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Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 29, 2010

Elementary schools to get English

Starting next fiscal year, all elementary schools will be required to introduce compulsory English lessons for fifth- and sixth-graders.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2010

Foreign talent feeling gypped by top agency

Inagawa Motoko Office, one of the largest and oldest show business agencies catering to foreign performers in Japan, recently came under fire from some of its registered artists for not paying them in a timely manner for work they have done.
JAPAN
Jun 29, 2010

India nuke tieup OK'd

TORONTO (Kyodo) Japan and India agreed Sunday to cooperate further in the civilian use of nuclear power when Prime Minister Naoto Kan and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh met on the sidelines of a two-day Group of 20 summit in Toronto, Japanese officials said.
COMMUNITY / Voices / HOTLINE TO NAGATACHO
Jun 29, 2010

Schools in Japan need to give lessons in empathy

Dear Minister of Education Tatsuo Kawabata, recently I was told a deeply disturbing story by one of my students: A car hit a cyclist outside of her house. She immediately telephoned emergency services, but as she was doing so, she was horrified to see the driver reverse his car over the body of the hapless...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Our Lives / WHO'S WHO
Jun 29, 2010

French patissier's dream becomes reality in Japan

When Antoine Santos was growing up in the port of Marseille in southern France, he dreamed of becoming a pastry teacher by the age of 30. Little did he imagine his dream would come true — in Japan.
EDITORIALS
Jun 29, 2010

Devolution on the move

The Cabinet on June 22 adopted a devolution strategy outline that covers the next two to three years. The decision is good news for local governments because it had been feared that following the sudden resignation of former Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama, who was eager to push devolution, the Cabinet...
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues / THE ZEIT GIST
Jun 29, 2010

No need to know the law, but you must obey it

A few months ago I met with some Western diplomats who were looking for information about Japanese law — in particular, an answer to the question, "Is parental child abduction a crime?" As international child abduction has become an increasingly sore point between Japan and other countries, foreign...
Japan Times
BUSINESS / YEN FOR LIVING
Jun 28, 2010

How cheap is your love? Diamond appraiser hit

Does love take a hit when diamond appraisers start shifting standards?
ENVIRONMENT / OUR PLANET EARTH
Jun 27, 2010

BP oil disaster is one more chance to learn badly needed lesson

More than two months ago, BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig exploded in a ball of fire, killing 11 workers and leaving a crippled wellhead that continues to bleed millions of liters of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico.
BUSINESS
Jun 26, 2010

Sony PS3 close to Hulu tieup

Sony Corp. is close to an agreement to carry a paid-TV service from Hulu LLC, operator of the second-largest video Web site, on its PlayStation 3 game console, two sources with knowledge of the talks said. The partnership could be announced as soon as next week, according to the sources, who asked not...
BUSINESS
Jun 24, 2010

Lenders plan to up property loans on recovery bet

Lenders, after suffering a decade of bad debts and loan losses after the property bubble burst in 1990, are looking to provide more loans for real estate investments as they bet prices will recover from a 36-year low.
Japan Times
BUSINESS
Jun 23, 2010

Financial services chief takes dim view of tax hike

Newly appointed financial services and postal reform minister Shozaburo Jimi expressed caution Tuesday about raising the consumption tax, saying economic growth should come before taxes are raised.
JAPAN
Jun 22, 2010

Sales tax hike to take a few years: Kan

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Monday it would take at least two to three years to increase the consumption tax.
Japan Times
JAPAN / EXPLAINER
Jun 22, 2010

NTT communication giant, answerable to state, politics

Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp., the nation's biggest phone company, holds a unique place in corporate Japan.
BUSINESS
Jun 22, 2010

As China wages, yuan rise, exporting to get costly

Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co. suppliers sacrificed earnings in China by raising wages to end strikes, and Beijing's decision to allow greater exchange-rate flexibility may slow plans to export vehicles from the nation as the currency appreciates.

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