 2006

Bravia, Vaio sales buoy Sony earnings forecast

Sony Corp. said Thursday it revised its earnings forecast for the full year through March 31 from a net loss of 10 billion yen to a net profit of 70 billion yen, buoyed by stronger-than-expected sales of Bravia TVs and Vaio PCs over the holidays.
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 27, 2006

Japan's future up for discussion

With the Japanese government edging closer to revising war-renouncing Article 9 of the Constitution and Japan's Self-Defense Force prolonging their mission in Iraq, American filmmaker John Junkerman brings the timely documentary "Japan's Peace Constitution (Eiga Nihon-koku)" to the Roppongi events and...
Events / Events Outside Tokyo
Jan 27, 2006

Visual- kei goes traditional

It isn't only Demon Kogure's appearance -- as extravagantly coiffed and heavily made-up as befits any visual-kei singer -- that makes him an unlikely candidate to be presenting a lecture-style concert on hogaku (traditional Japanese music). Kogure -- or His Excellency Demon Kogure as he prefers to be...

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